Had a long day last week. In the sun on a photo shoot, sunburned, crispy, lips chapped, eyes burning from the sun, dehydrated, starving, going slightly batty from fatigue. When I got the invite to meet for drinks that night, I knew it was a no brainer. Luckily the spot was Latitude on Main St. in Van - I haven't had a pisco sour this good since 2 years ago in Lima, and believe me, I've looked. The cocktails are delicious, the food is phenomenal, and the ambiance definitely exudes good vibes. I can't wait to go again.

Made some photos as the light was absolutely amazing. I would love to shoot their next marketing campaign. It's unique places with a dedication to do a few things really well (cocktails, wine, and food) that create an amazing equation. And make me want to go back!

Tags: arepas, cocktails, food, latitude, main street, paella, photography, photos, restaurant, restaurant photographer, vancouver, wine bar.

A few weeks ago, working with one of my favourite and loyal clients- MEC Toronto store, we set out to create a series of portraits that would be used to promote an upcoming event in Toronto called MEC Bikefest hosted by Mountain Equipment Co-op.

To view the entire series on my portfolio site, click here.

The event is held on Saturday July 3rd, 2010 in the Liberty Village area of Toronto and will feature a whole lotta cool things bikes and cycling. If you cycle, you should be going - period. Here are the event details on the MEC site.

MEC Bikefest Toronto portraits series. Photo by Kamil Bialous.

MEC Bikefest Toronto portraits series. Photo by Kamil Bialous.

MEC Bikefest Toronto portraits series. Photo by Kamil Bialous.

Our ideas were that the final images should be square cropped, to be able to collage well into a 3X3 tile. I wanted relatively tight framing on the cyclists faces, looking at the camera and engaging the viewer, as well as their bikes to be a part of their personality, so framing was a bit tricky to come up with different poses. A bit cheesy and quirky was also on the menu, which I believe I hit.  Thankfully, I worked with a bunch of super cool MEC staff who were very accommodating and excellent models, so thank you to them! Knowing most of them, I can tell you that even though they were "models" for this shoot all of them are great and committed cyclist and excellent people.

So - technically speaking -  I shot vertically for easier framing visualization of a square crop, keeping things super mobile with a single light so that we could walk around the streets of Toronto and look for the right set up. Conversion was simple, I wanted to keep colour, and a bit of edge without being over the top. I always liked the tones of ektachrome film, so I toned it with a bit of magenta and blue. I think it works for this project. Client super happy and me super happy. The idea was to get people to represent all sides of cycling in the city, from the hipster fixie (Thanks Adrian, sorry.) to the long distance commuter (Thanks Steve!) and everyone in between.

Just like the theme of MEC Bikefest, it's not about riding a particular type of bike, it's about cycling in general, and participating in a culture that accepts an alternative mode of transportation to motor vehicle as a viable way to get around the city. It's not about only MEC bikes either, it's about whatever your ride, and your reasons for it.

Enjoy, and keep it lubed. Always!

Love,

Kamil Bialous

Tags: bike, bikefest, cycling, cyclist, fest, MEC, mountain Equipment Co-op, photos, portrait, riding, series, toronto, urban.

Run With the Sun runners at the start of their 92.5 km journey down Yonge Street from Barrie to Toronto.

For all coverage photos from the Run With the Sun 2009 event that I photographed, check out my portfolio site. Other noteworthy links to this include a slide show by Sean McSweeney, one of the event organizers, which he posted on Youtube and it's also embedded at the end of this post. Alongside great photos (if I say so myself) and a noteworthy story, this is in-part a call for support. If you or your organization would like to get behind this effort please contact Sean through smcsweeney @ mec.ca or visit the Run With the Sun website. Thanks. Now enjoy the post already!

I have a couple of crazy friends named Sean McSweeney and Paul Bredin and together, they started Run With the Sun. One day, several years back, they decided to combine their love of long distance running and their desire to help a great cause - the the fight against skin cancer supporting the Malenoma Clinic at Women's College Hospital in Toronto - into an event that really challenged them. That event turned out to be an ultra run (more than a marathon) along the longest road in Canada. Yonge Street runs approximately 92.5 km (that's 57.5 miles for my American friends) from the foot of Toronto at Lake Ontario, up to Barrie, and of course, continues way beyond that to god-knows-where. So they did it. One morning, they got up on the longest day of the year, summer solstice, and ran uphill unsupported through the day, wearing layers upon layers of sun screen creams, gels and clothing, to simple raise awareness about the need for sun protection for the skin.

Early morning sun meets the 2009 Run With the Sun runners as they attempt to run along Canada's longest street on the longest day of the year.

Completing the run the first year was rather anti-climactic. No one met them at the end when they finished; there were no media crews, no rest stations, no finish lines, and no champagne. A friend showed up 15 minutes later and drove the guys home back to Toronto. Among friends and family, they were certainly heroes for even attempting this during the heat of summer, but no one else knew about it, and to raise awareness about a cause, you need people to hear your story. So they returned with a dedication to telling the public about the cause. They spread the word to media, and friends told friends, and the event grew. However, there has always been a catch.

Sean McSweeney runs down Yonge Street in the heat of the day while covered in sun screen and UPF clothing to protect him the the sun.

You see, both Sean and Paul's family has been affected by skin cancer or melanoma, so they felt the challenge had to be as great as possible, but achievable within a day. Hence, the running distance remained unchanged to reference the challenge of overcoming diagnosis. Therefore, the numbers of runners have remained at small but steady growth, with 2009 being the largest turnout with 9 runners, and plenty of support crew and cyclists. Many people can run a marathon, but why stop there? Why not run from sun-up to sun down, on the hottest day of the year, and make it more than 2 marathons long? Now that is challenging! And so they do it. Each year for the last 4 or 5, they get a small dedicated group of people, and hammer out the miles. When getting closer to Toronto, people join in, friends and family come out and run the last 5, 10, 15, or 20 kilometers and encourage them to not give up.

Sean McSweeney tends to his feet and changes socks in the shade during his attempt at 92.5 kilometers with the rest of the Run With the Sun crew.

Arriving at 1 Yonge St. in the heart of downtown Toronto after running such an ultra run is an amazing experience to behold. Emotions run wild as friends, family, and strangers witnessing the event hear about and congratulate what these people have just done. This is where you come in. Please tell anyone and everyone about this. The more people that know about the event, the better. We have been very fortunate to have the support of Olympic multi-gold medalist Marnie McBean join us in the past years to offer up amazing energy and a pep talk when morale is at its lowest - right around high noon to 3 pm. Her energy and amazing suck-it-up-buttercup-because-other-people-have-it-worse-than-you approach is contagious. The gang gets up, and keeps on running. Without the talk, I don't know if they would get up.

Canadian Olympic gold medalist Marnie McBean offers up encouragement to the runners as they stop for a break under a shady tree in the heat of the day.

Not long after the finish and a few celebratory (but rather subdued and fatigued pints) next year's planning begins. We hope to see you there in one capacity or another!

RWTS 2009 runners finish the day with family and friends as they cross 1 Yonge St at Lake Ontario and the finish line.

If you like what you see here, then check out all the images that I shot during the event on my photo website. In addition, the slide show below features mine as well as John Beebe's photos. Finally, don't forget to visit the Run With the Sun website to learn how you can get involved.

If you made it this far down, thanks for reading! And please support the event through sponsorship in which ever way you can. To do so, contact smcsweeney @ mec.ca or send me an email and I'll put you in touch.

Cheers,

Kamil Bialous

Tags: canada, canadian marathon, charity event, get involved, great running story, heat of the day, longest road, longest run of the year, marathon, marnie mcbean, melanoma, olympic gold medalist, photos, run, Run with the sun, running cause, RWTS, safety, skin cancer, sponsor, sponsorship, summer, summer solstice, sun, sun safe clothing, sunscreen, support, ultra, UPF, Women's College hospital, Yonge street.

Moon-een on McCaul at OCAD. Kind of a cloudy surreal petting zoo.

Scotia Bank Nuit Blanche to many people is an event that is not to be missed. I never really plan on going until the last minute - something about being elbow-to-elbow with thousands of people for many hours - but in the end, I always give in. Don't get me wrong, it's cool and interesting, so attempts should be made to at least check out something that night. Having said that, it's a little difficult to do anything else in the city on Nuit Blanche night, and it does provide some cool opportunities for street photography, so I got together with my buddy Trevor and hit the (crowded) streets for a few hours of weaving through traffic and exploring the "art".

I never really formulate a plan for Nuit Blanche, unlike others who are probably way more efficient than I am at seeing all the installations, and I simply roam the streets, following crowds, with my little info book in-hand. I brought my camera long with a 50mm lens to keep things light and simple. There were quite a few people with cameras out on the streets because it is kind of a big carnival road show.

Most interesting to me was the human interaction element between the art pieces and the public crowd. There was really no invisible wall between performer and audience, and often times the public was equal part to the exhibit. I converted everything to black and white because it looks better to me this way, again, simplifies things.

If I had to pick my two favourite exhibits from the night, they would be the Vodka Pool and the Bouncing Bride. You can check them out in the photos below.

Enjoy the photos.

Ghost Chorus - Dirge for Dead Slang, on Bay St. A kind of ghost chanting orchestra, if you will.

An on-looker at City Hall in Toronto.

Beautiful Light: 4 Letter Word Machine. Suspended in the air over City Hall in Toronto.

Rabbit Balloon, also known as the silver bunny, was flying high inside Toronto's Eaton's Centre.

Speed Shift, a pulsating LED wave strip below Toronto's Eaton's Centre.

Wild Ride, a carnival theme park with rides located on Bay St in Toronto, right in the heart of the financial district.

Vodka Pool, (and wishing well?) inside the Lobby of Commerce Court West in Toronto's financial district.

On the way from downtown Toronto along King St. west to Liberty Village. Not an art installation, but perhaps should have been? A sign of the economic times, perhaps?

Take Shelter, a take on the homeless situation as well as creation of home from non-permanent things, Liberty Village.

The Apology Project, 55 paper-bag wearing people apologized for to anyone who ventured close to them, Liberty Village, Toronto.

The Apology Project, 55 paper-bag wearing people apologized for to anyone who ventured close to them, Liberty Village, Toronto.

And I saved my favourite for last: The Bouncing Bride!

The Bouncing Bride: What Goes Down Must Come Up, a dance party in a court yard where people we encourage to get up and bounce with a bride on top of a gigantic cake. Surrounded by dancing brides - pretty cool actually. Music Gallery Court Yard in Toronto.

The Bouncing Bride: What Goes Down Must Come Up, a dance party in a court yard where people we encourage to get up and bounce with a bride on top of a gigantic cake. Surrounded by dancing brides - pretty cool actually. Music Gallery Court Yard in Toronto.

The Bouncing Bride: What Goes Down Must Come Up, a dance party in a court yard where people we encourage to get up and bounce with a bride on top of a gigantic cake. Surrounded by dancing brides - pretty cool actually. Music Gallery Court Yard in Toronto.

The Bouncing Bride: What Goes Down Must Come Up, a dance party in a court yard where people we encourage to get up and bounce with a bride on top of a gigantic cake. Surrounded by dancing brides - pretty cool actually. Music Gallery Court Yard in Toronto.

End. KB.

Tags: art, black and white, images, nuit blanche, Nuit Blanche 2009, photography, photos, photos from the night, scotiabank, toronto.