I seem to be able to wiggle my way into really interesting opportunities rather often. They seem to always have peculiar ways of presenting themselves. This time, it was from a simple search on google when I was trying to figure out when the winter solstice would take place... which led me to the 12th Annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival. For those of you in Vancouver, it may be a wonderful event to check out. So if you're not busy December 21st, give'er a spin.

As for me, after sending a little email to one of the organizers, I'm now in as one of the shooters documenting the event! That was easy. It's nice when I don't have to beat someone over the head for the opportunity. More practice my way comes My photographic interests have now mutated into the idea of a story told in images, text and whatever else I can manage so I started attending the workshops getting the lanterns ready. This will hopefully add a little bit of life to the sculptures and lanterns. Shooting just on the day will only show the lanterns but there's a lovely human interest story hidden behind where volunteers from the community had gathered to create them.

Preparations are taking place at the Roundhouse and if anyone is interested, you can volunteer your skills and attend things such as lantern making workshops. Definitely meet some cool people that way too!

Here, the staff artist repairs lanterns from the previous year.