Sean Lawrence 21/09/2017 Sean Lawrence 21/09/2017

My First Roll of Ektar

It's finally here, the moment I have been waiting for. The day before Christmas and you can't sleep because you want to open your gifts or when you order something and you wait for the delivery man to show up at your house.

My first roll of Ektar film is here and Im surprised. I thought because I shoot digital a specific way the images would come out fairly similar, but that wasn't the case. Now looking at the photos almost feels like a review of how I shot this day, what I shot and the ultimate product.

36 photos I only had a few selects that stood from that day. I understand now how I have change the way I shoot when it comes to film, slower shutters speeds and understanding aperture. I realize its about taking your time being patient and finding that moment.

Overall I am pleased with the images I came out with, but now I know what I want to capture or at least have a better idea of what I might want to come out with.

Here are the rest of the I selected from that day....

See you on the next roll.

Sean Lawrence 11/05/2017 Sean Lawrence 11/05/2017

New York Minute

Not sure how to start this one back up again, but its been a long time since I have posted anything on here. I have been doing a lot to be honest just no time to sit down and make a post about it.

Today I want to talk about my New York City experience in which I was soaked by the rain, had my backpack fall apart and spent 2 hours trying to get the perfect shot.

When I came across this location it was here when I felt like I was in New York. No, it wasn't the slick talking or the One World Trade building. This!! This somewhat iconic shot of Chinatown from the Manhattan Bridge is when I felt like I was in New York. Its places like this that we see time and time again that make us feel like we made it. A lot of the time it is not about the destination, but the journey it took to get there. Cloudy days, rain and puddles are what made up most of the week.

Walking across iconic bridge felt like a bad joke at times. "why did the photographer cross the bridge?" To get all the shot? As much as we tried to predict the weather we had many failed attempts because predicting the weather is like finding the fountain of youth you come close, but your just not there.

The Infamous Brooklyn Bridge, iconic the first New York City bridge and one hell of a run to the other side. We got caught in a crazy down pour with nowhere to hide. No shelter to cover and all our clothes, camera equipment and bags exposed. All we could do was embrace the New York weather, as if we had any other choice. When things like this happen you take it and think its a bad thing, but its memorable so why not document it . First time in New York and on the Brooklyn Bridge we caught in the rain. (I know I have been saying we a lot, I was on this trip with my girl friend, who doesn't have Instagram but loves to travel take photos and experience different foods.)

It rained for 3 days so stayed inside...

Staying dry is key when your not walking around with a 1Dx or weather sealed equipment. Because New York is so big and has so much to offer have a day inside is still a good thing. Not all cities are like this, but I will say rain or shine NYC doesn't stop, doesn't slow down and doesn't take breaks. Unfortunately I don't have a 1Dx, but its in the woks.

The rain finally settled and going high above New York to capture this busy city in one photo, finally made sense. Seeing a lot these buildings was also a culture shock because the amount of films that have been recorded in New York is astonishing. From Batman, Die Hard, Sex & The City, Fast & Furious and more, NYC has got it covered.

Now to tell you what it means and how much dedication it takes to get that perfect shot that ends your trip. It was the last day of our trip and we wanted to see The 'Top of The Rock'. All tickets were sold out up until the next day and we were at the end of the line. The people ahead of us were buying tickets for tomorrow so by the time we get to the kiosk it would have been sold out. Did I mention it was our last day, so there was no trip back to the top of the rock for us. So, when your backs against the wall and you almost out of options what do you do? BUY VIP!!!!

We bought VIP skipped the line in a New York minute and stayed on rock for 2.5 hours because it was our last night the sun was finally out and we had no where else better to be than to watch the sun go down over one of the craziest cities in the world. It almost felt like we were in a movie watching the sunset.

Till next time,

Peace

Sean Lawrence 11/10/2016 Sean Lawrence 11/10/2016

The Cuban Experience

I know it has been long since my last post in January, but you can look forward to more post in the coming future.

I recently took a trip to Cuba for the experience of a lifetime courtesy of Havana Club Canada. For 3 days myself and the 2 other photographers Celia & Gillian enjoyed food, music and of course rum. We were able to get some history of how rum is made in a very cuban fashion.

Walking the streets of Old Havana was one of the highlights of my trip, seeing the culture, the old buildings with new modern architecture. Tones of characters roam the streets of Cuba any given day engaging tourists and cubans alike. You may have to pay a peso or two, but a photo of one of these street characters is worth the experience and the memories.

Unforgettable sunsets at 6am to going to kids in the streets playing soccer. Cubans may seem like they don't have much, but they sure live life to the fullest. Live it day by day and drink to the good times.

There were very few times when a local wouldn't try to sell me cigars and or rum as Cuba's largest income is based around tourism. Very nice and very respectful by the 3rd day I didn't want to leave, I felt like I was more than welcome to stay for as long as I wanted.

I would definitely recommend if anyone wants to go to somewhere hot, where they can enjoy good food, dance and of course cigars Cuba is the place to be. I have so many moments from this trip that overtime I see an image I feel like I am still there. I will never forget this trip to Havana.

Till next time.

Sean Lawrence 11/01/2016 Sean Lawrence 11/01/2016

From a different perspective

The digital age is booming and times are changing so fast, with changing times comes new technology and new ways of doing the same thing. Photography has changed a lot over the years, before it was blogging, then it was design t-shirts and then graffiti. Now everyone wants to be the own version of 13thWitness or Trashhand.

Change is inevitable and sometimes that change is unwanted, other times it is creative. As visual people we decide to make that change. I recently changed up what camera I was going to shoot with. (Only for a week)

I took the FujiE-X2 for a spin. With a 18-55mm(27-82.5 crop factor) I was amazed at the shot I could get without being seen. I love wide shots, but this time around I used the zoom and I was in love. I was fascinated by how fast you could take that shot and walk away without being noticed.

I was impressed by how easy it was to understand the functions of the camera and how smooth and consistent the camera was (this is not a photo review). I was pleased to walk just about anywhere and not question, if I was going to get the shot or not. It took me a few hours to change to my own custom setting and make the camera my own, but it was refreshing.

The Fuji is mirrorless camera and I felt it was time to try my hand at it and see if its worth the jump, if its worth selling my BMW (Canon 6D) for a smaller camera that can do almost the same thing. It was fun shooting with the camera, it felt like nobody knew I was there, but who knows.

Only time will tell...