This past weekend I was invited to the only International stop of the AMA Supercross series at the Rogers Centre, Toronto. The kicker…the action was so close to me I could feel the vibrations from those highly tuned thumpers.

Apart from enjoying Supercross and drooling over these high-end bikes I marevelled at the mad-skills the riders possessed. If you look smooth you are fast. I remember that from my competitive downhill mountain biking days and these guys looked super smooth as they blipped their throttle to clear an insanely high storey jump.

 

My man, Chad Reed was out with injuries previously sustained but my other man – the ‘experienced’ (in other words ‘wise’) Kevin Windham was right on target and podiumed at the main event. The Toronto race fielded a smaller than usual top contenders as Stweart and Dungey were also out with injuries. But, the action was far from short. Supercross kinda reminds me of indoor soccer where the action is fast and furious as compared to playing outdoors on a bigger surface.

The best part of watching supercross live vs TV is the atmosphere. Love the sound of the bikes, the energy of the crowds, the opening show and being litterally able to feel and smell the pyro show. And, of course, watching Nash the Slash perform our national anthem ‘O Canada’. Epic.

In fact not only was the entire evening epic I was very happy with my pictures. I have spent the last year honing my skills and taking pictures of enduro races and trail events and, in my opinion, they have prepared me well. That is, in enduros – it’s one shot baby. Blow it and you’ll never see that rider again unless you can get to the finish line before they do.

We’ll see you all on the trails. Just got word today that the Ganaraska is officially opened two weeks early on April 14. Picking up my KTM 200 this weekend and see you out on the trails and don’t forget to pull a wheelie for me.

I will be attending the Lapdogs Year End Party at RPM this upcoming Saturday (Nov. 20)and showcasing some of my new work. I think it’s a closed party but check out my new website (launching on same day) as I’ll have a lot of the pictures featured under ‘Lifestyle’ category.

I’m super stoked!!! Stripe Graphics Ltd. (www.stripegraphics.com) and Blue Comet Solutions (www.bluecomet.ca) have been working hard on creating a brand new website for me. I can’t tell you how it’s going to look yet…but let’s just say that it looks AWESOME!!!! You are going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

Launch date is Nov. 20, 2010. Stay tuned!!! This blog will also be a part of the website so you’ll be redirected on the 20th.

Plus, to help me launch my new web page there will be an “Art of Humbercrest” show coming up Saturday, December 11, 2010. I’ll keep you posted on the details.

I’m So excited!!!!

Ahhhh…les belles Pyrenees!!! Spent as much time as I could hiking in the mountains over the past few weeks. With my baby in the backpack, the other one running around, French Baguette, yummy cheese, saucisson, water and camera in the bag we enjoyed the scenery and the hikes!!

Here are a few of my favourites. Both were taken at the ‘Cirque de Troumouse’ – surrounded by mountains. Literally!!! Saw some sheep, but the cows had already been taken down to lower elevations.

This particular day was windy, very windy and cold! Luc didn’t like that so he spent the most part sheltered warm and cozy in the backpack with hat and mitts on. 1800 m elevation so the air was pretty chilly. Big grey clouds blew in and out for the most part of the day. Finally around 4pm a wee bit of sunshine peaked through and that’s when i grabbed my camera and took as many pictures as I could during its brief appearance.

Back from my vacation in France visiting relatives and showing off my 2 boys, hiking in the Pyrenees mountains with my young family, cycling throughout the amazing rural setting, and finally eating full-fat cheeses and yogurt to my hearts content!!

Took LOTS of pictures…mostly family ones but I did manage to sneak in a few photog days when time allowed. A HUGE thank you to my parents, my aunt Claude and my husband David for allowing my some free time to satisfy my camera habit – especiallyl when the lighting was good. I’ve got lots of pictures to download and process so hopefully I’ll have a few uploaded soon!

Finished off our vacation with a side trip to EuroDisney and loved every minute of it! Incidently, Space Mountain Mission 2 ROCKS!!!!!! And so does the ‘It’s a Small World After All’ ride. Both my young sons and myself loved it!!

Just wrapped up a photoshoot with ‘mi amiga Mexicana’ Miriam at the Beach a few days ago. Glad we were by the water too as it was already a balmy 28C with a humidex hovering around 35C by 9:00 am!! Chose to go towards Ash Bridges Beach as they have the best sand in the city and also for their lack of breakwaters (didn’t want those in my pictures). I am glad to have chosen this site however was taken aback by how dirty the area was. I don’t understand why people throw garbage – why can’t you pack it up and throw it in a bin!!! I understand seagulls will take out some food laden garbage but not usually dirty diapers (yes, we found one). Ugh!!

Anyways, shoot was successfull and I accomplished what I had wanted – to take calm, relaxing pictures of Miriam by the water with an exercise ball. What I had not planned for was the direction of the sun. We got there early morning to take advantage of the nice light but I thought the sun was going to be a wee bit more to my left and not so much over the water. Well, that changed my game plan a bit and once at home I decided to process the pictures in BW (and a few with a paler colour scheme) as there wasn’t much colour. Personally this worked in my favour and I am really happy with the results!!! Also, I love the use of negative space (i’m a sucker for that) and hope you get why I used it. Check out my Picasa link for the full set!

Been busy taking pictures the last few days of my friend Tammie and her shiny new bike. Conditions were mint and I had a blast finding cool lines for her to ride. A HUGE thanks goes to my husband David for taking care of wee ones while I was out taking pictures and to Tammie for being an amazing sport (not once did she complain after I asked her a to go back up to the top, again, for another run). Here are a few of my favourites from the session. To see the other pictures please log onto ‘My Gallery’ link found right above this post!

Ben Navaee Gallery (1111 Queen St. East, between Pape and Jones, Toronto) is displaying a few of my prints on stands (Cyclist, Irish Statues, Industrial Substenance, Oil Spill, Pylons, and Wall). They are Giclee Printed on Fine Art Paper (Hahnemuhle or Epson Fine Art Paper) and are matted on white. Prices range according to size of print ($65.00 +).

Here are a couple of my pictures from Substance Projects Ganaraska Event held this past June. I’ve taken down the album on my Picasa web page (sorry…needed to keep some digital space on page). If you are interested in a picture email me with your plate number and I’ll email you a thumbnail of the picture should you wish to purchase. Thank you for your cooperation!

Come see some of my pictures at the Ben Navaee Gallery. Reception is Saturday, May 29, 3:00 -4:30 pm.

And, don’t forget to wish me luck 🙂