Open City | Halifax Event Photography

This past weekend in Halifax, Nova Scotia was sunny, beautiful and full of fun activities for visitors of all ages and interests.
The energy on the streets during I Love Local Halifax’s Open City event was vibrant and positive – lots of smiling faces!
I had such a great time wandering the streets visiting local business owners, checking out unique shops and tasting all the yummy treats restaurants had prepared for this special weekend.

NSCAD’s Artist for a Day event at Sands at Salter, near Bishop’s Landing, was a huge attraction on Saturday as well.
The steam roller printing demo was my personal favorite among the many creative activities NSCAD was showcasing.
I arrived just in time to catch the marching samba band!

I visited as many locations as I could before heading out of the city to photograph a wedding (it was a busy day!). I wish I could have photographed each and every business listed on the Open City website… I’ll be sure to visit more locations next year! Special thanks to George Inglis of Propel Design for taking over my photography duties in the late afternoon. We hope you love the photos!

Looking forward to next year already. I’m so proud to call Halifax my home.

All of these images, and many more, are available for Open City participants to download and share. Any images used online or in print must remain un-cropped, un-altered and have the watermark showing. Please contact me if you would like to request un-watermarked images for specific purposes. Thank you!

Gallery of images to share: http://mddesign.zenfolio.com/p1062926856

Yelp Cash Mob at Love, Me Boutique | Halifax Event Photography

Love, Me Boutique was the lucky target of Saturday’s Yelp Halifiax cash mob, organized by Ben Boudreau, who set out to surprise and support this well deserving local business. Over $3200 was spent on fantastic Canadian handmade treasures.
Lots of happy shoppers on a beautiful sunny afternoon!

Dinuk Wijeratne | Halifax Portrait Photography

I first met Dinuk Wijeratne while shooting stills on a film set for my good friends Rafael and Rachel Franco in 2009.
About a month later, we met again while I was photographing one of Maria Osende’s amazing Flamenco productions at
Fred Salon. One of the things I love most about being a photographer, is connecting with and collaborating with some of
the most amazing creative talent we have here in Halifax. Getting a peek behind the scenes and a chance to photograph the performances on stage, is a unique experience I enjoy much more than simply sitting in the audience!

Dinuk is one of most friendly and sincere people I have ever met and I always enjoy doing photography sessions with him. When he asked to do a portrait session with me a couple of years ago, I was thrilled. He holds back his enormous smile in my images, but in person this smile is contagious and instantly puts me at ease. I love photo shoots that feel more like friends catching up as I snap a few photos here and there.

Last week we met up again for yet another photo shoot. I love the colour in these last images, in all of these images actually…
It matches Dinuk’s bright and creative personality. I’m looking forward to the next chance we have to work together!

I’ll include Dinuk’s bio here in his own words as he describes best his amazing accomplishments:

Recently hailed by John Terauds of the Toronto Star as ‘an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future’,
Sri Lankan-born Dinuk Wijeratne is internationally active as a composer, pianist and conductor. A graduate of the
Royal Northern College (UK), Mannes College (NYC), and from the Juilliard School where he studied with Oscar-winner John Corigliano, Dinuk made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2004 as a conductor, composer and pianist, performing with
Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. A second Carnegie appearance followed in 2009, this time alongside tabla legend Zakir Hussain.Dinuk has also performed in Sri Lanka, Japan, across England and the Middle East, and at such venues as
the Kennedy Center, Opera Bastille (Paris), and the Berlin Philharmonie. Highlights of his past season have included an artist residency with the St. Cecelia Series; appearances at the Prismatic Festival; and new commissions for orchestra, piano, film, theatre, voice and dance ensemble (a large-scale multidisciplinary work especially for Scotia Festival 2011 and the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Celebrations).

A passionate educator, lectures at Dalhousie University and looks forward to his sixth season as Music Director of the
Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra. He has conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) and appeared many times
with Symphony Nova Scotia as former Conductor-in-Residence. He is the recipient of the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award for Orchestral Conducting, double Merritt Award nominations (2009), as well as numerous other prizes. His music and collaborative work embrace the great diversity of his international background and influences.

Vegan Variety Night at Sweet Hereafter – Yelp Halifax

Another tasty elite event with Ben Boudreau and the Halifax Yelpers! We had a great time at the local desserterie Sweet Hereafter trying five fantastic flavors of yummy vegan cheesecake. I have to admit, I had my eye on the cupcakes too!

A fun little photo booth added to the entertainment… and someone you may recognize hoarded all the props!
Great fun! I can’t wait for the next Yelp adventure is discovering local treats.

Podcamp 2012 | Halifax Event Photography

This was my third year sponsoring and photographing Podcamp Halifax. I look forward to it every year and always have a great day catching up with friends from previous years and meeting new contacts. Podcamp brings together people interested in social media, blogging, web design and anything internet related. As the event photographer, I get to hop around from one session to the next, listening in on great presentations and gathering helpful tips on how I can better promote my own business online. Mostly I just love the positive atmosphere and energy of Podcamp; lots of interesting people to chat with and inspiring ideas!

Special thanks to George Inglis of Propel Design for helping me photograph all the sessions. The watermarked images are available for anyone to download and share online at: http://mddesign.zenfolio.com/p695042069

Happy Halloween! ICE Awards After-party

I was thrilled to photograph the ICE Awards after-party this year! The ICE Awards celebrate creativity and advertising made here in Atlantic Canada and theme this year was the un-dead. Happy 10th Anniversary to the ICE Awards!

Parlour Room Events created the most amazing three-floor party at Egg Films on Barrington Street for one of the best parties of the year. Everyone had crazy energy and fantastic costumes. Definitely the most visually interesting event I’ve attended and photographed. Would love to do it again next year!

Special thanks to George Inglis who did an amazing job helping me shoot this event.