Street | The People of Calgary

Matthew – Loves Diverse Calgary

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Rob Moses Photography

I met Matthew the same day I met the last guy, Joe. In fact I talked to 3 people that day :). When I approached Matthew he was with a friend. I had asked both of them if they wanted to be interviewd, but only Matthew was up for it. 1 is better than none! Here is what Matthew had to say.

Camera: Canon 5D mark iii & 50mm 1.4 ~ Settings: 1/2500 – f/1.4 – ISO 320

1. Where are you from?
Originally from Calgary. You want to know my ancestors?

Rob: Sure!

Matthew: My mom’s Romanian and my dads Italian, so we have that ethnic background which is why I love Calgary, a lot. And I speak Italian.

Rob: Cool! So are you the first born Canadian in your family?

Matthew: Ya, my mom is from Romania and my dad is from Northern Italy, so ya it’s a cool mix. They love Calgary as well.

Rob: Ya it’s a good spot. So you’ve lived there all your life then?

Matthew: Yes I have, well actually I lived in Florida for a bit, it’s totally different. I’m not gonna lie, I actually like it here a lot more. The people are a lot better, a lot more intuitive and I feel like they are a lot smarter and a lot more diverse.

Rob: So you like living in Calgary then.

Matthew: Ya I love Calgary.

Rob: So what is about living in Calgary that you like exactly, besides great people.

Matthew: I like the environment. I like the night life, it’s cool you get to meet a lot of new people. And also the air, it feels a lot healthier and a lot more fresh. I also like the views.

2. What do you like to do for fun?
I like to play instruments. The music scene here is pretty good.

Rob: Cool, what do you play?

Matthew: I play the guitar and piano, although I am trying to produce in my off time. I also like the bar and club scene.

3. If you had to describe Calgary to some one, what would you say?
Defiantly not a hick town! It’s very different. There are so many different types of people here. You get a peace of everything, of every culture and every walk of life, so that’s what I love.

Rob: Great, me too! I’m with ya there.

4. Have you ever ridden a horse?
No I haven’t. (Laughter). People think it’s all about cowboys and it’s not haha.

5. Anything you’d like to add?
For people who don’t really know much about Calgary, it’s not really that isolated and it’s a modern city, so you’ll definitely like that aspect. Everything is here and you can try so many different things here and that’s why I would recommend Calgary.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me Matthew! 🙂

Joe – Checking Out Calgary

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Rob Moses Photography

I was recently contacted by a lovely woman by the name of Shiva Jahanshah about about doing a little profile on me and this blog for her TV show (“Who’s Who”). Of course I said I would be up for such a thing and we made arrangements to meet. When we met we did a quick interview and then they filmed me doing my thing talking to Strangers. Joe was the first person I had asked and he agreed to do it! Right after I was done talking to Joe, Shiva did a quick wrap up with him for the show. Here is what Joe had to say :).

1. Where are you from?
Vancouver.
Rob: Hey me too!

2. Why did you moved to Calgary of all places?
Well for school, for work, new opportunities and just for a change.

3. Do you like living in Calgary?
It’s not bad, it’s ok.

4. What is it about Calgary that you do like or don’t like?
Well it’s one tax.
Rob: It’s one tax! Ya that’s good thing 🙂

Joe: And what I don’t like, it’s that they have pretty crapy restaurants here.
Rob: Is that right! haha. Oh that’s terrible haha.

5. And how about the weather? You like the weather? Because I’m from Vancouver too, I know how it is.
I think I prefer the weather here, because it’s cold, but it doesn’t rain so I think it’s better.
Rob: REALLY! Wow, I’m amazed by that.
Joe: That’s a first right.
Rob: Ya for sure! (1st from a Vancouver Person)

6. So what do you like to do for fun?
I don’t know, everything!
Rob: Everything! haha. Nice, do you ever get out to the mountains?
Joe: Sometimes.

6. If you had to describe Calgary to some one, what would you say?
I don’t know? A lot of oil and gas money. Rich in natural resources.

7. Have you ever ridden a horse?
No.

8. Anything you’d like to add?
I don’t know, it’s not a bad city.
Rob: I agree. Thank you Joe 🙂

Onces the show airs I’ll post a link for you guys to check out ;).

Thanks again for talking to me Joe.

And thank you so much for reaching out to me Shiva! I had a wonderful time doing the show.

Alley Reflection

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

Here’s a street shot that I posted on my Rob Moses Photography blog 🙂 I’ll have a new interview up next.

More about this picture here: Alley Reflection.

Thanks for stopping by, Rob

Madison – Calgary Makeup Artist

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

One day not too long ago I was kicking around Instagram and I came across one of Madison’s pictures. That picture lead me to her feed and I started to follower her on Instagram. After seeing a bunch of great photos of her there, one day I commented that she should be on this site and if she would be interested in doing such a thing. To my delight she said she would! So after a few emails we sorted out a date and met up in MacKenzie Towne.

We met at the Second Cup coffee shop on High Street. I got there first and when Madison came in she ordered and then walked over to the table I was at. I got up to shaker her hand and she was going for the hug, it was kind of funny but it gets better. I thought, oh ok we’re hugging it out, cool. Then mid hug I proceeded to step on her beautiful shoes LOL. SMOOTH! This first interaction made me laugh so I thought I’d share it with you guys. Sorry about that Madison! haha 😉

Once settled, we hung out and had a wonderful conversation and got to know each other a little before we did the interview. Madison is very friendly and super easy to talk too. I really enjoyed the conversation we had and the photo shoot was fun too! Here is what she had to say.

Camera: Canon 5D mark ii & 135L – Setting: 1/125th // f2 // ISO 1250

* The lighting situation was a little difficult for this shot because it was raining and we had to shoot in this covered area with some bad lighting over top. I used a silver reflector to camera left to try and fill in some of the shadows.

1. Where are you from?
Calgary, Alberta.

2. Nice, have you lived here all of your life?
Yes I have.

3. Do you like living in Calgary?
I love living in Calgary.

4. What is it that you love about Calgary?
I guess the thing I love about Calgary the most is just family. I think when you grow up rooted in a place with everyone around, you fall in love with it for that reason I guess. And I think the beauty of Calgary, just hot in the summer and I like the cold in the winter, and I think most people would like it if they physically didn’t have to drive to work and they could just watch it out there window or go outside midday and like make snow angles or whatever they would do. (laughter).

5. Is there anything that you don’t like about Calgary? Or do you just love it all? Most people would have a problem with the winter, but not you 🙂
Ya, that’s definitely not an issue for me. I think that you should appreciate everything about where you are and so many people focus on the negatives. I think winter is beautiful and it would be better if I didn’t have to drive in it to get to work, one day maybe. I guess about Calgary, the one thing I don’t like is how separated sometimes it is.

Rob: Ya, like how spread out it is?

Madison: Ya, so like in a scence I loved when after flood, how everyone came together and it was amazing. I wish there was more of that I guess, as a posed to just individual communities. Because you go to a new community and your not really involved in it.

Rob: Ya I get that.

6. What do you like to do for fun?
I guess my career (make up artistry) is what I like to do for fun. Like with make up and making women feel beautiful with them selfs and confident, that’s what I love to do. And it’s funny, because I actually originally was going into accounting and I left accounting to pursue cosmetics. So I guess I was always interested in it and fashion, and now that’s what I do all the time.

Rob: Ya I couldn’t see you being an accountant (laughter). I just can’t picture it, you sitting behind a desk crunching numbers (laughter).

Madison: Ya you grow up and people ask you, “What are you good at?” and I was good at math, so I had a list of careers and I’m like, “Ok I’ll do that” and I went 2 years and I’m like “This is not for me”. And now I’m doing what I absolutely love and what I’m passionate about and that’s what matters.

Rob: Nice, that’s cool. You made the right choice.

7. If you had to describe Calgary to someone what would you say?
I would say, Calgary, it’s such a mix of people, which is great because you have almost every kind of culture, which I think it’s the coolest thing. Because it’s not just a stereotype, it’s absolutely everyone. So cultured, you learn so many things and I think you learn to appreciate people and just everything they have to off and bring to the table. It gives you the experience to learn different cultures and you take away what you want from it and then you can be a better person because of it almost. (In a joking sappy voice) That’s why I love Calgary. (laughter)

Rob: Nice, good answer 🙂

8. Have you ever ridden a horse?
I have, I actually went to horse camp when I was younger (laughter).

Rob: What! Horse camp? Ok tell me more about horse camp, I gotta know (laughter).

Madison: Ok, so it’s actually camp Chief Hector is what the camp’s called. You do horse back trips and it’s like a 5 day trip and it’s like an excurtion almost so you have backpacks that you carry and you like camp up and build tents and fires and everything. You tie your horse up.

Rob: YOU!

Madison: (laughter) Ya I did this.

Rob: I can’t even picture that a tiny bit. You with a backpack on a horse going camping (laughter).

Madison: I did do this. I lasted and I made it up all the mountains we had to climb and ya. It was good. Horse back riding is so much fun. If I had more time, I’d like to play with that a little more, because it was really fun now that I’m thinking back on that. I did like that, I think I just like animals though.

Rob: Nice.

9. Anything you’d like to add?
Hmm… I don’t know. I guess really we are talking about Calgary and honestly I think it’s one of the best places. I have been to a lot of the US and even a little bit of Western Canada, I can’t say I’ve went more eastern, but it’s just the most excepting and I find culturely diverse areas and I love that about it.

Rob: Nice, thanks for doing this.

Madison: No worries, I love doing stuff like this.

* The most fun I had out of all these Calgary strangers so far 🙂 Thanks again Madison, it was nice to meet you.

* You can find Madison on Facebook HERE.

This City Street at Night

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

If you’ve liked my Facebook page you probably already seen this photo before. But if you haven’t, well here you go! ;). I shot this one from an overpass on one of the busier streets in Calgary. I like the vantage point because of the urban backdrop.

Thanks for stopping by, Rob

Shane – A New Calgary Journalist

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

One day last week I posted a tweet on twitter saying how I needed to go out and find someone for this blog. I quickly got a reply from Shane volenteering to do it! So with that we arranged to meet on Saturday and we did the interview. Here is what Shane had to say.

Camera: Canon 5D mark ii & 135L – Settings: 1/1000th // f2 // ISO 100

1. Where are you from?
Well I jokingly like to call my self a minority in my own land, as I was actually born in raised in Calgary.

– Rob: Haha nice, that’s a good one.

2. So do you like living in Calgary?
Well for the most part there is always something to do in town. But the one bummer about living in Calgary is sometimes when you rely on public transit, if your trying to get from suburb to suburb you need to make sure you leave early, because it’s going to be awhile. But transportation issues aside Calgary is a great place to live.

3. What is about Calgary that you like? or Don’t like? You choose.
Well what I particularly like about Calgary and what I don’t think we really get enuf credit for on a national scale is the street festival scene here during the summer. There is always something to do during the week. A lot of people get together. There is always a central theme and that kind of thing. And my self being a web producer for a music magazine, I partiularly dig the Sled Island Festival, and what I like about it is, you may not have heard about much of the artists, but that’s kind of the point, discovering new music.

– Rob: What was the name of the publication you where just talking about?
Beat Root Magazine, we are an independent music publication.

– Rob: And is that local to Calgary?
It’s local and we have an edition in Vancouver as well.

– Rob: Ok cool, and you just gave me this other publication that you where involved in, the Calgary Journal. How did you get involved with these guys?
Well it’s kind mandatory to write for the Calgary Journal because it’s the Mount Royal University Journalism program. So if you want to get that $25,000 piece of paper you kinda have no choice but to write for the Calgary Journal, it’s just the name of the game with that program. A lot of journalism programs have community news papers that they just run in house. Consider it kind of a showcase of young journalists work and there growth if you will.

– Rob: And is it this that led you to the music magazine your working with? Or how did that come about?
Your on the ball actually, my job a Beat Route Magazine kind of fell on my lap. When I was a news intern at the Calgary Journal, at the time our production manager Brad Simm, he’s also the publisher at Beat Route Route Magazine and he knew I was pretty savvy in terms of working with digital media and being the word smith that I am, so he offered, I took it and 2 and half years later I’m still with Beat Route.

– Rob: Nice. You also have a blog, I checked it out quickly. What kind of stuff do you got going on there?
Yes, Pronounced Floog. Well regretfully I haven’t written anything there in about a month. It’s just a personal blog, I don’t have a lot of high hopes for it. It’s just intended for my twitter adiunce and facebook friends, that kind of thing. Sometimes I write a little bit of humour and other times I write opinions.

– Rob: Or impressions perhaps? (I saw a video of one on his blog before the interview)
And voice impressions, Metallica (Shane starts screaming loudly and we are standing beside a gas station in public! haha) YA, YAAAA, OUWA!

– Rob: haha Ok your freaking me out! (laughter) I’m just kidding.

4. I also noticed on your blog you had a picture of your self with a camera, so are you a bit of a photographer too then?
Well I see your a Canon guy, but you’ll hate to hear I’m a bit of Nikon guy.

– Rob: I dont have problem with Nikon.
You don’t have a problem with that, ok that’s good. I know there’s a bit of a rivalry going on there. But anyway, I suppose I’m a bit of an ameture photographer. My specailty would have to be action photography. It’s pretty simple, it’s just f8 and you go from there. Just shoot the hell out of the event and hope for the best and usally get something good.

– Rob: Haha Spray and Pray I think they call it.
Is that the term?

– Rob: Ya haha.
Alright, I learned something today on my end too.

5. Alright so what do you like to do for fun?
For fun particularly I enjoy a game of pool it’s sort of thinking mans game but it’s a lot more socailble then say chess. You can drink a beer and just shoot the stuff with the guy your playing with. So I enjoy pool. I need to get better at it, but when I can I also enjoy fishing as well. And my Final Fantasy days are over at this point in my life, but I do play some PS3 once in a while.

6. If you had to describe Calgary to some one, what would you say?
Well it’s huge, to say the least. But it’s a very homely city for it’s size, it’s very neighbourly, the people are nice and it’s kind of one of those city where you can leave your jacket in the bar to go to the bathroom and not be to worried about it being stolen from you and that sort of thing. It’s a very friendly city that way. And we do have a really thriving arts and culture scene in Calgary, but like I said before I don’t think we get a lot of credit for it on the national level, because you your self probably discovered while doing your blog, there is more to us than just cowboys, stampede and our fossil fuel economy.

7. Have you ever ridden a horse?
Does pony count?

– Rob: Ya I’d say a pony counts, it’s kind of a horse, a small horse haha.
Ok close enuf haha. I was a small lad at the time.

– Rob: There you go! So it’s all relative then?

8. Anything you’d like to add?
Just keep up the good work with your blog. It’s a very fascinating concept. I mean not only are profiling, just telling some great stories of people, just for being them selfs and that kind of thing. And we are watching your growth as well as a new Calgarian who discovers more and more. And there is just a lot more to us than Stampede.

***

That’s it for Shane, you can find him on twitter at @sflug. Thanks for volunteering to talk to me Shane! 😉

Ryan – 10@10 Hip Hop in Calgary

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

A DJ friend of mine (Mista Wilson) set up an introduction to Ryan through his friend Marie. I met Marie and Ryan in front of the Ubu Lounge a little before people starting showing up for a hip hop night that Ryan and his friends put on. Ryan told me a little bit about the night and showed me around the venue quickly. After a quick look around Ryan and I went back to the street to conduct our interview. Here is what he had say!
* A few more photos from the night follow the interview.

Camera: Canon 5Diii & 50L – Settings: 1/320th // f1.2 // ISO 400

1. Where are you from?
I’m from Calgary

2. Have you lived here all your life?
I was born in Calgary

3. Nice. Do you like living in Calgary?
Yeah, I enjoy living in Calgary.

4. What is it about Calgary that you like?
Well, like, even with a lot of other Canadians too who are like born and raised somewhere else, like, there’s a lot of nostalgic feeling for the place where you were born, and the place where you are familiar with , like most of my friends. For me that’s Calgary.

5. What do you like to do for fun?
I like to listen to music, watch sports, chill with the hommies.

6. So you are putting on this night. Why don’t you tell me a bit about the night that we are at? How did it start?
It started as an idea from my boy Rock Media about creating a night where we invite 10 local hip hop acts down to do quick sets and kinda like a sign up and open mic format. And it started with that and the way it grew from that point which is just kinda natural within itself.

7. How long have you guys been doing this night?
I believe this is our 24^th month or 22^nd month? I’m off on that one so I don’t know

Rob: Around there!

Around there, if that (Laughter)

8. So has it always been done here?
Yeah, it’s always been done here at the Ubu Lounge here in Theatre Grand.

9. How long do you plan to do this night? Is it gonna be a long standing thing?
Um, you know at this point…It’s not even the foresight, you know. We never even thought it’d be this long. At the same time, it’s hard to envision local hip hop without it.

10. So what else is happening in the City as far as the hip hop community goes?
I don’t know, but from 10 @ 10 being a hub, it’s kinda nice to see like, as you invite more artists down to perform, it’s different artists meeting other artists, and different visual artists meeting other visual artists or photographers meeting artists as well, ya know. And then seeing the collaborations even from the events. Seeing, you know, an act from one month, with an act from a different month doing a song together and your seeing kinda like those kinda fruitations of the culture. It’s showing more growth and you know than whats within the realm of my reach. Cause there could still be great stuff being created anywhere, but if I’m not hearing it is it my hip hop or no?

11. So how do you get the acts?
People who attend kinda see what we’re doing and how it’s being done. And they send us an e-mail at 10at10showcase@gmail.com or they hit us up on twitter @10at10calgary. And then we ask them to send us a set list some links to their media and they we just kinda go through the email list. And we do try to give everyone an opportunity to perform, so at all levels we encourage people to send music in.

12. Alright cool. So if you had to describe Calgary to someone what would you say?
It’s hard to describe, because I’m not even a travelled guy too much. I travelled a little bit and it really opened up my eyes about what the world is like. But Calgary’s just like, Midwest, big city with small town hospitality and that’s pretty much it.

13. Is there anything else you can think of that you’d like to add, that people might want to know about your night?
Since the conception of this, we’ve actually ran this free of charge for almost over a year and a half now. So it’s just here to develop the hip hop community of Calgary. We’re just creating a place where people can practice their craft, promote their craft, and diversify their collaborations coming out of their own art. So come on down. Tell your friends who are talented, we don’t have to all be bedroom rappers and producers and not you know, create something as a city.

14. Cool, last question. Have you ever ridden a horse?
Yes I have ridden a horse.

Alright, that’s it!

* Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Ryan! I’ll see you next month 😉 Also, thanks to DJ Mista Wilson & Marie for the introduction to Ryan. I would also like to add that I stuck around for a couple hours to check out the night and it was super good and had a lot of cool people attending. 10@10 is definitely worth checking out!

Dwyane – Ontario Guy Turned Fresh Air Loving Cyclist

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

It doesn’t get any easier finding people for this blog than it did today. I just closed my car door and turned to the sidewalk and saw Dwyane hopping on his bike to go for a little cruise. I politely stopped him and explained to him what I was up to. At first Dwyane was a little reluctant to have his picture taken, but I showed him the website and told him a bit more about it and he gave me an enthusiastic “Lets do it”. This of course made my day 🙂 Here is what Dwyane had to say.

Camera: Canon 5Diii & 135L – Setting: 1/250th // f2 // ISO 100

1. Where are you from Dwayne?
Ontario.

2. Why did you moved to Calgary of all places?
Work related.

3. Do you like living in Calgary?
Yes and no. I like living here, it’s just a little expensive.

4. What do you like about Calgary?
Fresh Air! And the mountains. Ya you can’t beat that man.

5. And what do you like to do for fun? Other than ride your bike?
I like to go up to the mountains, get away from the city. Ya know, just be with nature. You can’t beat that man, it’s beautiful.

6. If you had to describe Calgary to someone what would you say?
A happening city, a growing city, a new city with potential.

7. Have you ever ridden a horse?
No, YES YES! I have. Not successfully, but I have (laughter).

* One of the coolest things about Dwyane was that after the interview was over he had a few questions for me and we continued our conversation. I kind of wished I was still recording, but either way it was a nice conversation with a nice guy. Thanks Dwyane!

Laetiti – A Nice Girl at Uptown 17th

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

I went for coffee with a friend of mine today and we hit a couple art galleries. While we were on our way to the coffee shop I saw this girl I thought would be good for the blog, however we had just got downtown and it was not the time, so I didn’t bother asking her. After coffee and checking out a few good galleries, inspiration hit me to find some one for the blog. At first we took a stroll down Stephen Avenue and I asked one girl who looked cool, but she nicely infromed me that she wasn’t from Calgary, nor did she currently live in Calgary, DARN! Our parking was up, so we decided to head across town to Uptown 17th Ave to try our luck.

17th was great! We did a Pepsi taste test and won a couple Pepsi’s :). So with Pepsi’s in hand we started wandering down the street. I asked a couple girls sitting on a bench, but either they didn’t understand english or did not live in Calgary. When asked if they lived here they looked confused and just shook their heads no haha. So we cross the street and who do I see? The first girl I thought to ask all the way across town in the beginning of our outing! So I walk up and tell her what I’m doing and she’s into it! Here is what Laetiti had to say.

Camera: Canon 5Diii & 135L – Settings: 1/500th // f2 // ISO 100

1. Where are you from?
I’m from here, Calgary.

2. Have you lived here all of your life?
I have, yes.

3. Do you like living in Calgary?
Ah ya in general.

4. What is it about Calgary that you like?
I like how it’s close to the Rockies, it’s got a lot of nature. People aren’t as nice here as other places, but in general their pretty nice. It’s got some cool neighbourhoods.

5. What do you like to do for fun?
I like hiking a lot, I like running, I like calculus & cooking.

Rob: Calculus! Nice 🙂

6. If you had to describe Calgary to some one, what would you say?
Umm, does it have to be good or?

Rob: No it could be whatever, whatever you think, whatever you would say to somebody.

Laetiti: I think it’s a trending city with a lot of things happening. Probably in the next 10 years it’ll be an even better city than it is.

7. Have you ever ridden a horse?
I have not.

Thank you for talking to me Laetiti! 😉

Can’t Miss That

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Rob Moses Photography

Yesterday there was a street festival in the city of Calgary. It was called The Lilac Festival and took over almost half of a downtown street! I’m not sure how many blocks it was, but it was massive! I went down and had my camera along (as always) in the hopes I might find some one for this blog. I had planned to meet up with some one from Twitter, but it didn’t work out and in the end I was happy enuf to shoot a some street shots. Here is my favourite one from the day. You could miss this girl walking down the street with that dress on! I love bright colorful clothing like that for street photography shots, it just commands your attention, well it does mine anyhow 😉

Camera: Canon 5Diii & 50L – Settings: 1/4000th // f1.2 // ISO 100 (this photo was cropped)

Thanks for stopping by, Rob

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