Help Portrait Vancouver 2012

For the past four years being involved with Help Portrait Vancouver have been some of the most rewarding moments I have ever had. This year was no exception but it did come with a few more responsibilities. Organizing and raising funds to support an event of this size was a learning experience for me and in the end I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and caring of our volunteers and supporters. This years event happened on December 1st in the Vancouver downtown east side and it was the second year in a row that our gracious hosts at the Union Gospel Mission made it possible. It was really great to see so many enthusiastic first time volunteers as well as the ones who have stayed committed to this event year after year returning.

By the end of the day we had welcomed over 600 guests and provided over 1000 portraits. This was no small feat but with the help of over 100 volunteers we made this one day a great success. Their smiles and stories that we heard from them will fuel our hearts for another year before we are back again.

Below is the morning crew that started this year event. Some of us had arrived at 6am to begin setting up and making sure that by 9am when the doors opened we'd be ready to greet the first guest and we made that happen.

Part of making sure the event runs smoothly and that our guests are treated to some entertainment are the general volunteers, musicians and artists.

Probably one of the hardest working group of the day are the hair and makeup team. They transform our guests and really make them feel special by getting them ready for their big moment in front of the camera.

By the end of the day we are all just one big crazy bunch to close out the afternoon. We also thought virtual tagging on FB was so over rated that instead we tagged ourselves "for real".

Can't wait for next year when I get to spend another awesome day with a great group of people and just do what can to give back.

Benjamin - My Son

Benjamin Lawrence Ng was born on October 22nd and few words can describe the incredible experience of watching your son being born right in front of your eyes. Every day since has been filled with moments of joy, wonderment and awe of such a tiny human being in your arms and how unbelievably cute and adorable he can be. Prior to that day however I remember going over in my head and thinking that the day your son is born is going to be one of the most important days of your life. How are you going to make sure you capture those first few moments and days? Are you going to shoot the actual birth? Shouldn't you just be there to live the moment and not have a big camera in your face? What's the lighting going to be like? Believe me at one point I was thinking about using a GoPro camera strapped to my head to make sure I wouldn't miss anything and to keep my hands free. My wife was not so keen about that idea, lol! In the end I brought three different cameras with me to the delivery. A digital SLR (Canon 7D), a 12.2mp point and shoot (Samsung WB550) and lastly my camera phone (Samsung Galaxy 3). I opted for the point and shoot to shoot the video of the birth and I am so glad that I did. It actually performed quite well for the low light conditions. I would have had a tough time holding a big DSLR with one hand outstretched and praying that I had proper focus for the video and probably would not have gotten the shot that I did. The camera phone was also great for emailing family and friends from the hospital with photos of the baby. Finally the DSLR did serve its purpose for the low light intimate shots. Well now that he's almost a month old I am still finding that I take shots of him with any camera that's handy. It's all about the right camera at the right time for the right job. So for now I'll be taking a bit of a break from my other photography as I enjoy capturing him growing up.

Raw Talent 12x12 2012 Exhibit

The month long wait was finally over. Last evening at the 12x12 Raw Talent Exhibit all the photographers along with the public got to see for the first time all the images that we shot back in August. As you entered the Salt Building you were greeted by a wall of the 60 participants. For me as a participant this was a great way to begin reliving the event again and recognizing the familiar faces that you had spent one long gruelling warm August day not so long ago on a common quest with.

I didn't make it into any of the winning categories but I was thrilled enough to know that all my shots actually turned out. The Salt Building was the perfect venue for the exhibit and many thanks to the organizers Morten Rand-Hendricksen, Angela Chih and all the other volunteers for putting on such a fantastic event year after year. I'm already looking forward to 2013.

There was some amazing work done by so many photographers. Above are the theme winners and also winner for best overall picture by Jackie Dive. It was really an honour and a privilege to have been a part of this.

12x12 Vancouver Photo Marathon B&W Edition 2012

The Vancouver Photo Marathon is one of the photo events that I have been looking forward to all year but was extremely nervous about whether I could participate in again. From last years sellout of 60 tickets in just about 10 minutes its pretty clear that this is a popular event. When the tickets went on sale this year I was actually in the middle of my first prenatal class and wouldn't be anywhere near a computer so I relied on my brother to get me a ticket. I was extremely lucky because the tickets sold out in under four minutes but he did manage to secure me a ticket. I found out on the day of this years event that I was number 30 and last year I was number 29!

Once again the rules were the same, 12 hours, 12 themes and 12 exposures. Except this year it would be all on b&w film and the location would be Gastown and our headquarters would be the aptly named Coffeebar where many people kept their energy fuelled by caffeine. I on the other hand after a thought crossed my mind about the heat of the day chose coconut water and bananas as my formula of hydration.

So onto the themes this year and I won't divulge what I actually shot as you'll have to wait for the 12x12 Raw Talent Exhibit this year on September 22nd at The Salt Building in the Olympic Village to see all of the contestants photos. Hey even I have to wait a month to see my photos and see how badly I screwed up so I don't want to spoil it for you here. The event is being crowd funded so your support is greatly appreciated.

1. The first theme over the years has always been your entry number but this year the twist was your entry number + color. Wait, aren't we shooting with b&w film?

This first theme was just a taste of the creatively challenging themes we had ahead of us. Each theme after that was met with everything from collective groans and laughter to what do you mean by that? or even a few wtf? when they were announced. See below for what I mean.

2. Through the looking glass
3. Nude
4. In 20 years
5. Old school
6. Three times
7. Top
8. Hide
9. Clever
10. Float
11. Background story
12. (D)evolved

I think everyone despite a long day and very tired feet had a blast. I for one certainly did. Thank you to all the organizers for a wonderful event! See you all on September 22nd.

Hawaii the Big Island

Summer was non existent in June for Vancouver so we decided to go look for it elsewhere. This year for vacation in keeping with our love of the Hawaiian Islands that we've had for the past three years we decided to visit the Big Island. It was an incredibly relaxing vacation and just what I needed to recharge. It is a very awe inspiring place with incredibly diverse climates and landscapes from one side of the island to the other. Here are some panoramas that I took from our trip.

This was from the Polulo Valley Lookout

Volcano National Park

Wind farm on the north part of the island

City of Refuge

Our resort the Hapuna Prince

Taylor - 1920's Inspired Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago I got a message from Dana telling me that she was putting together a 1920's inspired look and was looking to shoot within a few days. She had a model and makeup artist all ready to go and just needed a photographer to complete the team. Working with Dana recently I knew her concept and idea would be a fun experience. We worked with Taylor Edwardson who was our model and Dorothy Alexis Prince for makeup. For the finished look on the images the post processing was meant to give it a slight vintage look and feel, sort of like an old advertisement. Here are a few of the finished images.

Above from left to right are Dorothy Alexis Prince (makeup), Taylor Edwardson (model), Dana Demure (hair and styling) and me.

Sierra - Bright Colours Photo Shoot

Warmer weather seems to finally have arrived in Vancouver and with that away goes the dull winter colours and out comes the bright bold colours for spring and summer. Here is some recent studio work with model Sierra Kuckein along with the great team of styling, makeup and hair that she put together. Come and see these recent shots plus more at my website bernardngphotography.com

From left to right are me, Amy Podrasky (styling), Sierra Kuckein (model), Dana Demure (hair) and Bee Samoil-Selk (makeup)

Flowing Fabric Photo Shoot

This past weekend I had a creative photo shoot that I had been planning for a little while now. Finally got the team together for the shoot and despite a cold and windy day down by Iona Beach Park where this was shot the final results were great. A big thank you to the team of Jaime Halliday and Rebecca Chan who braved the cold in next to nothing but the flowing fabric that they wore that was put together by stylist Mimi Khounpilom. Makeup and hair was done by Mary Mims and Elaina Ismail. Last but not least was the help I received from fellow photographer Roger Hur who helped me wrangle the Paul C Buff parabolic in the windy conditions. Here are some of the shots from that day. 

To see these and more in full screen please visit my website at http://bernardngphotography.com

My website is finally up!

After much self doubt and procrastination I have finally put that all aside and launched my website today. I know I still have long way to go and lots to learn but this for me was a very important turning point. For some reason I just kept putting it off and maybe because it was that I couldn't come to a decision as to how it should look. I just knew that I wanted a site that would be simple and clean and most of all easy to upload pictures to and also easy for clients to download from. Yes, I don't want to send a hundred photos in an email ever again. I decided to go with Viewbook as I found it offered all that I needed plus there is great integration of your online portfolio with their iPhone and iPad apps. Please come by and take a look at bernardngphotography.com

Photo Shoot with Brittney Grabill

Earlier this month I had to opportunity to meet and work with singer, songwriter, guitarist and actress Brittney Grabill. We did a photo shoot for some promo material for her upcoming website launch which should be coming out in March. She also has a single and remix out on iTunes called "I Like You" that is great and you should check it out. On top of that she also has a number of videos on YouTube with one in particular that was a tribute to Whitney Houston right after she passed away. Watch out for this rising star!

Brittney had mentioned to me this billboard that she found and was willing to climb up on it for photos. She managed it in heels! With a little bit of Photoshop I turned it into a promo image for her remix launch on Valentine's Day.

Model Shoot - Maryna

Wow its 2012 and this is my first photo shoot of the year with Maryna. This was by far one of the most efficient and no fuss shoots I have done. From setup to tear down was less than two hours and we accomplished all the looks that Maryna was after in that time. Maryna arrived with her makeup already done and sported a fresh natural look that fit well with her perfect complexion and blond hair. My favourites out of the session were some natural light head shots by the window with just a silver reflector using an 85mm f/1.8

Hats don't always work well with everyone but she was able to rock it with style.

We had some fun and of course got in one or two obligatory "jump' shots.

Final look of the day was nice soft light from camera left and right against a black background.