CROSSROADS PHOTOGRAPHY

Back from the Adventure

2009-11-06T15:22:00.000-08:00

We have returned!It has been a very busy couple of months which has made it impossible to post anything or get any kind of photographic work done. I am back now though and excited to say that i am going to be putting up a new blog soon and opening up a page for my photography on facebook. I will keep you posted ( yes i know lame pun). I am also in the process of editing some of our photos from our honeymoon. I have lots of stories to tell. Ma Salamma

Geyser in Iceland

E-session Kyle and Jes

2009-09-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

My travel companion and bridesmaid has a wedding of her own to plan for the coming month of October. A few weeks ago we went out and took some photos for their engagement. It was fun doing some modern contemporary photos at the skatepark. I wish you both the best in your life and adventures!

Oh brother where art thou!

2009-08-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

My brother has now disappeared into the depths of holy matrimony. Joel Aaron Fricke wed Heather Gannon in a touching ceremony in Burnaby B.C only a week and a half ago. The bride cried the groom basically cried too and it was all very emotional. Since their wedding Joel has been MIA and apparently has ended up somewhere in California. All communication and contact has ceased. Here are a few of the highlights so far edited from their beautiful day hopefully we will know soon what has happened to them. Love you guys!
Don't forget to leave me a comment

Fernie!

2009-07-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful Freshphoto shoot I was able to go along on in picturesque Fernie B.C. It helped that the bride and groom were photogenic and beautiful from the outside in. Check out freshphotos.ca for all the good shots. Here were a few of my second shooting attempts in between trying to figure out how to use a light reflector without blinding the bride. Hope you like them!

My Turn

2009-07-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

I have gotten to photograph and blog about a lot of different events lately. E-sessions, weddings, parties etc.. but now i have something to write about me!Last weekend in a very well though out romantic proposal My farmboy Kelly asked me to marry him. Closely followed by some well timed fire works i said yes! The wedding is coming up soon but we already had Carmen take some pictures of us on a rainy day with some new york inspired architectural pictures. Thanks for the pics Carmen they make me so happy.

First Wedding of the Season

2009-06-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

I was able to go along with Fresh photos on the weekend and be the second shooter for a fun wedding with an old hollywood feeling. I learnt a lot and had a blast doing it. Go over to freshphotos.ca or freshphotos.blogspot.com to see the real magic from the wedding in the meantime here are a few of my favorites so far of the shots i was able to make in behalf of freshphotos.

Back to My Roots

2009-06-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my parents Anniversary. It kind of snuck up on me as important events often do. I ended up getting a chance to take a few photos of them in the field though quickly since they needed a photo for someone's scrap book project. So here is my mom and her farm boy. And as you can see my dad still likes to use big machines... that is his lawn mower. So HAPPY ANNIVERSARY and thank you for everything you have done for me

Wedding Season Kickoff

2009-06-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun week of photoshoots. This last weekend kelly came out from Sask and we went to see my mentor carmen adams of freshphotos who did some new york inspired photos of us. I can't wait to see the results. This weekend i also have the privillage of going on freshphotos first wedding shoot of the year as the assistant. It should be a blast! Go check out her site at www.freshphotos.ca to see some of her work and don't forget to follow her blog to see all the new photos that will soon be posted.

Ladies and Gentleman the KING has ARRIVED!

2009-06-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

Remember my friend Tanya from a few months back? Well her and her husband Greg just had their son Ethan Gregory and he is so cute! Emphasis on the cute. We had a bit of fun with him but being a growing boy he just wanted to eat. We did manage to get him to grace us with a few of his poses and here are the results..

Graduation Day

2009-06-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

I love small towns! We may not have a mall or a booster juice but when it comes time for grad everyone in the whole town knows about it. This year i knew quite a few of the grads and one of them is part of my extended family of the Mcgillivray's. Jordynn was a beautiful grad with eyes that were amazing to capture. Here are some of the pics of her and her family as well as the sister of one of the grads. All in all it was a great day for a photo shoot.

Dancing in the Moonlight

2009-06-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

How do you put together an engagement party for your brother and his fiancee in a week? With lights, pillars, tents, help, and perfect weather. For something so last minute i must say this party turned out to be an event that could have come right out of the Hamptons. Summer dresses and swathers are an odd combination but somehow with the right touches it all seemed to work. Only 2 more months until the real deal!!

Isn't Life Just Dandy!!

2009-05-20T20:32:00.001-07:00

Here are a few shots of the Dandy Family that i had the opportunity to take a few weeks ago. It was tons of fun running after this very photogenic family. Happy Anniversary Travis and Chantal Congratulations on raising such a beautiful family.

Farm Life

2009-05-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

I took a trip out to Saskatchewan for the last few days and.... it snowed. Other then that though it was beautiful and sunny. Saskatoon is very nice city with a lot of character. We took a trip out to the Arnett farm to visit my friends nieces and nephews and play a little golf. Here are a few results.

Isn't life DANDY

2009-05-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

Anyone want to go to a formal?

2009-04-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

With everyone gearing up for grad you just can help thinking about your graduation. Ok mine wasn't really that long ago but sometimes you just want to get all dressed up to the nines in a floor length gown again. So that is exactly what we did. Courtesy of friends Sam and Jordan we all got to get decked out in old grad and bridesmaid dresses and have a dance. Beautiful dresses, bow ties, and long white gloves were all over the dance floor for a night of fun. Here are some of the memories.

More Pics

2009-04-21T22:00:00.001-07:00

E-Session

2009-04-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Joel and Heather and I went down to White Rock for a little fun in the sun. I don't know how we managed to find sun because only an hour earlier the lower mainland was hit with a huge downpour and a hailstorm. Somehow though the sun came out for some beautiful pictures on the boardwalk. It is a little wierd seeing my brother in love and preparing to get married but i guess we all grow up someday. I plan on doing it kicking and screaming all the way. Here are some of the results.

Baby Fever

2009-04-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

It is spring out there! So many different things remind you of that every day when you step out the door. Fresh air, warm sun, and bellies everywhere ready to burst. Tira and I out in service juts missed out on watching a miracle of birth the other day which definately made her a little T/o'd. I did get the chance to spend some time with my friend though whose baby just seems to want to grow up as soon as possible. We had some fun on a warm sunny day in good ol Grand Forks together. Here are some shots..

Pretty Spring Day

2009-04-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

The days have been beautiful and have made me inspired to get out there and take pictures. Thankfully my adopted little sister Starsha was in town and I was able to convince her to let me take some pictures of her. Here are some of the results. You look good Starsha don't be overly critical hehe.

Beach Beauties

2009-04-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Somehow i managed to arrive back in Canada with extremely good timing. The weather is AMAZING! I still miss my sunny San Juan Del Sur to the south but I am definately enjoying the fresh smell of spring that is in the air. Of course this does make everyone become twitterpated. This would include my brother Joel and his fiancee Heather. Yes they are just newly engaged. Congratulations you two. I am sure engagement pictures are soon to come. For now here are some pictures of my friends Chloe and Karina on the beach. It definatley was not hard to take pretty pictures of these 2 beauties from Spain.

Adventure to Colon

2009-03-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

We went on a 40 km trek to Colon. We had an amazing time doing unassigned territory but it was completely worth it. We survived jungles, crossed rivers, and bathed with buckets drawn up from wells. We preached to a few communities and were able to host a meeting in the public school. One women who i invited came to the meeting. She had 10 kids and was so nice to us giving us fish and fruit and doing our laundry. I have definately eaten more rice and beans to last me a lifetime. In the end it was a beautiful experience and it was an emotional goodbye. We will never forget those nicaraguan brothers and sisters.

Group shot

Our meeting in the public school Bridge from Colon to Old Colon out in the predicar * ministry

Braving the Jellies

2009-02-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy few weeks. We love our congregation and this town. We had 2 girls from Spain living with us for 10 days o and became very close friends with them. We also have gotten really close to all the couples and need greaters from other countries who serve in our hall. Between going to another town called Cartenas to help out the 3 publishers and have adventures and going surefing with our japanese brothers life has been full of fun. The beaches have all of a sudden become a home for jelly fish though so its a little bit interesting going for runs on the bay in the morning. Here are a few pictures of our latest adventures...

The fire dancers on the beach in front of our house

In service in Cartenas with Joaquin and Carolina

Fun times with friends at Blythe and Andras house ( kind of a welcome here for Monica and Alan from Czech Republic)

This is the Circus we woke up to in our back yard. Yes at the bottom of my stairs there were 3 ostritches, a monkey and a lion ... oh and a midget that i ended up placing a tract with.

A agua mala or jelly fish on the beach

Our temporary roomates from Spain Chole and Karina Yoshito an MS in our hall stretching for getting ready to hit the big waves of maderas

A few pics of our life

2009-02-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

Our Kingdom hall in San Juan Del Sur

In our kitchen

Our House.. we are on the second floor

Home Sweet Home

2009-02-10T12:21:00.001-08:00

San Juan Del Sur

A beautiful town on the pacific coast of Nicaragua is where we have now made our home. This is the view in front of the apartment we are moving into on Friday. It is a perfect place for surfing and dirtbiking and service.. what more could you want!

Beach Boys Move Over

2009-02-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tamarindo Sunset

Tamarindo Costa Rica is definately the highlight of this country. A fun california esque surf town with 70's shops, and surf shops all over. Today I caught my first waves and had a blast. The water was a little too cold for me to go for long and i definately have some huge bruises on my knees

(my surfing skills ... beginner style)

but it was completely worth it. It was very windy today which made it not the most ideal day for learning but i could definately get used to surfing every day. I guess that's the life most people want though isn't it...

Volcanoe´s In the Mist...

2009-02-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

right-massive waterfall ( sarcastic) left- Jes and lake
arenal in the background

That sounds quite poetic and beautiful but in reality it just means you can´t see the volcano for all of the rain and clouds. It really isn´t the charming Dante´s Peak of a towns fault that it was raining while we are here, but it was a bit of a disappointement. La Fortuna and Volcan Arenal is a beautiful area with so many awesome possibilities of things to do. The only problem is that finding the legitimate tour companies is harder then finding the lava amongst all of the rain. Which well was impossible. We definately have quite the story to tell when we get back, hopefully by that time it will be the kind that when we tell it we will see how ridiculous it was and not be able to stop laughing. Just know that we are very happy to be leaving Costa Rica by the end of the week. One more stop in Costa the beach in Tamarindo, hopefully everything will go well there, and we won´t have to worry to much about con artists can´t wait for sun sand and surf

my umbrella

the volcano we didn´t see

Leaving Cahuita and on to San Jose

2009-02-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

SAN JOSE

We went to the meeting in Cahuita which turned out to be a milestone for the people there. The very first congregation in Costa Rica was in the english and it was in Cahuita but in the mid 80´s it was disbanded. We attended the very first meeting in english in Cahuita since that time. There were 29 in attendance including the one of the first brothers to learn the truth in all of Costa Rica. We were taken out for dinner by a very sweet family from Georgia. The next day we headed to San Jose. I don´t know how to explain San Jose it is is just ... a city. There isn´t a lot of charm or anything it is just there. We were able to go to Bethel there which was very beautiful. We also got a tour of the assembly hall. San Jose is very expensive ( well most of costa rica is expensive) and I definately got into quite the tiff with a taxi driver who charged me 60 dollars for a 10 block cab ride to the bus station. In the end though San Jose was not as bad as i had been told it was. We did manage to find some little coffee shops downtown and to figure out .. well more like experiment on the bus system there.

We definately got lost but we got to see a lot of the city and we made it home eventually. We are now in the town of La Fortuna for a little bit of an adventure on the volcano .. I am REALLY EXCITED FOR TODAY!!!

( Above pic of bethel courtyard. right- Us on bethel property)

COSTA RICA!!

2009-01-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

We had to say goodbye to Panama this morning. We went out with a bang though because our friend Rebekah in Bocas was house sitting an absoloutely amazing house right on the ocean with a pool that was breathtaking even by American-Canadian standards. That a lot of fun. Today we took a boat off of the island and headed up the road to Costa Rica. We had to cross an old railway bridge on foot ( which was especially scary because we had to share the bridge with a semi truck) to get to the immigration building for entrance into costa rica. From their we took a taxi to a little sleepy town called cahuita where we found a nice little cabina on the ocean. We are planning on staying here until sunday. There is a national park here so i am looking forward to exploring a little in the morning. Adios

Plane over Panama

2009-01-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

This is our video from the tiny plane we took back from the san blas area to civilization .. you can see some of the jungle ( no man´s land) and some of the little islands

Bocas del Toro

2009-01-29T11:43:00.000-08:00

We are just spending our last night in Bocas del toro. We have been here for 4 days and have had an amazing time. It started off as a bit of a terrible adventure when we got stuck on a bus across the country for 14 hours ( our bus broke down in the middle of the night). We arrived in a little town called almirante where we took a boat to the main island colon of bocas del toro archipleago. It is a cool little town with a surfer feel to it. We ran into some witnesses who were out in service on our first day here and made plans to meet up with them the next day at the kingdom hall for service. That same day we attempted to get to drago beach on the other side of the island. When we finally got there we were so hungry that we ended up taking a boat to a restaurant on the water and we spent so much time there that we didn´t have time or any sun left to go back to the beach haha. We did get to see a dolphin swimming in the water though while we were eating!! The next day it poured as in torrential down pour but we still went out in service with 3 sweet girls from wisconsin kaeli, akela, and callie ( tongue twister). We were also invited to sleep at 2 girls house Jamie and Rebecca from Ohio which has been a lot of fun. We went to the english meeting last night which consisted of 13 of us ( with a little 5 year old on mic´s) and 2 brothers for all the parts. We all had a huge part in the meeting with all of the questions and answers. Today we took a boat to bastimentos an island nearby and we went in service there. It was very hot and very muddy and Jessica and i were quite covered in mud by the end of it all but i was able to start 3 bible studies with jamaicans that spoke english but read in spanish which i handed over to a couple of the girls here. We love Panama it will be hard to say goodbye to it tomorrow....

Here is a random video from our trip

2009-01-26T11:11:00.000-08:00

I am just trying to see if this works im not even sure which video this is...

Kuna Say - Dee ge dee

2009-01-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

Dee ge De !!! That means hello in Kuna the indigenous tribe on the San Blas islands that we went to visit. It felt as if we had just stepped onto the pages of National Geographic. It was a day full of adventure starting with a crazy jeep ride through the mountains in which we could look over and see the forboding jumgle of the Darien Gap ( no man{s land). Afterwards we took a boat ( if you could call it a boat it was more of a canoe made out of old boards) through the jumgle to the open sea. We had to constantly bail out the boat because it had so many holes in it and we had to actually jump into another boat half way but we arrived at the villiage of the Kuna finally. It was amazing the way that their culture is completely unique and fairly untouched by western civilization. There was no room for us in the hotel so we were shipped off ( not even told what was going on because of course no one speaks spanish they speak Kuna) to the Devils Island where the Kuna Grandpa Chime lives... and no one else... it really is just a desert island. There was not even a bathroom just a hut with some hammocks. (Although the Kuna don{t have much even in their town just huts over top of the water with a hole into the ocean for a bathroom). So we made a fire using palm trees and when that died we played with the phosphercent planktin( i can{t spell) in the water. We burnt very bad.. i have never felt sun so intense somewhere before. The next day we wound our way back to the Kunas island through the 50 other islands made up of sometimes only one palm tree and sand... but alas there was still no room for us in the designated toursit huts.. so we again did something tourists don{t normally get to do ... we stayed with an old kuna women in her hut she gave up the hammocks in her room for us. The next day we went by boat to catch a tiny plane so that we could get back to panama city. We are here now.. I hope you all enjoy the pictures!!!

Panama City at night from Casco Viejo

In the jumgles of Panama

River ride upriver Carti The Kuna Indians Villiage Kuna Women Mee me whose hut we slept in Jes in amongst the Kuna´s huts in Carti La isla Diablo we ate barracuda and spent the night on a desserted island

Panama City Pics..... FINALLY!!!

2009-01-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

Panama Viejo the ruins of the original Panama City sacked by Captain Morgan.

View from our bathroom in Casco Viejo at lunas castle

View from our balcony of the panama skyline in casco viejo

PANAMA CANAL.. We saw 2 ships go through

Crossroads of the World

2009-01-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

Hola
Jes and I are in Panama !! we love it here. We didnt have to many complications getting here. OUr only problems were having to race to catch our flight in new jersey and accidentlty lockimg our passports in a safe that we did not know how to work in our hotel in panama. We have already been to the canal and toi panama viejo the old part of panama that captain morgan sacked full of ruins. WE are happy in our place at lnas castle in casco viejo and we are leaving for san blas islands tomorrow where the kuna indian tribles live. Our pics are not uplaoding properly so i will try to post some later.
Adios

One Week To Go

2009-01-11T16:11:00.001-08:00

With only one week to go i have been so busy getting all of my life organized. In getting everything together i'm afraid that i haven't had a lot of time to work on my photos or school work. I did manage to get out in the snow one day and take some pictures of my mom. Here are a couple of my favorites. Enjoy!

So... So What

2008-12-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

Life has hit another crossroad for me, a little bit of a scary one but somewhat empowering. I was also informed of some travel warnings for panama so it will be interesting to see what happens once we get there. I can't believe the little amount of snow we have when it is DECEMBER. It kind of makes me sad because there is something about snow that just makes you a little bit happier. Although i guess i am kind of cheating because i am leaving for the tropics probably only weeks after we get our first dump of snow so i won't have time to get sick of it. I went for a walk with my friend sue this weekend and ended up doing an impromptu photoshoot. Here are a couple of fun pictures i took of her...

nothin

2008-12-02T13:28:00.001-08:00

"Life Is either a daring adventure or nothing..."

2008-12-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

CENTRAL AMERICA HERE WE COME!!!!

We have our tickets booked to panama and I am excited about all of the adventures we are about to embark upon, and all of the photographic marvels i am about to stumble across. The countdown begins only 49 more sleeps!!!

I have not had a chance to o any recent photo shoots so here are a couple more favorites of mine.

Your Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile

2008-11-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

Recently I ran across some good advice from a very unsuspecting source.. the musical annie! That little red head sure had a good attitude in life. Just remember that the sun always comes out tomorrow... and it's a hard knock life.

I had the awesome opportunity of taking some family photos for Carmen. They are a pretty cute family and are so photogenic. Check out some more photos from the session at freshphotos.ca

My Mentor

2008-11-20T16:15:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do a post about Fresh Photography. I have the awesome opportunity of getting to assist, and learn from Carmen Adams of Fresh Photography. Having the opportunity to work alongside someone who has so many new and inspiring ideas is awesome. Check out her website at www.freshphotos.ca...My pictures will look terrible after you look at hers.

The Journey Begins

2008-11-17T15:33:00.000-08:00

Life is full of crossroads, new beginnings, all melding together who we are, into who we will become. I like to document these crossroads in my life and i hope that some of you will allow me to document yours. Let the journey begin....