I don't shoot babies

I don't take photos of babies but my friends Oli and Anna had a cute little boy, Kalyan, so I had to bring my camera for the visit.

Dominican Cock Fighting

While in Santo Domingo last fall I photographed cock fights at the Coliceo Gallistico Santo Domingo.

I expected a dirty hole in the wall, but the Coliceo was a high end venue. There was a dress code and the seats were plush, with alcohol and food (including chicken). Overall it wasn't unlike a nice hockey arena in Canada, just on a smaller scale and, not surprisingly, completely void of women.

Betting is not with the house. Instead, you bet with individuals around you or across the ring in a fairly informal process on individual bouts. I watched a fair amount of cash exchange hands.

I was surprised (and happy) to learn that the cocks don't fight to the death. Each fight is timed and if a cock goes down then its owner can throw in the towel and the cock is removed from the ring. A prized cock might lose a bout but can live to fight another day. Still, it's a pretty brutal sport.

It was bloody and difficult to stomach but it certainly was a cultural experience.

Dominican Baseball

Here's some baseball - Dominican style.

Airport

Nothing like killing time in the airport with your camera.

Liz Lemon the Cat

So we finally got a cat. Meet Liz Lemon (a.k.a. Lizzard).

She's afraid of the camera. Weird.

Casey House SnowBall

I spent the evening photographing the Case House Snowball at Avenue Road for the Globe and Mail. What a pretty party. So much colour.

Public Art

The city just welcomed its newest piece of public art, a light art installation called Lake Light Threshold by artist James Carpenter, that lights up the pedestrian bridge over York Street near the ACC and I shot it for the Globe and Mail.

It's pretty.

Rob Ford Dances

Mayor Rob Ford and Councillor Michelle Berardinetti dancing in the Nutcracker (shot for the Globe and Mail).

Imposter Syndrome

Sherry Cooper is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Economist of BMO Financial Group.

Look at that title. That is a big job. You don't get it by simply being in the right place at the right time.

BMO doesn't recruit its Chief Economists from the street. You need to be incredibly intelligent and educated. You need to be ambitious. You need to put in time to climb the corporate ladder.

Still, Cooper suffers from "imposter syndrome" - a phenomenon where she feels like an imposter in her job, like any moment someone will come along and reveal her as a fake, that she somehow just stumbled into her high powered job though a combination of sheer luck and good timing.

She feels like an imposter despite the fact that she's a published author, has a PhD, a bagillion (yes, that many) awards to her name and a crazy powerful job.

I confess, sometimes I feel like that as a photographer. I think that's a good thing though because it means that I recognize that I've barely scratched the surface of this gig and that I know that I'll always have a lot to learn, no matter what crazy job title I have.

Any others suffering from imposter syndrome out there?

Mash Up

I've not been feeling super awesome for the last few weeks so I haven't been a very good blogger. Here are a bunch of editorial portraits that I'm sharing with you since I've been putting off posting these for too long.

I'd really hoped to do a single entry on each of the people in the portraits since they all have a great story to share but I'm just going to have to admit that it's not going to happen. So here they are, all mashed up together.

One great thing about my job is that I consistently meet amazing people with incredible stories. Below you'll find images of a portfolio manager, Canada's first MP of Tamil-descent elected to the House of Commons, a violinist with the TSO, a woman who sells insurance on law cases, an educator who founded her own school, an aboriginal actor and choreographer, a rabbi who was lovely and charismatic and made me want to become Jewish just so that I could attend his synagogue, a business owner in Richmond Hill and a woman who found out that her husband had sexually assaulted two women in her house while she was away. The range of their stories is simply astonishing.

I will never get over the variety of people my job brings me in contact with. It's amazing and I love that everyone has a story to shrare.

Kenojuak Ashevak

Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak is one tough broad.

I photographed Kenojuak in Yorkville during a show of her nephew's art. She is 84-years-old and I watched her smoke at least one pack of cigarettes in the three hours I was there.

Now, I don't want to condone smoking, but this lady looked so badass doing it. She made smoking cool.

Besides, she needed a smoke. Kenojuak is a celebrity in the art world. So of course everyone wants to talk to her, but she doesn't speak English. Her daughter translates but after a while I can only imagine that it gets pretty exhausting so every once in a while she would hobble outside on her cane for a few smokes.

Despite trying to hide away, eventually a small half circle of people would form around her, yelling very loudly (dude, she doesn't speak English - her hearing is fine) and posing for photos with her. Still, she seemed completely unphased by it.

For me, as a photographer it was great. She was a natural and when I asked if it was ok to photograph her, her daughter said to photograph whatever I wanted. She pretty much just ignored me.

For her, as a person, I don't know what she makes of it. I mean come on, at some point she must be thinking, "I'm 84, just let me smoke my cigarettes in peace. Stop yelling at me in gibberish." No?

Antonio Banderas

Whad up Antonio Banderas?

You sure were a pleasant subject to photograph during TIFF.

Two thumbs up.

Toronto Fashion Week

While waiting in line for my Toronto Fashion Week media pass I quickly realized I was not appropriately dressed. Jeans, a white t-shirt and high-top purple Converse aren't exactly cutting-edge fashion. Instead, it seemed everyone was wearing fuzzy vests and leopardskin booties.

Ok, so time for a small photo rant.

While shooting tonight I watched lots of people take crazy amounts of (what I can only assume are terrible) photos on their phones or point-and-shoot cameras instead of actually WATCHING the show. I spend the whole show behind my camera but I only do that because I have to. It's my job.

I photograph a fair amount of big events and I see this happen a lot - members of the public experiencing entire events behind their camera/phone. It baffles me.

I can only assume people do this so they can post images on facebook, Twitter or their blog to make everyone jealous of their lives. So fine, take a pic, post it and then simply absorb the rest of the show. Instead, people sit there snapping away, puzzled why none of their photos are working, and then (I can only imagine the thought process) thinking that they just need to try harder or take more photos to miraculously produce something great.

It just seems like such a waste since - and this is going to sound snarky - their photos are so bad. You know you've seen it - the facebook albums filled crappy, grainy, blurry photos taken from so far away that you don't really know what the pictures are of.

Taking photos is hard, especially when light is dim, people are moving and you're trying to use your Blackberry. So just stop. Live life. Watch the event that is happening before you. Or get a decent camera and take some classes.

To be more specific about what upsets me about these phone-shooters, is that some of them like to shove their phone into my shots. Tonight they didn't even try to avoid getting into my frame. This is hugely frustrating while I'm working.

Now I understand that I don't have a monopoly on picture taking but if you want to take your crappy pictures rather than living your life then please stay out of the way of people trying to do their jobs.

Mainly though, please just watch the event. Stop trying to document every single moment. Experience it. It's your life.

Kevin O'Leary - The Mean Dragon?

I was a little nervous about photographing Kevin O'Leary, the business tycoon and television personality best known as the "mean Dragon" from CBC's Dragon's Den.

I had just come off of a weekend of 2 minute portraits with celebrities at TIFF and I was tired of prickly star handlers who were generally rude and I just assumed (unfairly) that the shoot with O'Leary would be more of the same.

So I was pleasantly surprised when O'Leary graciously gave me a great deal of his time. An avid photographer himself, who originally wanted to be a professional shooter but was told there was no money in it (good call Kevin!), he was excited to show off his vintage Leica and Hasselblad. When questioned about the row of guitars hanging on the wall of his new Yorkville apartment, he picked one up and played it. I was surprised at how friendly he was.

All this being said, my impression of O'Leary was recently changed for the worse when I saw him on a clip making the rounds on the internet where he calls a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist involved in the Occupy Wall Street protests a "left-wing nutbar" for no apparent reason. I respect his right to have a differing opinion, but nothing was served by him resorting to name calling. So unfortunately he will once again be the "mean Dragon" in my books.

Minor Hockey

Hockey has been under a lot of scrutiny lately - from headshots, to Sidney Crosby's concussion, to NHL player suicides - and this has begun to spill over into the minor leagues.

I spent some time shooting local GTHL games for the Globe and Mail and it was nice to be back at the rink since, as a player myself, I spent most of my childhood at the arena. There was something strangely comforting about being in the stands during a game.

The GTHL had just introduced new headshot rules and it was clear that the fans, coaches and players were not happy. The refs were calling everything and the penalty boxes were filling up.

Personally I think it's important for safety and it's only a matter of time before everyone adjusts and the pace of the game picks back up but not everyone agrees. I listened to some call-in shows on CBC and many felt that it was ruining the flow of the game. This shocked me since it's about their children's safety and after all it's just a game, right?

Rest in Peace Jack Layton

My job as a photographer brings me in touch with some pretty interesting people and I'm lucky to have met Jack Layton and his wife Olivia Chow at a number of events over the years.

Still, I'll never forget photographing Jack at a run to fight prostate cancer in the spring of 2010. Fresh on the mend from his own fight against cancer, Jack proudly lead the procession of runners - some prostate cancer survivors themselves, others who had lost a family member - out to the starting line.

I spoke to him briefly before the race began and he was absolutely lovely and told me that his health had never been better. I can recall thinking how fortunate he must have felt to have beat the cancer and to be there that morning to provide encouragement and support. You could see that he was beaming.

This morning I was shocked when I heard about Jack's death. I had just assumed that he would beat this round of cancer as well.

What struck me most though was that in the last few days of his life, when he was no doubt tired and sick, he still found time to write a beautiful letter to provide hope to those suffering from cancer, to his party and to Canadians. I cannot imagine how he found a reserve of strength to do this. It certainly takes a man with a huge heart to provide hope to so many when you know that hope has run out for you.

I loved the timeless closing of his beautiful letter. I'm quite certain that it will be a quote that will be often repeated.

‎"Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." - Jack Layton

Danny and Ian Hitched

My friends Ian and Danny got married yesterday and they didn't have an official photographer so I took a few shots during the day.

Congrats to you both. May you have a long and happy marriage!

Seneca students share their visions for the future of Toronto

Seneca post-graduate students spoke outside City Hall to share their visions for the future of Toronto with mayor Rob Ford. While Ford didn't show up, that didn't stop students from talking about varied topics such as volunteerism, a Toronto Sales Tax, a Toronto NFL team and urban farming.

The students were pretty idealistic - if not always accurate in attributing their quotes -but very passionate, which made for a fun shoot.

Tai Chi in the Park

I took photos of Tai Chi in the park for an assignment for the Globe when it must have been about 2 billion degrees outside.

These guys didn't even flinch. They were so absorbed in their Tai Chi, taught by Ali, that they just serenely went about their business, sweating peacefully.

A seriously dog-friendly office

It's an office full of dogs over at Softchoice, which I photographed for the Globe and Mail's the Amazing Space multimedia feature.

Check out the rest of the photos here on the Globe and Mail's site.