My Private Tokyo

Today was another busy day running around the city and getting into contact with a few more individuals wanting to be a part of the project. I ended up getting some more support after a story was run in a local paper in regards to the project.I'm not usually one to toot my own horn but I think a project like this, it's important to get the word out and spread it around. The goal of this is to grow and part of that is awareness. At the end of the day it helps bring further donations to those affected and connects a number of people together to help raise awareness.

More to come in the following days plus a more in depth write up as to my motivations for this and views in general for those interested. An article is certainly not always enough room to express ones self to the fullest degrees.

On that note, for those interested you can view the story here.

First off, thank you everyone for the fantastic amount of support and encouragement. The project is kicking off in full steam and there will be a lot of updates and donations coming over the course of the next few days.

These are a few of the people I got the pleasure to work with today. Thank you everyone for the donations and support!

By now we have all seen the tragic destruction and loss of life surrounding the natural disaster in Japan. In desperate times like these having people and organizations to help individuals pull through is incredibly important. It not only provides immediate tangible help but also develops a vital sense of community for those involved.

There has been a truly earnest response among the Japanese community at the unanticipated level of caring and support the rest of the world has shown in the past few days. Many friends have been truly thankful for even the small messages sent to make sure they were alright following the earthquake and tsunami.

To me this was important. The strong sense of community among the Japanese is truly something unique and it has always to me been something I have aspired to.

I, like many of you, have people in my life who have been affected to different degrees by this disaster. Like many of you I have also in some form donated money to help the relief effort. However, I began to feel guilty knowing I could do much more.

So this is my offer and my challenge to you all.

I want you to donate a minimum of $15 I will be taking donations on behalf of the Red Cross. In exchange, I want to take one sincere picture of you, holding up a badge of support. All the money collected will be donated to the relief effort. I will also be putting together a photo blog to showcase the people being a part of this effort.

This is what I would like to represent our message:


Special thanks go to shing02

It's simple enough but the value of it is so much more.

We can all do our part to help on a financial level. However, to me there is more than just financial support. I want people to know the face behind the gesture. I want to showcase that the international community is forever a part of the Japanese community. To me the worth of that support is equally as vital to people as assisting them financially in times of need.

To those who feel they can help be a part of this in other ways, please do so. Whether you take up your own camera and follow suit, make it your own or find another creative way you can use your talents and personal time to help the situation, put in the effort and be a part in creating an international community. I would much rather we all work on this together.

That is my challenge, be a part of this. Whether it is on one side of the lens or the other, help out and build a community that will ultimately bring a lot of good in a lot of valuable ways.

The images will be put up on a blog. The more people involved, the more we can show how much the international community is really a part and the more significant a difference we can actually make. If you know of people wanting to be involved please let them know.

So please, contact me or anyone involved and let's make this grow. You can reach me at mariuszphotography@gmail.com

For those looking to help in other regards you can do so via the Red Cross in a number of ways.

Finally, I would also like to encourage others to use these pictures in their Facebook profiles similar to the current badges going around to help spread the message to donate.

Thank you everyone!


「東北地方太平洋沖地震」におきまして、被害にあわれた皆様に心よりお見舞い申し上げます。

現在も余震があり、被災地で多くの方が非難しており、懸命な救出活動が続いている状態です。

被災者の方に対し,義援金として支援をすることが、日本へカナダ内陸エドモントンからできるサポートだと思います。

具体的には、各自上記のShing02デザイン"Rise again　手をつなごう"バッジを表示したIpadを持っていただき、野外にて証明写真を作成します。

又、その証明写真購入代金（最低１５ドル寄付）として皆様から寄付を頂き、集まった全義援金は日本赤十字社を通じて、被災者救済のための救援活動及び復興支援活動等資金として寄付させていただきます。

更に、各証明写真はブログhttp://mariuszsikorski.blogspot.com/2011/03/we-need-your-help.htmlにショーケースとしてアップロードされます。

フェイスブックなどのソーシャルネットワーク当の証明写真として使用して頂ければ、更に多くの人に広め、参加していただける切っ掛けになると思います。

一日でも多くの人にご協力をいただければ幸いです。

日付、場所等に着きましてはいつでも気軽に連絡ください。

連絡先Eメール　マリオ　
mariuszphotography@gmail.com

Here are a few shots i did for a makeup creative a few weeks ago. These aren't the final images to be used however before the makeup artist decided on the keepers I had spent some time practicing on a few. I enjoy this kind of work, it still has a long ways to go to come off as less muddled and overall cleaner, maybe not in terms of beauty retouching but the heavy handedness of it all. There's a lot of subtle changes that over the course of an image add up to something much cleaner. The more time i spend on these sorts of images the more i come to the realization that less is more.

It's difficult to find that balance as it tends to be a fine line between too little and too much. At this point it's practice practice practice when it comes to retouching. Vision on the other hand is a demon all of its own that needs a lot of attention.

There will be more to come in the near future. To me this is a bit of a personal ambition. The shots may be simple but there is a lot of complexity to them behind the scenes.

Finally took a bit of a step away from the standard studio shoot to play with a few different elements I've been meaning to explore recently. It's tough some days to get away from it, especially on days like today where the weather is less than accommodating for outside shoots.

Needless to say, focus can be over rated at times.

A quick series of shots I did for a local friend for one of the custom cakes she had made for a customer. I got a chance to grab a few shots and sample some left over "material" in the process.

Needless to say, it was as delicious as it looked!

For those interested you can find more of Lily's fantastic work on her Facebook page: Custom Creations Cakes & Pastries

Some friends and I took a trip to Jasper over the long weekend. While there we did a trek up Maligne Canyon. For me this was something new. I had visited the canyon in the summer when I was much younger. Even then it was a rather unique and interesting place. Visiting it during the winter and getting a chance to hike up the actual river is a different experience all together though and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been before.

These shots were done hand held with the 14-24mm f2.8. I had originally planned to bring my tripod but forgot it in the car.