Portfolio 2008

A portfolio process is a long and painful process. Your ego will be trampled to the point where it walks out the door, leaving you crying in a dark room because IT doesn't want to be abused any more.

The process takes many hours of culling and editing and seeking opinions you respect. Then you spend hours in front of a computer screen working on images. At which point you find the best printer you can find, (Maarten Wouters at M*G!C), the best paper you can find, (Ilford Gold Fibre), and you watch the cash take the same route your ego did two weeks before. Once it is printed you spend more hours fitting it into your book and then removing every speck of dust from the prints as if they were disease.

One of the questions you must solve is, how many images should I put in. Anywhere from 10 - 50 images can be found in a book, but I believe in the saying 'Less is More' and my wallet wholeheartedly agrees. Between 20 - 25 images is the maximum. Any more then that and the client needs to be a family member or your best friend because no one else has that amount of patience.

After 8 years of traveling and photographing 5 different continents, what made the cut? See Here.

The Search

While I am searching for the courage to tackle several hundred, perhaps a thousand images, that were created in Scotland I leave you with this new composition.

Tourist Stop - featuring Fraser McCallum

Combining the talents (and antics) of two young men we bring you Tourist Stop.

A bit of back ground. I had the pleasure of traveling with Prince Edward Island comedian, all round nice guy and good friend Fraser McCallum during various stages of his European blitz tour this year. There were many good times to be had, beers to drink (and make) and new countries to discover. A wonderful combination of travel photography from Hungary, Denmark, and Holland with Fraser's music has given you Tourist Stop. Click Here.

A top finish

My image of Ice Climbing at Pont Rouge in Quebec has placed in the Top Finishers for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development Photography Contest.
See results here. The third photo from the left, last row on the bottom.

Back from Scotland

I just returned from a wonderful time in Scotland and the UK with family. We explored the highlands, the Isle's, drank the beloved Scotch and the occasional pint. We hiked the North York Moors and got a close up of the intricacies of the Northern British culture. I still think that they need to get with it, adopt the Euro and move into the new millennium. The time of Colonialism is gone, time to move on folks. The UK has a beautiful landscape, a rich arts culture, and overly large directional signs, (including one where I am sure that Gary Larson designed his Far Side cow from). I look forward to sharing images with you over the next few days here on this blog.

Till then, I leave you with an image that reminds me of methane's contribution to global warming. A Far Sidesque look at a sobering issue.