The sun is back, lets Kayak!!

Yes it’s true. The weather has finally arrived here in Squamish and no longer am I singing in the rain but rather basking in the sunshine.

It only took a four day kayak trip at the beginning of August to turn my skin tone from pale white to mega bronzed to match my undoubtedly rock hard abs I’ve likely had since I was an infant... Okay that maybe over the top but as soon as the rain stopped and the sun showed its face, it has been great. We’ve had consistently great weather for the past few weeks which means I’ve been getting out as much as I can both on my days off and after work.

I went on this 4 day Kayak trip just off of Tofino around an island call Vargas Island. It was a phenomenal trip. Our guide, Steve Crevier, delivered on every promise he made the whole trip. He promised good food, and I haven’t eaten better food all summer.  He also promised one of the days we would see whales, sure enough we saw whales on not one but two of the days. I’d never seen a whale, but one of these grey whales swam within 15-20 feet of my Kayak and was headed directly at me which lead me to believe that it no doubt passed right below me. We saw tons of wild life and it was exactly what I needed.                                                                                                                     

I felt so relaxed the whole time we were out there which was exactly what I planned for this trip. I’m sure some people are thinking “well duh, of course you wanted to relax on your vacation! That’s what vacations are for; relaxing hanging out with friends and getting pictures so you can remember how relaxed you were.” Well, I’m a photographer which means I take photos for a living. I guess the title of photographer inclines people to ask why I’m not constantly taking pictures, even though I wasn’t really asked a lot on the trip, I thought I would explain it a little bit. Truth is, even though I have a passion for photography, I don’t need to do it all the time. Sometimes relaxing involves not clicking the shutter for once. I do get asked a lot why I’m not taking pictures, whether it be at a small event, a family event or something like that, I usually get asked why I haven’t been taking lots of pictures...

Well, I like keeping my mind “present” wherever I am, but I guess that’s not the best way to explain it... As many people know, I really enjoy photography, but I don’t always need to be the one recording every event. I love being active and I love do the things I photograph (there’s a good dirty joke here involving photographing models). I’ll use climbing as an example; I enjoy composing a picture and trying to push myself to be more creative. I get a certain thrill out of getting a great photograph out of something like that. However, as much as I love that feeling of being a photographer and pushing myself in that sense, I equally love being the subject. I love climbing and that love can sometime inspire my photography. It works the other way around too, most recently I photographed a kite boarding competition and it was a lot of fun. Witnessing and photographing it made me really want to try the sport. I guess my point is that I don’t need to photograph things to enjoy them. In fact it’s quite the opposite. I most enjoy things when I’m not the photographer. A picture has the potential to last forever, but a memory lasts just as long and I’d prefer to remember things through my eyes rather than my lens.

Anyway, I wanted to thank Steve Crevier and John Bourcet for a great Kayak trip. If anyone is interested in doing a kayak trip, check out www.okanagankayaking.com.

Also, I had the pleasure of writing articles on both Shad and Kim Churchill most recently, and previously I got to write an article on an up and coming band called Proper Villains, check out the articles here:

Shad & Churchill:
http://www.squamishchief.com/article/20110819/SQUAMISH0501/308199972/-1/squamish05/rhymes-and-waves

Proper Villains: http://www.squamishchief.com/article/20110812/SQUAMISH0501/110819984/proper-villains-on-the-rise

I think I'm going to do a quick little blurb here about the interviewing artists, they were a big learning experience for me.
The first artist I interviewed was a Squamish Local, her name was Dana-Marie Battaglia. It was a great interview and I think it went really well considering it was my first interview with an music artist. The second story I did was on The Proper Villains, I was interviewing two members of the band at once so that was kind of interesting but it went well, I think I could tell my interviewing skills were improving, and they were also great about answering questions. I think I used to have this fear about interviewing people that they wouldn't like mike questions or everyone was annoyed that I was interviewing them, maybe its the B.C. attitude everyone has or maybe its just me... probably just me...
Anyways, I then had an interview with Kim Churchill earlier this week and it went really well as well. I think the goal for an interview is to have it as more of a conversation than an interview and I feel like I accomplished that with Kim, whether he felt the same way, I can never be too sure. Anyways the morning after I had an interview with Shad. Now, I'm a really big fan of Shad and that kind of created a problem. I was really nervous before the call and I really didn't want him to be unhappy with the interview or feel offended or anything that could possibly go wrong. I did calm down a little bit when it came time for the interview but I really tried focusing on questions that he may not have been asked before, but the issue is I didn't have much of an angle so my questions were kind of all over the place. I guess thats where pre interview planning would have came in handy. Previously I would write the words; who, what, when, where, why, and how on my note book and ask questions regarding those words and adding in little things I was curious about as conversation went on. Well.... as I started the call, I looked at the words and realized that these are all things that he's probably been asked many times before and things that I already knew or could already answer via research. Suffice to say, the interview didn't go as well as I'd hoped but it was still good. Maybe I'm being to hard on myself... either way, the articles got done and I guess they're not bad.

Coming up:

I leave for Ontario again early September, so I hope to do two more blog posts before then. One as a review of the upcoming LIVE at Squamish which features Metric, Weezer, Shad, Hey Ocean, Shane Koyczan, and many more bands. I also hope to get a bit of a Summer in Review post before I leave. But for now, Adios.

Much love,

Andre

Feel free to ask me anything you want, either Comment below or email me at i-feel-@live.ca.

Also Check me out on twitter, twitter.com/AndreLodder

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