Kerr Photography - Victoria, BC, Professional Photographer » Updates

The End of the Season – Movember

Matthew — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 01:00:28 +0000

I know, I’m a little behind the ball here. In any case, it doesn’t make a difference whether I post this now or later. This past Movember was the most successful Movember to date!
First off, I’d like to thank all the donors who helped me raise over $200.00 towards men’s health and prostate cancer:

Adriana Durian
Cathy and Bruce Kerr
Liz Kerr
Phil Jolley
Eve Ouradou
Brianne Hauff
Courtney Fiala
Suzanne Ives and Rolf Ludwig
Grant Schwartzentruber
Kris Klusmeier
And a few other anonymous donors

THANK YOU!
Second, to all those people around the world who helped raise over $111,000,000.00! And especially in Canada, we helped raise over $39,000,000.00! That’s about $160.00/moustache. Those are some expensive faces out there. All of these totals can be found by going to the “Mo Money” page at the official Movember website.

Movember 2011

Matthew — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:42:44 +0000

As some of you may know, Movember is the month formally known as November. The name was changed in in 2003 in Melbourne, Australia when a couple of “Bros” took it upon themselves to change the face of men’s health. That year there were 30 participants. Since then there has been over 1.1 Million registrants at Movember.com and over $176 million raised globally.

The goal is to change established habits and attitudes men have about their health. Through education about the health risks they face, getting them to act on that knowledge thereby increasing their chances of early detection, diagnosis and treatment. In 2010, nearly 119,000 Canadian Mo Bros and Mo Sistas got on board, raising $22.3 million CAD. This year, I will join them and I would love for you to assist me.

Over the next month, I will be growing, no, cultivating a mustache in support of prostate cancer and men’s health. I’ll be updating my status on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ as much as possible so you can follow along in awe. If you would like to support the cause, head on over to my donation page and drop some coin.

For more information about Movember go here or here. Pictured above is Justin Guthrie, Movember veteran (no that’s not his real ‘stache).

Expiration

Matthew — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:36:53 +0000

So, I was over in Vancouver a couple weeks ago (not for a hockey game) and was able to spend the morning with my lady and a friend of her family-friend who oddly enough went to the same photography school as I did. We wandered down to Granville Island and had some lunch in the market and then cruised on over the bridge. I, for the first time (just before the wedding) took my Minolta out to play. These are two of my favourite shots from that trip.

We didn’t just go over for Granville Island market food, we actually went over to see the musical Wicked. If you ever, ever get a chance to see it, I recommend it with the highest of all recommendations.

I like this. Thoughts? Post them in the comments box!

Photogaphers vs. The Picture-Takers

Matthew — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:28:50 +0000

How easy is it to take a picture, run it through a quick editing program and then share it with the world without taking a step. 10 years ago, it would have been impossible. Today, however, with any common mobile phone, you can take a picture, add an effect with Photoshop Express or another similar App and then upload it to Facebook, Twitpic, Flickr, or any other choice of image sharing social media sites. I say image because I find that over 80% of the material on the web today is a relay of information. It’s an easy way to tell someone about a cool bench to eat lunch at or, show off who you just met.

Since we get bombarded with images every day, does that make us more sensitive to art? Or are we desensitized to this form of art because we may just pass it off as “another image to digest”. It’s a good thing that these image sharing sites are as accessible as they are. For example, a website like Flickr has been used by thousands of amateurs who want to get feedback on their work by other, like minded amateurs or professionals, who use that service. And they have received feedback. Getty now offers Flickr members the option of licensing their images, which not only helps amateurs who take amazing pictures get noticed, but also acts as a deterrent for thieves who want to “use” an image without paying for it.
This hasn’t only affected online sharing tools. It’s affected the way camera manufacturers are bringing out new products. Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus all have had to step up their game in the amateur SLR division so they can stay ahead. The accessibility of cameras has sparked an interest in so many people that they too want to be photographers in their own right and the platform of manufacturers and websites has allowed that to happen.
So, have we been desensitized? I don’t think so. I use the vast amount of images on the internet to build up a library that I can use to reference to for inspiration of myself, or a model. I can send a link to a model and ask them to have “that look” or in the style of “this picture”. Without the mobile devices we have today, it wouldn’t be possible to bring these up in the middle of a shoot. We have to remember that what distinguishes a photographer from a “picture-taker” is the ability to have someone want to hang your photograph on the wall. I think that photography as an art form has grown and continues to grow. I also think that photography as a communication tool to share information, and pass on a cool locale where you can eat lunch, has grown and continues to do so as well. After all, a friend of mine said to me, “a picture is worth a thousand words, but try saying that with a picture”.

Facebook vs. the Job Interview

Matthew — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:21:58 +0000

We’ve all been told before that story of how someone was not hired (or fired, demoted, sued, etc.) because of something that their soon-to-be employer (or former employer) saw on Facebook or some other social media site. It’s not uncommon for an employer to “Google” an applicant prior to offering them a job. So, you’ve gone and “removed” all that incriminating evidence. Now what? My thoughts are that you should flood it with good stuff. The stuff that employers want to see from a bright, committed, respectable and trustworthy team player such as yourself. I’d start off with a great profile picture from Kerr Photography (it’s the first thing I look at).

Who would you hire?

Book your portrait session with Kerr Photography before the end of February and receive 20% off the sitting fee. Refer a friend and I’ll give you another 10% back! Get your quote on prices now!

Photos By…

Matthew — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:00:22 +0000

One photographic aspect of my life that I’ve been struggling with for the past couple weeks is my editing. That is, narrowing down which images are the best, worst, alright, etc. I have been trying to decide on a couple of pictures for the “Photos By…” competition that the Victoria Boulevard Magazine hosts each year. It’s purpose is to focus on more personal images, rather than professional work. In that case, I’ve chosen to go with some images that speak as to what I’ve done over the past year.
The first image (shown above) is something that I worked on very early in the year. I was inspired by my 4×5 work that I had accomplished in school, and having a 4×5 film holder with no camera was getting me down. So I made a camera and produced the above image of the Victoria Skyline. The next two images were taken while I was in Australia and New Zealand respectively.
The first image is from Cape Byron, on the east coast of Australia. The picture was taken looking southwest from the most easterly point of mainland Australia. The closest we were to home (via longtitude) since we arrived in Cairns. It points at the journey ahead; beautiful, rugged, and raw. The second image is from South Island, New Zealand. In an area known as Fiordland. The view is of Eglinton Valley and the Earl Mountains. A peaceful serenity. It was the end of our trip and in less than a week from taking this picture, I would be back home in Victoria.

(click on images to enlarge)

Graduation Photos!

Matthew — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:22:26 +0000

Are you graduating this year? Know somebody who is graduating this year? If it’s high school, college, university or kindergarten, pictures of this special occasion are becoming more and more popular.Booking starts now, and it’s as easy as emailing contact@kerrphotography.ca and requesting a quote. Prom package pricing starts at only $60, packages can be found here. Don’t want a package? Not a worry, just email with the pictures you want. It’s my belief that your pictures should be fun! Not a boring, sit-in-front-of-a-lame-library-backdrop shot, but rather an expression of who you are! Among the prom and grad promotional pricing you’ll also find wedding packages for spring and summer of 2010 and family portrait packages.

Northern Hemisphere

Matthew — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 01:56:32 +0000

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I’m home from my travel this “fall” down in Australia and New Zealand. I’m going to be going hard over the next couple of weeks on the pictures that I took down there and I’ll be setting up a small gallery that I’ll link to at that time. Over the next month or two I’m also going to be putting out a “casting call” of sorts for some photo ideas that I thought of during my inspirational trip, so if you’re interested in finding out what those may be or how you can be involved, message me on Facebook or email me. Thanks for being patient with me while I completely ignored this blog on my trip and look forward to more exciting things to come in the new year!

Matthew

Australia

Matthew — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:45:32 +0000

As of September 1^st, 2010 my girlfriend and I will be making a trip down south. We’re going to be starting in Cairns and heading south to Melbourne. Once we reach Melbourne, we will hop over to Auckland, NZ for a couple weeks and then we should be on our way home.
What camera(s) will I be taking? Well, sadly only 2. I went out and purchased a small PHD Camera (Push Here Dummy) for the majority of my pictures. I’m also taking my iPhone. Yes, it’s a camera too and yes, I like taking pictures with it. The camera that I purchased (for you gear junkies out there) is the Panasonic LX3. It’s essentially the Canon G10 but with an f/2.0 Leica lens.

For those of you who want to keep track of me while I’m down there, I’m going to try and update my blog and my twitter feed as often as possible. I’ll also be posting pictures as much as possible too. If anybody is in dire need of me email would probably work best as I won’t have a real phone with me.

It’s been a while, I’m here at last

Matthew — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:00:42 +0000

Unfortunately, due to my crazy schedule that I’ve run myself through over the past few months, I’ve had little to no time to shoot or schedule a shoot; edit anything; or, just outright, blog about it.

First, the graduate and puppy:

My Dad just graduated from the Royal Roads University with a Masters of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management, we call him MADEM. Second, my sister surprised him with a visit from Calgary and she brought her 11 week old puppy Siesta.

The next couple of pictures are just some crazy high ISO shots from a birthday party that I attended the following night: