just like a tourist in the city you were born

Last summer I was a tourist in my own city.

Covering the Culture and Heritage beat for the Calgary Beacon gave me a great opportunity to immerse myself in Calgary's vibrant and multifaceted community. I attended almost every cultural event that summer, and loved every minute of it. Above you can find some of my favourite shots.

If you ever get the opportunity, take the time to engage with some of the Calgary festival directors of Reggaefest, Afrikadey, Calgary Ukrainian Festival or any of the others - some of the stories of the organizers and roots of the festivals themselves are so interesting and give you good insight into Calgary's cultural evolution.

Also, should you ever find yourself in the same situation as I did in the summer of 2010 -- stuck in the city, working, and vacation-less -- spend some time exploring your city with new eyes. Everyone should be a tourist in their own city at least once. 

Counter-clockwise from the top: The celebratory Dragon Dance during the Chinatown Street Festival's (2010 was the centennial year of the Chinese-Calgarian community), dancers from the Indonesian pavilion at GlobalFest (my favourite thing about this photo is how varied their expressions are), a dancer breaks from the stage and joins the crowd at Afrikadey! 2010.

We live in a beautiful world

Afrikadey, 2010
Princes' Island Park

My Brief Encounter with Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge

Last month I had the opportunity to cover the Royal Tour to Canada for the Calgary Beacon. I was fortunate to have been accredited since I missed the application date by a full two-weeks, but "Genevieve" in Ottawa made it happen!

Going into the events I did not know what to expect, all I knew was that there would be around 1200 journalists and photographers.

Overall it was a great experience; chaotic at times, charming at others. Understandably, no media got close enough to meet or shake the hand of the Prince or Kate, and if you could see how vicious some reporters can be you'd understand why.

I did have a brief encounter, however. As the couple were leaving their reception at the BMO Centre, the remaining photographers swarmed them. The couple entered their black Lincoln, and began driving away, windows rolled up but smiling and waving nonetheless. My equipment was not good enough for me to bother trying to get a shot of them leaving with the black, tinted windows rolled up, so I decided to take a different approach. As they were driving by, I moved the camera from my eye, smiled a big smile, and waved to Kate. She looked, and then did a double take. It must have been a funny sight! A crowd of middle-aged men, their faces lost in their lenses, and then me -- a careless student reporter, camera to the side with a big grin, waving. And then she smiled right at me!

It's not much of a Royal encounter, but it was amusing for me and I'd like to think Kate found it amusing as well.