Peace Bridge People - ACAD Documentary Photography Course

What a week!  Spent the first five days in an ACAD Documentary Photography course with Todd Korol. Then ended it with a bang yesterday rushing around downtown trying to take in everything that was going on (see next blog for yesterday's details).

The ACAD Documentary Photography course was amazing.  Five days of full time photography instruction.  We each created a topic we wanted to document and then spent three days shooting.  My topic was Peace Bridge People. Each day of shooting I went out in the morning to the bridge and, based on Todd's direction, tried to take the best people photos I could.  My focus veered a bit when Todd suggested I also do some shots of the bridge itself, but for the most part I stuck with trying to find interesting people to do portraits of.  

  

The first day was a struggle.  Downtown workers are fairly... um... can I say boring?  The second day was better.  Todd challenged me to talk to at least two people and ask to take their photos.  Although I talked to a few people, I only took two people portraits and one dog (the owner didn't want his picture taken).

The third day was much better.  I lucked out with two buskers, someone who wanted their photo taken, a tourist couple from China who spoke no English, and a young traveler from Montana who also shoots with a Pentax K-5.  

I watched the Chinese couple take photos of each other; one shooting from the river bank while the other posed on the bridge.  When they both came on the bridge I pantomimed that I wanted to take their photo... point at camera, point at them, point at myself. First they handed me their iPhone, then let me take a photo with my camera.  

The young fellow, Chuck Manley from Montana, was fun to talk to and a wealth of camera knowledge!  Chuck was standing across from me, shooting down the bridge, when I noticed the logo on his strap.  "Pentax!" I yelled pointing at his camera.  He laughed and said we were probably the only two Pentax camera users in the world.  Turns out his buddy, who owns a bus that runs on vegetable oil, suggested that they go to Calgary.  On his blog he has a great entry, How to be a great photographer without buying a new camera.  Turns out I bumped into him again at Shaw Millennium Park at the end of the Parade of Chariots.  He tapped me on my shoulder and I have to admit it took me a few seconds before I recognized him.  As he walked away I noticed one of his friends, dressed as a purple fairy, was a busker I shot a portrait of in Kensington this week.  Wild coincidences.