Blog-A-riffic!

Hey all! I just wanted to quickly mention that my new Photography blog is up and running! It will be paired up with my new Photography website (coming VERY soon!), but I thought I would at least throw the link for the blog on here for the time being! I will still be posting here every now and then, I just needed something to throw on some business stuff, sorta like a "News" page....

here's the link to the new blog:

Michael Wachniak Blog-ographer

Rock on, World! Rock on!

M

"Redneck Spacehelmet" Wins By A Landslide!!!

I cant believe I won!!!

I entered a pumpkin carving contest held by BluDomain last night, in hopes to win one of the 3 Prizes: a free website template for my photography portfolio. These guys' websites are amazing, but a little out of my price range for the moment.... so I JUMPED at the chance to win a free one....

they mentioned that they would announce the winners at midnight last night so I waited, and waited...and WAITED some more.... at 2am they said "winners will be posted at noon tomorrow"

...not impressed....

so I woke up today (11am White Rock time)....RAN to the computer...

....and....

....there was my photo.... I WON!! I was 1 of 3 winners out of over 500 entries!!!

My whole family pounced on me when I ran upstairs, and Grit is so proud that "she was the photographer for the winning photo" lol Thanks babe!!! :)

so stay tuned on http://www.michaelwachniak.com/ in the next few weeks for some REAL BIG changes :)

Best Friend Engaged!

Hey everyone, long time no talk! I was in Calgary last week picking up a car I bought from my best friend Ben, and while I was there I had the privelage of photographing him and his new fiance's engagement session. The day was perfect, the setting was perfect, and it was a real honor to be the one to capture this moment in time. If you told me 14 years ago when Ben and I became friends that I would be shooting this, I'd probably laugh at you and continue to read "How to Become A RockStar". We've both come a long way I suppose.

Photographing people as in love as these guys clearly are, its hard to remember that I am actually working. Aren't you supposed to hate your job? ;)

Congradulations, Ben and Katherine!

My 15 Seconds of Fame - Part 1

During my time at home after getting off the ships in April, I have been in quite a few shows around the Vancouver area as a background extra. The gigs are pretty sweet, you dont do anything except sit outside in the sun and read or listen to music or chat with everyone, and then run to set - do your 1 hour of work (usually consisting of walking...thats it), and then go home. At the end of the day you are paid usually a hundred bucks or so, and if you are lucky you show up for a few seconds on the shot instead of being thrown to the cutting room floor. Either way though, like I said its really only tiny gigs that I am going for.... I might be able to point out the blur in the background as me , but usually I wont be able to prove it :)

In any case, they are now all finally surfacing on TV, this being the first one. This is a screenshot of a "Psych" episode...funny show...it usually airs Fridays. Its filmed down on the White Rock Pier and the location is supposed to be set in Santa Barbara, California. Go figure :).

Anyhoo... that stud-muffin in the back left wearing a pink shirt (yes pink shirt) is me. Like I said, I play a "blur" on television....at least you can recognize that hot ass as me :) You could tell the walk too if you saw the show.... Apparantly I think my shit dont stink :)

-M-

Tornados, Canada Day, building the deck, and Dinosaur Park

Happy belated Canada Day! =)

We made it here to Brooks safely! yay! The drive to Calgary was great, just a little rain but it was OK. We met dad at Peter's Drive-In and Grit had her first Peter's Milkshake....damn those are good!

When we finally got to Brooks, there was quite a large storm brewing, and by 11:00pm...everything started to go a little crazy... things started to shake, hail started coming down, winds started blowing, and I started to get a wee little scared....

The next morning Dad heard that the old house we used to live in and the houses surrounding were PUMMELLED by hail to the point of ripping siding off the houses, breaking windows, pulling trees out of the ground, and scaring the hell of a lot of people! There are reports of milions of dollars of damage to the area (as per CTV news) but the biggest thing is how long it is going to take to get contractors to fix everything... yikes!

Moving on...

Canada Day morning, I couldn't make it to Elbow Falls like I have been for the past 4 years (save for last year, being on ships) because I was in Brooks... so I thought I would go out to Dinosaur Park with Grit... she was blown away! She didnt want to leave lol! I got some good pics too! (I have posted some pics below, but most are from Grits camera because my dad's PC cant post RAW files).

I have also been helping my dad build his deck, and we have been having a blast doing it! I dont think it will be done before I leave, but we have done a LOT, and it was so much fun!

Ok, enough for the random post, I'll get the pics up now and hopefully I will think of something cool to write soon!

love ya!

-M-

This is one of the houses damaged from the severe thunderstorm in Brooks, AB July 29th 2007

This is our old house, and one of our trees lying in the middle of the road.

Dinosaur Park on Canada Day!

This is an amazing photo Grit took just as we were leaving Dinosaur Park. You go girl!

Grit relaxing and soaking up the view at Dinosaur Park.

Dad and I....building the deck ;)

The deck is coming along!!

YeeHaaw!! Calgary-bound!

Well, its almost time to pack for Calgary! Grit's doing her suitcase now, and I will raid the closet shortly after her... we are leaving tomorrow morning at 5am for CowTown!

We were checking prices of flights a week or so ago, and to our demise we were looking at a gruelling $220 bucks each!!! ONE WAY!!!! HELLLL NO!!! So, we sat and thought, and thought and sat, and sat and thought some more.... days went by, and still nothing......Then we thought of something: what if we could catch a ride with someone, even a perfect stranger, and just pay for gas (and pray there were no assrapings that followed!).... but how could we find somone like that? Then it struck us like a ton of bricks....

.....and on the fifth day, God created Craigslist. And it was good.

After only a few hours of posting our ad, we had a lead! and then another! and another!

Hopefully we weeded out all the serial killers... because we leave tomorrow in an unknown Dodge Caravan, with an unknown couple... :)

its not that we couldnt afford the flights, we just cant justify spending all that money when we could get there cheaper AND with a slightly better adventure in the meantime!

Now Grit can see the mountains, and hell, maybe there will be enough adventures this vacation to light a spark under my ass to write some more on my blog LOL

We are getting picked up by my dad tomorrow night in calgary, and heading straight to brooks until the 6th, and then we are coming up to calgary for the stampede July 6th - July 13th, and then heading to my 10 year high school reunion.... UGH!

The stampede is gonna rock, and I am glad that I have a few photo gigs to do while I am in Calgary!

I will keep everyone posted, and I hope to see or hear from some of you guys while I am there!

talk soon!

YEE HAAAW!!!

-M-

Shhhh, its a secret...

Hey all! How goes the battle?

I've been working on the 'photo-business' over the past while... finding clients for weddings, portraits, pet photography..etc. and I have also been assisting this amazing photographer in Vancouver. I have become great friends with him (please dont insert Brokeback Mountain theme here...'why cant i quit you?!!!! ' lol) he has taught me a great deal and has actually sent a few jobs my way so that is great. I have also been doing some movie work (background extras) just to kill time... I have been on an episode of "Psych", "PainkillerJane" and "Kyle XY" since I have been back home... I was called out today for "Stargate: Atlantis" but sadly...didnt have the car lol... oh well.

I have also been reading "The Secret" ....for those of you who don't know what this book/film/phenomenon is, I'll explain: You (yes you) actually create your life. If you want a million bucks, you feel it, and you get a million bucks. If you want love, you imagine it, and you get Love.

Essentially: You think...therefore you are.

what a powerful book... almost too powerful actually, it has scared me on more than a few occasions now.

Just to prove a point, I am going to write down something here today and you will see how quickly it materializes into my life... the last few tests have been almost 'twilight zone' scarey....

I have been kinda scattered lately as to what I want my focus in Photography to be on... then I thought that since I love everything, why dont I become a photojournalist... without the schooling haha. So I emailed some friends who are photojournalists (one was a photographer for the Olympics in Athens, and the other works for The Canadian Press) and asked them for advice. I also looked up some stock agencies for Press photos...and even passed the test on Getty Images' site. Now all I have to do is upload some samples, but you only get one shot so I wanna do some new ones and then send some... I want the photos to be FRESH.

So....for my little 'Secret' test... I have told the Universe that I AM a Famous Photojournalist, and I LOVE my life and my job and my family, and I have an abundance of everything I could ever possibly want and need.

So let it be.

Thank you, Universe ;)

-M-

I've been Minimoys'd!!!

I'm gonna get right down to it...

When I was young, there were only really two movies in my life:

"Labyrinth", and "The Dark Crystal"

Everyone my age, and I mean EVERYONE my age or older knows these movies... and when mentioned nowadays, you dont get a "ya, i saw it.... good movie'.... you get a 'OHHH YAAAAAA' followed by some rendition of 'You remind me of the babe, what babe? the babe of the power...etc'

if you dont know that quote...stop now... you dont belong here... go watch your Yu-gi-oh...

anyways, I have watched these 2 movies my entire life, I own them both, and the one thing that really got me was how universal these movies were... it wasnt just an American or Canadian thing. I brought them on all 3 ships I worked on, and I have watched them countless times with South Africans, Australians, English, Scottish, Argentinian, Chillian?, German, Irish (with Guiness I might add)...the list goes on...

...and then it got to me... and I am going to sound like a Grandpa right now so cover your ears...

...they just dont make movies like they used to...

More specifically, Childrens Movies, or fantasy sans the sci-fi part of it... there has not been one movie I have seen since Labryinth and The Dark Crystal in that kind of genre that has made me feel in ANY way like I felt while watching those two... at all!

...untill now...

enter: "Arthur and The Invisibles"

me and my mom rented it on a whim the other day, and when we sat down to watch it we were immediately hooked. First of all, The Invisibles LOOK like Gelflings from The Dark Crystal!! I was amazed! They were computer animated, but hey...No one can do what Henson did anymore. Secondly, guess who plays the bad guy?! none other than the Goblin King himself, Mr. David Bowie! Hark, have they just combined my two favorite movies into one?!

Please? yes. yes I am :)

Now, if they can make a sequal, and throw something in from The Pirate Movie, Caveman, The Three Amigos, and Spaceballs.... I can narrow my favorite movies list down to one! :)

(but those really arent kids movies...are they?) =)

13 GIGapixel image... yes, thats what I said!

Ok, this is for all of you photo-geeks out there...

this guy in Harlem, New York combined 2045 images and created an UBERSIZED 13 Gigapixel image... the resolution is 279,689 x 46,901 pixels .. It took them 1 day to process the photos, and 46 hours more to render the image....

...i think i just peed a little.

..and what does all of this proove?


Nothing....absolutely nothing.

But its cool, and if you have some time, check it out and play around with it. You can zoom in to anything in the photo and the detail is crazy! It takes some time, but be patient, its well worth the wait! Don't forget to look at the main window on the top left corner to see how much you have actually zoomed in... its amazing!

www.harlem-13-gigapixels.com

Michael Wachniak Photographer: New Site

It is an honor and a privelage to announce my new and improved portfolio website. I am now officially home, officially rested, and officially available worldwide for photojournalistic coverage on weddings, portraits, and any other events.

click logo to enter website

Pull the damn cord, Mikey!!!!

Its no surprise that I injured myself just moments after this photo was taken...

but what a cool photo, n'est pas? :)

I've been working my tushie off this past two weeks I have been home...my God has it been two weeks already?! I have also been on this computer many hours each day trying to finish my new site, I am really surprised that I havent added anything on my blog in the process.... but there you have it lol. The new site will be up this week sometime...and it really isnt anything special, its just a little more full and rounded.... rather than just a portfolio, there are services, prices, CURRENT contact info (haha...guess i should update my address from calgary lol). I have added a storefront, where you can (for real this time) purchase my fine art prints! Not only that, but as your photographer, I am also adding the service of making your photos available for viewing online with your own login and password, so you and your family/friends can view AND purchase photos online from a very reputable third party company! On the wedding side of things, I am adding the option of canvas prints AND Leatherbound Photo albums courtesy of the hard working individuals at www.willowbook.com I have a lot of people on my side of the line this time, helping me out...the team is literally growing daily...it feels good :)

new camera equipment, new site, new business cards (thanks, Charles! lol), new advertising campaign...

...same great taste :)



-M-

Been home since the 18th!

...still hibernating, i am fighting a cold, i miss the guys and gals on the ship but i am glad to be home...

things look promising here on land, i just gotta do some more research and get better of course hahaha

give me a shout ok?

info@michaelwachniak.com

-m-

The one about the Camera

So, I am sitting here in the Grand Cayman internet cafe... Kyla, Thomas, Matt, Richard, and Linda to my right... typing on a computer where only 10 or so days before I was sitting in this exact same spot making faces with Grit to my mom on the webcam... and now Grit is safely at home probably sleeping in my new King sized bed...stress free...waiting only 13 more days for me to come home... and only 2 more formal nights...

and now I have a new camera :)

Get this: everywhere I look this damn camera has been $1899US...so when i found it duty and tax free in Grand Cayman for $1750.. I shit myself...

and after waiting and waiting and finally getting the email telling me its in stock..

I daresay I shat again :)

Therefore I am sure its no surprise to you that I shat a third and hopefully final time when I grabbed up the posse today, went to the store, finally TOUCHED a Fuji S5pro... "MY" Fuji S5 Pro.....

and then the lady said 'minus your Crew discount.....'

expected: $1750 paid: $1661

I danced outside after the transaction was made (and firmly gripped the bag as Thomas, Matt, Linda, Kyla, and Richard all attempted to mugme at the same time)

13 more days in the Carribbean...

Then I go home. No Shit.

-m-

Grit going to my mom's, 20 days to go for me, where's my %&*@! camera, and employee of the MONTH??

Well, now that the internet has been put back on in the ship, I can update again :)

so... much has happened since my last post... Grit has officially quit as a Steiner (down with the hellish company!) and as I type this she is flying somewhere between Toronto and Vancouver!!! She has opted to go home 20 days earlier than me, to stay at my mom's house, and hibernate WITHOUT alarm clocks and hair appointments until I come home on April 18th...

Lucky Lucky Lucky :|

It was a major pain in the ass to get everything sorted out... but she is finally on her way... oh, also: Kylie (steiner from australia) has also quit and gone to Canada WITH Grit, and will be staying with at my moms for a night and then heading to Whistler for a job interview at a spa :)

again, down with Steiner... you suck very much.... and its not just my opinion, its many many many peoples opinions... if I had to choose between working for Steiner, and getting kicked in the plums by a marathon runner with stilettos.... I'd spread my legs and grit my teeth.

In other news: Can SOMEONE please tell me where the hell to find a Fuji S5 Camera Body????? there, I said it, thats the camera.. Its the Nikon D200 but with Fuji Insides.... yes, I am going Nikon.... do research on the Fuji S5 and find out why. Plus, I know the Nikons now more than My own Canon :) I updated the For Sale sign around the ship tonight for my camera and I have my pager on at all times... It will be sold, OH YES, it will be sold...

But the funny thing is, theres a whole lot of nostalgia with my 10D... so many good roadtrips with some of the best friends I have ever had...


now in some weird weird unforseen news....

i was told today by my manager that I have been nominated for employee of the month... sounds cool eh? now, add on the fact that there are only 12 people nominated each month....out of over 800...

800!!!!!

talk about a good way to leave a contract! even if i dont win it (and i expect some hard working, well deserving philippeno to get it instead... kudos in advance), i get a photo with the captain and psd, and a certificate of 'you almost made it!' :)

damn... yay me!

now, to sum up:

if everything goes to plan, in 20 days i will be home, driving in the rocky mountains taking photos with my new camera, with my 'employee of the month' photo framed in my back seat :)

roadtrip? roadtrip.

ruh.

-m-

Out of a Coma, 29 days to Go, and you wouldn't believe it if I told you...

Well Holy Shit... its a new blog entry.

I slipped into a coma there for a while, days blended into each other, blinking meant entire 10 days cruises were gone, and every click of the shutter button spiraled me further and further into a deep state of .....

...Blah...

catch my drift? Much has happened, obviously as every day on ships is a week and every week is a month and so on and what have you.... and yet, with 29 days to go before I meander home... I really have nothing coming to mind to mention...

Havent done many shore excursions, and nothing exciting at work either... I have come to the conclusion that the last 1.5 months of our contracts here we all tend to do the same thing: sleep during the times when we can get off the ship in port, do laundry instead of going to the crewbar, watching movies and hanging out in the corridor instead of partying, going to restaurants and internet cafe's in port rather than 4x4-ing or snorkelling or suntanning...

we are winding down. and we all feel it. 8 of the 12 or so photographers are all leaving within 1-3 cruises from each other, so we are ALL doing this...

Including tonight, 6 more formal nights to go :)

*insert sigh of relief here*

oh, one big thing before I go... (other than I promise that I will update a few times a week from now on... busy bit is out of the way), I am finally upgrading my camera kit.... and if you know any ounce of me in any way, you wouldn't believe what I am upgrading to even if i told you. And yes mom, for the record i will STILL be coming home with a significant amount of money saved up. WAY more than the 300 bucks last time :)

Til the next time, see y'all in the next cartoon!

-M-

Photographer for Hire?

So Grit and I have been talking, and we are thinking that it may be time to leave the shiplife soon. MAYBE!! We are just looking at what is coming after we leave, whats the next step and so on... Her and I are sitting in an internet cafe in the Cayman Islands right now, each roaming the Online-Universe, each in our own private Dell-brand Spacecrafts, hunting for answers.... aka 'cruisin the net'.

i have a list in front of me which i have compiled over the past few days, everything ranging from 'email Jason about the june 23rd wedding', to 'locate and price out german lessons around white rock area', even to 'working permit information for Grit to work in Canada'.... the list goes on. I have stock photo sites I have to inquire about, MANY photographers around Vancouver area that I have to get back to, and find out where the hell in the world Szymon is :) (photog friend from the pacific sky...this dude's been literally 'hammocking it' in the south pacific in Vanuatu for the last 5 months or more... lucky bastard haha)...

Grit's beside me searching up Hair Stylist and photographer jobs in Europe on river cruises... paid in Euros, less stress... makes sense.

So I will keep you all posted as we think of whats going on next... I guess what will most likely happen is that we will come to Canada and I will look for various Photo jobs here and there... possibly get a spot in a Vancouver Gallery for some of my pics from the road... some kind of 'upcoming artist' thing or something...

If anyone knows of anybody needing a wedding/portrait/anything photographer give me a hollar ok? I know I get 30+ hits on the site from the U.S.A. so that goes for you guys as well ok? You are only a hop skip and a jump away if you consider how far I have travelled in the past year... If you guys need a photographer, (especially a good lookin' one with an even better looking German girlfriend hahahahaha) give us a shout ok? send it to info@michaelwachniak.com

Cheers!

-M-

Photo Update!

Hey Everyone! Everything is going well... nothing unusual around here... oh, Jan 17th we were coming back to Ft Lauderdale and we saw a very small boat with 16 or so refugees making a run for the USA... they were badly dehydrated and they had a hole in the bottom of the boat so we picked them up, fed them and clothed them until the coast guard got them. I imagine they go back to Cuba, but i assume its better than drowning! Kudos to the captain for picking them up... when they got on they said 2 other cruise ships passed right by them without even looking.

In other news, Jan 28th is mine and Grit's 1 year anniversary with Princess Cruises... man what a year! Grit's doing well, but has decided this is her last contract as a steiner... we are planning our next step now. I am coming home for a bit after my contract and she will most likely stay on for a bit and then when i am done, she will walk off the ship (quitting and flipping off Steiner in the process), and then we will fly to Germany and tour Europe for a month or so. Bills will be paid by then, and we will have a good idea of what to do next. Dubai is looking promising at the moment.

In Grand Cayman now... gonna head back to the ship and go to the gym for a bit, then its formal night... meh, whattya gonna do :)

I'm Ron Burgandy. Keep it real, San Diego!

-M-

Grit and I on New Years!

Grand Cayman Sea Turtles taste the best...

Grit's first time in Jamaica... she was SO happy :)

MY sexy self walking around the Panama Canal locks Jan 22nd.

The photo team, Christmas Eve 2006. Par-tay!

This is (no word of a lie) Bob Marley's bed. We went to tour his house and went to his tomb as well. I have knelt down 2 feet in front of Bob Marley.

Up in the spa for a full Barber treatment. Shave and a Haircut... literally! (but it wasn't two bits, it was free lol)

Just outside Bob Marleys House and across from his tomb.

St. Maarten. Boxing Day (Dec 26th for you americans haha). Jellyfish sting. Nothing a little Aloe right from the beach didnt clear up! If you have ever licked a 9 volt battery, it feels the same way... but on your foot lol.

Re: My Inner-Violin.....

The night I wrote the previous entry I woke up 3:30am to find out my inner-violin was not an inner-violin at all...it was food poisoning :)

I lept over Grit, ran to the bathroom, and literally emptied from every opening in my body....

shortly after I was quarantined to an even smaller cabin for 24 hours, watching the same movies over and over again, and actually getting bored of sleeping....and showering for fun.

they let me out yesterday at about noon, dubbed it "food poisoning" (not norwalk, thank God).... and i was back in my cabin getting ready to work before I could say "oh shit, my sink is still plugged". :(

as for the whole 'terror in the spa' thing about Grit leaving.... i found out ONE THING.... Grit is just way too damn smart to go down that easily. All the emotions over the past while must have triggered this survival instinct in Grit because she had about 15% retail sales before I went into the quarantine, and when I came out her retail was and still is just over 50%.... Germans must REALLY love David Hasselhoff!

Never Piss off zhe Germans, ja? zay vill puneesh you! :)


but....the inner-violin is still playin.... hrmmm.... sickness is gone, Grit wont be going anywhere..... so what could it be?

My Inner-Violin

so...I have this funny feeling that things are about to change fairly soon 'round here. The air is sittin' a little thicker than before. Its like when you are lying in bed at night and its totally dark and so silent that you hear your own heartbeat... but when it is SO quiet, and so motionless, you hear this little magnetic hum so faint..... its almost like there can't actually be 100% silence. Thats the feeling I have had for the past few days....that hum. I can feel it. Its like an inner-violin buried deep inside me....playing one continuous note.... to either warn or make me aware of something....and to be honest....i have no fucking clue what. All it feels like is a change, not a bad change and not a good change, but a change.... like a new adventure. And only today about 20 minutes ago did I get the first hint as to maybe what it was.

First, Grit works for a shit company. I cant stress that any other way. She works 14 hours a day, along with all the other Steiner slaves, and at the end of the day, just as they pour their bodies into their beds, they are all individually told that they didnt work hard enough, and really shouldn't be here. This is not the way to live. Sure I bitch about my job sometimes, its what I do. But I can get off in almost every port we go to for at least a few hours and relax. Grit, along with all the other Steiners here, gets 1.5 days off in every 10 day cruise. every other day is 14 hours give or take 1 or 2 hours.

I went to SawGrass Mall in Ft Lauderdale today to buy something nice for Grit (while she worked of course..oh by the way, it was an 18 hour shift yesterday). I found her some aromatherapy satchels that you can heat up and wear around your eyes or your shoulders and I also got a feather-pad for the top of our bed so she and I can have less backaches at night. I know she will love it. Totally gonna pamper her tonight (especially after hearing what I am about to tell you).

I went upstairs just before writing this to see her in the spa, and she pulled me aside and started to cry like she has been holding it in for centuries. She and a few others were told today that they have 7 days to improve their retail sales or they are getting sent to another ship in 10 days.

The Inner-Violin plays on...

So now I am sitting here, at the computer in the crew internet room, day ZERO (well, day 1) of a new cruise....and my 'balance' is spinning like a mother fucker..... if she leaves, I go with her. pretty bold statement, i know, but really its not that crazy. the way i see it, is we would both quit. she has so much talent that she could easily find a job back in germany again. I, would come back home, do SOMETHING, and maybe a month-month and a half down the road, I am off to germany on a 6 month visa maybe assisting some post-nazi wedding photographer or something like that.... i actually know some german now... but i would have to step it up if this was actually going to happen. it sounds like I am in the clouds, I know.... but look at the life I have at the moment. Read back on the shit that I have told you all about on this blog over the last year, and then just BEGIN to think about the shit I HAVEN'T told you about.... moving to Germany on a temporary basis really doesnt sound any different..... its just a new chapter that's all.

Nothing's indefinite yet, she may not even leave at all....but sooner or later the shiplife will stop and something new will come to me....in the next chapter.

The Inner-Violin plays on...

-M-