Okay, I got to stretch it out a bit by giving up my toes- but heck I didn’t even know they were frozen till I got home and they started to thaw out. Still, nice to ride until almost the end of December even if the temp was around nine below. Not so cold that I couldn’t get 50 last k in. Yippie. Only a bit over two months till the next go round. Now where did I put that trainer.

Just back in Canada after three weeks in Europe, most of it following the most twisted roads on the map- of course that means the least visited places on the map as well. And places where everything happens by chance and good fortune. We had just pulled into a town north of Sevilla in Spain, looked like another quiet town of sun-drenched, white-washed houses with a touch of Africa thrown in, when Steve discovered a bull fight going on up the road. We caught the last twenty minutes of it- can’t say I am a big fan and the matador in this contest took many a stab before he brought the bull down making it look even  less glamourous. I’ll post a few other shots later today from the fight and more later from the trip. Still ice on the river here in NB. Hard to believe.

Shooting on dry land is one thing, but shooting from a foot off the water on the Bay of Fundy at Hopewell Rocks is another thing. No tripod that is for sure. And not too easy to stay in one spot either. A good guide, someone who can really control their craft is important, along with a model, in this case, Angela Cullins, who can canoe or kayak as well really helps. And then attitude. With all the bobbing around and trying to stay in one spot while the tide tries to show you something else means everyone has to be flexible and keep smiling. In the end, we only had about one minute where the sun broke through and gave us a chance at the shot. A few minutes later the wind came up and a couple of people did a bit of swimming. But that’s another story.

The World Pond Hockey Tournament in Plaster Rock New Brunswick hosts over a hundred teams from all over North America and from all over the world. It’s a big event, but there are still moments of quiet and the dreams that come from open ice and a hockey stick in hand.

These two photos were shot for the New Brunswick Government’s Tourism and Parks last year- covers for the visitor guides in French and English. Both shots required a mountain of teamwork to pull off: designers, planners, models, location scouts, forecasters, kayakers, kite boarders and the idea people at Tourism. In the end both images try to capture an essential part of the New Brunswick experience that would translate well to people coming here from across Canada and around the world.