It is never to late to do a ‘Trash the Dress’ (TTD)! My wife was interested in doing a session and wanted to incorporate horses because of her strong past in owning a horse, teaching riding lessons, competing, etc. So this May’s holiday Monday we took a drive to a friends farm in Lindsay. A perfect location with the old rustic barn and long grass.

We had lots of fun shooting in different locations around the barn. The one horse that Sandy picked to be ‘our model’ was excellent. She (Angie is her name) was very cooperative. She was a little spooked at the beginning by the large white dress and the sound it made while Sandy walked through the grass, but Angie soon learned there was nothing to fear.

This Trash the Dress session took place 13 years after our wedding! So a note to other ladies that may be interested … it doesn’t matter how much time has passed since your wedding, a Trash the Dress shoot may be just what the doctor ordered!

You have to agree with me …. she is one of the hottest models I’ve had.

The annual Pedal for Hope – Cops for Cancer visited their 23 school on Wednesday April 28, 2010. The school … Buckhorn Elementary. The Peterborough Cops for Cancer crew came riding in on their bikes around 9am and the kids at the school went crazy. This was my first time attending the Cops for Cancer and it was a blast. I was very impressed at how well the Cops for Cancer crew executed the activities of rallying the kids, delivering their message of why they are doing what they are, the big ‘head shave’ and then playing a couple of games with the kids. The Cops for Cancer crew were very enthusiastic and did a great job of making the kids at the school feel like their visit to Buckhorn Elementary was a special visit for them. I trust they make every school feel as special as they did in Buckhorn and that is no small feet with their 1000 km multi-week cycle and almost 50 school visits in the eastern Kawartha region!

Here is a snippet from their website:

In 2005, the Peterborough Chapter of Cops for Cancer took on a new identity. The Pedal For Hope Cycling Team was born and local children fighting cancer had a new support team behind them! Local police personnel, a retired N.H.L. hockey player and a great crew of support personnel have been dedicating time to this worthy cause.

Starting in late April for 3 weeks, the Pedal For Hope team cycles over 1,000 kilometres, visiting local schools and delivering a message about kids living with cancer.

A presentation in each school takes on a serious side about how important it is to support pediatric cancer research. We show a team video, shave a few heads, cut a few ponytails and then turn on the fun. Students are involved in ice cream eating contests against their favorite police officer, showing the lighter side of police officers in their community. …

This year was special for my family as our son said he was going to participate in the head shaving event. So of course Dad had to go with camera in hand. Not only was it great to see him brave the head shaving, but I was very impressed (and proud) when it was announced that he won the grand prize (an iPod Nano) for bringing in the most money!  Both mother and me are very proud as he went after the canvasing for donations himself, with very little help from us.

Here are a few images of the Cops for Cancer crew rallying the kids, the head shaving and our son with his buddies that also braved the razor.

In 2008 I volunteered to shoot all of the major events at our local community centre. At the Canada Day event there was a group of soldiers present, along with a tank, as the special guests of the day. They were there as a thanks to the community for sending care packages over to the middle east in support of the Canadian troops. It was an impressive display that the soldiers setup and they allowed the children to sit in the tank and check it out both from the cockpit and from the navigation/tactical area in the rear. Later in the day there was a presentation, cake and some picture taking. It was quite a special event to have the troops visit us. They were a great group of guys.

This one hit home for our small town because Buckhorn is a small intimate community. My sister and me both went to the same highschool as Cpl Nick and we also worked at the same restaurant here in Buckhorn during our school years. Our condolences to the Bulger family.

Below is a snippet from the CBC website and some of the images I took of the guys for the community centre.