forGOT MILK?

    Things are going quite wonderfully here. It seems I've been learning and photographing something new every week. So far I've had chances to photograph two mountain bikeraces, a triathlon, skateboarding, flower tours, Canada Day, and a whole bunch of other photo opportunities. I've also had the chance to write about a stray falcon, a legendary ice climber, a slack-line festival, and artist profiles. I guess to sum it up I've been learning a lot since I started working at the Chief, and that’s something I wanted to do while in Squamish... However, even though working at the Chief was a big reason for me coming to Squamish, it wasn't the only thing that brought me to this beautiful place. Climbing and the other outdoor activities that this city has to offer are what really brought me here for specific reasons. Unfortunately I may have chosen the wrong summer to live here.

    Although the B.C. coast is known for the copious amounts of rain that fall on these parts, the past few months Squamish has received a larger than normal amount of cloud and rain rendering most of my days off useless as far as climbing and outdoor activities go, causing severe demoralization. I've also noticed that my thoughts towards things have become bitterer and it's almost as though I still haven't found that presence of mind I had a year ago. Since this realization I've been making a conscious effort to keep my mind in the present and try not to think to much about everything that’s going on.

    For those of you who don't know what I'm speaking of I'll explain a little bit of what goes on, or at least what should be going on as opposed to what's currently been controlling the ever-complicated thing that is my mind.

   The human mind is constantly moving and analysing every single thing. Unfortunately when to many things get moving too fast for the mind to handle it leads to the one thing that we all dread, stress. At this time last year there were a few major things that I needed to deal with. I had school coming up, something that I was so unfamiliar with having never had any previous post secondary experience. That in itself was a cause for a number of would-be "issues" such as loans, living arrangements for when school started, and the idea of moving to place that was completely new and a few thousand kilometres away from my previous life. Now those are just a few examples of the number of things that would have caused any person including myself, some stress.

    Yet, I managed to keep an incredible calm towards it all, I had a mindset that the future didn't matter because it's the future and something that the most we can do to control is plan, and with my experience, planning can only get you so far. I guess the best way to describe my mindset was that I was reacting on instinct. Rather than dwelling on things and trying to think things through I would let my instinct take over and listen to it. In some cases the thought process is certainly needed. For example, trying to figure out what they put in the sauce on your sandwich at the new place in town or trying to make sense of quantum physics, that’s sort of thing. However, the majority of the things we do on a daily bases don't require much thought at all, we're using our brains and thought capacity on things that aren't required. Have you ever gone for a walk and not thought about anything? Or how about right before bed when you’re about to fall asleep?

     It seems that our minds are constantly on the go whether we're dwelling on the past and how amazing the counter girl looked, or thinking about the future and what's for breakfast. It could even be both since you forgot to buy milk for your cereal because you were too busy trying to get in the line up with the cute cashier. All of these thoughts aren't necessary and when you add all of them up it take up a lot of space in the ol' melon. This is why a year ago I would ignore all of the details even if it was something I should be paying attention to such as loans or where I was going to live for the eight months while I was in school. Yeah, I may have taken this nonchalant attitude to extreme levels but I was stoked on life. However, since school started I've lost that ability to just toss things a side and not worry about them. This is why I love playing sports.

   With the exception of some sports, physical exertion takes up a lot of the mind space used for needless things. For example, when you’re halfway up a cliff you’re not thinking about how your girlfriend is mad at you because she had to eat her cereal without milk this morning. Your thinking about how your gonna hold on because even though your tied in via the rope, being 30+ feet off the ground can be scary shit. This is why I moved to Squamish, I thought it would help, but with all this rain, it's been a slow process.

    It's not all bad though, I've recently come to realize some of the issues I've been having and now I'm on my way to correcting them which is why I'm sharing all of this. I recently tried living my life the way I did last summer and beyond. However, it hasn't been the easiest nor the smartest when my profession is filled with deadlines and I'm trying to piece together stories people might actually read, and therefore have to make sense. That’s why I'm trying to find a good balance between the thought process and living on instinct. I guess in conclusion the answer is simply to stay focused when you have a task that needs it, but keep the mind from wondering and dwelling on the past or future. Take things in stride both in and outside the workplace. Whenever you see that cute cashier, grab the milk and remember that you have a girlfriend who's much prettier.

Single? Well then forget the milk... There’s probably some penut butter and jam in the fridge.


Also, I'd just like to note that the whole forgotten milk thing wasn't something that actuallly happened, I was just using it as an example. ;)

Check out some of the work I've done for the Chief so far this summer:

Photo Albums:

Test of Metal: http://bit.ly/nlkGGZ

BC Bike Race: http://bit.ly/p4GlTD

Squamish Triathlon: http://bit.ly/oh9Di0

Hevy Fest Slackline Festival: http://bit.ly/pzLlwG

Squamish Mountain Festival http://bit.ly/nMBqUo

Stories:

Dana Marie Battaglia, Singer Songwriter: http://bit.ly/njkGyO

Margo Talbot, Ice Climber: http://bit.ly/pBrlYx

for more stories visit http://www.squamishchief.com/, you can ype my name, Andre Lodder, into the search box and most of the results will be stories I've written.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below, email me at i-feel-@live.ca, hit me up on twitter @ndreLodder

Thanks for reading,

Andre

Where Have I been?

Oky, I think it's time for an update because it's been a while. For those of you who do't know I am in Squamish now until the end of August.
To make a long story short... After school I went to Vernon for about a month and basically just kind of hung out worked a little bit to pay for the drive here and such. Life then took me to Squamish where I now reside. I'm currently working at the newspaper here for the Summer and basically just trying to take in all that Squamish has to offer... and I must say; theres alot it has to offer. It's not called the outdoor capital of Canada for no reason. Known mainly for its Climbing, Mountain Biking, and Kite Surfing, theres plenty more that this place has to offer, such as hiking, breathtaking views, rain, lots of rain, wind surfing, tons of events and well you get my point. There's not a day where you can't find anythign to do... hence why my Blog has been lacking updates in the past while. Anyways I thought I'de share some photos and the first few articles I've had published in the Squamish Chief. My first assignment at the chief was to shoot the Test of Metal. for those of you who don't know what the test of metal is, it's only a 67 Kilometre cross country Mountain Bike race with some incredibly tough terrain. I was really excited and happy with the results. (full gallery is available at http://www.squamishchief.com/apps/pbcs.dll/tngallery?Site=GW&Date=20110619&Category=squamish&ArtNo=619009997&Ref=PH).
Anyways I was feeling pretty overwhelmed at first but I'm feeling more comfortable with everything now, I seemed to have settled in alright. My first few articles are up on the Squamish Chief website. If you would like to check it out just go to http://www.squamishchief.com/ and in the search field just type my name : Andre Lodder and my articles (and a few photos) should pop up.

Before I started at the Chief, I hadn't been taking a huge amount of photos. The ones I was taking weren't even what some people call "journalistic" either... but thats okay, I feel that sometimes we just need to shoot what we want to shoot and I was in a pretty big scenic kick for a while and I was fine with that. I think I'de always liked taking scenic pictures, I think its part of the reason I got into Photography in the first place. Either way now that I have been shooting at the Chief the amount of other pictures Iève been taking has dwindled quite a bit. but thats okay, I'm not too worried, I am going to make a concious effort to start gettign my foot in the door for climbing photography.
Speaking of climbing, one of the perks of working as a journalist is the people you meet. I have met a lot of locals here in Squamish and they all seem to be good people. I think my favorite thing so far was an interview with exteemed ice climber Margo Talbot who will be in Squamish for the Mountatin Festival this year. My interview was over the phone as she's not a local here but I look forward to meeting her and hearing her inspiring story. I also look forward to reading her book titled All That Glitters. I wrote a story on her coming to Squamish but it won't be out until Fridays paper so you should check back to the site come friday to read more about her.

So yeah, things are good in the land of Andre. I hope everything is well with everyone reading this, I'm sorry I don't have much to say, alot has happened in the last few months, but I'm tired of writing. I think I'm going to stop dwelling from the past from her on out. However, if anyone has any questions about what I've been up to don't hesitate to ask, Comment below or Send me an email at i-feel-@live.ca. I'de also like to note that I signed up for Twitter, we'll see how that goes. @ndreLodder is where I can be found. I'm gonna try use it n' such but we'll see how active I get... Anyways here are a few photos for your enjoyment. (or atleast i hope you enjoy them)

Thanks,
Andre

 

Game 7 Stanley Cup Riots Vancouver - Video Footage

Hey everyone, I don't have the means to professionally edit my Video footage so here is an Unprofessionally edited montage of the video I took at the Riots in Vancouver after the Game 7 loss at the hands of the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

AVAILABLE IN 720p HD (Youtube defaults at 360p)

Comments and Questions can be made below or by email i-feel-@live.ca

Thanks,

Andre

Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals Riot - Tales of a final and a photograper.

Glass shattering above and to the right, people fighting to left, and riot police at the rear. "There's another fire over there" someone shouts. I can't explain why but instinct kicked in and I sprinted through the crowds dodging rioters and garbage on the streets and pushed my way to the front of the gathered crowds to witness the second of many vehicles flipped and set on fire.

Downtown Vancouver was more than just abuzz Wednesday evening after the Canucks suffered it's latest Stanley Cup Final disapointment.

For me, it all started at one o'clock in the afternoon. I arrived at Georgia and Hamilton and sat on the curb with the hundreds that had already gathered. For the next three hours more and more people flooded the intersection and beyond. The final hour leading up to puck drop saw even more people crowd; filling the narrow gaps making it a standing room only event. The air was not only filled with nervous anxiety but also the smell of marijuana drifting in from all directions.

The atmosphere was crazy so many flags, painted faces, and jerseys. Then I began to wonder; how many of these people are really Canucks fans, and how many are here as an excuse to party. Police and Security did their best to keep drinking and drugs at a minimum, but that didn't stop the crowds from getting rowdy. Disapointment first struck at Boston's first goal, and chants broke out that would never make it on T.V. The frustration grew from there as Boston scored two more goals, and when the empty net was filled with the puck fans knew it was over.

A women beside me was in tears and my eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Suddenly there was a commotion way to the left. I intstantly remembered the car that was parked and thought to myself; "it's starting" (in reference to the 94 riots). The car was tipped over by the time I got to it. I darted for a high vantage point and quickly snapped a few pictures and hit the record button on the camera. Things started happening everywhere and it was all decision making time. Some people were running away while others were running to all the commotion. Me... I wanted to be at the front. I don't know why but there is a certain thrill you get from these kinds of things. I didn't know what I was running towards but my feet kept moving, when I turned a corner riot police were lined up and ready to charge. I remember thinking "maybe I should back off," of course while I was thinking this I was pushing people to get to the front of the commotion and at one point even ended up behind riot police. I followed the riot for a while then heard the smashing of windows and let my ears and my feet be my guide and by this time I knew there was no thinking, just reaction. So there I was trying to get a good shot, acknowledging the fact that the glass that hit the side of my face hadn't cut. Eyes burning from being so close to the riot patrol and their pepper spray when someone shouted "there's another fire over there." And my legs took off...

 

I made it to the second vehicle, in awe that I was kneeling by the burning truck which only an hour ago was filled with fans witnessing the Canucks demise.. "What is happening? This is crazy"... A swath of emotions flowed through me but the one that stuck out the most was evident... I loved every minute of this. The months of school full of doubt were wiped clean and I was beaming with confidence and near invisibility, I remember at more than one point thinking to myself "wow, I should really be doing more conflict photography."

After a while I figured I'd better get something else somewhere else, I'd been filming and shooting the same burning cars for a while and I wanted variety so I left the area. only to find more and more commotion wherever I went.

  

 Then I put down the camera for a few minutes, and watched... witnessed through my own eyes what was happening as opposed to my lens. I watched the people, saw there emotion... And I immediately thought about some earlier thoughts. How, for some, it was supporting your team, while others it was just a giant party. Who in their right mind would do things like this... Well to be honest, not many, and that was the issue. So many of these people weren't in their right mind due to drugs and alcohol, and the City of Vancouver had turned into a giant party of vandalism and mischief. These were not the fans that came to watch the game, these were the people disguised as fans looking for a good time. I was ashamed; I was ashamed for the city and the people in it...

The next morning I walked downtown, and aside from boarded up windows, it was hard to tell a riot even took place. The party was over and people were people again. The streets were no longer filled with garbage instead there were construction workers fixing windows, people doing their daily tasks, and volunteers some of which offered to help as they walked past, all working to clean up the streets from the mess that was the night before. It was these people I credit for washing away most of the shame I'd felt just nine hours earlier.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but you could write a novel and it wouldn't compare to the experience.

It's impossible to explain exactly what happened and that's what I hope my photos and Video footage will help to define that. However the emotions are something I can only try to explain. But you would have had to been there to fully grasp what was actually going on.

Now I know you haven't heard from me in a while but I have some updates coming soon I promise. I felt like I had to share my experience at Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

I have lots of photos and lots of video footage to show so keep posted.

If you have any questions or inquiries leave them below or contact me at i-feel-@live.ca

Thanks for reading,

Andre

Save it for a rainy day.

    You know when you get bored and you have nothing to do so you search you-tube for random things that will make you laugh thus easing the pain of boredom? Not me... I've had so much stuff to do and it's been exhausting. we just had the 3-4 busiest weeks thus far, every thing sort of came to a climax in each of our courses. And now the majority of the work load is finished and there's only two and a half weeks left in first year, but I feel like I'm done already... which is not good because I'm not... anyways enough about school...

    The fact that my bike chain was broken and I'm not exactly financially stable led to the decision that I was going to walk home after working in the labs at school. I wanted to take this time to reflect on my life as it has been recently known, and apply the findings to future plans... so it didn't happen exactly how imagined it but it was a success in its own right...

    Rather than ponder about the past 7-8 months/the upcoming summer/possibility of returning for next year, I found myself walking through a windy down-poor (luckily tailwind) for an hour picturing myself in various films or situations that coincided with the music I was listening to. At one point I pictured the falling rain as the tears falling in James Blunts "Cry"... that was dashed when I realized that the protagonist was crying on a shoulder and that shoulder would be absorbing the water rather than falling on my head... Other scenarios include walking down the rainy street next to Bob Marley with a "it's no big deal that its raining, cause life is great" attitude... and then there is what happened most... Acting as though various things (not all negative of course) that had brought me to the point where I was walking alone in a windy rain (though surprisingly not overly cold) to music by Matt Costa, Andrew Bird, Shad, K'naan, and others... And as I was approaching the street I lived on... I realized something... I just walked an hour without drawing a hint of my attention to what intended... that's when I realized... I just don't care...

    Yeah, that sounds a little harsh but its true, I don't care... Well I care that I have a good time and that I learn and grow as a person, because that's whats important to me. However the lack of caring occurs because I trust that whatever decisions I make and whatever I do will provide exactly what I need. So there's really nothing to worry about. So in conclusion, though I don't think I have a lot of regular readers, and not that you should be taking advice from me... BUT if you so happen to be contemplating a bunch of stuff in your life. Maybe you should just save your thoughts for the figurative "rainy day" because there's really nothing to worry about, Life goes on so enjoy it for the moment you are currently living in probably won't make you become a drug addict in the future... unless your high right now... then there's a chance...


Photos: I had the honour of shooting Adam Radziwinowski in the foot... Kidding, I did shoot him with my camera though, we had a fashion assignment due and Adam stepped up as the model for this project. I also had the always lovely Rachel Cohen as an assistant (Michelle Cochrane helped too, shes also lovely) helping me figure out what I wanted to do lighting wise. Thanks guys!!

Also, be sure to check out my photolog at http://andrelphotolog.blogspot.com/