A Happy Little Thought

Once again out for coffee. I told Nicola the photo I was looking for. I think she is getting used to the idea of some photos being taken when we go for coffee. I put the 17mm on the camera and set it on the table and Nicola was to relax looking into the camera. We took a few and they are all quite nice, with this one I got what I was looking for and more. I think at that moment she had a happy thought and was feeling very content. I think I know what that thought was. I wish you well Nicola.

Musical Ink

She did it again! She went and got another tattoo! How could she! She defies her Dad! What? I paid for it? I gave her the certificate to go get it? Well, it is kind of a nice one. We of course had to get some photo's of it. Jenn had this done by our friends at Westcoast Piercing and Ink Den. Here is what we did tonight. I've talked before about getting more than one keeper out of a shoot. I did it again tonight. I was a bit surprised as this was an awkward spot to get right but there were a couple. So eventually you'll see a couple more.

I used the 50mm 1/60th sec f22 iso 100.  Flash was to camera right shot through an umbrella up close.

Ordinary

Take something ordinary.

A Chilly Photo Day

It Started out as a dry chilly morning but Dar and I got out there. We warmed to it pretty soon and checked out a community garden just waiting for everyone to come back. We then wandered some lanes where we met a fellow who ended up showing us his photography studio which was a real treat for us.  Thank you Mr LeMay. We went into the Chinatown area, had lunch and toured around there for a while. It was a nice day and I think Dar and I had a very satisfying day. We got photos too. I am going to go through them over the next few days and see what I can put up. In the meantime here was the start of my day. I nice coffee and chocolate croissant. 

 The 50mm (yes I do have other lenses) 1/1250th sec f1.7 iso 100. This was South facing light so bright and rather direct.

The Story About This Picture

Trying to embrace the current bout of cold weather I thought of a picture of Jenn I would like today. It was a photo with her hat on, looking down with her misty breath streaming about her face. We went out for lunch and while on the way I asked if she brought her hat. "No" she said. I thought maybe we could get along without it so I said "Jenn why don't we take a few photo's before we go in. She said "Dad. It's about minus a million degrees out."  *sigh*.  So we went in to have lunch. We got our drinks and Jenn took her first sip and there it was. Not my original idea but the gist of it so I had her sit in that pose while I took some shots. She was such a willing model I let her blow bubbles in her pop after.

The 50mm (of course) 1/15th sec at f2.5 iso 100

Thoughts Of Spring To Come

Here I sit in anticipation of a Snow fall to come thinking of Spring. I am looking forward to it warming up, the birds coming, the plants growing. I look forward to going out to parks and places and taking pictures of these things. Taking pictures of people getting out and doing the the things they do in Spring. It looks like I'll have a bit of a wait for that. Winter is here, thought it was on it's way out but as it is wont to do at this time of year is going to give us  another little blast. Wonder what I should do.....  I know, go out and take some pictures. 

 I used the beercan (70-210) at 160mm 1/60th f4 iso 100.

The Fleeting Permanence Of Art

I Have shown photos that included the graffiti art in a tunnel near where I work before. This was one of the first times I went down there. At that time there were some wood ramps that the local kids had built for skateboarding and graffiti art, a lot of it. While I was there this young fellow came down and started boarding around on the ramps. We circled around each other a bit sizing each other up and he finally asked what I was taking pictures for. I told him why I was there and once he was satisfied I wasn't there to get anyone in trouble or cause problems he warmed up. He talked a bit about the painting and the people who did it. It was all rather interesting to learn a bit about this small little community no one really knew about. At one point he jumped up on this ramp and asked me to take his picture with a piece he'd recently done. I never saw him again and the painting he did here is long gone, painted over by someone else. I would be disappointed coming down at times and finding out something I really liked had been painted over. Thing is, quite often, whatever had replaced it would be just as good.

A Pearl

I have no words today,

I can't think of anything to say. 

Just this pearl.  

 

Winter Can Be Nice

I took this one today. The Lions have been looking real nice the past few days with the fresh snow and blue sky. It was a bit chilly but great to get out for a little while. I was in the right place yesterday but didn't have the right lens. I am quite lucky it was all there today for me to catch it. 

Today I used the beercan (70-210) at 210mm 1/2000th sec f5.6 iso 100

The Green In Winter

Wandering in the local forest you will come across thick moss growing on trees quite often. Depending on the light and probably your mood it can be quite pretty or rather creepy. It sometimes almost seems to have it's own intense green glow. Other times it looks stifling like it's choking the tree it's on. I caught some of the glow here the other day when I got in close to the moss. I think it's time to start wandering the trails a bit more, I haven't been doing much of that for a while.

 The 50mm at 1/250th sec f1.7 iso 200

Is That A Silver Lining?

It is still winter. There is no colour and the day dim. The warmer weather will arrive though. The sun is trying to break through the grey cloud. There is the promise of light and soon to come, warmth.

The Beercan (70-210) shot at 150mm  1/500thsec at f10 iso 100

Happy Birthday to me. 

Jenn A Different Look

Cathe suggested I take a photo of Jenn's fancy shoes. I thought, "Sure, okay, I can give that a try."  Wasn't sure where I was going to go with this until Cathe brought out the Converse with them I said "Well hey, I can do something with this."  Here we have two sides of Jenn that put her into different places but is still very much her. I went with the white background because, A) it keeps it open as to which place she's off to, and B) it was handy. I took a lot of shots placing the shoes at different positions and angles. In the end this was the one I thought best showed what I was trying to do. 

 

 

 Guess which lens. Of course it was. 1/60th sec at f18. Shot on the white background with flash through an umbrella on the left full power and flash through and umbrella on the right at half power. Just for the heck of it, here is a photo of the set up.

Out Of Frustration Comes

Today I was trying to take some photo's of some Ukranian Easter Eggs. The idea I had wasn't panning out too well. While I was trying that I put an empty wine glass in the set up just to give a try. I liked what I was seeing so I kept some to see what I could do in the computer. I kept trying to fancy it up but it seems sometimes, simplest is best. So cleaned up, toned and sharpened a bit and this is what I have. Maybe next time I'll try putting some wine or something in the glass.

 The 50mm  shot 1/60th at f20 iso 100. 2 flash through a large diffuser from above and to each side.

Some Fancy Jewellery

Some time ago Cathe made jewellery and she was quite good at it. I would photograph it for her so she could recall past pieces. Of course I felt the need to take them for myself as well. This was a few years back and here is a lesson for us all. I can't find the photo's on my computer. Seems I wasn't careful enough backing up my photos then and some (quite a few I think) files have gone missing. So those precious photo's you have sitting on a disk, or your computer, B A C K  T H E M  U P! 
*see below for a footnote

Because this is a copy of a copy of a copy, and maybe another generation, the exposure info is gone. I generally used flash but this was taken using that North facing window light. 

* I was asked if I could make the font a little larger as it was a little hard to read. I think this works fine and I am going to use this size from now on.

A Brooding Island

I have always liked to take photos on days when it is stormy and the clouds are windblown. I would often take then home (or get them printed) look at them and put them away because they looked flat and didn't quite have the drama. This was before I got to playing with adjustments on the computer. Here is an example. I took this in 2006, I liked it with the brooding island and rain squall but it wasn't quite there. Going through past photos tonight I came across it and realized with what I have been learning I could probably work with it now. I was able to make the clouds more ominous and brooding while keeping the rain squall prominent. This was what I had originally seen and now I have it. Every time I do something like this, bringing a photo to life, I learn something. So much fun.

 

For this I used the 17mm 1/60th sec f10 

 

Spring Is Coming

Here we are almost halfway through February. It hasn't been a very cold winter this year where I am despite the predictions of a harsh one. I don't want to be cocky, I know it can turn cold right through March. Spring is coming though. It's not far off. Soon we will be taking the sights and sensations of growth and warmth. Until then, here is a little taste of what's to come. 

The 70-210 (beercan) 1/640th sec f7.1 iso 200 

Those Little Extras

Quite often when doing little photo shoots I have extra photo's that are good but weren't the ones I was taking. They might be one that worked out from setting up lighting, or we were goofing around and got a good one. Tonights is actually a combination. I was setting up for the photo's of (Peter) Nick with his bass (guitar). I asked Jenn to step in while I set up the light. Just as it was getting right she started being a little silly. I saw this shot so I moved in a bit and had her do it again while I got a couple more shots. Fun stuff. 

 I used the 50mm for 1/60th sec at f4.5 iso 100

Good Old Gaussian

I took this photo a couple of years ago and I have always really liked it. The way the cable comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. It was an ordinary thing that had been given a bit of an air of mystery. I had converted it from colour to black and white which really suited it better. I showed it to friends and even made a print or two. As I say I always liked it. There was something about it though. It seemed to be...... too sharp? Crazy. I rarely take a photo I don't want to sharpen let alone find too sharp. The granules of sand were just a bit jarring. I finally gave in and tried Gaussian blur, just enough to take the edge off. So now it is just right. 

 I used the 24-85 at 35mm exposure 1/100th sec f11 iso 100

Digital Doodling

Jennifer, Nick and I did a photo like this years ago, Before I had a digital camera even. This photo was a very long and arduous process. We had to take a photo, go print it, then put it in the frame and take another. This went on for hours and hours....... 

Kidding. 

I took several photos and put them digitally in the frame of course. I was going use one and have the same photo in all of the frames. I thought this was a better idea. I found out with Jenn holding the frame the frame at slightly different angles I couldn't just set it on top of the picture already there. I had to distort each one to make it fit. It was a bit of a learning experience so it probably took longer than it should. Now I know. 

I use the 50mm at 1/80th sec f1.7 iso 100 

Late Afternoon Still

This afternoon I was wandering the house trying to think of something to photograph. Jenn said "I have some masks you could take pictures of". I said "Hey that's a great idea. Can I take them of you wearing them?" "No, I'm busy" she said. "Well," I thought, "still life it is." While I was waiting for her to bring them up I noticed the late afternoon sun falling on the cabinet. I had to act quick. I ran downstairs to grab the camera. I came back up and started to get ready. I realized I needed the tripod. I ran downstairs to get it. Once I had the camera on the tripod I was ready to go. The mask needed something to go with it and I thought of the dry roses. Fortunately they weren't downstairs. Finally a wine glass to complete the story. 

I used the 50mm with an exposure of 3.2seconds at f11 iso 100.  

Let There Be Goofiness

Normally you want your children to sit up straight and smile for pictures. Tonight was goofy night. Jenn had some glasses with no lenses and a certain hat she had been wearing around the house. We decided that would be a good theme for a post. It went so well we couldn't post just one tonight. 

 

All the photos were shot with the 50mm 1/60th sec f5.6 iso 100. 2 flash through an umbrella both in front, 1 low and 1 high.

A Sense Of Community

This was an interest little tableau. I remember being curious about the people who owned the soap dishes and cups. I pictured perhaps a group of people living and working at the same place, doing everything together. A small community within a community. I didn't learn who this all belonged to but that's fine. I thought of it as a photo where you can make your own little story about the people who belong here.

A Town in China

This photo I took on a day trip into Mainland China from Hong Kong. Unfortunately this slide got soaked in a flood we had years ago in our house. Fortunately we have digital now. There were fine black fibers stuck all over the slide so I spent some time "cloning" them out.

This was almost 30 years ago, it was an interesting day and there were some things that stood  out for me. The guide told us "When you are in China, don't criticise China." That was pretty sound advice to me even thoughI feel I am very polite and wouldn't think of being critical. Which brought up his next piece of advice. "Don't be polite. If you are you won't get anywhere." This was at the border where it was jammed packed with people trying to cross. He was right. I nudged and elbowed as impolitely as I could bring myself to be and eventually got through. We were taken to a local school where the children performed some songs and dance. It was very nice. After that we went to a restaurant where we were fed lunch which I recall was quite tasty. A lady with the tour a few seats down from me exclaimed loudly "What? No flied lice?!". I shrunk in my chair a bit and turned to the nearest server and said "I am sorry, I'm not with them, I'm polite". In the afternoon we were let loose to wander the town, take pictures, and even go into peoples houses. I found that rather odd. At the end of the day we got on the bus and left waving at the children on the side of the road. They waved back and merrily threw mud at the bus. That was mud wasn't it? 
I did take lot's of photo's that day. I will keep an eye out for them and if they aren't too wrecked I'll do some scanning.

Oh Hey I Almost Forgot!

There was one more shell shot. This one needed to be colour. I think I'll look through the collection and see if I can find more to photograph.

100mm macro  25sec f22 iso 100

Three, Of A Kind

This idea of a set of 3 photo's came to me from Cathe. She did a set like this coincidentally of Nick. We were trying different things with the revolutionary photo and in a little pause I came in close and clicked off some photos. It is quite worthwhile if you can to keep the camera going even in between photographs. Oh, does that make sense?

Used the trusty old 50mm 1/60th f2.5 iso 200

Revolución

(Peter) Nick has been sporting a look of late that made me think of revolutionaries of another time.  An example would be the iconic photo of Che Guevera in 1960. We went out front of the house the other day at spent  about 15 minutes taking photos. This was one that to me nailed it. Maybe it helped he had a sunset to stare off into and ponder wordly matters. Like his next raid on WoW. I think I'll post a few more from this session later.

 The 50mm  at 1/20th sec f5.6 iso 200

You Tell Me

This one I just couldn't decide. I think they each represent the image in their own way and both work. I could put either one on my wall. 

 

I decided to put a jump in here so you could look at this one first then the black and white. It would be interesting to know which one people prefer.  If you don't mind leaving a comment I'd appreciate it.

Back To The Black And White

This one I knew as soon as I picked it up had to be black and white. I think I might go through the shells again and see what else I can do. I really enjoyed the whole process, taking the photo's, fixing them up on the computer, then posting. Maybe I should try a print or two. 

 Same lens the 100mm macro 15 seconds at f32 iso 100. Don't forget if you double click on the photo you can view it larger.