I Heart NYC

Imagine my surprise when a young gentleman stopped me in the street to take a few photos of him using his camera. This wasn't your typical "please take a photo of me with family/friend/girlfriend/boyfriend/landmark/dog". This was clearly a premeditated mini photoshoot. Later, he admitted to setting up his shot and watching people go by for about 10 minutes before stopping me to ask. (Sure I had my camera on me, but lots of people in NYC carry around cameras. Do I really look that much like a photographer that you can pick me out of a crowd?!)

After taking a few shots for him and learning he was visiting from Munich, I suggested doing an actual mini shoot later that evening, right before my flight back to Vancouver. He was game, and we met up for a fast paced hour-long shoot around the city before I had to run (literally) to get my luggage and catch a train to the airport. I wish I had had more time with him. He is delightful and so comfortable on camera. Only later did I realise, he's no stranger to the camera-- he's killing it on Instagram. Check out his beautiful feed here. Until we meet again!

Triple Threat

Athlete and all-round gorgeous gal: I had thought of asking this teammate to shoot with me since early in the season. I still get in my head about asking people to get in front of my camera. She had to hint at me that she'd be up for modelling for me before I admitted how much I would like that. I should remind myself that, even through hundreds of pictures exist of us all online, it's seldom that we get to see professional pictures of ourselves. Shooting with her made for such a great morning and, even though we didn't get the sunset we wanted, it was a perfect way to wrap up my time in South Africa this year. Thanks, P.

Grayhound Training

The Grayhound Training is a small gym in Cape Town and I'm so happy to have found it. Every time I'm in town, I work out here three times a week. The trainers on staff are knowledgeable and, what makes them even better: they're incredibly personable (with a great sense of humour, too!). I don't think I could get excited to go to just any old gym. It's definitely the people at Grayhound that make it so fun-- both staff and gym-goers. I'm so happy I got to do a shoot with some of these awesome people here before leaving town. (You guys make sweating fun-- thanks. I'll be back next year!)

New Home

These two amaze me. When I'm moving, the last thing I want to do is think about looking presentable and being in a photoshoot. On the day they moved all their worldly possessions into their new place, they also agreed to a shoot. I love how the pictures came out-- so many more terrific ones than just the ones pictured here. And I love being on set with these two: they have so much fun together and it's infectious to everyone around them. Thanks, friends, for being so awesome.

Misty Running

This guy has been such a trooper and a great friend--stepping in to model whenever he's needed. He's so much fun to have on set and makes everyone around him feel at ease. Though we only had the magic atmosphere of the mist for the first 10 minutes of the shoot, he was so patient throughout, running the same steps over and over again until we got the perfect shot. Thanks, J.

A Food Adventure

This was one of the most delicious shoots I've ever been a part of! I met these lovely ladies as a part of a day tour in Eastern Taiwan, where they jumped in and served as excellent translators to help out me and my mom. On a break from studying in Shanghai, these two were such good sports when I approached them about doing a shoot at a night market. Not only that, their language skills enabled me to experience a night market unlike any others during my trip. Together, we had cuttlefish on a stick, a sausage inside a sausage, a Taiwanese corn dog equivalent, a potato spiral, a salted garlic pork wrap (I'm sure of that one because it was written in English), and dragon-fruit juice. I will take home great memories of the food, the good conversation, and the new friendship. Thanks for a great night, girls.