One of the freelance clients I’m most happy to work with regular is the University of Winnipeg Wesmen Athletics . Apart from being a big benefit to the community and a huge part of students’ time in academia, it’s just an amazingly fun day in a location studio photgraphing dozens of individuals - each with unique personalities but all brought together by athletics.

This year was no exception. In this blog entry, here’s just a few of my favourites from the 2024-2025 Wesmen roster.

In the studio with Duo526

Recently, the musicians behind Duo526 contacted me for updated photographs for their increasingly-busy professional schedule. I had first known the violin half of the duo from photographing Kerry DuWors in Brandon, MB in her work as a dynamic professor at the respected School of Music .

She and pianist collaborator Futaba Niekawa really stand out to me (despite me being completely without any musical background) because their spirit and passion is so obvious — it’s a mindset that’s taken them and their exploration of music literally around the world, along with a strong emphasis on education and mentoring to students. Beyond the huge talent that’s plain to see, they have fun!

It was certainly fun working with the duo 5 years ago for the first time, and it was even more so this month for the sequel. The handful of photos here are just one note in a great long composition from our shoot together - Kerry and Futaba, thank you!

ADDED NOTE - I would be missing a point not to mention our fantastic venue, the Walker Studio Exchange in Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District. Wide open spaces, great windows and excellent owners make it a must-see.

A Couple Photos

I always get a little nervous before even the simplest portrait shoots. Most times, it’s just my mind shifting gears and focusing on the work ahead - ejecting all the extraneous thoughts and daily blah blah blah and leaving (hopefully) only the person(s) and the photography.

But on a few rare occasions, the slight buzz comes from photographing another photographer. Is there a photographer that doesn’t find that at least a little intimidating? After all, they’re privy to what we think, how we work and they’re uniquely qualified to assess what we’ve done.

This was the case recently when I photographed Dwayne Larson and his fiancé April, in advance of their wedding (which they paid me the honour of photographing). Dwayne and I have worked in Winnipeg and known each other for years and although we’re different in style — he’s cool and I’m not, let’s not mince words — we both have devoted our lives to photography. What an honour to have him specifically choose me, and my style of working, to make images of this very particular moment in the life and he and his life partner.

Meeting up at the unsung gem Langside Grocery all my nerves were quickly put to rest. Here were two people who made others feel as comfortable as they clearly did in their own skin. Best of all for this photographer, here were two people who are so obviously at ease and great around each other. Great subjects, great location, great light — it was the kind of portrait session I always hope to have!

<<Technical Notes>> My remote trigger stopped working almost immediately upon arrival, so on the fly I was switched to ‘available light’ mode. Thankfully, the late afternoon sun was perfect in Langside Grocery (did I mention how fantastic that location is..?) and so the shoot went on. I used the magical (no other word for it) Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 on my 5D Mark IV, with a few EF 50mm f/1.2 images thrown in when the moment was right.

For more samples of how I photograph people, take a look at my People section on this website.

The front counter at the wonderful Langside Grocery, avec April and Dwayne.