Grebe's Nest VR

Virtual Reality has come to Bell Island Newfoundland. One of my favorite places to photograph in Newfoundland is Bell Island and I just love "Hidden Beach" and the Grebe's Nest area.

If you've never been to these areas virtual reality is the next best thing to being there. Or in some cases it may be better. After posting this tour on social media a little while ago one guy replied, to my post on Twitter, that he had been there and a rock had fallen from the cliff and hit him.

You can get virtual reality headsets like Google Cardboard for as little as $5. You simply insert your phone and your ready to go. Other sets which also use your phone can be purchased for as little as $25. You can also get fully self contained VR headsets from companies such as Oculus and Samsung.

Figure 1: Hidden Beach/Grebe's Nest Virtual Tour

To View Hidden Beach/Grebe's Nest in VR, take your phone and follow these instructions.

1. On your phone browse to our Newfoundland Virtual website or "click here" to go on the Bell Island tour. 
2. Select the VR glasses thumbnail, see figure 2 in the bottom left of the screen to enter split screen VR mode as shown below in figure 3.





 Figure 2: VR glasses thumbnail

3. Insert your phone into your headset and enjoy the experience.

Figure 3: Split screen VR mode enabled

Navigation

At Newfoundland Virtual we use what is galled "gaze navigation"to get from one area to another. You place the + symbol (which is in the center of your display) over the "hotspot" for about 3 seconds to activate it. On this tour hotspots are displayed as pulsing red circles.

One of the fun things about this virtual tour is that you can go through the tunnel connecting Hidden Beach to Grebe's Nest (and you won't get wet or messy)!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

AMEX at Mallard Cottage

I did a recent behind the scenes photoshoot for an American Express video at Mallard Cottage. The man doing the video was Cody Westman from Cats Eye Cinema. Mallard Cottage is a cottage-turned-restaurant located in Quidi Vidi Village in the east end of St John's Newfoundland. It offers a changing menu of locally sourced seasonal meals.

I love doing this kind of work. Get to meet lots of great people, professionals who are very good at what they do.

Air Avalon

Although I've lived on the Avalon Peninsula most of my life I can't say I've seen all it's coastline. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I see it as an opportunity to do more exploring and photography. The Avalon is a large peninsula over 9,220 square kilometers with the most amazing coastline and would be an island unto itself if it wasn't for the small isthmus that connects it to the rest of Newfoundland.

Over the last year I've compiled series of videos of some of my favorite places on earth. Hope you enjoy it!

Video directory:
1. Cape Spear
2. Tores Cove (Sheep Island)
3. Iceberg at Useless Bay (Bay Bulls)
3. Iceberg at Useless Bay (Bay Bulls)
4. Iceberg at Useless Bay (Bay Bulls)
5. Petty Harbour
6. Quidi Vidi
7. Perry Harbour
8. Iceberg and tour boat at Useless Bay (Bay Bulls)
9. West Hercules oil rig and Iceberg at Bay Bull
10. The Kyle at harbour Grace
11. SS Charcot at Conception Harbour
12. Fort Amherst St John's
13. Grebe's Nest Bell Island
14. Pouch Cove
15. Ferryland Lighthouse
16. Ferryland Lighthouse
17. Torbay
18. Cape Spear
19. Cape Spear
20 St John's

The Great Newfoundland Iceberg Hunt 2016

Spring is the time for icebergs in Newfoundland and while their number and sizes are nowhere near what we used to see a generation or two ago there can be some good viewing along the Newfoundland coast when they make their journey down south. April and May month usually offer the best viewing in Newfoundland and the Northern Peninsula and the Northeast Coast offers the greatest abundance of these magnificent sites but often the Northeast Avalon and St John’s areas display a good selection too!

Following are some photos of an iceberg that made it to Useless Bay and Bay Bulls, just outside St John's this May. This is one iceberg, amazing how different it can change from day to day. I should add that's it's amazing how something that has been around for thousands of years can disappear so quickly. Check out the dates on the photos!

Hope you enjoy and please feel free to share and comment. Be great to hear from you!

May 24 2016

Gatheralls Burg

Tip of the Iceberg

May 25 2016

Iceberg and Tour Boat in the Fog

May 26 2016

Iceberg in Useless Bay

This is Newfoundland

May 27 2016

Iceberg and West Hercules Oil Rig in Bay Bulls Harbour

You can use websites like Iceberg Finder to get an idea as to the amount of icebergs around. Personal experience has shown, as well as from talking to others, that sites location accuracy is not very good but by following local photographers on social media you should be able to keep up to date. FYI here are links to my Facebook and Twitter accounts, be sure to follow me!

For more Newfoundland landscape and iceberg photos please click here to visit our website!

Alexis

When I'm photographing a model or any person for that matter the most important thing for me is to ensure they are comfortable and enjoy the moment. It's not just a matter of respect for the people I work with but it also comes out in the quality of the photos. In a relaxed atmosphere people shine through the images and creative ideas more easily come from both sides of the camera. Below are some photos I recently did for a young local model, Alexis, to update her portfolio.

Thank you for stopping by!

Tour St John's Newfoundland

Our virtual tours people at Newfoundland Virtual recently completed a virtual tour of St John's Newfoundland. This virtual tour comprises of 19 photospheres/panoramic images which you can view in any direction you choose. It also includes a photo gallery of 16 still images. There are a number of ways to navigate. You can use the map button on the bottom left of the page which will bring up a Google Map window of the area with clickable location markers. You can also use the menu buttons at the bottom or the drop-down menu at the top left of the page.

Please click this link to take you to the St John's virtual tour on Newfoundland Virtual.

Screenshot of St John's Newfoundland virtual tour

These tours can be highly customized with photo galleries, videos, maps and links to various information  and web pages etc. Social media "Share" buttons can be added to help you easily post to Facebook, Twitter or any other social medial platform. You can even email the link if you like. It can be customized to your specifications and is very easy to share.

Screenshot of St John's Newfoundland virtual tour with Google Map overlay

This tour is set to "auto-rotate" and "auto-tour" which means you can sit back and let it run. It will display all the photospheres/panos in sequence on it's own. Oh and please go full screen to be able to see and appreciate the show at it's best.

Tour Boat at St John's Harbour

Air Newfoundland - Sunset St John's

If you have any questions please post below or you can contact me via email at Brian@BrianCareyPhotography.com.

The Eyes Have It

Eight Years ago when I started my street photography project I began by focusing on certain demographics of people, one I did not include were young women.

Why? For one, a great percentage of photography already out there was focused on young women and I wanted to stay away from that bandwagon.  There is so much in fact that an argument can be made for exploitation! That's a story for another time perhaps! Two, I wasn't comfortable at the time approaching young women I didn't know and asking to take their portrait. I was afraid they might take it as something it wasn't and I would make them uncomfortable. When taking these portraits I'm not interested in making anyone feel nervous. I want people to be relaxed and enjoy the moment, in a way this project has become a celebration of life!

There is a reason why I changed my mind. I had seen some young women pass me by obviously engulfed in the complexities of life and I began to see all people in that light. We all have our struggles, we are so much alike. Also as I took more portraits I began to see each face as a unique landscape, their eyes being the sunrise of their soul!

I have developed an open and public approach to this work and over the years people who know of it have become familiar with me and that's a help. If I might indulge a bit I have earned their trust. I think their eyes tell that story.

People go away thankful that I took the time to talk to them and had a little interest in them. To tell you the truth I feel the same way! Thank you everyone!

And thank you for stopping by! :-)