Internationally based photographers Mark Mennie and Waldy Martens team up for the second time in 2012, to shoot the National Lacrosse League, Calgary Roughneck’s dance team the Drill Crew’s 2013 Calendar. Their union was first conceived this past June, as they conceptualized and shot the ever-popular Calgary Stampeders cheerleading dance team, the Outriders’ 2013 Calendar. Dana Murphy, the Drill Crew’s coach, manager, choreographer, and a former Outrider herself, challenged the duo to portrait the women in a sexy manner while shooting amongst a hard industrial background. The intense four-day photo shoot, took place at Calgary’s Saddledome with the Drill Crew choosing to wear sexy lingerie and in bright bold colors. Mennie and Martens then insightfully shot the women thoughtfully laced and intertwined through contrasting rugged backgrounds, including in the ice making plant, water room, boiler room and work/repair shop. In post-production, Martens’ added his professional style that truly made the imagery pop, then the meticulous imagery was passed along to the talented designer Rheana Fehr, a former Drill Crew member as well, to produce what will no doubt be another sellout edition.
Mennie and Martens originally met as classmates in 1985 in the Photography Program at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta. Both then went on to pursue separate and diverse careers, with Martens starting up a photography studio in Vancouver BC. While shooting commercially, Martens quickly developed his unique glamour style of portraying women, which in turn did led to a scoring a prestigious American magazine as one of his main clients. Martens also worked with the CFL franchise British Columbia Lions, producing imagery for their Cheer team, the Felions’ yearly calendar. Mennie in turn went on to pursue commercial work in Calgary in the 1990’s, but took an interesting curve in his career by focusing on the documentary portrayal of air medical / med-evac services in Canada and onto the US in 2001. The same year in fact that Mennie was awarded the Outriders’ 2002 Calendar contract and challenged the dance team to pursue a more editorial “Girl Power” theme, vs the typical swimsuit theme of many other cheerleading teams in North America. This second 2013 Calendar is indeed like a dream come true for Mennie, as he has been hoping for years to collaborate with his best friend.
The Drill Crew 2013 Calendar is now available for international purchase on their dedicated website www.drillcrew.ca. The glossy 12 month gem will also be the focal point of the Calgary Roughnecks Home Opener in Calgary on Saturday, January 12th, 2013 www.calgaryroughnecks.com. The calendar is $15 or $20 for a signed copy, tax and shipping may apply. To find out more about Mennie and Martens please visit their sites www.mennie.com or www.waldymartens.com
