What is quality?

Strange question huh?

When Marianna and I first started as photographers we spoke to camera stores, attended conferences, had long discussions with my father in law (also a professional photographer), basically we talked to anyone and everyone in the professional photography industry.



















The problem was centred on the difference between 35mm film and medium format 120 film. Did negative size matter etc. As we figured out what was the best technical quality, we then changes our quality question to the best quality image. In the end, it was determined that lighting was the next logical step.

Look at these 2 images.



The bride getting into the limo is one of those hit and miss photos. But it has way more going for it then the bride and groom walking out of the church. Would the first shot end of in the album over the second shot? Not likely. But as far as lighting quality the 1st shot is far superior.

Let me explain.

When we shoot we need light. The outdoor shot (Left) has ambient light ( the light around us, mix of sun and shade and bounced light from everywhere. It also has fill flash ( the light from the flash that fills in the shadows under the eyes) and lastly and most importantly we have direct sunlight. Look and the bride's veil. WOWOWOWOWOW. I even love how the sun kisses both parents. See how the Bride and the parents are separated from the background? Light does that.

The second shot is nice but its the event and the action that makes it so. I would love to be able to set up a huge sun inside the church. Sure would look cool.

Speaking if action - quality can also be judged based on the quality of expression and ability to be in the right place at the right time. Let's go back to our to samples. In the first photo, if Marianna or I wasn't in the exact spot the sun would not be in the right place. Shoot too soon and the bride wouldn't be looking at her mother.

In the second photo the most important event to capture is their expression as and the movement of them leaving. You can see the joy on her face. Funny, you can also see his relief on his face.

But quality doesn't stop there. Actually I believe that we choose to live a life of quality every single day. Here is a great example:

Coffee Time vs Starbucks.

Which one is better quality? I hope you said Starbucks. I love Starbucks!!! (see more about my love of Starbucks click here)

How about this one. Pacific Mall 10$ purse vs Channel or Montreal Canadians vs Toronto Maple Leafs or diamonds!!

Below is the Diamond Clarity Scale. Strange huh. We are so used to absolutes when judging things, yet as far as I'm concerned the Diamond scale is no better than figure skating judges.

DIAMOND CLARITY SCALE

FL	IF	VVS1	VVS2	VS1	VS2	SI1	SI2	I1	I2	I3
Flawless- Internally Flawless		Very Very Slightly Imperfect		Very Slightly Imperfect		Slightly Imperfect		Imperfect

FL (Flawless) - IF (Internally Flawless)
Flawless Diamonds reveal no flaws on the surface or internally are the rarest and most beautiful gems.

Internally Flawless Diamonds reveal no inclusions and only insignificant blemishes on the surface under 10x magnification.

VVS1 - VVS2 (Very, Very Slightly Included)
Very difficult to see inclusions under 10x magnification. These are excellent quality diamonds.

VS1 - VS2 (Very Slightly Included)
Only looking through a 10X loupe can pinpoint the inclusions in this category and are nearly impossible to see with the naked eye. These are less expensive than the VVS1 or VVS2 grades.

SI1 - SI3 (Slightly Included)
Diamonds with inclusions easily identified under 10x magnification. Finding flaws in this category with the naked eye is difficult. The gems in this category maintain their integrity, depending on the location of the inclusions.

I1 - I3 (Included)
Diamonds with inclusions which may or may not be easily seen by the naked eye. The flaws on the stones in this category will have some effect on the brilliance of your diamond.

Anyhow- the point of all this is to help you see that quality in photography is not always just the way a shot looks to you but what went into making it.

This last photo is probably my favorite of the year - yet when I showed it to some guest at the table where I was sitting they didn't like, in fact one women went so far to say that she hated it!!

Time off is wonderfull but I can't wait until night time to work

Is this sick? I sometimes can't wait to get to work. It's just that I have so many ideas and so little time. Of course, I know that I have to sleep but here is a common problem.

You ever find yourself lying in bed slowing relaxing? This is when you are suppose to rewind from the day and slowly drift off to sleep. Me on the other hand slowly review my day. The I go over my " gotta get this done asap list" and then start thinking about how to improve an existing project and get more and more involved until I have to get out of bed, go down to the computer and ork for another 2-3 hours.

Yikes.

Here are few more images -

This is a test of the widget. So if you get this as an email I apologise.

The unfortunate thing is I can;t post images but can put my thoughts done quickly.

Had an interesting conversation in the bank

A few weeks ago my wonderful bank tellers and I had an very interesting conversation. As I flirted with my 2 lovelys they ask me why we have a dress code for engagement portraits and Family portraits. I found it difficult to explain at first. How do you say that some people don't have a clue without sounding like a dork.

In the end I explained that I had so many previous disasters that I finally took the decision out of my guests hands. Think about this in a very unemotional way.

Imagine that you are now 50 years old. You have had 3 kids and been married for 25 years. You walk into your 5000 square foot house (hey we can dream!) and look at the engagement portrait you took over 25 years earlier. What would you do to improve it. Imagine that for 200$ you could have had a professional do your hair. And for another 100 bucks a real make up artist did your face.

OK that seems like a lot of money now. But think about it this way now. If you make $30,000 a year for 25 years - taxes you can expect to bring in approximately $550,000. I think you can afford it.

Select the best clothing for both of you. Set a standard that is the highest not just will do.


Darn it - I lost a filling!! Found this photo from the Imac photo booth on my portable drive.

All that is missing is the castle

This is old school photography. No matter what is the latest trend the old stuff done right ALWAYS licks ass.

I love how if I didn;t put the date this could have been taking in 1945.

Candid/Photojournalism is wonderfull dont get me wrong, but its just as important to have incredibel posed traditional images mixed in here and there.

The other day I was talking to a bride in the studio. She was checking us out and grilling me with 1001 questions. But, I loved how her first comment was I hate posed shots. Then proceeded to gush (that means tell me how incredible I am:), after lookng at some photos taken last year. You know the starbucks shot of Tanya and Thomas. Click Here to see the photo


Its a freakin posed photo!!!! My point is this. You need variety. A photogrpher that cannot capture photojournalist images is missing out as much as the one how refuses to pose couples.

Trust me Picaso and Rembrant usually planned their paintings. 

Its not what you think.

O love shots like this. Its more than a B&G its multi layered patterns and directions.

1. Double frame around the couple first the window then the train track pattern inside the window.
2. The base rail acts like a foundation
3. The B&G's arms crossed creating an X in the middle and leading us in and out
4. Her foot up inviting us in.
5. Finally behind the bride and groom is a mirror.

I love this stuff.

 

Marianna hates it when I show photos like this but...

I just love it. It so real. The boggers, the dirty shirt. Isaac clutching his bottle. The look!!


I know what he is thinking.

I am going to jump on top of you get ready. Better put that camera down cause i will be flying in the air!!!! 

Sammy 2 On top of the world!

 

Whats with the tongue?

  

Isaac 1

 

Look Ma no hands. ahhhhhhhhh!!!

I just had a memory. DUDE - I got tell you about the memory game. But not this time.

When I saw this photo I immeditately remembered driving my Mom's bike. You know the one without the bar in the middle. We were pretty poor when I grew up. It's not that I did without, I did have a nice red bike that my parents bought me from zellers that I remember taking apart and sanding off the paint and ruining the gears.

Anyways. So I'm driving my bike with a couple friends Dustin, Robin, my little brother Dan and I tried to drive my bike with no hands. I did pretty good until I got a little too confident and went flying when the front wheel turned.

I was screaming at the top of my lungs

" Look mom no hands!" then I crashed and my brother turned around and yelled back after my crash "Look mom no brains"

When I think of all the dangerous stupid things I did as a kid it freaks me out that my 2 little monkeys might try the same. Yikes. 

About time!!! More photos on the blog

I've been getting some interesting emails lately. And there are all right - you NEED to see more photos on the blog. The problem lately is that the Imac doesnt have picasa installed (cause it only works on PC). So since this week I'm out of the studio I've transfered everything back to my laptop. My plan is to post like crazy and catch up.

But first - here is a news flash!!!

Everyone loves the slideshow presentation. Cool. Cause I'm spending a lot of time trying to choose the right song, editing the photos and putting the presentations together. This week I will have 3 hours each night (after Marianna and the kids go to sleep) to work on a bunch of weddings from the past 3 weeks and get those photos online too.


If you ever have any comments good one preferable (the other ones are call constructive criticism according to Marianna. I sure do get alot of constructive criticism!) Anyhow, let me know!! The point of a blog is to interact. 

Oh what a night.

Last night I shot an engagement video at a restaurant. A high end Italian place call Ferriovia. It's not completely finished. The groom is part of the design team and the Head chef. The place looks like an episode of Opening soon. You know the program about new restaurant that are opening soon that are plagued with problems.

Turns out they are having some of the same kinds of problems. The permit department are nuts, signs having to come down because of the city, a crazy competitor and all kinds of contractor problems.

It is soooooo exciting.

The shoot centred around the bridal party. Starts off with the girls and the bride driving to the restaurant all packed into a car with the best man as the driver. They painting a french style moustache. You know the one that curls. Looked really funny. The best man played the drivers, the host, the waiter.

Since the restaurant is still being built they cleared out a huge couch for the one of the scenes and even the bar area. It was like we had a custom set.

When we were done I brought in the Engagement portrait collage - You gotta know how cool it is to have a bunch of people gush about your work.

Actually - I'm not very good at taking complements. I blame my parents. My mother is a psychologist so I'm sure she used her mind voodoo on me. I get uncomfortable and want to leave as soon as possible. It's so strange cuase I'm the least shy person I know. I just can't take a compliment. weird

________________________________________________________________________

I love the internet. It's now become such a huge part of my life. Alhough it does get a little silly. The other day I went into a restaurant in Ft Lauderdale and my briefcase must have weighed 40 pounds. As I took things out of my bag I started to laugh.

1. Laptop
2. power supply
3. extrenal hard drive
4. power supply
5. ipod
6. blackberry
7. point and shoot camera
8. charger for the p and s
9. radio frequency wires to connect the ipod to my rental
10. blackberry charger.
    

Wedding Days are fun.

Well, just getting Marianna set for her wedding this morning. See fo us the most stressfull part is making sure we didn't forget something. Imagine diving all the way to the grooms house with a) no film b) no video tapes c) forgetting the engagement portrait d) forgeting my shoes.

It's all happened.

In all cases my Mother in Law or my sister in law or my brother would get into a car and fly over to the grooms house and drop off the missing item. Therby freaking me out for the rest of the day.

You know how they have that sign in some factories? 234 days without an accident? I can safely say we are 86 weddings without forgeting something.

Opps Alex's is here. We are going to load his car and send him and Marianna off!!!

Photography is Art.

Bet you have never heard of Richard Prince.

Last November a Photograph of a man on a horse sold for $1,248,000. Yep over a million dollars for a photograph. Why do you think that is?


http://www.artcritical.com/appel/BAPrinceRecord.htm



Here is a few interesting facts.

1. the photo was taken in 1989 not 1898
2. Prince is hailed as a Contemporary Artist, a man of ideas whose chosen medium is, perhaps appropriately, photographic.
3. The dude sold a photo for over a million bucks!!!

Time - more valuable than money

A few people have mentioned to me that they would love to see more photos on the blog. I'm working on it. Problem is that all photos go through the office computer (the one with the most power). And, I write my blog usually first thing in the morning on the Imac. So, I think I'll start bringing my portable hard drive home. It will allow me to upload a few images to the server and work on files at home.

I love technology.

Had an interesting idea today.

On the second page of the site - http://www.excellencephoto.com/site/

I'm going to add 3 photograph that I want people to rate. The one with the highest rating will win a prize. No sure what yet, but I'll make it something cool.

My morning rant - Not about photography

Since I was 11 I've been a WW2 historical buff. I read a book on D day and became enamored with the courage and sacrific of man during war.

Now yesterday morning the lawyers for the 17 accused terrorists requested that their ckients be treated better. Complained their clients were only allowed 5 minutes to eat, kept away for 5 days p and restricted assesss to their lawyerd.

Like most people my first reaction was - screw them. However after 3 men at guantonamo prison killed themselves I started to change my mind.

The problem I have with the US, and Canada. Is that by not disclosing full info to defendent lawyers, misstreating prisoners, holding people for years without charges is that it goes against the fundamental rights of man . Once countries start to abandon the ideals of freedom and democracy they are no better than the murders who kill in the name of god.

You see that is the problem today. If we (US and Canada and Briton) cannot he ideals and values that exceed that of our enemies than how can we argue that our way is better? In WW2 the honour and pride of American, Canadian and Britsh soldiers was legendary. Today there are indications that a platoon wiped out a village of people - just because.

We need to treat our captives as we would hope our enemies would treat our brother if they were taken. Think about it.

Thats my rant.

Oh Canada!

Turns out that TorontoHomeMovies.com has to change in a big way. We've been studying SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and have the same content on 5 sites actually is worse for us than one site with different city links.

So the new site will be called http://www.canadahomemovies.com

We aready registered the name and now need to build the page from scratch. The problem is google. They use a very complicated formula twhen determining search parameters. Certain things make the site rank high than others.


WOW I am loving this Imac. Last night Isaac showed me how to use the multimedia centre. Actually he grabed the remote and started pushing the buttons and itunes starting in this cool interface. Now I use the Imac as an entertainment centre in the dining room. Oh what fun.


I'm sooooo behind on presentations. I have 4 weddings (3 from this weekend) I will be uploading today and tomorrow. Wait to you see these images. They kick butt.

Only 12 days to Florida - yaaa.

What a long day - but a fun one!!!

I met a couple who shot their wedding nearly 8 years ago. Imagine how many things have passed since then. September 11th, google taing over the world, cell phones wee the size of lunch boxes.

Time truely flies. I gotta go to sleep I'm misspelling everything. Started at 5am and its now 1:46. Anyhow - get the new slidesows up from Marianna and Natasha and of course mine sometime tomorrow.

Bad thing about meeting that couple is I forgot their name. I am usuall pretty good with names but in this case I went blank. It was cool that both her and his came up to me to ask for business cards for friends that are getting married.

Ohh almost forgot - May 2007 is nearly booked we only have one date available May 19 2007. So if you know someone that is getting married please ask them to visit us. We are going to try book the either ¥ear of 2007 by Spetember 30t this year. My goal is sell out all 2007 so I can concentrate on Portraits.

Night - :) morning

The most stressful part of a wedding is the packing

This weekend we have 3 weddings> I have been packing since Tuesday. Unbelievable.

You see the way we work is that when we go to weddings it's on our day off. We expect to arrive with all the equipment in the exact place it is supposed to be. Tested. Batteries charged. Bolts tighten.

It's Murphy's law

In the past when packing was rushed - that was usually the time that something went wrong. Either a battery died, or a back jammed. You name it, it can happen.

So few years ago - I was sitting on the beach in Florida in March and I had a brilliant idea - stress before chill later.

Every single detail for each wedding is planned for. Back up lights, bulbs, extension cords, tripods, camera, video cameras everything!!

Then I got even smarter. We pack most of the idea as we leave each previous wedding and the rests on Thursday. This way if I have to go and pick up from the store anything I have 2 days to do it. This week though we are packing for 3 weddings so I started on Wednesday.

Thank God Saturday is tomorrow so I can relax!


Count down to Miami. 15 days. I have a meeting with a photographer that speciazilies in Digital Art books. Hope it's something cool. All to often what looks great on the web is actually not that great in person. That is the reason I insist on meeting every bride and groom before they book. You won't believe how many people try book us over the internet never having ben to the studio. I think it is because they don't want to lose the date.

It's official film is dead :(

 

As most of you know I love shooting film. But after a many months(years) of pondering and debating it has become clear that shooting film at weddings serves my customer wrong.



In the past the argument always has been that the quality of digital did not meet the standards of film. Well that is simple not true anymore. With our 16.7 & 12 megapixel canons we can easiliy print up to 30x40 with NO difference. It helps that we are Adobe Photoshop CS2 experts.

Click here to see a slideshow that was scanned from a film proof then

Click here to see another couple shot digitally

The final straw for me was when I learned that my lab (the people who develop our film) switched to scanning our negatives and printing from the scan. This happened early last year. It was a sign of things to come.

We are the consummate professionals. In fact, Marianna, Natasha and I are probable a little crazy when it comes to provide the best quality available. We recently attended a bridal show in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. It was really cool being on the other side of the desk. Anyhow, I visited 7 different photographers. Not one of them had packages less than 4000 US to start.

The quality was absolutely terrible!!! We are sooooooooooooo lucky to have amazing labs here in Toronto. The photographic images taken looked great. Emotional, well composed funky and unique. But compared to the print quality we produce, I was actually upset! How could these guys provide such terrible images to their couples?

So we are shooting all weddings on high end professional digital cameras from now on.

But wait there’s more!!!!

Some of you may still want some film to be taken. No worries no question, just let me know before your wedding and we will shoot a few rolls along side the digital cameras.

Now my five reasons I absolutely love digital

1. The lenses are all autofocus. You see I where glasses, so when I focus with the film camera it takes a few seconds for me to focus then refocus to make sure its dead on. With our pro series lenses every shot is bang on sharp no matter how fast the bride or groom is running.


2. For the past 8 years I have been studying Adobe Photoshop. As a member of NAPP, I have honed my skills and that of our team to the point where we can basically do anything. When I shoot with film we have to take the extra  step of scanning the film, removing the dust that usually accompanies the scan. When we shoot high resolution digital files we save time. And having to explain the $35 scanning fee.


3. It way less obtrusive. Have you ever seen the photographer with the huge ugly tripod standing in the middle of the aisle as the Bride and her father walk down the aisle. Nuff said.


4. Storage and safety. We are fanatics about workflow. Workflow is the methodology of how you produce the same complicated event over and over. So when we shoot digital our main concern after taking kick ass photos is preserving them. On the day of the wedding with film each film is wrapped up and stored in our camera bag until Monday when we bring them to the lab to be developed. In the back of my mind I am always worried until I see the proofs a week later. Then the negatives have to be stored carefully so that they an be used for ordering enlargements in the future. With digital we create a total of 4 back ups 3 on the day of the wedding. If the lab loses a CD no biggie we burn another.


5. Digital Art, Imagination Art Album, and Fine tuning. You see I have always believed going back to my performance days (search the blog achieves for my days with the Cadets of Bergen county) that for me to be truly happy as an artist I need to push the boundaries. Like Jackson Pollack or Cindy Sherman I cannot accept that every wedding can be taken the exact same way. There are too many variables.

 

Digital Art allows me to take an image, and using Photoshop rework it into my vision. (We never charge for this ever. And I would love your input if you have any ideas)

Imagination Art Album is a secret project that I will let you in on when I’m ready. Until then sorry.

Fine tuning is what happen today with Christina. She had an image that was taken by Marianna that was a close up. She loved the photo and wanted it as her final 30x40 portrait. But her arm had a few red splotches on the upper part where the waxing go a little out of hand. In the old days it would have cost over $145 to remove the red by having a retouch artist paint on the negative. Because it was shot digitally I was to fix it in front of her. In 45 second. For free.

So to close off the really long post (sorry guys) – You can see that just like screw caps replaced can openers, digital cable boxes replace complicated VCRs, ipods replaced walkmans, and DVDs replaced VHS tape – Film is dead.

Wednesday - week half over - only 3 days to the weekend

So I finally have the mac working jus the way I like it. And I'm loving it.

Hey what a good saying! I'm loving it! Seriously McDonalds is amazing. Not the food but the marketing.

Think about it. How many of you could make a better Hamburger than McDonalds? Hopefully most of you.

How many of you could design a better marketing plan? Not many of us. I took the monkeys (Sammy and Isaac) a couple of days ago and the place was absolutely packed. Lines 6 deep for 4 cashiers. Yikes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Now that the season is in full gear I need all of you to complete the wedding day schedule form. Even if you dont have all the complete info. PLEASE do what you can.

By giving us enough notice we are able to research the locations, google map each location and go through the times.

Leaving things to the last minute is a recipe for stress.

Guys!!! If you notice a problem on the site PLEASE email me. I have 6 guys that can instantly fix any problems. One couple just called this morning to let me know the link to their wedding photos is wrong - After 2 months!

Listen to Germany rap - really wierd but cool

Who is the boss?

On your wedding day you are actually delgating alot of the responsilities to the companies your hire. For example; at the church the priest is the boss. He is the person you have decided will direct the ceremony in such a way as to be a wonderful memory and legally bid you together.

At the park you defer to the photographer to document your day and create memories.

The DJ not the reception hall manager/captain is responsible for the party.

That being the case, why do brides and grooms sometimes try to take over? Is it because they don't really trust the decision they made? Or could be the Bride just wants to be apart of every single event?

Now this is only my opinion based on nearly 10 years of experience. The brides and grooms that ultimately have the most amazing weddings are the ones that plan in advance, then monitor. Make you preferences know when you book, and remind a few weeks before the special day. Then sit back and have fun!!!

The past few years we have rarely had couples surprise us as we ask alot of questions and in reality our whole methodology is completely different.

You see we believe that a relationship approach to our wedding couples is the key to our continued success.

Lets compare Relationship approach to Transaction approach.

A relationship is like a romance, each person is trying to work together. There is a feeling of US not them. Each is trying to get a sense of what the other is feeling. The emphasis on preserving the mutual commitment.

Rather than seeking the immediate short term gratification and reward, romance relies on making investment into the relationship in order to obtain much larger future long term benefits.

In other words, we work with you for the future goal of gaining RAVE reviews and seeing you again at one of your future family members wedding or event.

I've nearly got the imac running the way I want. Just need to get photoshop installed so I can quickly edit the photos I want to upload.

So her hair is messed up by the wind? Jackson Pollack would think it's perfect

Jackson Pollock was a very famous painter famous for creating paintings using the drip method. Read the bio below for more info.

His work emphasized the free and spontaneous flow of the brush in a dynamic composition producing intricate webs of paint with rhythmic repetition.

Kinda like how we capture events as they happen thoughout your wedding day and once in a while add certain enhancements (digital art, sublte posing) to create and mould the final work of art.


I want to apologise for taking so long to write. It has been absolutely crazy around here for the past 5 days. Orders going out, coming in, shooting every single day now. Can't wait for the end of the month when we get to visit Florida again.

We finished another Yogen Fruz site. This one called Bresslers. And have been adding more locations to TorontoHomeMovies.com . You can now visit us at www.canadahomemovies.com . The reason we added CHM.com is for search engine optimisation. We are trying to corner the web for 8mm, super 8, 16mm and VHS to DVD transfers.

Bought an IMAC. very cool. I'm in the process of configuring into my workflow so that I can just bring my portable drive with all my 2006, 2007 photos (4th back up to office comp, DVDs and original CDs.) This way I can blog in the morning and include more photos. Sammy and Isaac convinced me to buy it while we were visiting the Apple store at Yorkdale. Marianna was at an appointment and I had the kids. So I thought we could walk around the mall. We ended up at the store for 2 hours while they played very cool kids games. That was all the rationalization I needed.

Only took me 4 days to talk Marianna into it. :)






Jackson Pollock (1912-1956),Born 1912 in Cody, Wyoming,Paul Jackson Pollock is accredited with developing the original style of abstract expressionism contributed to American artists. He worked with house paint, large brushes, and canvas big enough to cover an entire wall. His movement emphasized the free and spontaneous flow of the brush in a dynamic composition producing intricate webs of paint with rhythmic repetition that are distinctly Pollock. Studying under Thomas Benton at the arts Students League, he also traveled widely throughout the United States and was greatly influenced by the murals of Jose Clemete Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueros. During the early 1940?s Pollock?s work shows the influence of Picasso including, Natural, Insane, Surrealist Art.Peggy Guggenheim in the Art of This Century gallery in New York, 1943, held Pollock?s first solo. In Paris, 1950, he was the solo artist to open the Studio Paul Facchetti. His work was widely known and exhibited in the United States and abroad.

crazy world!!!

PLEASE READ

On March 12th, 2006, Jessica Petroff a 42 y/o female

Ontario Canada stopped at her local SHELL pay- at- the- pump
gas station to obtain fuel for her car.

Once having filled the tank full and having paid the amount
due, she heard over the speaker the attendant inside requesting her
to come into the station. He told her something happened with
her card and that she would need to come inside to pay.

The lady was confused as her card transaction indicated that
the debit was succesful, complete and approved.

She relayed that to the
attendant and was getting ready to
leave but the attendant, once again insited and urged her to come
inside to pay or she could be in trouble.

She proceeded to go inside and started arguing with the
attendant about his threat.

He told her to calm down and listen carefully: He said that
while she was pumping gas, a guy was viewed on the station's theft
mirrors slipping into her back seat on the opposite side of
her automobile and assured her that he had already called the
authorities.

She became frightened and looked out in time to see her car
door open and a male slipping out. North American Police are
currently reporting a new gang initiation ritual: New Gang members
are encouraged to>return to their gang bunkers with a female and or her
car.

One way they do this is to crawl into female's cars while
they're pump gas or purchase groceries during night or late afternoon.

Members are also known to slip into unattended cars and kidnap
females.
Police in and around Markham, Newmarket, Toronto, Bradford,
aurora, Brampton, eastern Ontario, Hull, Gatineau, Pontiac,
Lasalle, Lachine, Kirkland, Pointe-Claire and other areas of
Quebec have registered a rise in this crime.

PLEASE REMAIN VIGILANT and forward this email to female online
friends !
Pass this information onto other females: young and
old. Be careful going to and from your car at night.

This is Real ~ We encourage you to verify with the
local police dept. of those communities and cities

1. ALWAYS LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS, EVEN IF YOU'RE GONE FOR JUST A
SECOND.

2. CHECK BACKSEAT AREA OF YOUR CAR WHEN APPROACHING IT FOR RE-ENTRY,
AND CHECK THE BACK BEFORE GETTING IN.

3. ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS IN YOUR GENERAL
VICINITY, PARTICULARLY AT NIGHT