Its been a bitter sweet ride to these last 36 hours of summer 2008 at Qwanoes. This morning I went on what could be one of my last early morning ski runs. Even though I hate early mornings, or just mornings in general, but I always loved being able to come down to the dock at 5:30AM and capture the amazing sunrises and great skiers. There was always a fun atmosphere and a great sense of accomplishment by the time you were done taking a ride on the bright yellow Tige Z1.

Coming to a close as well is my job as the Qwanoes photographer. It has become more clear to me as the summer has progressed that I need to give over the position to the next sucker aspiring photographer with big dreams. So for those reading my blog and have always wanted my job, come new years, the jobs open. 

I will continue in my photography dreams, there is no doubt about that, but my role at Qwanoes is going to be taking a different shift next summer. Stay tuned for what that could be!

A September calendar will be released within the coming weeks (possibly a little later then usual because of my holiday). Stay tuned for that as well!

Campers get ready to run the 360 Soar relay race around Camp Qwanoes.

Kickin’ it into high gear during the Youth Camp concert.

A camper strains to reach for that last handhold.

A select group of cabins had the chance to duke it out in the boxing ring at midnight.

Once again, I am blown away by the amazing comedy of WTD author Aaron Johnson.

Check out the great What the Duck comic.

Ken Bayley waits as the staff gather in for a large camp photo. He’s been around camp since the first days of its existence and works harder then more young staff.

Sometimes people just think that if they stand infront of my lens long enough they’ll get a photo and in some cases that is true. As for Bec and Mary’s shot, it turned out great!

Stevie G and Bethany get ready to have a laser battle on stage for the last time at Youth Camp.

Speaker, Andy Harrington speaks to the crowd during Q-town Unplugged at the Fireside.

As a side note, I have installed a plugin that now allows people to see a larger version of the images posted. Hope you all enjoy!

The moments leading up to and after this photo were marked by me being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

We had a dodgeball tournament today and I was there to capture the action. Attempting to get a new angle I placed my camera on the ground to shoot low action. What I wasn’t expecting was a ball to come flying full speed from the hand of a University level baseball pitcher.

“SNAP”

My flash blew out of the hot-shoe into my lap with a anticlimactic thud. I starred at it for a couple seconds trying to realize what just happened, then it came to me, 3/4 of the hot-shoe on the flash were still in the cameras hot-shoe.

Anyone wanna buy a broken 430ex?

A camper holds on with white knuckles as he takes that first plunge off the Screamer.

A special version of Water Gladiators is played at the waterfront with porridge, left over food, shocked up pop and lots of chocolate pudding.

Josh paints himself up to later perform as his team mascot.

Teams show off their team cheers for the rest of camp.

Staff await the buses as the Allstar van comes in with pyro bursting from the roof.

Youth campers arrive on the buses from the Mainland. Excitement mounts for the last week of camp.

Today we said farewell to the last Juniors camp of the summer, and it was a sad goodbye for all. As you have seen through out the week with my images I’ve posted, these children are so full of joy and energy. They trust everyone at camp and leave no regard for looking foolish. They invigorate even the most tired soul, and bring hope to everyones hearts. I truly love taking pictures of this age group. 

In a world that tells them to be calm, contained and “grown-up”. Qwanoes gives them a place to be excited to the point they lose their voices, unconfined to the point where they can run freely across 40+ acres, and allows them to be children to the point of creating crazy night games and having the campers be the stars. Giving them the chance to be chased around by robots while they act as the hero and save the camp from certain doom. 

Then we say goodbye, knowing we’ve done all we could to help a camper, possibly for the first time in their life acting as a true amazingly precious child. As we all know, you can only be a child once.

A camper watches as her friend gets blobbed into the brisk 16.8C water.

Pyro goes off during the last night party in Q-town.

A young man gets himself pumped up for the impending boxing match.

Who doesn’t love the effects of cotton candy on a young child.

The media team poses for a quick shot. Lead by Russ Smith, they are the driving force behind the success of Q-town.

While swimming with the fishes, you will catch a glimpse of the elusive Juniors camper eager for a photo.

Yet another later night, but the new Kaleo Five galleries have been updated as well. You may see some new images in there as well! These have all been remastered with my new “editorial vision”. You can check them out HERE.

Also a quick update on the weekly news and photos, those will be coming back this fall, once the mayhem that is summer is finished with.