Rise Up Hot Air Balloon Festival 2023

A few visual highlights from this year's Rise Up Hot Air Balloon Festival in Medicine Hat, Alberta. These images were captured across 4 days around various launch sites within the city. 

I Funko'd Myself In Hollywood

Yes, you read that correctly. The Funko Hollywood store on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California has customization kiosks where you select your body, hair, outfit, etc. and then they build your custom Funko character (branded as Pop! Yourself) in about 20 minutes.

The thing is, a blond guy in a hoodie isn't much of a character when I can't plaster my logo all over it so the accessories I chose had to do the heavy lifting. Of course, I had to have my custom Funko holding a camera and a little magazine / travel guide. I also included the lens-less "ie. fake" film school glasses I used to wear when I wanted to stereotypically look the part.

As for the outfit, the options all felt a bit too plain, so I opted for the superhero spandex - I felt it was the closest thing to underwear / pajamas which has kind of become the unofficial Editing Luke uniform over the last 6 months of documentary post-production. All and all, the custom Funko Pop is a fun souvenir that admittedly is probably one of the least tacky things that I've bought on Hollywood Blvd. in the last decade, which is really saying something.

 

Las Vegas & Los Angeles Travel Shoots

And thus concludes another series of travel shoots.

This was the first time in 3 years that travel felt normal again, perhaps aside from the price tag. To soak up Las Vegas and Los Angeles with my film school buds lead to some really memorable experiences and made up for some long overdue / delayed shoots - not to mention adding a big exclamation mark to my birthday celebrations this year.

While the thousands of new images will only add to the existing backlog, I'm really excited about just how much we saw and accomplished. Thank you so much for all of the early engagement (over Instagram) on these teasers over the last couple weeks. It's so awesome having you guys sharing real time recommendations and feedback.

Now, back to reality and the edit suite.

Monarch Documentary: Tourism Feature

I want to thank Tourism Medicine Hat for their article on my upcoming documentary on the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta titled Your Cinema Needs You. Read here.

 

Where Should We Host the Movie Premiere?

Yesterday I posed a question to my audience about whether they'd show up to a premiere for my new documentary "Your Cinema Needs You" if we held it in the historic Monarch Theatre. As the theatre is at the centre of the documentary, naturally the expectation was that the responses would be favourable, but I was blown away by the support and engagement that this question elicited on Facebook and Instagram.

As we're still awaiting news on the outcome of the Monarch Theatre's purchase and reopening, further encouraged by my feature in the Calgary Herald this month, there are still quite a few details to iron out as this documentary officially wraps up and 'finds its ending'. All that said, I'm excited to finally see all the pieces coming together for the eventual release of this movie. It's been a long, drawn out process and I can't wait for everyone to finally see it.

Here we're some of the top responses on the post:

New Artwork at River Bee Books

In news that surprises no one, I have a real soft spot for unique, local businesses (particularly those in beautifully restored downtown buildings) who also happen to be supporters of my original "Hometown Series" in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Over the last few months I've delivered a collection of custom framed canvases to Bridget at River Bee Books with this shot overlooking the cliffs ending up in the new shop scheduled to open this spring. I do love a good bookstore, and can't wait to see all this hardwork come together for their grand opening. Check out those tin ceilings!

In Search Of An Ending: Monarch Documentary

A full page write-up appeared in today's Calgary Herald about the story surrounding my upcoming documentary on the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat titled "Your Cinema Needs You".

My thanks to Eric Volmers and the Calgary Herald for this generous feature, particularly as the documentary still has a few final hurdles to overcome towards completion. Everything is still pretty hush hush surrounding what might happen at the Monarch, but there's potential I may still get the ending I've been holding out for before this documentary truly wraps.

Link to the Monarch Theatre documentary story in the Calgary Herald here.

Fine Cut, Renders & A Quick Update

This month post-production has entered its final stages as we move into completing the fine cut of the documentary. This is where we trim, tighten, refine, and generally stitch together all of the final details of the finished film. It's been a process, but it's looking good.

Since the trailer for the Monarch Theatre documentary was released in late December it feels like everything has been moving non-stop. January was full of some early promo work and media interviews about "Your Cinema Needs You", as well as some newly revised schedules about what may be happening at the Monarch Theatre in the near future. I don't want to make any predictions, but this is the first time in months where I feel like I'm finally on top of things.

On the travel photography side, lots has been on hold, however there are some new shoots on the horizon this spring. In the meantime, the @editingluke Instagram has been nailing down some high-profile features in 2023 so far from Oahu, Detroit, New York, Calgary, and Banff. On the hometown front, there are also a few new prints that have already sold and are waiting to go up in a new location. A reveal should be coming very soon.

So, that's a brief overview. My apologies that social posts will continue to be limited until the documentary is completed, but there's lots on the go again. As the documentary continues to take shape and we get closer to locking down a release date, be sure to follow along at @editingluke for exclusive updates and behind the scenes content.  

 

Explore Hawaii: A Travel Magazine Feature

A travel feature about a series of images shot in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii.

 

2022: Top Photo Essays of the Year

2022. A year where, due to the documentary production, new posts on the Editing Luke site dropped by almost half, but traffic increased 38% - go figure.

My Lensa AI gallery on the website has to receive an honorable mention, despite not technically being an original photo set, the post generated tens of thousands of hits in just the last month as a result of being early on the trend.

It easily encapsulates the randomness of "best of" lists, as it's always a bit of a crap shoot to understand why something hits. All that said, here are the Top 9 most popular, original photo essays released on the Editing Luke site in 2022.

9. Belgian Beer, Belgian Chocolate, and Belgian Waffles

A recap of some of the stereotypical "bests" experienced in Bruxelles.

8. Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France

Architectural images of the Louvre's iconic entrance.

7. Space Shuttle Discovery in Virginia

A detailed collection of NASA's most travelled Space Shuttle.

6. Villa Vizcaya & Gardens in Miami, Florida

Architectural images of one of Miami's most historic estates.

5. Surfing in Manhattan Beach, California

An impromptu shoot on the California coast.

4. Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California

A look behind the gates of one of the world's most iconic movie studios.

3. Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London, UK

Easily the most coincidental photo essay of the year from the streets of London.

2. Osaka Castle in Japan

An exploration of one of Japan's most visited castles.

1. Savi's Workshop Lightsaber at Walt Disney World

A look behind the upcharged lightsaber building experience within Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge ... because ... lightsabers obviously lol.

 

What Difference Does A Trailer Make?

A week ago I had anticipated some public response when the preview for "Your Cinema Needs You" finally dropped. What followed ... thousands of fresh eyes on what I'd been up to this year, renewed public interest, HUNDREDS of messages, media coverage, a rally of support to see the film premiere in the Monarch, and so so so many questions. 

All amazing - but also, exactly what you'd hope a solid trailer would do.

What I wasn't prepared for was the trailer for "Your Cinema Needs You" inspiring a few tip-offs about the potential future of the Monarch Theatre, and the preview convincing the only hold out interview of the entire documentary to finally request a sit down.

Earlier this week production resumed for a single day inside the Monarch, and as a result of this final interviewee's involvement even more unreleased archival material has been secured for the documentary. On what in any other year would be the sleepy haze between Christmas and New Years, I feel like I've been racing. I've just created more work for myself, but I suppose this is the hectic reality of capturing a story that's still being written. 

This new year should be very interesting.

2022: Medicine Hat, Alberta Images of the Year

On the local front, 2022 marked the 10 year anniversary since I began photographing Medicine Hat, Alberta as part of my Around the Hat / Hometown Series.

On one hand I started the year feeling like maybe the series had run its course, and on the other hand quickly saw that engagement had never been higher. 

As it turned out there were quite a few surprises that followed - some high-profile features, notable print installations, and even a couple of new experiences to boot. With enough encouragement, it's safe to say the series isn't going anywhere. Here are just a few of the "hometown hits" that received the most engagement in 2022.