The Picture Listen Blog

Battling the Snow to Dance in the Sun

picturelisten — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:24:04 +0000

We arrived at Seatac around 4:20am and moved through security quickly because it was so early. We made our way to our departure gate where the were no reported delays. I cruised around taking pictures of planes covered in snow and wondered how it would affect our departure. We grabbed a juice and a breakfast sandwich from the coffee shop and boarded the plane on time. We found our seats and even though the plane was full, there ended up being an extra seat in the row where Kei and I were sitting. Bonus! It was announced that we would be departing late as the plane needed to be de-iced prior to departure. It was an interesting visual watching the guy on a crane truck spraying down the plane while the new day began to illuminate the snow and sky with a soft purple light. It was announced that we would be delayed further as the trucks were still preparing the runways for takeoff. No planes had yet to leave the airport. After an hour we began moving towards the runway. We started to get the safety demonstration from the stewardess and it seemed like we would be on our way shortly. Again, the pilot came on the intercom and announced that something gad gone wrong during the taxi process and that we would be re birthing the plane to perform some checks to make sure it was safe to fly. When this was complete, it was announced that the FAA had halted all flights leaving Seatac. Uhhhhh. We waited, slept a bit and waited some more. We were starting to wonder if we were going to fly at all. After another hour it was announced that we were going to attempt take off, but we would need to be de-iced yet again. Once this was complete we finally taxied out to the runway and took off after three hours of hanging out in the plane. We couldn’t complain because we made it into the air and all of the flights out of Seatac for the next 3 days would be delayed for anywhere from 8-36 hours. We were lucky. The flight to Salt Lake City was quick and the snow capped mountains made for nice scenery as we descended. Our baggage was already spinning around the bag check once we arrived. We had arranged car service to take us from Salt Lake to Park City where the festival is located, but since we were delayed by a few hours, the car was not there when we arrived. We got in touch with the company and they ended up sending a luxury SUV instead of a car because it was the closest vehicle to the airport at the time and they didn’t want to make us wait too long. It arrived after 15 min and we embarked towards our destination. Sundance here we come!

Sleeping In Seattle – Adventures in Sundance Part 1

picturelisten — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:06:27 +0000

So….I’m off to Park City, Utah for the next 10 days. What’s happening in Utah? is the question everybody seems to ask. Is there some Mormon convention or something? Previously when I thought of Utah what came to mind was mountains, snowboarding and yes, there’s the Mormons….but Park City Utah is the home of The Sundance Film Festival. Our crew from Vancouver consists of my girlfriend/partner in crime- the incredible Kei Baritugo and her best friend Angel. We drove down to Seattle on Tuesday, and were scheduled to fly to Salt Lake City the following morning at 6am. The light was EPIC as we were driving which was causing the compulsive photographer in me to jones for some shots like a junkie. I stopped twice along the I-5 to shoot when the light was so amazing that I couldn’t stand it anymore. We had dinner at a sushi spot in downtown Seattle before heading to our hotel near the airport. We managed to get a couple hours of sleep before waking up at 3:30am to catch the shuttle to Seatac. As the weather reports had predicted, a snow storm had rolled in and there was already 5″ of snow on the ground. As a city that doesn’t get too much snow, our travels for the day were totally up in the air. Fingers crossed, we bundled up and hopped on the shuttle to begin our adventure. Here we go!

Stay Tuned…

Fire & Ice

picturelisten — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:08:08 +0000

During a recent drive from Kelowna back to Vancouver there was a section where there were fires burning on the side of the road. It looked like a forest fire but I’m pretty sure it was a series of controlled burns. Nevertheless, it resulted in an interesting visual and I had to stop for some slow exposures using passing traffic to add and extra bit of colour.

Granville Island Abstractions

picturelisten — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:36:30 +0000

Today I was doing a portrait shoot which lead me (us) to Granville Island. After the work was done I captured some imagery, mostly in an abstract fashion. And the words give way to the pictures…Click to view slideshow.

BPMC Sound Design

picturelisten — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:07:26 +0000

I recently worked with director Mark Achbar (The Corporation) doing sound design for titles to his new film Surviving Progress. Layering many sounds such as breaking glass, lighting a match, birds, ocean waves, explosions, synthesizer and helicopters I created a bold and diverse soundscape to accompany the motion graphics for Big Picture Media Corp. It’s a short clip, but turn up your speakers and check it out! – Christopher

Picture Listen presents Feather & Hammer

picturelisten — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:52:47 +0000

Photograph by Shereen Alex

Listen Suite Recordings recently released the first sneak peak of Feather & Hammer, the new music project from Picture Listen Artist Christopher Guy. Click here to have a listen to a demo of “All Fall Down” to be released on the album Long Way to Simple due out Nov 11/2011

Connect with Feather & Hammer on Facebook and Soundcloud

Fishing for Lunch

picturelisten — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:52:41 +0000

During my recent travels in Central America I spent some time with some friends in Jaco, Costa Rica which is a pleasant little surf beach and thriving tourist metropolis which starkly contrasted my experience in El Salvador. During my stay we drove to a small Tilapia farm in the mountains where you can go fishing for lunch. The views en route were incredible and we stopped to take photos on the way home after going through a police roadblock. Check out the video and accompanying photos. A big thanks to Douglas Ludwig & Lauren for hosting me in Jaco and driving to the farm!

Life is Precious

picturelisten — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 04:46:55 +0000

I’ve been lucky enough to have some excellent days snowboarding fresh powder at Big White since returning from Central America. On one extra special day we rode the Gem Lake chair after it had been closed for 3 days due to high winds while accumulating over 35cm of fresh snow. My goal upon returning home to Canada was to get one great powder day before the end of the season. This was my day. Wow!

Unfortunately, it was not such an incredible day for someone else on the mountain. We rode back to the parking lot to see a helicopter near our vehicle. The emergency personnel asked us to stay clear because they were bringing someone out who was not well. As we changed out of our gear they stretchered a man into the helicopter and took off. I heard afterward that he had fallen in a tree well and unfortunately passed away during the trip to the hospital. Life is precious. What else can I say?

The Day it all Changed- Guatemala Day 5

picturelisten — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:54:47 +0000

If you haven’t read Guatemala parts 1-4 you may want to follow these links first: 1 2 3 4

I awoke from a deep sleep in the middle of the night to the unsettling sound of metal scraping against gravel accompanied by some tough sounding Spanish voices. I lied awake for a few minutes before sliding the window of the canopy open to see what I could see. It was pitch black except for a small fire that burned amidst a thick damp fog creating an apocalyptic scene that gave me shivers. Faint shadowy creatures were silhouetted against the flames as they shoveled the mountainside into wheelbarrows. I tried to photograph my minds eye but the (lack of) light would not allow it. It looked like a creepy movie set and made me want to get the f out of there. I checked my clock and it was just after 3am. I kept watching as they loaded wheelbarrow loads into the back of a pickup truck for 30 min before pulling away. No more sound… The remnants of the fire were barely visible through the foggy haze and I wished to leave the place as soon as possible. I managed to fall back asleep for awhile before being woken up by Mauricio and Gloria who had also heard the sounds and wanted to get on the road right away. Their tent and sleeping gear was wet and things in the back of the truck were damp at best.

We hit the road and decided to keep climbing towards a mountain city called Nebaj. The light of the day failed to bring any sun and we pulled into town damp, hungry and a bit unsettled. We bought arroz con leche which is a thick warm milk drink with rice. We drank it outside while chatting with a few locals who were hanging out under the awning where we parked. We were told that is rains like this almost every day for about 9 months a year…and I thought Vancouver was bad! We asked one man how he liked living amidst so much rain and he smiled happily saying “at least we don’t have any dust!” I was impressed by his outlook and looked forward to being dry and warm. The vendors were just beginning to set up the market which took place underground below the central park because of all the rain. We looked around for a few minutes but none of us felt like staying for long because we had a long drive ahead of us.

The road went from decent to poor as we drove past numerous places where landslides covered half or more of the road. At one point our route was diverted along a bumpy, muddy trail because the road was completely blocked. I figured it was only a matter of time until we would escape the cloud cover as the skies continually lightened only to recede back into dark clouds and rain. The canopy of the truck was far from waterproof and we were in need of some sun to dry out our things. The roads got worse and the driving became slow and bumpy. I tried to keep the morale of our team up as the fun road trip began to morph into an epic journey. Our destination was Semuc Chempey, a place Mauricio & Gloria raved about as being the “best place in Guatemala” where you could swim in the jungle amongst a series of waterfalls and pools that varied in color from blue to green. At this point it felt like the whole truck had gone swimming so the idea was less appealing then it would have been on a sunny day.

The tone of the day changed completely when we came around a corner to see a most vibrant rainbow over a small town called Cunen. We stopped to take some photos of the view over the valley which was enough to win over all but the most stubborn frown. Once in town we stopped on the street where a young woman was selling something to eat which turned out to be a delicious hot soup that we ate with bread sticks. After eating, the family allowed me into their home to fill up our 5 gallon water jug which we had begun rationing the night before. On the way out I smashed my head on a doorway that was clearly made for short Guatemalans. The fact that I was carrying a 5 gallon jug intensified the impact and left me with a huge bump and a serious headache. Ouch

The next leg of our journey brought us along a high mountain road with views as far a the eye could see. The rain had finally let up but the skies remained cloudy. After this long, beautiful stretch of road the pavement ended leaving us with a bumpy gravel road through mining country where the rivers were polluted and lush green mountainsides were reduced to rocky wastelands. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the members of the communities who were obviously affected by the industry. Their beautiful valleys and rivers were now industrial waste pits and you can bet they have never been compensated. It was a bizarre mix of natures beauty and mans ugliness on this road to a supposed paradise. We stopped along the way for lunch and a much needed wash in a cold river.

After a really long time of 15km/hr travel we reached the turnoff to Semuc Chempey. Only 20 more km to go, but the road got worse. We traveled up and down steep grades through the jungle towards our watery destination. We bumped our way down to a beautiful spot next to a green river close to the entrance of the park. We asked some locals if we could camp where we were and they said it would be no problem. We pulled our wet stuff out and hung it out to dry before going for a swim in the river which was refreshing after the long drive. It wasn’t too cold but definitely wasn’t warm and left me wishing for sunshine. After our swim we pulled together some dry wood and started a fire to cook dinner. Our camping spot turned out to be a popular swimming hole for the locals as multiple families came by to swim and bathe in the river while we cooked some pasta. People were friendly and quite interested in learning about us. It seemed like none of them had ever left the area where they lived. They listened eagerly as we told them stories of the places we had seen on our road trip and became proud when Mauricio told them that their home was the best place in all of Guatemala.

Night fell as we chatted with our new friends who didn’t seem like they wanted to leave. They huddled around my camera to look at pictures form our trip until we decided it would be cool to take a group picture. 10,9,8,7,6 -I run into the picture- 5,4,3,2,1- FLASH! We review the image and everyone loved seeing themselves on the screen. Good times! See you all tomorrow. We bid farewell to the group of locals and went to bed. I played lullabies on the guitar in the darkness of the back of the truck before going to sleep. As I laid down to sleep I could hear rain drops starting to fall on the truck…ughhh.

Final Chapter coming soon to a blog near you…

Surf Comp & Playa Jaco

picturelisten — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:43:53 +0000

I’ve been staying with friends at Playa Jaco, Costa Rica for 5 days now. It’s a little tourist beach town just over an hour away from San Jose. It’s definitely a way different vibe than I’ve been used to in El Salvador but enjoyable nonetheless. It’s difficult to practice Spanish here as everybody and their dog seems to speak English. There’s a zillion restaurants to choose from as well as tourist traps galore. Zip-lines, ATV tours, deep sea fishing, tram rides, surf lessons, paragliding, crocodile tours, and more competing for the attention of the tourists. On the weekend there was a national surf contest on the beach right in front of the place where I was staying. The surf wasn’t very big but I was amazed at what these guys and gals were able to do with it. Even the little dudes (grommets) were awesome. Not many other words are necessary so I will let today’s Image Dose say the rest: