Paul Dean of Loverboy

I had the opportunity to shoot a benefit at The Theatre in the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver on October 1, 2022.  Rocket Norton assembled a star studded cast of Canadian talent for the F*ck Cancer show.  Among them were guitarist Paul Dean of Loverboy.  I first met Paul back in the late 80’s when I was working at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  My boss was a fellow named John Vrtacic and had me working on building a couple of Talk Boxes for the studio.  Paul introduced himself to me and asked what I was doing.  So describing what the box was and it’s function (not knowing who I was talking to btw) he smiled and told me to do a good job as he would be using it.  Fast forward to present day, and I now get the honour of photographing him on various stages when I can. 

I know it’s not much of a story and he probably doesn’t even recall it, but that’s what brief encounters with people can do, leave a lasting memory on a young 20 year old kid just starting out…


Brushes with greatness… Stories and snippets of my connections to people I photograph

1969

1988

2008

Ok, I’m going to do some blogs on how I know some of the people I photograph.  

Little back history on myself first.  From a young age I’ve always been musically inclined.  Growing up, I always had a guitar around me and played in garage bands as a teenager.  When I went to college in the late 80’s, I had the opportunity to do a work project through Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Working under the direction of Technical Engineer, John Vrtacic, I got to form a relationship with the staff there.  One person who showed me more than just electronics was the Technical Assistant, Ron ‘Obvious’ Vermeulen and opened my eyes to more than just electronics at a Studio.  From there, I got a contract to do some work while they retrofitted Studio B with an SSL mixing console.  While I was at Little Mountain (even though it was a blip in time really), I was taught an etiquette on how to act around musicians and famous persons.  

I was still playing in my own band at that point and just moved to bass and started learning how to play the instrument.  Fast forward about 10 years and in the early to mid 2000’s, I connected with some players and got heavy into playing blues.   From that I got to form many new connections with different individuals on the Vancouver music scene.  In 2013 I had a full plate with a day job, music, seeing my kids on weekends, and the photography started to pick up.  I made a decision to reduce my stress and step back from performing and focus (no pun intended) on my photography, primarily Concert Photography.

So that is a short version of my story and how I have various connections to different people I photograph…  The following posts will include some stories on my connection to them.  Hope you enjoy!


Bonnie Scott caught in a rainstorm

Got a call from my client Steve Ricardo who let me know his band Bonnie Scott was giving a free concert outdoors in Port Coquitlam. So me and the wife jumped in the car with the cameras to take a drive. On the way the skies opened up and it poured rain. We went to the gig and I managed to get a few shots before the camera got soaked. Didn’t stay for the whole set but the band completely understood with the rain. Cheers!

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