It's the final countdown.

Yesterday Nina and I managed to get away for a lunch date. This was the first time in at least a month as she had been on bed rest for the past three weeks. Just last Sunday she was released from her bed rest confinement and now we can resume a more normal lifestyle. That is, until the baby does decide to show up.

So we headed off to Zanatta Vinoteca for an incredible lunch. Fatima da Silva is the chef there (when she's not busy at her own restaurant, Bistro 161) and she creates the most incredible food! The setting of the restaurant is incredible - a vineyard in the country, only five minutes outside of town, with rolling hills and views of the mountains. Not to mention, the weather was perfect - sunny, warm and a nice breeze.

I asked if I could come by later in the day to do some photos of Nina and Kole and was given permission to use the vineyards and farm.



I wanted to get one more maternity type photo shoot in with Nina since we don't know exactly when this baby is going to come out plus I wanted a nice summer look and to include our son Kole.

After lunch we came home and the weather changed. It became very windy. Actually the strongest winds so far this year. I was a bit concerned that this was going to pose a problem with blowing my lighting gear over but I was able to weight it down and all was fine. I have to give some credit to my light stand which was given to me from a friend at the local hospital. It is an old video camera tripod and it is incredible. I'll post pictures one day. It has a very wide stance which gives great stability. At least it was able to keep my speedlite and softbox from toppling over in the gusty wind.

Kole was having a great time running around through the vineyard. It was a challenge trying to keep his attention long enough to get him to cooperate for the photos but it all worked out. I just wish I had the energy to run around with him!

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Work with what you've got.

When life is taking you in the direction it chooses go with it and make the most of it. As my wife is now released from bed rest, we had a routine tests at the hospital just to see how things are coming along. Lucky for us this time, we had the testing done in a birthing/surgical room. Right away I noticed these cool lights hanging from the ceiling. They pivoted all around and you could focus the beam of light from wide to super tight spot light.

So I went about playing with the lights. Really I was getting some more maternity shots as we didn't get a chance to do that while Nina was on bed rest. With these lights I had fun adjusting the intensity and came up with a couple shots I kinda like.

This room had a great '70's vintage look with these light turquoise tiles and this wall clock. Again, all the lighting in these photos is from these surgical lamps and have not been photo shopped or re-edited at all.

I came away with a new respect for continuous lighting. However, I also came away understanding the limitations, such as heat they radiate and the squint factor (having a light shining in your eyes).

What could have been just another visit for tests provided some interesting shots that I would have missed completely if I had not packed my camera. You just never know what opportunities you may stumble upon. 

A couple evenings ago, while Nina was still on bed rest, Kole and I snuck into the back yard for a little fun. I just wanted to play around with some lighting using a speedlite and my softbox and get some silly shots of Kole and myself. I know the photo above is a touch out of focus and I'm over-exposed, but who cares. The photo is about me and my son having fun together.

This was Kole's turn to be a star.

And my turn for a great facebook profile shot...

So what if you are in a situation that you might not think is optimal for pumping out stellar photos. Work with the situation and you will come up with something. And chances are, the situation will be unique and you'll have more interesting photos as a result.

http://www.kurtknock.com/

On a holding pattern.

Sometimes things in life are just beyond your control and you have to accept that. Getting stressed about things you think you need to do is just a waste of energy. You have to live for the now and accept each day as it comes. This is what I decided two weeks ago when my wife was admitted to hospital. She was starting to have contractions 7 weeks in advance of the scheduled due date for our baby. As a result she had to stay in the hospital for 5 days.

Unfortunately, the hospital isn't the most relaxing place to be. Far from a retreat from home or day-spa experience. The whole time Nina was there, her linens were never changed. Blame cutbacks to the health care system or nurses who just didn't deliver? Not for me to say... At least she's home now.

Now that Kole has his mom back at home, life has settled into a holding pattern type of routine. Nina is on strict bed rest. Whenever she stands up she has contractions so she hasn't even made it down our hallway since first returning home 9 days ago. At least I feel like I'm contributing to the experience. I've been doing all the household duties one might expect a family might need, albeit the floors are not as clean as they could be...

Top it off, last night Kole was sick and throwing up from 11:00-1:30. I had a long day. Lots of laundry.

One thing I wish I had was the dreamy pregnant mom and son photo shoot that Nina and I had been planning. Unfortunately life does not always go as planned and this is when you have to sit back and enjoy the ride and enjoy the experience.

I'm pretty sure our newest addition will be joining us in the next week or so. Hopefully we can hold off 7 more days so the baby can be delivered here, in Duncan by our fantastic midwives, Kate and Selina. Otherwise, we'll likely have to ship out to Vancouver... Yuck. Maybe some photos from the helicopter transfer...

At any rate, I'm not getting much chance to take photos. The first photo was taken yesterday when Kole fell asleep in the car while I was trying to get some groceries and errands taken care of. The second photo was on one of our visits with Nina at the hospital and the last was my favorite from the maternity photos that I did get of Nina.

I have managed to sneak out a couple times for photo shoots while Nina's parents have come over to keep an eye on her. This works well and allows me to get some work done. I have more weddings coming up soon and portrait shoots so all will work out. It always does.

http://www.kurtknock.com/

Telling the story.

Wedding photography is new to me. In fact I just shot my first wedding just over a week ago for a fine young couple, Ashley and Bryan.

I had been warned numerous times that weddings can be very stressful and difficult for a beginner. So I prepared by reading a lot of books and on-line sites about wedding photography. Not to mention that I've doing a fair bit of other photog work.

When the wedding day came I was ready early and went to the venue and scouted out locations in case it decided to rain. The rain didn't come but at least I had back-up plans.

Once the ceremony started I just did my thing. I was having a blast. It was similar in some ways to other work I've done. The biggest thing to consider was there were not going to be retakes so I had the get the images right and try not to miss anything.

At a wedding personalities pop up. This little ring barer was a real ham. He was always trying to smile at the camera. I had to sneak up on him to get any candid shots.

After the ceremony we did the formal portraits (which I'm not going to show here) and then moved on to shoot the newly-weds at a private beach.

I wanted to get a variety of shots but not stay too long as this had been a long day and this couple was tired and hungry and they still had the reception to get through.

Once I figured we had some good shots and I was certain we were all at our limits of hunger and thirst, I packed up and drove them back to the reception. Time to party.

Here's that little guy again having fun with his grandpa. At a reception you can find a lot of great photo opportunities if you keep your eyes open and move around. There are so many stories unfolding all at the same time. New relationships, families with new ones on the way, parents seeing their children grow up. So much to take in!

As the night went on, shooting photos became more and more difficult. Yes, I could have cranked the power on my flash but then the images would have had that look like someone took the photo with a point-and-shoot camera. To capture the mood and ambient lighting in near darkness, you have to really work for those good shots! But the results are so worth it!

Thank you Ashley and Bryan for having such faith in me on such a special day!

www.kurtknock.com