Monday, May 21, 2007

Sara & John's Engagement

Today, I had the chance to shoot Sara and John's engagment. They are getting married in a few weeks, but wanted to have a few nice photos of themselves before they say their "I do's". They are a super couple, were open to all of my crazy suggestions for poses, and I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them. Here are a few photos from our shoot.

They both have beautiful intense eyes.



Straight out of a J.Crew magazine!









Hands down, this one is my favourite.





You guys look fantastic (glad we waited an extra day) and I am very much looking forward to shooting your wedding!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Pics de moi...

So, my wife is always bugging me to put up current shots of myself on my blog and website. Says people don't just need to see pics that I take, but also of Byron Brydges, the man, the artiste, the goofball. Makes sense, but I know that my place is behind the camera, not in front of it. She does take a mean pic, and was testing out a new camera body and lens [50mm f1.4 - I'll talk about this baby in the next post...wicked!!]. Here are a few of her shots.

Here's a photo of me wondering what I am going to have for dinner.

Here's one of me hoping the Sens find a way to beat Brodeur again tonight.

She married this dude. Sucka!

Ahhh! The colour version. Almost a cross-processed feel to it. A tad more relaxed and more like me. I am a jokey, sarcastic dude, so this feels a little closer to what I'm all about.


This just solidifies the fact that I should stay behind the camera...but thanks hunny bunches all the same!

Ode to my Grammie!

So, almost a month ago my grandmother turned 97!

...a little background from my perspective...

1. My grandmother had long black hair until she was in her 70's. By long, I mean past her waist. She used to tie it up in a bun.
2. My grandmother stopped driving her Ford Creampuff at 83.
3. My grandmother still bakes one heck of a sweet apple pie.
4. My gramdmother got me hooked on mint tea.
5. My grandmother still plays euchre at the church on Wednesdays. She still kicks a$$.
6. My grandmother still lives on her own.
7. My grandmother has knit me a pair of wool socks every Christmas for as long as I can remember.
8. My grandmother loves her Naturalizer shoes.
9. My grandmother has 7 great-grandchildren.
10. We call her Grammie!
11. My grandmother is the funniest lady I know. At my uncle's 75th birthday party and after 1.5 Mike's Hard Lemonade's my grandmother said [and I quote] "This is a lovely party. All it needs now is an old fashioned Irish fight!". Classic!!!

Here are a few pics from her birthday party.


Here she is about to blow out the candles.

This is one of her great-grandchildren. We don't beat the kids. At least not hard!

Two of my favourite girls!

She's so beautiful! I'm not sure what's she's trying to give me in this pic...maybe a jelly bean...thanks Gram.

My cousin's son - Ethan. His dad has him brainwashed to be a Liverpool fan. Honestly, he doesn't look that happy to me. I mean they are 4th in the EPL, so it's not like they have anything to be happy about. Except that minor win over Chelsea, and a seat at the Champion's League final. [Hiss....boo].

Go Man U!

One of the twin with her balloon, or ba'ooon as she calls it.

Gram and one of the twins. She loves all the kiddies so much! Says they keep her young. Must be working!

The twins saying their goodbye's. They are the cutest little girls!


Grammie - we love you! You are an amazing woman, I hope I have half your strength and zest for life.

Arizona II

Part 2 of our Arizona trip as promised!

I forgot to add a photo of the Hoover Dam in the last post. Amazing the construction that is going on there. Soon you'll take your car over the canyon via a massive bridge vs going over the dam itself.


On our way to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, I asked the guys driving this van if I could get a pic of their beast. They were telling me the reason that their van had only one horn was because people kept breaking a piece off for themselves. I have no idea why they wanted a bulls horn on their van in the first place or where they were going, but I would have liked to know.

In Sedona, as you come over the hill you see these amazing cliffs and you can't believe your eyes. The colour is ridiculous. My photos definitely don't do them justice.

We had to stop in to see the Holy Cross church. Built into the side of the mountain and facing the town, it really is unbelievable.

As I was walking around, I couldn't help notice that all the cars in the area had red (and I mean red) dirt on their tires. In my ultra-white running tourist running shoes, I found the same thing.

Last stop...the Grand Canyon. It got cooler as we approached Flagstaff. We had to get gas and it started snowing. Luckily I had rented in the car in Phoenix - because they put snow tires on for us...mmm yeah, not so much. Anyhoo, it's still a 2 hour hike from Flagstaff to the GC, and it was approaching 3:30. We had no idea what time the park closed, so I was haulin' to get there (is "haulin'" a word?). Cars were turning back because of the bad weather...but not me, I had to see the GC! As we get minutes away the sun is virtually set and more grey stormy skies rear their ugly head. Finally, pulling into one of the lots on the south rim, we park and all I can see of the Canyon is the hand rail and a white cloud that settled over one of the wonders of the world. You can imagine my desire to jump!

...by devine intervention, the skies opened up, the sun became uber-amazing, and here is what we saw....


How amazingly wonderful! I literally couldn't believe my eyes. We could only spend about 15 more minutes there, but I still managed to snap about 100 pics. I am definitely going back. Maybe even do a walking tour in the canyon itself.

What an amazing trip!

Thanks to my sis-in-law, her hubby, the kiddies and my mother-in-law! We love you, we had a superb time!