ryan macdonald PHOTOGRAPHY blog » Piper

Jason + Meghan – Soho NYC Portrait Session

Ryan — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:27:39 +0000

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 + Amy Turpin + Finn the Dog

Ryan — Fri, 27 May 2011 04:09:56 +0000

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!

2010

Ryan — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 07:17:15 +0000

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!

Jamie Troy – Victoria Portrait Session

Ryan — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:19:47 +0000

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

Graham Hand – Vancouver Bagpiper

Ryan — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:06:03 +0000

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.

pipes | drums – Photographing the art

Ryan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:59:57 +0000

The third installment of images of pipers and drummers for pipes|drums is online for subscribers. I’m currently working on the fourth part of the series with exciting plans for the project in the New Year. Many thanks to pipes|drums editor Andrew Berthoff, for allowing me to showcase these images. He invited me to start this project with the only guideline being that the images focused on piping and drumming subjects…pretty much a dream assignment for me! To see images from the previous two installments, head to pipes|drums (for subscribers), or check out my site for a few samples.

Piping Today Features Jori Chisholm

Ryan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:16:08 +0000

At the tail end of my trip to the East Coast, I got an email from Jamie letting me know that our good pal Jori Chisholm was on the cover of Piping Today. Piping Today is the National Piping Centre’s (Glasgow) bi-monthly magazine and Jori submitted the photos I took of him to accompany the article. Jori had a very successful year on the solo competitive piping scene as well as being a member of the current World Pipe Band Champions, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. Based out of Seattle, he makes his living by teaching piping through his business BagpipeLessons.com.

Catherine + Dan – Downtown Halifax Portrait Session

Ryan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:37:37 +0000

Catherine is a piper from Pictou County, and she’s yet another friend from the Gaelic College days. We took some photos around downtown Halifax and were joined by her Dan at the tail-end of the session.

MacDonald Family – City of Regina Pipe Band

Ryan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:06:38 +0000

After the Sound Advice school in Regina this July, I stayed a few extra days and spent the weekend with the MacDonald Family. I’ve already taken photos of Barb and Eilidh during their time in Victoria at the Canadian Highland Dancing Championships, but it was time to take some photos of the whole family together. Iain organizes the Sound Advice school and Eilidh (also a piper) and Ruaridh (a tenor drummer) both attended. After catching up on some much needed sleep, we had a quick visit with Iain’s mother then made our way out to a great red barn for the rest of the session (as recommended by Eilidh).

I was hoping to get these images edited for this week as Iain and Eilidh are over in Scotland to attend the World Highland Dancing Championships in Cowal where Eilidh will be competing…best of luck!! You may recognize superhero expert Duncan from my blog post a few weeks ago over on the Photographer Network blog. The entire family plays in the City of Regina Pipe Band, and they’ll also be part of the upcoming installment of Photographing the Art for pipes|drums. Stay tuned!