Day 8: A Moment.

Gord Downie at The Rifflandia Music Festival.I think I covered this already in one of my Reverb posts, but here is another cool moment from this year.

Over the last few years I think I've really started to come into my own as a photographer. After years of doing stuff with The Zone I finally decided to do some stuff on my own. Not that I hadn't been already, but I wanted to launch my portfolio with a little bit of a resume. For the second year in a row I applied for photo cred for the Rifflandia Music Festival and got in.

Anyone can tell by looking at a majority of the photos that I enjoy and love taking concert photographs. There is something about having the band in front of you and the crowd behind you. Sometimes it feels like you are the only person there and you are getting a private concert from one of your favourite musicians. Sometimes the coolest moments are when you aren't taking pictures at all.

I was backstage bullshitting with a friend of mine while we watched the rest of the Jets Overhead set. While I'm fiddling with my camera he taps me on the shoulder and mouths "look to your left." Not 4ft away Gord Downie is standing there watching Jets Overhead play. After the band finishes a song he turns towards us and gives a knowing nod that almost said "yeah, I'm just a normal guy who loves music too." I returned the gesture with a nod back doing my best to not let on how I really felt. You know the feeling. The one that is all "Holy fuck, Gord Downie acknowledged me!"

It was definetly one of the cooler moments I've had backstage at a concert or with a Canadian music icon. I've met plenty of musicians in my day and I'm not trying to brag about it. I just think that it is always a cool feeling meeting someone you have incredible amounts of respect for no matter how brief the encounter is. 

Reverb: Moment.

There are a couple moments this year that have stuck with me.

I could talk about when my 7 month old nephew smiled at me as soon as he saw me the other day or the faint desperation and loneliness that came at cruising altitude somewhere over the Darian Gap. I could talk about one of my photos ending up on someone I sort of admires blog or I could talk about standing backstage at Rifflandia with Gord Downie.

The sun was shining down on us sitting at the Starbucks across from the street from the Tortoise. Waves of tourists, locals, and homeless surged past us. We just sat there quietly drinking our clover pressed coffee in silence watching the hordes move by. The cobble brinks under my feet were warm and sticky like the city air surrounding us. I sipped my hot coffee again and laughing to myself about how I was feeling. I'm never this comfortable surrounded by people in a foreign city but somehow I knew it was the first time I was truly happy in a very long time.

It's a trick of the mind.

Day 8: A Moment.

Between awake and falling asleep there is a black tarmac that runs nearly everywhere.

This summer I saw a lot of British Columbia from the driver's seat of a pick up truck delivering parts to helicopters fighting forest fires. On one particular trip I drive almost 1000km roughly 14hrs with an over night stay in Williams Lake.

Somewhere between Sidney to Kamloops I got stressed out about the time I was going to make it to Puntzi Lake. And somewhere between Kamloops and Williams Lake while Grand Archives was playing on the stereo I slipped into a moment of Zen. I knew then everything was alright and perfect despite the province between being on fire.

After a restless nights sleep in Williams Lake I headed west early in the morning to Puntzi Lake knowing I had to make a 2pm flight out of Williams Lake later that day. On the Caribou highway I had another perfect moment while driving one of the best roads I’ve ever driven. I was focused and the road was winding, uphill, and scenic.

I can’t describe how it felt I just knew it was a moment I would remember for a long time to come.