“Mexican Blowhole”
January, 2005

Cozumel Mexico is a very unique Caribbean island just a few miles off the coast of Mexico’s famed Playa Del Carman. It is a tourism destination with no less than 7 or 8 cruise ships docked, or moored off the shores on any given day. The mass of tourism visits the shops of San Miguel, the only city on the island. You will always see cruise ship passengers laying down cash at Diamonds International, purchasing gimmick colour-changing T shirts at Del Sol, and of course having shots of Tequila forced down their throats via funnel at the loud whistle blowing, table-top dancing Senor Frogs…it’s a typical Mexican tourism experience that really has nothing to with Mexico at all. I find it funny that these tourism destinations are always so predictable: the same shops, the same gifts, the same gimmicks, but it’s an industry that works, and one that makes money, so who am I criticizing? I was working as a broadcast manager with Celebrity Cruise Lines Ltd. and had the chance see first-hand how the tourism exploits work so similarly in all of the Caribbean countries. Truthfully, it got boring after a while, everything so predictable. I was in Cozumel every week for months on end for a few years in a row. I found great joy renting scooters and exploring the quiet desert-like island as far away from the tourist center as possible. One of my many adventures in this region my roommate and adventure partner, Pete (a.k.a. Fun Pete), and I found was this blow hole close to the beach. Every 40 seconds a mad rush of water would spew into the air. We loved timing it, playing the risks of Russian Roulette…Fun Pete took this picture as I lost a round!

This photo was taken at 4 in the morning in the Dominican Republic. It was a starry black sky with no sign of sunrise, perfect for taking star trail shots. Film SLR cameras (the kind with removable lenses) work far better than digital cameras, however it is possible to take these images with professional DSLR cameras, as long as you can keep the shutter open for long periods of time.

STEP 1. Use a 50mm lens or a zoom lens set to approximately 50mm. Set the camera on the tripod, and set the focus to infinity (manual focus, as it will be too dark to operate auto focus)

STEP 2. Compose your photo so that a foreground object is in the image, such as a tree or building. Make sure it is a fair distance away, and that it does not fill the frame entirely.

STEP 3. Set your aperture (f-stop) to the lowest number (ex. f2.8, or f4.5, etc.). Your shutter speed should be set on the Bulb or Time setting “B” or “T”

STEP 4. With a cable release attached to the shutter, take the picture. The shutter will now be open for as long as you desire. For the first shot, try 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, and if you feel adventurous, a few hours. The longer you keep the shutter open, the longer and more dramatic the star trails become.

STEP 5. When you are finished close the shutter via the cable release. Now go to bed.

An added benefit to waking up before dawn is that your long exposure may pick up some early morning pink and red pre-sunrise light. In this photo I was fortunate enough to have the sky dark with shooting stars, but the bottom part warming up with reddish light. You will need to experiment with sunrise times; start your long exposure well before you see any hint of morning light. Good luck!

See more of Mark’s photos here.

Greg’s Bermuda

Bermuda has so many incredible little gems that can keep you adventuring day after day. I have spent a lot of time working on this interesting island. Some of my favorite adventures are not so far off the beaten trail such as the water caves of Admiralty House Park. After you jump off the tall cliffs into the crystal green waters, you can swim into the water cave, then find your way back up to the top of the cliff climbing via a series of winding underground tunnels, reminiscent of Jules Verne’s “A Journey to the Center of the Earth”.

If you sneak onto the Grotto Bay Beach Resort on Blue Hole Hill, you can find two very cool caves with deep and very cold underground lakes, two of these subterranean swim holes do connect if you can hold your breath long enough and see in the dark, I didn’t have the guts to swim down far enough to try! Swimming in a lake deep underground is definitely an adventure that I was happy to experience!

Jobson’s Bay is one of the most unique and isolated little beaches that I found during my many month exploration of this beautiful island country. Jobson’s is a small bay almost completely cut off from the ocean by steep and rugged cliffs. The only opening between the calm waters in the bay and the rough open Atlantic is no more than 12 feet across. A sort of “Reversing Falls” effect happens in this small passage every 45 seconds as the ocean swells go in and out. A friend took this picture of me as I timed it right to swim to the gap while the high waters were gushing out, I grabbed onto the cliff and seconds later the water dropped and left me hanging a few feet higher then I was a moment earlier. Suffice it to say I did get pretty scratched up as the next swell came back and pushed me against the cliff, but war wounds always make for good stories to write about!

Best leaders understand when to lead And when to follow
Published Thursday August 26th, 2010
Picture by Sherry Hinkley/Telegraph Journal

Greg Hemmings is pure magnetism. Watch out, you’ll get a big bear hug and an even bigger smile when you greet him – even if you don’t know him. But under that friendly outgoing persona is a passionate, energetic and creative genius.

‘If you’re passionate about something, you will have fun doing it,’ says Greg Hemmings.

Greg is the president and CEO of Hemmings House Pictures (HHP), an award-winning media production company, specializing in branded entertainment for a diverse clientele. HHP products range from television, film and video production to advertising and commercial photography and audio production. They have studios in Saint John, Halifax and Tokyo.

While this all sounds very exotic, Greg had humble and unusual beginnings. After graduating from film school in 1999, Greg fully leveraged his aptitude for experiential learning as he worked toward building his understanding of both his craft and his business.

For example, he learned to work a camera by filming local musicians, discovered the art of editing when he was the broadcast manager on a cruise line and focused on absorbing critical production techniques while travelling the world filming the television show Planet Luxury.

Greg’s unique approach to building his business has paid off in many ways.

In 2005, he was recognized as Saint John Board of Trade’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Industry recognition has also been piling up for HHP, which has won prestigious awards from the Banff Television Festival, the Royal Commonwealth Society and The Originals (Saint John Arts Awards) to name a few.

I recently sat down with Greg to find out what he feels is required from a leader, in a creative field, to have both commercial and critical success.

Q: So how did you go from the guy in the darkroom to someone who is out front leading a company like HHP?

A: Two things. One, my addiction to adventure and two, my extremely short attention span and impatience for boring, day-to-day – what’s the word I’m looking for – getting into that groove that you’re doing the same thing every day …

Q: … monotony?

A: Yes, monotony. I have no patience for working in a non-creative environment. Working on the film sets – my darkroom days – you’d think was a creative environment, but when you’re a technician you’re a robot, you’re grabbing lenses, you’re changing film … it is monotonous.

I remember consciously deciding that I want to be using my brain and being creative. So, I incorporated my first business, which was called Hit! Media. That was my opportunity to learn how to run a business – and how not to run a business. I learned a ton. I didn’t go to business school, but I definitely had the “hard knocks” experience and that was very helpful when I started HHP.

Q: Tell me about the team you have working with you at HHP.

A: Our team has fluctuated. We’ve gone up and down and there’s been a core of five or six people that have been here almost from the beginning. The team is the only reason why I’m here right now. Without my team I would be distracted and frustrated and impatient. I would probably be working in another industry right now if it wasn’t for them.

Q: Would you agree that this team keeps you grounded?

A: The team keeps me grounded – we actually keep each other grounded. It’s been fascinating leading a team that, in fact, is really leading me.

It’s a very interesting dynamic where I lead the team at the visionary level, but they lead me in other ways. For example, they are the cutting edge technicians and artists who give me direction in these areas. It’s a neat back and forth.

There are also times when one member of the team will step up and become a leader and just totally stick it to the rest of us and say, “Hey, we’re not holding on to the vision that Greg set” – and usually it’s me who’s the offender.

Q: There’s a concept in leadership – the best leaders understand when to lead and when to follow. What supported you in getting to a place where you’re not always the one who needs to be out front charging ahead?

A: I told my team when they joined me that I wanted each one of them to become a better shooter, better director and better editor than me – as soon as they possibly can. It took a while though, a couple of years, for me to let go. At times it felt like they were redundant because I would ask them to do something, but I wouldn’t trust that it would get done right so I’d end up doing it myself.

Looking back I realized that this investment had to happen for them to exceed where I was at the time. I believe that to own a company where people become better producers than you is every business owners dream.

Q: As you build your team what qualities are you looking for in potential members?

A: A strong work ethic and a respect for other people.

I’ve hired people with a very strong work ethic, but they don’t have the same outlook or the same way of interacting with other people that we do at HHP. That doesn’t work here.

People have to fit our culture. Our team designed the culture together. We not only like each other; we like working with each other and we’re into the same things.

Over the years we’ve hired people that didn’t fit that our culture and it just didn’t work. But those who fit the culture seem to quickly learn the necessary skills because they love working in this environment.

Q: If you were to use a few words to define the HHP culture, what would they be?

A: We’re passionate. If you’re passionate about something, you will have fun doing it. We’re respectful. Respectful of people, respecting ethical boundaries and respecting the people who are helping us grow our business. All of this is so important. So, we have passion and respect.

The other part I should mention is love … love for life, loving people, loving what you do, loving your environment and loving the world.

Dave Veale is a business and leadership coach and founder of Vision Coaching Inc. in Saint John. He can be reached by email at dave@visioncoachinginc.com. His column appears every other Thursday.

In compositional theory, certain geometric shapes are often used by artists to guide the viewer’s eye throughout a picture space. Triangles, circles, arches, and curves have shown up in countless images throughout the history of photography and painting, and the “S” curve is one that bears mentioning.

While this image of a spiral staircase is an interior, S curve compositions can be found in any location. Look for elements within a potential picture space that aid in allowing the viewers eye to follow the winding path from a starting point to an ending point. In this photograph, we naturally begin our exploration of the photo at the bottom, working our way up the banister until we reach the top of the image. While not always the case, the viewer will usually begin a photo with an S curve viewing from the bottom left to the top right.

Other geometric designs within your compositions can evoke a sense of authority, empathy, rigidity, and countless other emotions. The S curve composition has a sensual feel to it, slightly dangerous and very compelling. The next time you have a camera in hand, keep an eye open for visual pathways that mimic this serpentine geometry.

Buses in Halifax are transporting our beloved ads all over town in support of cycling. Check out one of our online and TV commercials for the Halifax Cycling Coalition!

August, 2004
Sail Away Captain Paul

It all started at the Tidal Pool in Saint Andrews in 2001. To make a legendary story very short, I met a wonderful woman dancing beside me at a Hot Toddy show named Charlene. After having some conversations with her as Tom and Joel laid down their sweet danceable blues rhythms, she told me about a good friend who was a Dutch sailing captain that lives in the Caribbean. Captain Paul Whalen was his name, and he was one of the very last independent sailing cargo ships in the world, his ship was called “Avontuur”, such a fitting name considering the global adventures she would have experienced in her lifetime being sailed to all corners of the world. She was a steel hulled 120 foot gaffed rigged schooner.

Charlene told me that Captain Paul was looking for crew. The rest of the story is a major part of what has made me who I am today. A few days later I was on a plane to begin an adventure through the Caribbean and South America that would inspire me to become not only the documentary filmmaker I am today, but an adventurous lover of living. Captain Paul recently passed away and has sailed upwind to his next avontuur. I can not think of any other single period of my life that was more self-realizing for me, and more shaping than my time on the Avontuur. I took this picture 3 years after my time sailing with Captain Paul. I was visiting the island of St Maarten, where I had lived for many months as my home port back in 2001. With no surprise the grand ole ship was moored in the Marigot Bay. I saw Paul on the docks. It was like seeing a great uncle who I hadn’t seen in a while. He took me back out for a brief visit on my old home on the water, this was to be the last time I would see Paul and his ship together again.

In honor of Captain Paul I will be submitting 3 more postcards from my adventures with him in the South.

Avontuur Part 2 “Montserrat”

After a month of getting the Avontuur ready for the next cargo run through the Caribbean islands, and South America, we were finally ready to set sail for my first time since I flew down to St. Maarten. The night I flew in I was picked up by a Dutch pirate who rowed me in his dinghy from the airport out into the Marigot Harbor. What was I doing here? Was this guy a drug runner? Arms sales? Or was he just a regular Dutchman keeping a dying industry alive by ocean currents and wind? I honestly didn’t know, but I was very excited to find out. As it turned out Captain Paul was not in any illegal trade business, he – now we – were in the business of using the wind to transport tones of goods around the Southern seas.

Paul has been sailing cargo on the Avontuur for well over 30 years all around the world. The crew was my good friend Jayme Fougiere from Hampton, Charlene Hamley from St. Andrews, and a crew drifter from Holland named Marcus. Jamie took this picture of Marcus and I on the bowsprit as we de-rigged the jib sails before entering the port on the volcanic island of Montserrat. We were delivering salt cod, freezers and believe it or not, a pick up truck on this trip. When we landed and unloaded, Jayme and I explored the island and I got a great photo of the volcano that in 1995 buried their city of Plymouth under a lonely expanse of harden lava. This was the beginning of a great adventure!

Avontuur Part 3
“Suriname Sail”

It took us a little over a week to sail from St. Maarten, passed Barbados, East of Trinidad, Venezuela and Guyana, until we reached the great Paramaribo River; the front door of the country of Suriname. It was amazing to me the morning we arrived how the crystal clear green water so quickly turned deep brown as we approached the outflow of the muddy river into the warm South American Atlantic. We sailed up river until we found a mooring just outside the tropical jungle city of Paramaribo. We were here to load a very special and selectively cut wood from a mill that custom cut planks for wooden boat builders in New England.

After a long day of loading tones of wood, my good friend and crew mate Jayme and I found ourselves on a rickety old cargo truck that was filled with women and children who would sell their produce in the city. It was the end of the day so they were all getting rides back up to the mountains where their villages sat. Jayme and I had no idea where we were headed, but 4 hours later we were dropped off at the end of the mud road line. We were told that there would be no other way back out of the jungle until the morning. We hiked up a mountain, then at nightfall found an old bus that we found shelter in for the night before we found a way to get back to Paramaribo where Captain Paul would no doubt be wondering where we disappeared to. The sounds of jungle animals and critters make it difficult to have a peaceful sleep. The screeches of monkeys and the buzz of bats were soon drowned out by the sound of a small generator coming from a shack in the distance with a single light bulb and a group of musicians jamming reggae tunes in the distance brought peace to me knowing that where ever I am, there’s a probable chance that there are good people close by.

Avontuur Part 4
“Homeward Bound”
July, 2002

Simon & Garfunkel wrote the beautiful song Homeward Bound which played continuously in my head during the last week as crew on the Avontuur. It’s not that I was excited to leave this wholesome life of hard work on the seas, I was just excited to get back home after being away for months. My friend and crew mate Jayme took this picture of me the day after we outsailed a hurricane that hit the Grenadine islands pretty hard. We were sailing north from Suriname to Martha’s Vineyard to deliver another load of wood for a New England wooden boat builder (this was a regular delivery route for the Avontuur). The plan was to drop me off on the island of St. Vincent where I would say goodbye to the Avontuur and crew, and say hello to my best girl who was doing a Crossroads International term on the island assisting at medical clinics. Of course that girl was Jessica, now my wife.

We had no communication on the Avontuur, the last message Jessica received from me was from an internet café in Paramarabo many days earlier. Jessica was expecting me right in the middle of a mmuch anticipated hurricane. The storm hit, and there was a lot of damage on the island. I never showed up. Captain Paul made the decision that we had to sail through the storm and keep on track to drop me off at a safer port where I would have to get a flight back to Canada. I wasn’t going to be able to see Jessica, and I couldn’t get a hold of her to tell her I was safe. Jessica, as I found out later, entertained the worst of scenarios.

Looking at this picture I can still feel the mixed feelings I was having that day; the adventure of a lifetime was coming to a close, we just got out of a major adrenaline-inducing storm, I was about to say goodbye to my crew and captain, and Jessica not only wasn’t going to see me, she had no way of knowing that I was ok. Three days after this picture Captain Paul dropped me off on the island of St. Maarten. I said goodbye and flew home to start a series of lifelong adventures. My time on the Avontuur, though extremely hard physically and mentally, was probably the single most important time of transition in my life which has led me to be who I am today. Thanks Captain Paul, your legacy will continue to stay alive in my life as I avontuur around this amazing world we live in, much like you did!

This scene in South Korea was too good to pass up, but conditions were less than ideal. It was noontime with direct and very harsh sunlight, and 40 degrees celcius! I knew that the only way to get a good shot out of this was to put a blue filter on the lens and underexpose to mimic the look of moonlight. This trick has saved many of my travel photographs, as there are times during traveling where you can’t wait around for beautiful golden hour sunlight.

If you are a digital photographer and you don’t have a blue filter, you can do the same thing by using the indoor light (incandescent) white balance setting. Often this setting will be indicated by a lightbulb icon on your camera dial. Luckily after your shot you will be able to preview the image, and decide if the photo needs more or less blue color cast. If you can adjust contrast within your camera settings, higher contrast will mimic the look of moonlight better than normal contrast settings.

See more Mark Hemmings photos here.

Andrew MacCormack was the editor on William D. MacGillivray’s The Man of a Thousand Songs. This extraordinary film about singer-songwriter, Ron Hynes, has been selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Big congrats to our Friends Terry and BilL, and of course, Mr.Hynes!

Watch the Official Trailer: “The Man of a Thousand Songs”

March 14, 2008 – Nunavik under the ice

Ever since I was a child, I have loved caves, tunnels and unexplored caverns. My dad used to take us kids on underground adventures at Howe’s Cave (close to the old Peacock’s Flowers shop) and the Rockwood Park cave. When I was a bit older I used to explore the old General Hospital and the bunker tunnels of Partridge Island – good clean, adventurous fun! The coolest of all tunnel adventures was recently in the arctic under the sea ice, just off the coast of a small Inuit village called Kangiksujuuak. The bay that the village sits on is called Wakum Bay, and the villagers there know all about the Bay of Fundy. They know about it because they claim to actually have higher tides in their bay than we do in ours! An Inuit elder named Lukasi took me under the ice at low tide by cutting a hole and dropping down 12 feet with a rope to find warm temperatures well above zero, and mass amounts of fresh mussels to pick for supper! He warned me not to say a word while we were down there because any noise can collapse the ice roof and the powerful tide can sweep you away!