Here are some photos from the show (click thumbnails to see larger size).

Click the photo to go to the Facebook gallery with many more shots!

“DISCLAIMER: All wallpapers and backgrounds found here are believed to be in the “public domain”. All of the images displayed are of unknown origin. We do not intend to infringe any legitimate intellectual right, artistic rights or copyright. If you are the rightful owner of any of the pictures/wallpapers posted here, and you do not want it to be displayed or if you require a suitable credit, then please contact us and we will immediately do whatever is needed either for the image to be removed or provide credit where it is due. All the content of this site are free of charge and therefore we do not gain any financial benefit from the display or downloads of any images/wallpaper.”

I don’t have a problem with non-commercial use of photos that I have shared on social media as long as they are credited appropriately with a link back to the original source. There are many sites (248 hits using Google image search) that are using this photo. I contacted the most popular wallpaper site and they were happy to add the credit and link, or take it down if I preferred. However, since there are so many of these free wallpaper sites, it will be very time consuming to contact each one. So I have decided instead to post the image here for a free download. That way you know who created it and can choose to support the photographer (me) so that I can continue to provide cool images

I believe that people are happy to pay for art and media if it easy to do so. So, I have made available a larger version for 99 cents so that you can pay for if you wish and help support my work. If you prefer to just use the free version, that’s cool too. Click on the button to purchase the 2350 x 3000 pixel version for 99 cents using PayPal:

For the free version, just click on the thumbnail, then right click to save it:

Thanks for your support!

I’ll be adding more of my photos for free and premium downloads in the near future, so please subscribe to get updates!

North Star Brand Hot Dog Package c.1964-1974

In the previous post, I showed some photographs of plastic waste from a local Vancouver park. This time I went to Spanish Banks, a beautiful natural beach on English Bay. Here’s a photo that I took while I was there:

At first it was difficult to spot any plastic – the beach looked pristine. However, after a few minutes, I spotted many pieces of plastic waste. The tide was going out, and I found most of the plastic in the high tide line, mixed in with seaweed and driftwood. I found plastic bags, wrappers, bottles, a cap from a ballpoint pen, styrofoam, food containers and coffee lids. I even found some AstroTurf!

The most interesting waste plastic that I found was a package labeled North Star Brand Wieners by Intercontinental Packers, Vancouver.  Although it was made in Canada, it had no French labeling and the weight was in Imperial Units (one pound). Canada introduced bilingual packaging in 1974 and metric weights in the mid-seventies. After a little research, I learned that the company existed in Vancouver from 1964-1994. Incredibly, this package dates from c.1964 – 1974, showing how long plastic persists in the environment. After 40 to 50 years it is still around! It will remain in the environment for another 50 years or much longer, along with all other plastic waste. Unfortunately, much of this waste gets into the ocean, where it is eaten by marine life, often injuring and killing fish, birds, turtles and dolphins. Check out the documentary “Addicted to Plastic” for more information about the problems caused by plastic waste in the environment, along with solutions that will need to be implemented to correct the problem. In the meantime, if you care about the environment, don’t litter with plastic waste!

Here’s another photo from beautiful Spanish Banks:

Spanish Banks, Vancouver

I took a walk in Vancouver’s John Hendry Park (Trout Lake) to see what plastic garbage I could find lying around. It was not hard to find. At first glance the park looks clean and well cared for. But on closer inspection, there are many bits and pieces of plastic. Here is a small sampling of the typical plastic waste that was lying on the ground. There were plastic bags, 6 pack rings, fast food containers, disposable lighters, plastic cutlery, old toys, bottles, cups, coffee lids and cigarette package wrappers. This might be surprising since Vancouver is well known as a clean city, where most people are concerned for the environment, taking care to throw out waste in the numerous containers provided by the city. In the next few weeks, I’ll be checking out some other public areas in Greater Vancouver to see how they compare.

Plastic is incredibly useful and is everywhere, although it has been around for less than 100 years. Because it is so cheap, we tend to regard it as disposable. But we will need to change how we use and dispose of plastic. There are many options – use other materials when possible, reuse plastics, recycle them, and dispose of them properly. Already biodegradable plastics are available and many more types of plastic can be recycled than are currently handled in most municipal recycling programs.

Here’s a short documentary about plastic in the oceans:

Video about the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”

This video shows what types of plastic were collected in dead albatrosses:

More information:

Greenpeace report on Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans

BBC News story, May 2012: Big Rise in North Pacific Plastic Waste

Credits

Models: Jolie Holiday, Yvonne, Jeanine

Makeup: Gun Street Girl Makeup

Wardrobe Stylist: Lucy Xie

Hair: Brittney Carlin

Picnic goodies: Kawaii Eats

Thanks also to Tyler Alexander, Kevin Brost and Eric Beland for tons of help before, during and after the shoot!

We also did a few other looks and poses as you can see below (click thumbnails to expand). I used a fog machine backlit with a light covered with a red gel to create the smoky effects. It was a lot of fun and great to work with model Pocket Venus Josan and makeup and hair artist Ashley of Blood & Beauty.

Credits

Model: Pocket Venus Josan

Makeup & Hair: Blood & Beauty

Photography by Lloyd K Barnes

© 2013 Lloyd K Barnes

Copyright info:

Feel free to share on social media and blogs, but be sure to include credits and a link to the source. Thanks!

It’s a lot of fun coming up with the poses and trying different types of light painting tools. The tools are very simple and easy to make. If you are interested in trying it out, check out some of the many tutorials available online. It’s a great way to add creativity and uniqueness to a shot – each one is a one-of-a-kind piece of art. It’s simple to do, but very difficult to master!

The first two images below feature model Tracy with makeup & hair by Carole Methot.

Red & White

Candy Stripes

Shazmin Hussein modeled in the next two shots. For one of them, I did the light painting separately and combined them in Photoshop afterwards. I normally prefer to do the entire shot in camera, but I liked the light painting shot so decided to use it in the final image. I also used a fig leaf that I lit with a flashlight to create the green leafy glow.

The Fall

Garden

The last two images were done with Pocket Venus Josan, who was the first model who I worked with in this series. She was super patient as I was using her as the guinea pig while I experimented with light painting!

Ribbons

Light Painting

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos taken while hanging the show. It was my first time hanging photos in a gallery, so it was a great learning experience and fun too!

Here are some photos from a recent photoshoot with personal trainer Maggie.  A couple of days earlier Maggie had competed in the 2012 Sandra Wickham Fall Classic fitness competition and came in 3rd in the bikini category, so she was in great physical shape! She had amazing discipline and dedication to achieve this level of fitness and plans to resume training and enter more competitions in 2013.

Makeup was done by Mika Does Makeup and hair by Jewlee B Hair and Makeup.

© 2012 Lloyd K Barnes