It was 1997. I was living in Japan at the time and had decided to fly home for a visit. A friend of mine was going to school at Columbia at the time and she invited me to visit her in New York for a few days. I’d never been but always wanted to go. Since it was only a few extra dollars to add a stop over in New York to my flight home, I decided to take her up on her offer and fly there for a visit. The city of New York has always been a special place to me for reasons I can’t really explain. If you asked me where else I’d like to live besides Edmonton, New York would be first on my list. During this particular visit, I only had a few days and there were so many sights I wanted to see. Included among those was going to the top of the World Trade Center. I arrived in the lobby of one of the towers at around 10:30 in morning and already there was a huge lineup for the elevator that would take you up to the observation deck. I had also planned to visit the Statue of Liberty that day and needed to be back on Wall Street by 3:00 to tour the Stock Exchange. I decided at that point that if I waited in line, I wouldn’t be able to fit everything into my schedule so I made my way to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty instead. It wasn’t like the World Trade Towers were going anywhere – I figured I could always come back another day and go to the top. That day I took the following photographs of the twin towers with my film camera.

The next day I had planned to go back but unfortunately I ran out of time and had to settle for the view from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. It would be the last time I would see the New York skyline with the Twin Towers dominating it.

The next time I would be back in New York City would be November of 2002 – just over a year after the attacks of 9-11. Obviously there would be no going up to the top of the World Trade Center. Instead, I paid a quick visit to Ground Zero to pay my respects to those who had died that day. All I can remember is how quiet it was down there even though we were in the middle of the city. It was at that moment, standing there looking at the gaping hole that once held the Trade Towers, that it hit me how short life can be and how important it is to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented to you. My regret is that I didn’t slow down that day in 1997 and wait in that line to go to the top. Instead I was in too big of a rush to get on to the next thing. For me, 9-11 will always be a reminder of that.

Since then, I’ve been able to return to New York for several visits including our honeymoon in 2004 and most recently when Sarah took me back for my 40th birthday and to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Each time we’ve gone back, we’ve made a point of visiting Ground Zero to see the progress that has been made and remember. Here are few photos of the new Freedom Tower from March of this year along with a view of Manhattan at night looking south where the Towers once stood.

If 9-11 taught me anything, it is to seize opportunities when they come. Be spontaneous. Take risks. Document your life. For me, photography is one way to seize those days and to remember them. If photography isn’t your thing, find a way to remember the people and places in your life. Don’t wait unitl tomorrow as tomorrow might be too late.

I was a guest on this week’s episode of This Week in Photo which included celebrity wedding photographer Robert Evans, stock photographer Nicole Young, and host Frederick Van Johnson. On this episode we discussed Google+ which is the latest social network offering from Google. I’ve been on Google+ for about a week and so far I’m enjoying it. It combines some of the best elements of Facebook with some of the features of Twitter in a clean interface to create a compelling service. For photographers Google+ looks to be a great way to share your photography with others and to network with other photographers. One of the features of Google+ that I really like is that you can organize the people who follow you into ‘circles’. For example, I’ve created a circle of Edmonton Photographers, Edmonton Twitter users, friends, family, etc. Unlike Facebook, with Google+, when you share something, you can be selective in terms of deciding which ‘circles’ you’d like to share with. Let’s say you have some photographs from a family reunion that you’d like to just share with your family. On Facebook if you shared those photos, everyone you call your friend would see those photos. With Google+, you can choose to only share that content with people in your ‘family circle’ for example and then only they would see it.

I think Google is onto something with their latest social offering. Facebook is a giant 300 lb gorilla that won’t be easy to move but so far Google seems to have caught people’s attention and they like what they are seeing. Time will tell if it’s going to be successful but based on my early days of using the service I think it’s the first real competitor to come along in awhile. Currently it’s aimed towards individuals but they have plans to expand the service so that businesses and brands can begin to use it to extend their social presence.  They’ll also be rolling out new features and making improvements to the service over time so I will be eager to review it again in 6 – 8 months to see where things stand. Regardless of how you feel about social networking, I think it’s important for photographers to stay on top of these new technologies as they emerge and decide how they might want to integrate them into their businesses.

If you’d like to add me to one of your circles on Google+, you can find me here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107960447712389929333

How do I qualify to win this exciting prize you ask? It’s easy but you’ll have to do a bit of work to get your name in the draw. There are three easy ways to be entered in the draw:

1. Become a Fan of Moments in Digital Photography on Facebook and leave a comment on the post announcing this contest. Limit of one entry per person.
2. Leave a comment on the blog telling us why you want to win a copy of PhotoTools  (limit of one entry per person)
3. Tweet the following message (limit of 1 entry per person): Enter to win a copy of PhotoTools from Moments in Digital & @bruceclarke http://bit.ly/mzVakh #yegphotog

If  you do all three things you’ll get three entries in the draw. At the conclusion of the contest, I will put all of the entries into a spreadsheet and use a random number generator to pick the winner. Contest runs from Tuesday, June 6th to June 30th. We’ll announce the winners on July 1st (Canada Day!).

Good luck!

Here are a few shots of my new boutique packaging for photographic prints.

I will also be adding a few more new products to my collection that will soon be available to all of my bride and grooms as well as portrait and event clients. Currently I offer prints, canvas gallery wraps, digital collections, coffee table books and beautiful albums from Italy.

If you are a recently engaged couple and you’re looking for a photographer to photograph your wedding in Edmonton, Alberta, or beyond, feel free to contact me today. I still have a few prime Saturday dates available in 2010 and have started to take bookings for weddings in 2011.

A big thanks to Elizabeth Van der Birj from ENV Photography for the opportunity to be included in the fabulous resource. If you are a bride or groom who is getting married in Edmonton, this is a great site featuring some awesome wedding photographers and other wedding related resources including Edmonton wedding venues and a list of some great locations in and around Edmonton for photos.

This month’s list includes a couple of events taking place outside of Alberta but I felt they were worthwhile events to attend if you can make it plus some of the locations get you out of a cold Canadian winter and into a sunny locale. I know that I’m very excited for the opening of our new Art Gallery at the end of the month and being able to see the Yousuf Karsh exhibition.

• Yousuf Karsh exhibition at the Art Gallery of Alberta – Jan 31st – May 30th, 2010
• POLAROIDS: Attila Richard Lukacs and Michael Morris – January 14th – March 13th – ACAD in Calgary
• Calgary Banff Photography Festival - Feb 1st – Feb 28th, 2010
• Understanding Lighting with Richard Berry – Feb 20th – 21st in Canmore
• Lightrein: Free Studio Lighting Workshop – February 21st, 2010
• Exposure Photography Symposium – Feb 26th – March 1st in Edmonton
• PMA 2010 – February 21st – 23rd in Anaheim, CA
• WPPI – March 4th –11th in Las Vegas, CA
• Shandro Photo Workshop with the Weibners in Edmonton March 12th – 14th
• Photoshop World East – March 24th – 26th in Orlando, FL
• Expressions of Hunger – Photography & Essay Competition in support of Edmonton’s Food Bank – Entry deadline is March 31st, 2010
• No BS Photo Success Roadshow – in Edmonton April 8th
• Nature Photography Workshop with Richard Berry – April 16th – 18th in Canmore
• Fast Track Photographer seminar with Dane Sanders – May 5th – 6th in Calgary
• Jerry Ghionis workshop in Vancouver – June 21st – 25th
• Ongoing events, seminars and workshops at the Camera Store in Calgary
• Ongoing events and seminars at Vistek in Edmonton
• Ongoing events and seminars at McBain Camera in Edmonton
• Maui Photo Festival – August 25th – 29th
• Sandy Puc 2010 Family Tour – August 30th, 2010

Last year I signed on to do the show notes along with Tom Newman who hosts his own podcast called the FogView Podcast. Each week, Tom and I take turns transcribing the contents of the show and posting the notes on www.twiplog.com. Each show is approximately 1 hr 1.5 hrs in length and features a regular cast of characters. I also do the show notes for Scott Bourne’s PhotoFocus podcast which comes out on the 5th, 15th and 25th of each month. The Photofocus podcast is dedicated to answering listener questions about photography. I have learned so much from listening to theses podcasts and picked up some great tips which I’ve incorporated into my own work. I highly encourage other photographers to subscribe to these podcasts and check out their companion websites for tons of great information.

• Listen to the podcast: This Week in Photography 116 – Filter Fight
• Subscribe to the TWiP podcast

On this week’s show, a listener question got us into a discussion regarding U/V filters and whether there is any point in having them on your lens.  I do have protective filters for most of my lenses however I don’t use them all the time. There are some who argue that it doesn’t make any sense to put a $100 filter in front of a $2000 piece of glass as it will degrade the image quality particularly in certain lighting conditions where you may get flair if light is entering from the side of your lens.  If I am indoors or shooting under relatively controlled conditions where I’m not concerned about something damaging the front of my lens element, I have typically removed the filter to avoid any chance of degrading the quality of my images. I tend to use my lens hood at all times which I find provides me with adequate protection. If I’m headed outdoors or into a situation where there might be a chance of something striking the front element of my lens, then I typically will put the filters back on. One thing I forgot to mention on the podcast is that the one filter that I use frequently when shooting landscapes is a circular polarizing filter. These filters can help cut down reflections on things like water, ice, etc. They also help to increase the contrast in a scene however you will lose a stop to two stops with most polarizing filters. The circular polarizing filter is also the one filter in your bag that you can’t replicate using something like Photoshop as it actually changes the quality of light before it hits your lens. For a more technical description, Wikipedia has an article on filters which explains how a polarizing filter works in more detail. If you are going to invest in any filters, this should be the one you have in your bag for sure. In terms of brand, I like to use the B+W filters which you can buy from most photography stores or order online from B+H Photo.

What’s your take on filters? Do you use them? Have you noticed a difference in image quality when you use them? Feel free to leave comments on the topic below.