While I was in New York City, I had a chance to hang out with an old piping friend. Jason Briscoe is a great piper who was always a fierce competitor during my years playing in Ontario. He’s a very talented designer living in the Big Apple, and after not seeing each other in person for about 14 years, we had a lot of catching up to do (including a lesson in my junior high Cape Breton Chainsaw Dance…see the dancing photo for a visual explanation)! I wanted to take some portraits of him to include in the next pipes|drums installment, so he picked me up on his scooter the day after the wedding, and we shot around Soho. On that brisk morning while the rest of New York City was sleeping, we were reenacting the scene from Dumb and Dumber, where Harry and Lloyd are frozen and shivering on the scooter (minus the icicle boogers and the peeing!). Jason’s awesome gal Meghan was around for the photos, so we started out at his apartment and then wandered around his little neighbourhood in Soho. They are pretty adorable together, totally in love, and always make each other laugh…what else do you need?!

Sean McKeown is a top-notch piper and all-round great guy. I went to a Toronto Police Pipe Band practice to have a listen to the tunes for their concert at the el Mocambo, and set up a time for some photos of Sean, his sweet gal Amy, and their dog Finn. We went for a walk in the dog park, got lost in the woods, saw some ‘wild’ dogs the size of horses, and ended up at the Pickering Museum Village before realizing we must have taken a wrong turn. One quick loop around the park and we found the entrance which led us to the beautiful swamp grass I had been searching for after seeing it a few days prior with James Munroe. Stay tuned for more images from this session to be included in the next installment of Photographing the Art for pipes|drums!

When you look back and reflect, each year seems like a whirlwind. Many thanks to my clients who have been wonderful and trusting folks…humouring my whims during sessions. To my family and friends, thanks for your patience when I was behind my computer editing for weeks at a time. Most of all, to my Jamie…even with his busy schedule, he’d still make a point to invite me on afternoon coffee dates during the busiest part of the year so that my eyeballs wouldn’t fall out from the editing. I am the luckiest.

I’ve put together a slideshow of some of my favourite images from the year as a recap of the places and faces I’ve seen (the soundtrack is provided by my dear and talented fiddling friend, Ivonne Hernandez). Enjoy, thanks again for your ongoing support and encouragement, and all the best for 2011!

On a cold December morning we grabbed some coffee and went on an adventure.
Jamie Troy. My best friend. My heart.

I knew Graham from my piping days in Ontario. He’s recently moved to Vancouver and came to Victoria to have a few portraits taken with his pipes.