Urban Oasis

Old Oak Tree...

Hillside

Reflective Lake

Portland Skyline

Doug Mitchell Arena

Recent Work

Well, it's been a little while since I have posted. I have busy with a number of new endeavours which has left blogging on the back burner.... though I seem to have found a minute or two this evening to update with a new photo. This is from a project I was working on with a dear friend who has gone out on his own with event design. We worked tirelessly on a number of table settings.... low and behold, this has to be one of my favourite shots! I absolutely love the colors it presents. I have got to be the biggest suck for the details in a shoot.....

Competition vs. Motivation

I recently have decided to join a photography group in Vancouver. What a great way to get out and shoot. Our assignment this month was Arthur Erickson, which took me out at all hours of the night and day shooting different styles. This was my submission for the critique, though the final paper product is much better than what you see on your screen... because I have also discovered an absolutely AMAZING processing technique that I am LOVING!! I have something up my sleeve for my next shoot that is going to blow my past shooting out of the water... which I am stoked about too! Can't wait! Oh the joyz of the creative juices flowing! Bring on the motivators and competition!

Balancing Act

Okay, so my last post stated the fact that I have gone back to work. It's true. I could not be any happier. Though I gotta tell you that it is truly a balancing act. We have two children, a seven year old marvelous boy and an eight month old stunning baby girl. It's a balancing act trying to get everything ready and put together in order for everyone to be out the door and to their respective corners.... husband out the door to the office by six, me and the kids out the door by seven-thirty (hoping that I have everything needed for their day with a dear friend of mine). You forget what is like having a baby when your oldest is seven.... I think I was about four month old when I remembered all the work babies took!! But Anita keeps telling me that I am 'supermom'..... hopefully it doesn't all come tumbling down..... I don't think I would know how to put it all back together again! It's way too beautiful the way it is right now.... and it is only going to get better!

Coffee Break

I think every girl deserves a break everyone once in a while. Recently I have gone back to a 'real' job... which I am LOVING! It is a part time position as a treatment coordinator/marketing guru in a high end cosmetic dental office. Love love love the people that I am working with... and it definately helps that I think the dentist is amazing! I love a good dentist... I think everyone needs one in their back pocket.

But in the meantime, I am still a mom and a women... who LOVES coffee and photography! What a better way to combine the two. The inspiration came from my lovely friend Chris (who I have adored since the day I met him!) He is one of the most amazing sylists that I am blessed to spend my time with.... and are going to combine our efforts in real short order. Soooo excited! I thought of him specifically when I put this shot together! Cheers to great friends, amazing jobs, fantabulous family... and the love of creativity, and boy how I am addicted to it!

Shuswap

There is a beauty about the Shuswap area that so many people overlook when they come out for their vacation. It tends to get a little crazy with young individuals coming out to let go of some pent up energy and issues through liquid beverages..... I have been known to be one of those silly people myself. Though bless the process of pregnancy and motherhood, I have spent the last two years really having an opportunity to enjoy what it is that the area has to offer outside the cold damp surrounds of the 'porceline queen'. Some of that beauty is handed to me on a silver platter as we are located right on the lake.... bless the good Lord above, and my husband too!!

Flying Kites

Capturing the pure joy in a childs face is the optimal reward for any photographer!

Cheerios...

All too often, we watch our children grow up right before our eyes, though don't always have the time or opportunity to sit and watch them with a camera aimed to capture every last move. Sometimes you have to force yourself to do it in between loads of dishes and laundry.... and then spend another hour on the computer posting it on your blog to show the world!! Oh, how we find time to appreciate the beauty of our children and then find the time to tell the world.... all while the dishes pile up and the laundry goes without being folded!!

West Coast Living...

As you read in a recent post, we made a trip back home to the West Coast. Typical west coast style we hit the water.... and this is what we found! Thanks Dad for the fantastic boat trip.... and thank you Neeter for being such a great shooting partner! The only thing this site is missing is the smells and the sounds!!

Lily

I really enjoyed photographing my folks fish pond in the front of their home. The lilies were just opening when we arrived in the mid morning... when we returned from our adventures, they were fully opened! I cropped this shot and gave it a bit of a dry brush application..... LOVE IT!

Tofino

It is recently that I was given the honour to introduce one of the dearest places on earth to one of my dearest friends! You see, my friend Anita had never been to Tofino. Some of you may know that this is my home town, and the homestead of my family since 1905.

Anita had been having some difficulties with her new gear and was wanting to come out for a weekend so that we could spend some time out in the field getting her familiarized with some of the manual settings and all the other greek language that comes along with photography!

She arrived on Thursday and we were promptly off to the photography store spending all her hard earned money getting some much needed gear for the weekend, then Friday morning we hit the road. I gotta tell you that in all my years of travelling back and forth, this has to have been my longest trip ever.... it took us 13 hours to travel those roads. After two hours in the ferry lineup, a trip to Chapters in Nanaimo, an hour long shooting session in Cathedral grove, dinner in Port Alberni and a couple of six month old screaming sessions on the side of the highway, we arrived at our doorstep at 10:30. Well, we got the kids settled into bed, and I promptly had Anita off shooting some long exposures down on Chesterman Beach!

I warned her that in about five minutes we would be heading home again.... sure enough three days passed by in the blink of an eye and we were trying to convince her to stay another night! Tofino is some sort of vortex that sucks you in and doesn't let you go!! But we are home now.... she has returned to her loving husband (my fantabulously talented Chiropractor), and I am trying to make my way through the hundreds of shots that I came home with! One shoot in the pouring down rain after hiking a kilometre and a half board walk, three late night long exposure sessions and a boat ride to see a dead Fin Whale..... I have some spectacular photos in my library now! Oh, what to do with them???

Website!!

Yahooooo..... I am sooo excited! Sorry, but this darned website business has been keeping me busy for some time now! Of course, it does not help that I am a bit particular about what it is that I want! You have to design something that has some depth and freshness to it, yet at the same time get over the ego aspect of the whole concept and design something that is going to speak for you when you can't do it yourself! It is definately going to require some tweeking (this is where you come into play)..... it is not going to be perfect for some time, though I am happy with the current result! Please contact me and tell me what you think!! Much love, Erika!

www.erikascottphotography.com

Another Lesson Learned....

It has been a little bit since I have last posted. Life just seems to get so busy once spring hits I find. We start hauling things out that we have not seen in so long... dusting under our couch and finding a winter's worth of dust and children's toyz! And then as soon as the sun shines, we open up the curtains, place the children gently in their strollers and head outside... only to leave our chores until 10 minutes before the husband (or company) comes over!

I have been busy putting together a portfolio for some dear clients of mine. It is a time consuming process as you go through each photo individually (a technique that I cherish as you get to ensure that each photo is perfect.. or close to it). Though this is what I learned. I spent a bit of time at the beginning manipulating photos in a way that are artistically pleasing.... kind of mystical in a sense. Though something did not sit well with me. It was not until I had gone over things in my mind a couple of time and finally clued into what it was.... it wasn't me. As much I really enjoy looking at really mystically produced shots for weddings and family photos... it is not me! I love color.. the bolder and fresher the better! Give me deep tones of burgundy, blues, greens... reds, oranges... anything that I can sink my teeth into! And I want it sharp and focussed. I cherish looking at soft edges, though that is not my style when it comes to photography. That is my lesson learned..... I have a style, and I am sticking to it! I just hope my clients like it too!!!

Jumping Family

Lesson learned.... so often it is easier to call off a photo shoot due to weather, but if you suck it up, you are blessed with an opportunity to work some really great people, and meet some amazing kids!! What fun!

Family

This past week has been jam packed full of family... the way that I like it! We made a trip to Victoria to visit with my sister and her kiddies, then skipped over to visit with my husbands aunt, then my great aunt, then we jumped back on the ferry on Saturday morning to put on a fabulous BBQ for family and friends which was followed by brunch with more fantastic family on Sunday morning and ended with a delicious meal on Granville Island to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday, and Mother's Day for myself and my mother-in-law.... we cheersed to my mom too! Now, the hard work begins..... laundry and housecleaning! But first, COFFEE!

Fundraiser

There was a time in my life not too long ago when I had amazing opportunities to throw lavish dinners as fundraiser for the BC Children's Hospital and Tofino General Hospital... then I moved and went to school and had another child. I raised $15,000 a dinner (totally about $60,000 in the end)... and boy did that feel good handing over all that money for such great causes!!

That bug is still in me. My husband and I think about what it is that we can do to provide a little extra cash to these great foundations. I personally have been a patient at both hospitals.... Tofino is where I was born, and endured a couple of overnight visits there over the years.... and BC Children's Hospital is where I underwent corrective back surgery and was a patient for a number of years.

It was during a recent leisure evening where I came across a European article about some fundraising ideas that have taken place.... and it struck me... I could do that here. Then about a couple of minutes ago, I made it official via the wonderful Craigslist!! I put an announcement in there. Oh my goodness.... am I ready... darned right I am... and soo excited! You see, this is what I am going to do..... my services for a discounted rate to you, with the funds going to BC Children's Hospital. What a concept.

Here are some great photo opportunities to consider:
-family shots
-maternity
-baby
-headshots
-corporate
-portrait
-architecture
-residential
-stylist merchandise shots
-birthdays
-baptisms
-weddings
-engagements
-grandparents
-greatgrandparents
-use your imagination.... I do shy away a little bit from the erotica shots, though there are some tasteful nude shots that I have done (no I am not going to publish them)!!

Wow... the world is your oyster (and mine to photograph)... and who wins?? You and the kids!! I am soooo stoked about this. I couldn't fall asleep last night as the thoughts went around and around in my head!!

Well, what are you waiting for? Call all your family and friends and let them know what I am up to. Get them to call me at 604.817.7056 to book a session. Are you a fellow photographer and get on my bandwagon.... lets go.... lets make this happen!! The telethon is the first weekend of June... we don't have much time left!!
WISH ME LUCK!

Tofino..... my hometown..... paradise!!

My Little Angel

There are some photos that I have discovered at first glance are not really containing the punch that I was looking for. Though with my graphics background, I have been able to spend some time with it and came up with a solution. This is a photo of my son doing a test shot for a background idea.... and behold he struck a pose without any prompting. This is my little angel!

The Ties that Bind Us...

Spring Macro

I was recently blessed with some extensions for my camera which allowed me to do some amazing macro photography. Immediately, I went out to my garden and picked some tulips to photograph. It's amazing what can happen if you step out on a limb and throw caution to the wind.... quite often you will be blessed with an amazing product!

Engagement

It's funny the distance that I will go to make someone's dreams come true. One of my clients had requested that I do a shoot with her and her boyfriend in Tofino as a gift for his birthday. They were planning on buying a house in the future and wanted some portraits done. Unknowing to her, he had snagged my email and contacted me with a request.... he wanted to make it an engagement shoot! What an absolutely horrible day for an amazing occassion... though even the most terrential downpouring of rain could not postpone this moment!!

Portraits

Amanda's Tree

This evening, we had a play date with one of the neighborhood families. Both our husbands are away and thought that we would have a potluck. When the kids came in, I had been playing around on the internet, and thought that I would show Amanda some of the work that I had been doing with long exposures and what it could do for a subject (sweet child is only six but seemed really fascinated)!! I pulled up a shot that I didn't think much of when I first saw it.... we started playing around with some of the RAW settings, and amazingly enough, this is what we produced! I have called it 'Amanda's Tree' which is a dedication to this sweet child that my son has already decided he is going to marry.... and they are only six!! Oh, to be young again!

Weddings....unedited!

Sunset In Richmond

My husband took our son for a bike ride this evening and then came skipping home and shipped me off to photograph the sunset. I need to keep reminding myself that even though the image that I see in played back to me in the camera won't necessarily be the image that I see on the computer..... this can be both a good thing and a bad thing. This evening, it was a good thing!

Children Photography

Children are such fascinating creatures. It is so fun to be able to dress them up in costumes as they seem to rather enjoy it. One prop that I have in my 'tickle trunk' is a couple pairs of butterfly wings! This is one of the results!

Long Exposures

Well, I have been wanting to go to Point Roberts and do some long exposures, and my husband recently made it happen. It was a cold evening a couple of weeks ago when we took the family across the border.... and this is what we came home with!!

Photographic Art

I have been playing around with some of my work to see where I can take it artistically. It has been very fascinating watching these pieces transform in front of my eyes. If you look really closely, you can see details in the prints that look like fine art paintings.

This gentleman was a client of mine in Victoria. We had such a great time walking around Victoria finding some really interesting corners to shoot in. He was a previous security guard and gave me really interesting insight into the people of the downtown area. The security deal was on the backburner while he pursued his acting career.

While walking to Chesterman Beach in Tofino, there is a little corner of the land where the surfers will look out at the beach and see what the surf is looking like. Of all the years that I have spent in Tofino, this happened to be the only time that I had ever gone to this little lookout.... and considering it was only ten feet off the main trail, it was a big deal for me.

This piece really backs up what Marc was laughing at me about. While all the tourists and locals are taking pictures of the beach and the surf.... I am down on all fours taking pictures of rocks and logs.... well, lets add into that shells too!

Our place in Victoria was along Dallas Road. It was a great pasttime to head down to the water for an evening stroll with the family. There is nothing better than spending quality time with the family while being blessed with the opportunity to be able to photograph the beauty that surrounds us..... the two greatest passions of mine in the world!!

Last year, my family took a trip back home and went for a boat ride with my Dad to pick up some kayakers. It was one of the most enjoyable days on the boat that I have experienced in so many years. On our way out of the harbour, we met one of the local trawlers who was bringing his catch back to the dock. The ocean and the boats are always going to be in my blood! I am a true west coast girl.... put me in front of a fish, and I will clean it, filet it, and cook it to perfection!