Pro Bono

Documenting radical renovations

Since leaving government at the beginning of October, I find myself with a bit more time to devote to making photos about things I care about. Of course, I have been making images along the edges of the Salish Sea and wandering aimlessly with a camera in that time. But I have also been spending more time documenting another radical renovation by the great folks at Herowork.

Due to the pandemic and a previously busy work schedule, I have not documented a full renovation by Herowork since 2019. This Fall, Herowork has been renovating the headquarters for the Indigenous Perspectives Society, and I have been covering their progress.

While shooting for Herowork I attempt to document the project’s progress and to highlight the many volunteers who make the renovations possible. In fact, it is rare for me not to include a person in a shot. Their projects are all about the people volunteering and the people for whom the renovation will be completed. People and progress are the qualities in my photos that will make the client happy.

To make myself happy, I attempt to shoot like Craig Semetko, who advises photographers to attempt to combine the following elements, Design, Information, and Emotion (DIE), to create good images. We have both added Timing to that mix (DIET). So, aside from combining people and progress (information) in my photos for Herowork, I also try to add good design, emotion and timing. It is rare to combine all four elements in an image, but when it happens, it brings a smile to my face.

I will let you judge for yourselves how successful my DIET has been, but it has been great to document another radical renovation by Herowork. I am looking forward to next year’s projects.

NB: All images captured with a Fujifilm X-H1 and X-Pro3, fronted with a variety of lenses. In particular, I have really enjoyed using the XF50mm f/1.0 lens. It has been perfect for those low-light situations and especially for making portraits.