As Jae mentioned in our previous blog post, he had met with Rob at the car show, who spoke about another “niche” hobby he had. This set the wheels in motion for Jae and I to plan to go to an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) meet, happening at Warner Loat Park in Burnaby. On 24th May, we packed up our gear and made the drive to attend the Lions Gate Champions, held by the Barony of Lionsgate. For the day I brought along my Nikon ZF with a 24-70, and my Rolleiflex with some Kodak Gold 200, with the hope of making some portraits. Jae also brought his Nikon ZF, but instead focused on shooting with his Mamiya 7ii and shot with Ilford HP5.
We had no idea what was in store for us, and felt more than a little out of place. We certainly had not come dressed for the occasion. However we couldn't have asked for a nicer welcome. Everyone we spoke with throughout the day was eager to share and teach and just invite us into their world. These are a large part of the reason Jae and I pick up cameras, it's an excuse to go out into the world and open ourselves up to meeting new and interesting people, making a connection and hopefully capturing a slice of life that we just don’t see everyday.
I know I can speak for both of us when I say this was one of the best days of photography we both have had in a long time, and we didn’t even shoot all that much. The people of the Barony of Lionsgate were so welcoming and so fun to talk to that we were swept up in conversation more than we were concentrating on making photos.
Oh, and Jae got braids!