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!!!