Mmmm brains...

As you know, this past weekend was Halloween Party central...and people were out in full force...

This year, we teamed up with the Yukon Roller Girls for a fundraiser they were doing in order to raise funds for local women's organizations including Kaushee's Place and Victoria Faulkner Women's Centre.

But this time it wasn't your average photo booth we did...it was a Zombie booth, as the theme of the night was Zombie prom...and let's just say things got messy...

With the help of a fog machine and backlighting, we were able to create a creepy green haze in order to really make our Zombie friends feel at their best...and as you'll see by the shots, they fit right in.

From Zipper faces to "Zombonis" to the Golden Girls, there were a ton of awesome costumes out there...thanks to everyone for staggering over and taking a minute away from eating brains to be able to help out a great cause...

Happy Halloween everybody!

GBP's ADVENTURE PANTS EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Ok guys...it's time for...GBP's ADVENTURE PANTS EXTRAVAGANZA!


"What the heck does that mean?" Well...we're so happy you asked...

GBP's APE (haha Ape...)  is a new contest we've schemed up from inspiration from a bunch  of our rad clients over the past year...

We love that Yukoners love adventure...because WE are Yukoners who love adventure.  SO when we get to combine photography with sweet activities?  Well, let's just say that makes for an especially rad day. And we're assuming that if we can combine your favorite activity with a free family portrait session? ($300 value) You'll ALSO have an especially rad day...

SO...let's do this! GBP's ADVENTURE PANTS EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!

OK in order to enter the contest, here's what you gotta do:

1. Decide what your family's favourite awesome activity is.  It doesn't have to be crazy or complicated...whether it's jumping down claycliffs, or back country skiing, if you guys make an adventure out of it, it counts!

2. Must require adventure pants.  (ie. not just any family does this...it's your special thing) 
 
3. Tell us a story! We want to hear about why your family loves this activity through an example: Did something hilarious happen once? Something scary? Something heroic? What makes it stand out in your mind? (Photos are not required, but definitely encouraged)

NOTE: Fur children also count as family in our minds...so whether it's two of you or five of you, we don't discriminate! :)


DEADLINE: 

That's right...this is a serious competition here guys, so our deadline is going to be Nov. 2nd-2 weeks from tonight!
This doesn't have to be crazy...just send us a paragraph outlining your story based on the criteria above and you're good to go!

Only restrictions/things to be careful of:
If it's an activity that requires entry fees/gear rentals, etc. costs must be covered by the client.


How will we choose?

We are going to sit down with Bill Murray (Our fur child) and read through your submissions...the one that makes us laugh/cry/or say "wholy crap look at the size of these people's adventure pants!" wins...

We'll then book you a shoot for November, and have your photos ready for you to send out for the Christmas season!  Again, that's a $300 value right before Christmas! (slow clap for that idea...)

OK...let's get this going! Get your stories gathered and send them our way! We've got our adventure pants on...do you??

Gary and Bri

Not your average family shoot...

As we've mentioned many times before, one of our favourite things about living here in the Yukon is the diverse people we get to work with. Today's blog features one of our favourtie converted Yukoners, and her family who was up to visit her, who were more than happy to jump in to all that is "Yukon" during their trip...

Here's an example of an outdoor-loving family.  Not only did they hike the Chilkoot together on their trip, but they were also more than happy to jump in some canoes and head out to Chadburn lake during our family shoot with them.  Now to be totally transparent here, they just so happen to come from 'canoe country' Ontario, and one of the daughters jokes that she has a degree in "camping." (It's a degree in Outdoor Rec).  SO, heading out in the canoes wasn't exactly a far stretch for them...But it sure resulted in some great shots.

We always try to get our family shoots to be a bit more interactive.  If you're looking for the sunday best, extremely formal and non-interactive shots...well, we're probably not the photographers for you.  We'd rather get you guys out interacting, having fun and sharing some good embarrassing stories to get some authentic laughs going!

So hope you enjoy the shots...

Maybe our next mission will be to have an 'adventure family' contest and see who can request the most unique family shoot yet...Takers anyone?

First House...

Last month, we got to be a part of a really unique project here in the Yukon that not only was ground breaking, but also directly effects lives right here in the Yukon...

We were able to be a part of the Habitat for Humanity build here in Yukon in partnership with Champagne Aishihik First Nation called the "First House" project.  Not only was it an amazing project to be a part of due to the nature of the organization, helping build affordable and safe housing, but it was also the first house built on First Nations Settlement Land by the organization.  It was an incredible experience to be able to be part of such a historic build, and to be able to work along side so many diverse people from organizations across the country.  First Nations Chiefs, CEO's of major Canadian Corporations, and volunteers from across the Country all donned their hardhats and work gloves and helped raise the walls on the house over the course of the week here just outside of Whitehorse.

As Gary has a background in the trades (he's also a journeyman Electrician), it was a perfect fit as he was able to unleash his nerdy powers in both photography, construction, AND also explore his newest nerd-addiction: video...let's just say he was in heaven....

So although it was a long week, with long hour days, and the need for multi-tasking and flexibility due to a dynamic schedule, it was one of our highlights of this season...

So a big thanks to Habitat for Humanity and Champagne Aishihik First Nation for having us be a part of this project! Because here at GBP when nerdiness gets to team up with a cause we believe in, we know we're moving in the right direction!

For more details on the "First House" project, check out the link to the Habitat for Humanity Canada page.

This post isn't about that guy...

Sometimes when you come across someone with great talent, they can be...well, how can we put this..." challenging"to work with?  Come on, you know what we're talking about...that guy you know, who's really good at that thing but you don't really like to talk to him about it because then you have to deal with him yammering on about it for hours on end? THAT guy....the guy you can barely fit into a room with because his head is too big and there's just not enough space for the both of you.

Well, this post, my friends, is not about that guy. It's actually about the opposite guy.

The shots below are from one of our recent  sessions with local Actor Calvin Laveck, who has been going to school in Toronto, and is now based there to further his work in theatre.  He's the epitome of a super talented, yet humble artist and we're always left wondering "how is that guy so NICE?" every time he leaves the studio...

Over the years, we've come to realize that overall, the artists we've worked with here in the Yukon fit into this second category...even though we're super lucky to have an incredible arts scene, filled with crazy talented people, we find that the ones we've worked with haven't brought any egos along with them...they instead come with open minds, eagerness, and excitement to work together.  They are stoked to help teach us about their industry-to share their stories and experiences, and really help us get a better understanding of what it's like to be an actor, a dancer, a musician, etc...And it's from this understanding that we're better able to help them get images that really convey something authentic and unique to their art form.

You see, the point we are trying to make here, is that one of our favourite things about living here in the Yukon is the people. Whether it's an artist, a family, or a corporate team, the Yukon just seems to bring out the best in people...and we're stoked when we're reminded of that fact by our awesome clients like Calvin.

So well played on being so awesome Calvin-we're stoked to see where you go from here, because we're sure it's gonna be some pretty rad places!

Busy busy busy...

We've had a crazy September here at GBP, filled with all kinds of shoots ranging from commercial coverage, to architecture, to music video stills and families! We thought the summer was busy, but it turns out September decided to give it a run for it's money...

Unfortunately this has meant we haven't had a proper blog post up in a while...So although it's late on a Sunday evening, we wanted to still get a quick post in to get the new week started.

So here's one final shout out to summer, featuring one of our families back before the leaves turned to yellows and reds.  This is another family we got to shoot both maternity and newborn sessions with, and now, 6 months later we got these great summer time shots in too!

Hope you enjoy them...until next time summer...

A whirlwind wedding season...

Well it's official...we can't fight it anymore...The snow keeps creeping lower and lower in the hills and the leaves, they are a changing.  Winter is coming.
(Whoa accidental Game of Thrones reference!)

Anyways, in GBP land, the end of summer means that we are also at the end of what was a whirlwind wedding season...We shot weddings in Mexico, Haines Junction, and many in Whitehorse over the past few months and although there are a few more fall ones booked, the main wedding season is coming to a close.

Which brings us to 2013! We are actually just about all filled up for our summer wedding season already, with only a few spots left, so if you're getting married in 2013 and would like to work with GBP, please give us a shout ASAP at info@garybremner.com


GB &BB

Getting Social...

Whether you're a fan of it or not, the fact is, social media has quickly become one of the most powerful forms of communication out there.  It allows the world to connect with the people we love the most, keep tabs on those you're not so sure of... (Ya that's right,we know some of you out there do facebook creepin'...it's ok), advertise services, or create dynamic resumes through companies like Linkd In.

No matter what platform you use, or whether you simply stick to finding stuff through Google, it's still hard to ignore the fact that many people are meeting, keeping in touch with, and promoting themselves through social media.

That's why head shots are no longer something just for actors and models, but instead are being booked by anyone.

It makes sense-If we are starting to 'live' more online, and have our personal stories, experiences, and thoughts on there, why wouldn't we want to look our best while doing it?

Here's a few shots from one of our recent head shot sessions...give us a shout at info@garybremner.com to book one for yourself!

A Mother/Daughter shoot with a Yukon twist...

As many of you know, we get pretty excited when clients come to us with requests for something a bit unique...Needless to say, we were stoked when we were recently asked to do a mother/daughter shoot with a bit of a Yukon twist...

Cass contacted us to see if we'd be interested in coming out to her parent's local ranch to do a shoot with her, and her mother, and their family horses.  We, however, had no idea just how epic a location we were going to get to work with until we were driving out there...

It was basically photographic heaven-gorgeous yukon skies, amazing animals, and two beautiful and easy going models. Couldn't really have gotten any better...

The only difficult part was the fact that Brianne has a soft spot for horses, and basically didn't want to leave...but we didn't think, however, that the family would necessarily be stoked on a "free live-in photographer" addition to their shoot, so she had to...

Anyways, back to the photos-hope you like them!

GB and BB

Another first for GBP...AIRSOFT!

Airsoft...ever heard of it? Because we sure hadn't until a couple weeks ago, when we were contacted by a new local magazine that's starting up wanting some images of the local group.  Always up for something new, we set up a shoot in our studio, and proceeded to do some "research" on the topic to come up with a game plan (*Read: google search).  

Ok so to explain Airsoft to those of you who don't know much about it...let us refer to the wonderful words of Wikipedia:

"Airsoft is a recreational activity in which participants eliminate opponents by hitting each other with spherical non-metallic pellets launched via replica firearms.

Gameplay varies in style and composition but often range from short-term skirmishes, organized scenarios, military simulations, or historical reenactments. Combat situations on the battlefield often involve the use of common military tactics to achieve objectives set in each game. Participants typically emulate the tactical equipment and accessories used by modern military and police organizations."

Much more eloquent than Brianne's description: "It's like paintball on steroids and it kinda scares me..."

We were, however, introduced shortly after to an enthusiastic and extremely welcoming group of guys who participate in both the local group, as well as groups across Canada.  We learned a lot about the strategy, the equipment (which there are copious amounts of, all of which are very realistic looking), safety gear and the rules/regulations.  By the end of the shoot, Brianne even picked up one of the guns without flinching...this was big...

But onto the photography part...Typically images that involve guns/weaponery can often go two ways: creepy, or cheesy-neither of which we, the magazine, or the guys involved would have wanted.  So we came up with the plan to simply highlight Airsoft for what it is.  We wanted to keep the background simple and non-distracting, and really just highlight the equipment and camo gear used during the games and let that be the focus.  

What we ended up with is certainly something new for us, but we were happy with it.  Check them out and see what you think... The shoot itself turned out to be a great evening and we certainly learned a lot.  And if you want to learn more about Airsoft, contact the local group through their Facebook page -Airsoft Yukon.

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