Josh by the Lake

I spend the majority of my free time with my closest friend and older brother, Josh. Because of this, he has consistently been the test subject for a good majority of the photos I take. I am pretty grateful to have such a close bond with him.

Fire Uptown Waterloo

I try to bring my camera with me everywhere I go, just in case something photo-worthy happens. The majority of the time, it sits in my backpack all day. Yesterday, however, was one of the few times that I was very thankful to have my camera with me. While biking across town, I saw smoke coming out of a building. It wasn't long before emergency crews started working on it. As the smoke got thicker, police blocked off that entire section of King. I stayed for about an hour, and the fire was still going when I left. I am not sure what the damage was like afterwards. Hit the jump to see more photos.

Anthony Damiao at the Boathouse

I almost missed Anthony's show on Wednesday. Thankfully, I wrote down the wrong work schedule and unexpectedly had the night off. Anthony performed an amazing set, especially when his friend Sarah sang with him. The two of them sounded beautiful together. You can listen to/buy Anthony's album here. More photos after the jump.

Little Bean

I went to open mic night at Little Bean Coffee Bar last night. My brother was playing, as well as an old friend of mine, Brittany Kane. Here are a few shots from the night, more after the jump.

Welcome Home

I guess that goes for both of us. Josh here just returned to K/W from an unexpectedly long stay in the frozen tundra of Iqaluit. Wow. As for myself, I have returned to Kitchener after living in Niagara for four years. While sitting on a sixteenth floor balcony overlook the area, Josh picked up a guitar and started playing. I couldn't help but nab a few shots.

Unstable

Between working full time and moving in a week, things have been pretty hectic for me. I haven't had time to shoot as much as I would like, so today I checked out the abandoned stable right beside my work. I spent a good deal of time composing just one shot, and I am pretty happy with the result.

It was a fun shoot to do, despite this being the first thing I saw: http://instagram.com/p/Nhm4QJv0Yj/

More from Jackson Triggs

After shooting all of the food, they asked me to shoot the wine. Hit the jump for some of the pairings.

Food for Thought

For the last month-and-a-bit, I have been working at a couple wineries in Niagara on the Lake. Jackson Triggs is the one I work at most often. They have a cool little food and wine pairing thinger called Flights and Bites. Essentially you get three wines paired with three foods. The photos below are of the white pairing. Served on a little wooden plank is:  Roasted asparagus and confit shallot salad with goat cheese mousse, roasted red pepper soup with icewine cured bacon, and a lobster salad with gomes tomatoes in a toasted bun. I am hoping to be able to do some more food photography at JT and Inniskillin before I move!

the Bends @ S.C.E.N.E. Music Festival, 24/06/2012

This was my first year at S.C.E.N.E. Why it is only my first time, I do not know. Apparently I had no life up until the past year. I would have tried to get a media pass, if I had known that such a thing existed prior to watching the pros go backstage to shoot. I mainly went to shoot the Bends, and the media pass wasn't necessary at their show. They played a fantastic set (as per usual) at Cache, and it was a blast to shoot. Here  are some highlights from the show.

the Bends @ Mansion House, 09/06/2012

the Bends played at the Mansion House last Saturday. They played a great set, as always. Despite the stage being flooded with some horrible green light, I managed to get some good shots. Bad venues really teach you a lot. 

Here are a few shots from the night.

Check them out at http://www.the-bends.com/! 

Award Winning Work

My photograph, Late Winter Night, won an award for Best in Photography at my school board's annual Graduate Art Show. I'm feeling pretty great about it!

Battle of the Bands - 05/23/2012

I had the pleasure adventure of shooting my high school's Battle of the Bands on Wednesday. It was, a learning experience.

Winning band, the Bends had some tricks up their sleeves.

The show was great. All six of the performing bands played great sets. Hit the jump for a few more shots from the night.

More Abstract

I love shooting this kind of stuff. Really interesting to watch and edit. These are photographs of milk being dripped/poured into water. More after the jump.

Making a Mess

My hands are stained blue and red from the food dye I was using.

This shoot was more of an experimental shoot than anything. I have not worked with high-speed photography of water before. I plan to revisit this shoot sometime soon with a better set up and such. Anyway, here are some of the better frames from the set. Enjoy.

Obsessed...

... is what I have become with these photos. I can safely say this shoot is one of the most interesting shoots I have ever done. Editing the photos is as much fun as taking them was, too. The hardest part was deciding which images to edit, and which edits to post. More after the jump, enjoy!

the Bends @L3 Night Club

I had the pleasure of shooting some great local talent, the Bends. It was a great set, fun and upbeat. I am really looking forward to shooting these guys again in the future. Hit the jump for a few more shots from the night. Enjoy, and if  you have the time, head over to their site.

The Smoking Tea Cup

This shoot changed a lot from the beginning. Originally I had planned to shoot a tea pot and cup with some nice steam flowing out of both. Unfortunately, the steam was not visible enough for my camera to pick up. Solution? Light a cone of incense and make a smoking tea rather than a steaming tea. Then, after much time spent being indecisive and re-arranging my set up, I finally finished off with a smoking tea cup rather than the whole pot. I thought it might make an interesting wallpaper or something. I hope you enjoy it, and be sure to hit the jump button for an extra treat.

Guerilla Printing Launch Party

My art teacher, Mr. Azzopardi, let myself and bunch of students know about the Guerilla Printing launch at The Comic Book Lounge + Gallery in Toronto last night. The event was put on by amazing artist and all-around great guy Lamin Martin. Most of the artwork featured was from artist Mike Del Mundo, seen signing some of his work. The gallery was packed, and everyone had a great time. Thanks to Lamin for putting it on, to Mike for displaying some great art, to Mr. A for letting us know about it, to Ben for driving me, and to everyone else who helped put this experience together.

Alex, Ben, Lamin and Mr. A below. More after the jump.

Drinking on a School Night?!

Well what do you expect me to do with a nice glass of Bailey's Irish Cream over ice? Regardless, I had a good time setting up this shoot. After accidentally leaving my equipment at school over March Break, my camera and I were due for a good reunion. Alternate and BTS shots after the jump. Enjoy!

Movement, an art show hosted by YNM

Tonight I spent the evening showcasing some of my work at a show. Caroline Benner and Josh Hanson of the Young Niagara Movement put together a show for younger artists in the Niagara Region. The works ranged from drawings, to paintings, to photography, to live music. I was impressed with a lot of the work, and I am grateful to know that I live in an area full of such creative people. Though I did not take many photos during the night, I have a few shots of my work and tables.

New business cards, woo!

Nine prints, they look so nice.

It was a pretty good feeling, getting to see my work on display.

Absence

I would like to apologize to any and all of my readers for my absence lately. For the past few days I have been incapacitated due to a persistent and painful tooth abscess. Hopefully that will be over with soon, but I'll still be loaded up on painkillers and antibiotics for the next bit. Prior to such complications, I had been busy shooting my high school's production of The Drowsy Chaperone. It is a great show, and everyone involved did a great job of putting it on. To all the actors, orchestra, stage crew, techies, set and stage design classes, and anyone else I have missed, bravo.

Anywho, hopefully it wont be long before I'm back to normal, shooting and posting lots. Until then, enjoy this photo of my beautiful mother and an adorable kitten:

12,000 Words...

...is how many this image would be worth, if you care to combine literature with math. For another project in my CommTech class, we had to create a "collage" which displayed many interests or aspects of our personality. Enjoy!

Joshua

My family is full of creative people. One of those people who inspires me the most is my older brother Josh. He has been playing guitar for as long as I can remember, and has always been pretty damn good at it. I've always adored the sound of his fingers strumming and his voice carrying through the whole house. For the better half of 2011, he was living in Toronto, trying to make an honest living. Toronto life is not easy though, from what I have seen. In early December I made a spontaneous trip to his place. I stayed overnight on his last weekend there, and helped him move out the next day. When he picked up his guitar and started playing, the room was overflowing with emotion. I could only think of one thing to do - take photos. I figured if it was the last time he would be playing guitar in that apartment, I might want to capture it.

SooC

They're Everywhere!

The first assignment in my CommTech class, which is basically a combination of Media Arts and Business (both of which I kicked ass in last year) was to take an image and re-size a certain part or object to make it seem very out of proportion. I went a little overboard though....

Cookie Scam

I raid the pantry for a nice little snack, and this is what I find. What is this tomfoolery!?

I call shenanigans.

A Short-Lived Snowfall

This winter has been pretty warm so far. Not that I'm complaining, really, as snowy weather isn't something I've been too keen on lately. However, on the night of Jan 19, 2012, the snow was absolutely gorgeous. It lightly dusted everything in a sparkly coat of awesomeness. I went outside and snapped a few long exposure shots, including the one below. The colours in the sky were beautiful, and even though the sun was down it was still pretty bright out. Not two days later, the temperature rose to the positives and all the snow has melted away. It sure doesn't look like the end of January out there. I'm just glad I was able to snap this shot before all the snow melted away! Enjoy, and keep warm out there...

Until next time, 

A. Schaefer

First Post!

Hello everyone!
For a while now, I've been using sites like Flickr and Deviant Art to post most of my photography. However, I have wanted to start a blag of some sort as well. It was just something I never got around to doing, I guess I didn't have the motivation to start. Lately, I've been finding that my activity in photography has been pretty slow as well. I don't take photos as much as I used to, and that pretty much just sucks. I found myself in a familiar place, lacking motivation. I figured maybe I can use the two problems to fix each other. Having photos to share motivates me to start a blag, and having a blag to update will push me to take more photos. It seemed like a good idea.


So, after much deliberation, planning, and adjusting, I finally have started my own blag. I'll post new photos at least once a week, hopefully more! So stay tuned, and feel free to hassle me if I haven't posted in a while.


Until next time, 
A. Schaefer