BMO Hockey Heroes Weekend 2012

Hey Peeps,

Just got back from a great weekend in Halifax, NS covering the BMO Hockey Heroes Weekend with my buddy and second sniper Adam Graham.

It was fun reconnecting to some of the people who I worked with and the NHL Alums that I worked with on last years event, which was spectacular and did a great job of raising funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia.  We also had fun meeting new people involved in the event and hope to work with them all again soon.

So, how was the weekend itself?

Answer:  Fan-dan-tastic!

After getting to my place Friday morning, Adam and I made sure we had all the gear we needed and piled into my car for the 3 hour drive to Halifax.

We did the usual photographer thing on trips right?  We talked shop.

Who better to talk shop with than another photog?

Gear - Lighting - Business - Work/Life Juggling - Editing - Prints - Aesthetics, we went through the entire gauntlet.

A pit-stop in New Minas and an hour later we were pulling into the Westin Nova Scotian, unloaded our gear and set up our workstation before preparing ourselves for the first nights events.

After the setup was completed, we went downstairs to the banquet hall where we met up with Jane Davies and Annette LeBlanc, Vice President and event coordinator from ZedEvents respectively and our contacts for Hockey Heroes, to get any last minute information we may need.

Our NHL Alumni this year were:  Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Claude Lemieux, Guy Carbonneau, Marty McSorley, Russ Courtnall, Gary Leeman, Al Iafrate, Rick Middleton, Gaston Gingras, Kevin Maguire, Todd Warriner, Todd Harvey, Ken Belanger, Gilbert Dionne and Alain Cote.

Needless to say, that first night was fun.

We got a lot off of our shoot list ahead of schedule, the clients affiliates were overly happy of the job we did and everyone was having a great time.

Items were auctioned off to the fans for fundraising and the Alumni were getting into the swing of things.

Soooo wanted this!!

Good sports for a great event!

There was a lot of people there, the brews were flowing and spirits were high.

Jane Davies, Vice Pres of ZedEvents and Menna MacIsaac, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia 

NHL Alumni and event coordinators

The Alumni with our Dartmouth Dodge sponsors

Robert Zed, Jane Davies and Leanne Andrecyk:  President, Vice Pres. and Creative Director of ZedEvents respectively

What a great banquet before the games begin!!

Saturday, we shot the teams on the ice and caught some great vid footage that will be posted at a later date, along with some wonderful action stills of gameplay:

Team shot

Guy Carbonneau cracking up with teammates

Everyone is so eager to get out there!!

 

 

 

 

 Did I mention this was also a family event?  Oh yes, tonnes of kids of all ages came out to see the stars, grab some autographs and photos and enjoy the weekend!

Future NHL Alumni?

Marty McSorley posing with some fans

 

 

Great for the whole family!

The local team got to take a pic with some of our Hockey Heroes

 Then they got down to business....

Ray, Guy and the boys scrabbling for the puck

Watching the action from afar...

and up close!

Todd Warriner was gracious enough to let Adam strap his new GoPro cam to his helmet during gameplay and got us some sweet footage.

The event also had a Beard-o-Thon for fundraising...

as you can see there were many participants, lol.

Eager, waiting, historic, heroic...

Why not just a little showboating eh? LOL

 Overall it was a fantastic success, we shot tonnes of images, Adam captured a lot of great footage of which we are sifting through currently and the clients, both ZedEvents and the Heart and Stroke Foundation were very happy with the work done.  

Can't wait to do it again next year!!

Did you go to the event?  Do you plan on going next year?  Who would you have as your favorite alumni next year?

LET ME KNOW!!

Laters,

Michael Carty

Michael Carty Photography

Michael Carty Email

Affiliates Edition 1: Students

Hey Peeps,

I've written about affiliates before and how crucial I believe they are to today's business - whatever that may be.  But I want to go more in depth to specific groups that photographers can work with, how to work with them and what benefits arise for both parties because of such a relationship.

There are a few schools in my area and the other week I decided to select the one I graduated from(am I biased? meh, it was closest) and I had about an hour or so to speak with students working in a multimedia class of sorts, and we discussed the industry as a whole, from music to video and still imagery.

It was interesting to see how involved certain students were to their own personal crafts, the passion was almost tangible and it gave me a little jolt of excitement towards my love of photography.  We discussed the lack of a photography or multimedia club in the school, of which the idea got a resounding,"That would be awesome..."

I stated that there is nothing to stop any of those students from starting a multimedia club if they wanted to, which received a long moment of silence - I assume they had either never thought of that or they were a little apprehensive about starting a club on their own.

So now I am in talks to help with the starting of a multimedia club - now this may sound like an unattractive action to a lot of you,"Aren't you busy Mike?  Don't you have a business to run?  A wife and son at home?  When can you find the time?  Don't you have to make money?"

Answer to all: YES.

I AM busy.

I DO have a business to run.

I DO have a wife and son at home.

I DON'T know when I will find the time(I will cover this in a second).

I DO have to make money.

Let's remember, this is an affiliate relationship right?  So both sides get something out of it.

Let me elaborate on my answers from above.

I AM busy, with paperwork, edits, shoots, family, accounting, blogs, "me" time, etc - but I CAN schedule certain times of certain days to touch base with the club - remember, I am NOT the leader, founder or president.

Those positions are for the students.

My position is more that of a mentor, associate or councillor.  I have no set hours of work set in stone with this group, but I AM available as a resource.

I think that covered all the questions except for the money one and the resource part answers that.

I can offer advice, experience and knowledge.  All of which is practically free for these students.  I also offer rental of my studio for academic and personal projects for a fee. 

This creates an income stream that didn't exist before and increases visibility to my studio/business,

I'm going to be looking for some interns for some projects this year and this gives me a chance to get to know prospective students that could fit the bill, giving them hands on experience and co-op hours, decreasing my own workload and helping to increase my revenues.

Can you say WIN-WIN-WIN?

An affiliate relationship, no matter with students, businesses, other "competitors" or whatever, need to be treated as a symbiotic relationship.  Give and take.

Most of the time it costs you little or no time or money to make and keep them, but it grows your potential, your resources, your abilities, your support and your revenues by leaps and bounds.

So while things are building up at this first school, I'm starting to look at the next one.  Why not right?

Let me know what you think of education affiliations, does my approach make sense?  Are there other opportunities to utilize these relationships that you can think of?

I want to hear YOUR THOUGHTS!!  So send them!

And let me know which affiliate you want to learn about next!!

Laters,

Michael Carty
Michael Carty Photography
Michael Carty Email

Beauty Dish Test and Multi-Photog/Multi-Model Shoot!!

Hey Peeps,

I really should have posted this earlier, but things have been up in the air - as usual.

I had a really great chance to work with a diverse bit of talent last month.  Great people in the industry like photographers Clifton Saulnier, Adam Graham, and Jodi Spicer-Outhouse; models Jessica Atwood, Jessica Matthews, Holly Richardson, Ashley Goodwin, Kaleigh Pitman, Spencer Robertson, Kirk Fougere; stylists Shawna Jackson from Shawna’s Hair Studios (in Sodalicious on Main St., Yarmouth) and Jill Goodwin from Styles Unlimited (on Starrs Rd, Yarmouth); MUA Jennie Surette from Afterglow Spa; clothing from Sharon and Laura from Making Memories Bridal and Tuxedo (Main St., Yarmouth) and the great guys at the MacKinnon Cann Inn, Michael Tavares and Neil Hisgen who let us use their business for location.

I want to first off thank Adam Graham for inviting me to the event and Clifton Saulnier for assisting me with the gear to pull off my first test of my homeade beauty dish.

It went fantastic.

We had a number of models to work with, and a great selection of wardrobe, but a limited amount of time to capture everything.  So I was only able to shoot with 5 different models between the two VERY LARGE homes, and I only used 3 rooms I believe - but that's all I really needed.

Spencer, Kaleigh, Ashley, Jessica M. and Jessica A. were fantastic models.  They followed direction easily and understood what I was going for in all of my shots.  The wardrobe, hair and make up was done perfectly(Gods bless the MUAs/Stylists) and I had a great feeling the whole time.  Anything was available to us.  Our imaginations were the only obstacles we had - although it was cold.

VERY cold.

I wouldn't be surprised if some people got sick shortly after this shoot.

Luckily, I brought two space heaters to one of the houses, setting one up directly next to where I was posing my models(hey, it's my heater, I can do what I want lol).

Let's take a look!

Spencer looking suave

How can you resist him?

Loved the colors, and how Ashley's rose-like dress compliments the rosed wallpaper

Jessica A's expression is so open and honest, love those eyes!

Here Jessica M's great skintone is so flawless - like butter and her blue eyes go so well with the backdrop!

Jessica M is showing us a more sultry side of her

Did someone say sultry?  Kaleigh is definitely working the sultry wagon here

I think that everyone involved is in agreement to keep this an ongoing thing in the future.  I'm planning on my next trip to Yarmouth to formally give my models copies of our work and talk some shop with my fellow photogs over some good food.

Next week you will see a special blog post of Adam and my coverage of the BMO Hockey Heroes Weekend 2012.  It is going to be a blast!!

But until next time let me know what you think of my first DIY Beauty Dish test, was it a success?

ANSWER: YES.  EMPHATIC YES.

Anywho, more posts coming soon!

Laters,

Michael Carty
Michael Carty Photography Website
Michael Carty Email

Nose To The Grindstone vs. Leaving It The F@#$ Alone

Hey Peeps,

I have a feeling that this may be a little controversial to discuss, but I have experienced it firsthand and find it incredibly fascinating, and first needs to be illustrated by a story from my past.

Years ago, in my misspent early 20's, I actually tried to grow a houseplant.  Buy a pot, soil, some Miracle-Gro, simple right?

NOPE.

I planted six different seeds, kept it watered and by the window, but the soil stayed as barren as a models bikini line.

So being a guy, I instantly forgot about the pot and soil - therefore, I left it sitting by the windowsill to collect dust.

Sometime, in the next few weeks, a few friends and I decided that it was the perfect night for tequila shots with salt/lemon slices(when isn't it?).  The rest of the evening resides in obscured memory and blackmailing photos that will be automatically released to the media at the time of my death.

That's a joke.

Or is it?  You'll see when I croak.

Anywho, a few days later, something the color of vibrant green caught my eye from the windowsill.  

It was a plant sprouting from my pot!!  Finally!  I was growing a houseplant!

But wait, what's that at the base of the sapling? 

Two halves of a lemon seed shell.

...

Do you get it?

One of our tequila lemon seeds was spit serendipitously(did I just create this word?) into the potted soil.  Left alone, it sprouted by itself.

NO tending.  NO watering.  NO ME.

:(  I am Michael's popped bubble of self-gratification.

That's where the lesson began - but let me be clear:

I truly believe that effort is needed to get things done. 

At least a little.

But there comes a time to back the "f" up and let the situation work itself out - there is only so much you can do before you start to bring harm to your project.

So with the plant growing, I suck.

I know the logistics:  soil, water, sun - but that's where I should stop.  

Me personally.  

Other people can go further than I.  I think they're called farmers, gardeners, botanists, etc.

I am not one of them.

The same works in everything you do.  

Work yourself to death at your passions, but in the end you will find yourself spinning your wheels and then - the horror of it! - starting to wonder why you loved your passion in the first place!  OR - the humanity!! - start to hate your passion!!

*Shiver!* 

Step back.  Know when to stop, for you, personally.

I've had those moments myself.

Late nights, editing image after image until they all start to blend together in my coffee-fueled, sleep-deprived stupor.

I don't want to die that way.

I don't want to hate my passion, my work, my life.

I step back.

I still have to remind myself of this.  The traditional order of things is that the effort put in equals the effort coming out, but that is irrelevant now in our world - actually I believe it was never relevant in the first place.  

It's not the amount of effort - but the quality of effort.

Work smarter - not harder.

I sometimes sit day after day in front of my laptop, corresponding to clients, writing blog posts, brainstorming projects, talking to affiliates, cataloging data from my mileage to my HST.  

I FEEL like I'm wasting time, and in a way I am(plans are in work to change this).

I WORRY that I won't get work, clients don't just drop out of the sky right?

But if I leave my laptop for an afternoon, for some reason when I return to it I have at least one message from a lead, past client or product order.  

Maybe it's the perspective, maybe being plugged in skews the incoming traffic because it isn't constant, but whatever it is, it feels better when I step back.  When I spend time away from the grindstone and LIVE for a few hours.  When I come back with rested eyes and settled mind.

So that's my message to you:  Work hard at your passions - until it starts to feel like your working hard.  Then back off for a bit.

If your passion feels like work, you're doing too much.

Am I full of shit?  Tell me where I've gone wrong BRAINIAC!!

Laters,

Michael Carty

Michael Carty Photography Website

Michael Carty Photography Email