nova scotia 6 - the book store owner

One of the last stops on the trip was Lunenburg, this meant we had travelled around the entire province. It was the home stretch, and one of the nicest places we visited. And what better way to celebrate the end of the trip than with shooting my favorite portrait from our time there. Of course like every other shot, it wasn't planned, and finding an awesome location with an amazing subject was only by chance.

When we arrived into the town, we used the GPS to find a local campground, like we had every night before, and found what seemed to be Lunenburg's only campground. So we got settled in and were talking about what to make for dinner, when we realized we were in no mood to cook that night, so a Subway we saw in town would do the trick.

So we got back in the car, got a little lost with the one way streets, parked, and got our delicious sandwiches. Afterwards we walked around and started to look in the shops and things. That's when we walked into Elizabeth's Books.

We quite literally walked in, saw the piles and piles of books everywhere, saw the owner, and just looked at each other. We knew a shoot would be proposed within the first 10 seconds of standing in the doorway. 

But we still wanted to look around. So we did. 

This place had everything you could imagine, and everything you never knew existed. The dates on some of these must've went way back. There were a few really cool ones too, like a hardcover photo book of fashion photography from the 60's. Would've got it but this was a cheapo trip. Which brings me to another diamond in the rough, a 1970's book, in it's 16th revision, titled How To Travel Without Being Rich. How perfect. But we already have the secret: eat 89 cent alphaghetti and camp everywhere.

So after some of the other customers cleared out, we got talking with the owner. The most wonderful old British man you could ever meet. After a while I asked him if I could shoot him, and he said yes. So Soph and I went back to the car to get the gear, all the while talking about how he's so cute and how the store is amazing.

We got back and figured out two setups I wanted to try, and started unpacking what I needed. That was interesting, having only about 2 square feet at any given point to put a stand. While I'm getting ready, I notice he also has DVDs laying around with people coming in to rent and return them, who seemed to know the guy like their best friend. This was a really unique place with a small town feel. I loved it.

I spent the next little while shooting him. Trying different poses, things he'd normally do when he's working, etc. Spent a decent amount of time on both setups and knew I got what I wanted in there. Then as I was packing up, Soph and I just chatted with him and his son that came during the shoot. We learned all about how he came to be the owner, his time in Europe, how long he's been in Lunenburg, and how he used to work on boats for most of his life. I asked how many he thought he'd been on, and he told me to hold on. Within a few seconds he pulls out a handwritten list of every boat he worked on, dates and all. I was surprised that he found the thing so quickly in the mess that was the desk, let alone impressive amount of boats he was on! I then asked if he ever missed it. He replied with the following. "Sometimes I look out the window and see the boats go by, and I just think to myself, God, I'm so glad I'm not on there right now."

We talked for a bit longer, and then we were on our merry way. Went back to the campsite where I edited what I just shot, hung out in the car for a while during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night, and eventually went to sleep. It wasn't long before we travelled back to Halifax, and finally all the way home. It was a really great trip, and I hope you all liked the photos!