Capturing Moments...

Despite the circumstances for going home, it was wonderful to see all of my family and to make it up to see the aging Claire at a whopping 18 months. Fin is now almost 3 and the other little one in the photos is about 2. When sitting behind the camera for children so young I prefer to let them wander and play with their parents. They are all curious about the world around them and I sit back and try to capture that intrigue. It's far too boring to bring them into a laboratory (or a studio) and wave a little stuffed animal above my head for a fleeting moment of happiness...This way I stand back, give only minimal direction and then capture the moments....here are a few of the teasers as I work my way through the editing process...

Headed East

Folks,

I'm headed east and I have already booked a few photoshoots but if you're interested in Photos and are in Moncton between Thursday May 20th until the following Monday or Saint John on Tuesday May 25th we should be able to work out a time. I'm looking forward to working with little Claire again...should be fantastic...

Looking forward to getting back for a few days...

Family Photoshoot

Almost two years ago I shot Brian and Jacqueline's wedding. Today I was back with Jacqueline's side of the family for a big family photoshoot. They are such a genuine family and it was so nice to see all of them again.

Because there were 11 of them, including the dog, I brought Nick Lachance along to assist with the studio portion, to capture some more candid moments outside and to take photos from a few different angles on the posed shots I set up. Their yard is lovely and leads to a beautiful path and that gave us plenty of options.

Today was also a beautiful day which was for the most part overcast - the big softbox in the sky allows for a lot more flexibility...As always, the young kids stole the show... here are a few from today.

Brian and Jacqueline

(one of the many wonderful candid shots Nick was able to catch)

www.canadianmilitaryhistory.ca

The past two weeks have been hectic. With my good friend Jason, I have been spending countless hours on developing, readjusting some code, and mostly populating content for a new website for the Laurier Center for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies.

I knew what I wanted, and between Jason and I we were able to come up with a template that is clean and simple and most importantly does everything the Centre needs.

With the new site we plan to generate more traffic and keep it current. To do this we have put up a blog that will be updated frequently - with over 60 associates, our current schedule has a guest blogger every week over the course of the summer and I'm sure that with the talks and other events we'll be posting 2-3 times per week. This will allow those who follow the activities of the Centre a chance to follow what our many associates are working on.

We have a key spot for videos and I think now that we are recording all of our guest lectures, it will give those who because of schedule or geography can't make it, a chance to see the talks.

Right now we're working out solutions for the archives and back issues of the journal but for now we have a link back to the old setup which is actually pretty user friendly and a testament to the efforts of the webmasters who came before. Anyway I hope you take a look and stay up to date on what we're doing to push the medium of history into the 21st Century.

I'm excited that this project has turned out so well and I can't wait to keep working on it throughout the year.

The Private Photo Collection of Ian Tate

Over the last 8 months I've really narrowed the focus of my business to include three main services. Photography, Design and Research. I have some clients who require an overlap of those services. Roger Sarty, one of Canada's most prolific Naval historians, had recently hired me to track down the private image collection of Sub Lieutenant Ian Tate. Today we traveled to Port Hope, Ontario and were greeted by his son Davidson. Tate was an amateur photographer and one of only two officers to survive the sinking of HMCS Valleyfield, the only Canadian frigate lost during the war. The images that he captured are, according to Roger Sarty, the best he has ever seen outlining the Battle in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, where German U-Boats wreaked havoc on allied shipping for a good deal of 1942. The collection was printed in a series of 4 scrapbooks which also contain detailed dates and captions. These photos allowed Roger to gain a more concrete understanding of the times and places. It was great fun to watch him fly through the photos with the excitement of kid in a candy shop. He highlighted the shots he needed and with the help of Davidson, I took down the captions and scanned the original photos. I had a brilliant scanned shot of the convoy that I wanted to put up but it has never been published and so instead I'm putting up the photo of Tate aboard 0-0064, October 2, 1942. He is escorting the Gaspe-Rimoski convoy. With over 100 photos in our collection for the book, today was a brilliant day. Because of the connection, Sarty's soon to be released book on the St. Lawrence will feature never before seen photos of one of the closest war ever came to Canadian soil during the Second World War.

Operational Military History series

At the Conference we launched an Operational Military History series. For students, this is a gold mine of information in a small booklet that is very affordable. These collections are an essay ready to be written or add valuable statical data and context to an argument. The first in the series gives a brief introduction British Army Operational Research. At the very least these books highlight that detailed analysis of a problem has a way of discrediting long held "truths" about military operations. In any event, as Terry Copp quite rightly points out, no military would even think about engaging the enemy without a operational research team in place.

21st Military History Colloquium

This past weekend the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies held the 21st Annual Military History Colloquium. The conference, which was the first of its kind for military historians in Canada, always attracts the who's who of military historians from essentially the Easter part of Canada through to Ontario. It's a fantastic event which provides an outlet for graduate students and professors alike to present their latest material. It also allows for book launches etc... In honour of this weekend I'm posting one of the photos I've held back in a series called "The Enduring Memory of War." Hope you enjoy it.

I really haven't been as active with my blog or my camera over the last month, but that is all about to change with a few family photoshoots lined up over the summer. Also I plan to get out a bit more and just experience my new camera and the waterloo region.