Why the new camera again?

Why did I buy this new camera again, I forget. Watch the end to see my amazing cat.

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Communicating With Who

One of the things I seem to do, is wander the websites of companies that claim to provide New Media or Social Media needs. It’s how I learn, I see what they are offer, how they are doing it, and what they say they can do. I’m far from being perfect myself, but it is something I’m passionate about and I want to master.
I have come to realize you have to sell yourself to potential clients. You need to prove to this client that you have the skills to help them. So the one statement I often read on these marketing companies sites is something like this, “Our team uses these sites and knows how to navigate them, use them and to reach those you need them to reach and build a relationship”. At that point I have to say “WAIT, I need to check this.”

Okay you claim your team uses these sites, like twitter, youtube, facebook page, etc, but for some reason I can’t seem to find them on any of these platforms. Well of course they have a Facebook Profile, who doesn’t. Facebook Profiles are only for your friends though, right? I consider myself a half decent Googler, so if I can’t find you, chances are you don’t exist. Which ultimately means you are lying. I’m not saying you can’t plan a social media strategy for a client, I’m sure anyone with a little bit of marketing skills can. What I’m more implying is that you tell me that you are, but aren’t. If you really are, LINK TO IT. I want to see @yourname. I want to see you communicating with people.

One of the biggest things I believe Traditional Marketing Companies get wrong it, Social Media is a 2-way street. You can’t just push you content at people, you have to talk to them. You are not using a mega-phone, your using a telephone.

Don’t be fake, be authentic. Oh by the way follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr.

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My Shots from the Worshop

Quick no text and lots of photos is what is going to be in this post. Couple weeks back I took workshop put on by Dave Brosha. It was awesome, amazing, Dave is a great guy and I had lots of fun. Here are some of photos I managed to get. You can see them all on Flickr and a complete write up on YkOnline Monday.

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Netfirms Server Problem?

I think my host is having some problems. I can’t see any data in the back end of my sites and the Spam Catching plugin Akismet is reporting errors.

This is a pain. I’m thinking of switching.

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May Long Weekend

I have decided to not edit over here and give you Kyle, 100% raw. That and I’m sitting on my deck, taking in the sun and can’t see the screen to edit my writing on this site.

Anyways, lets recap this weekend, it seems like a good one. Most of the time I don’t like weekends. More people in the house, I never sleep in, I get bored, etc. This one was different though, and that probably has to do with the fact I was busy for a lot of it.

Saturday was by far the best. I had the opportunity to attend Dave Brosha’s Yellowknife Scenes Workshop, which took us all around Yellowknife and taught me a lot. I have to say Dave does any amazing job teaching and I’m very glad he is willing to share is knowledge. I will have a full write up on YkOnline.ca about my experience and what the workshop was all about. The workshop started at 7:30am and finished at 6pm with drinks at the bar beside his studio. I think I’m going to write more about Dave in the coming days because not only is he an inspiration for photography, but he is also a great motivator. I can’t thank him enough.

Sunday started off as a haze, I felt as though I had a hang over. I slept for 10 hours, 4 more than I normally do, and because of that overslept and had a headache. To try and get rid of the head throbbing I decided it was probably better to get outside rather than work on the computer. I head to the backyard where I started messing around with the 12′ boat we have. The trailer has always been in bad shape, I thought I should try and change that this year. The trailer is a make shift one and is lite enough to be pulled by the smallest of cars. It has 2 runners on it and a rest at the top of the tongue where the nose of the boat sits, which are normally covered in carpet. Well, over the years the retro 70′s carpet which once decked out this trailer is now gone. After removing all the old rusted staples I meant to go out to the dump to find some more carpet, that never happened, I got lazy. Instead I pumped up the flat tire,  hoped it would deflate again and left it for the time being. For the rest of the day Taylor and I took off around town to skate. We ended up at a spot he refers to as the “C ledge”. There he and his “homies” skated while I photographed them. Some photos didn’t turn out to bad, but the sun was in the wrong place and I still need to play with the camera settings more. Of course to finish off Sunday I watched Lost, who didn’t. I feel I need to rewatch it, or have it explained more to me. I feel they finished it, but I’m still a little Lost, for lack of better words. I would really like to see an interview of the writer explaining their thought process of the whole show and finale.

So here we are on Monday, our last day off. I slept better and woke up refreshed, because of that I did do some work. I actually felt in the mood to write, the words were flowing. I started to write up the featured post of Dave’s work shop and made it half way before I realized that there was a bbq event happening at City Hall I wanted to cover. I grabbed my brother and off we went. We went to the BBQ and then to Pilots Monument because I needed some photos for another upcoming post. While down at pilots monument, I got a phone call from someone selling a Truck Camper, which I was looking for, out at Prelude Lake. A spur of the moment decision and we were on our way up the highway. Unfortunately we couldn’t find where this house was, with the camper. We searched everywhere, but it was no where to be found. After phoning them and getting no response and asking the gate keeper of the campground, we gave up and headed back to town.  At least the drive was enjoyable, when we weren’t bouncing all over the place.

That brings us to the now, or at least the now as I write this. The sun is glorious and warm. I am, so, ready for summer.

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Getting Mail with a New Camera

I recently got a very nice new camera for work related purposes ( and for pleasure, lets me honest now). I was able to get it with this years tax return, which is awesome. It is a Canon Vixia HFS100 and I love it. It is heavy duty enough for when I need it at Trade Shows, or Conferences, but also small enough to just carry around. This wont replace my Kodak Zi8 because I will only be using it for the bigger events. Everyday stuff will still be shot on the smaller units.

Watch the video, it is in 720p HD, and if you get bored just watch the last 10 seconds.

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