Our Hangout

Canal Day Photos

Was this really a month ago?

Haven't uploaded our holiday photos, that was two months ago. Where does the time go?

Photo Updates - Birds

If you want to see the whole set of pictures where the picture above came from Go Here!

For several weeks, I think it was three, this Spring. A couple of birds took up residence on a fern in our porch. They laid five eggs and all five matured into birds who flew away.

This was, so far, my greatest challenge, and, personally, most rewarding subject to capture as a photographer. I spent hours standing on a step ladder as the mother came and went and came and went until she became comfortable enough with me being around. The patience paid off. What I found really cool was the father came and fed the babies their last meal just before they took off. He was usually around as I took pictures, seemingly to make sure I was not up to any funny business.

Anyway, I loved this process, I think this is the same couple that was there a year ago. I'll be able to tell next year. I'll keep my eyes open anyway.

Photo Updates

Spending the day trying to catch up on photography I've taken over the last few months but haven't had the time to work on or load to my flickr site.

I started by loading the photos from Canada day this year.

Niagara Falls at Night

Got this just before the fireworks show on Canada Day (which wasn't very impressive, although it gave me my first opportunity to shoot fireworks, coming soon.) Can you tell I'm behind on my photos. There's only a few thousand I've taken since then.

Going on holidays the day after tomorrow, so this is likely my last post until I return.

Blowing in the wind

Raining all week...

I was coming home the other night, and a storm was brewing. The cloud formations were amazing and a lightning storm seemed to be taking place, seemingly, behind the clouds...the best vantage spot I could find was my roof, so that's where I went...while there and after many misses at trying to actually get the lightning, I got this shot. The white edifice is the top of the Port Colborne City Hall. Though of doing this in black and white, but there's something ominous about the colour, so I decided to leave it.

More pictures of Emerson coming...also pictures of a nest with eggs, mom and birdies, waiting for the eggs to hatch.

Any Day Now...

Tomorrow (21st) is d-day. We'll see.

You can link from the above photo to the rest of our pregnancy shots at our flicker site.

Another Hamilton at Night

Don't know what it is about this shot, but I really like it.

Hamilton at Night

So, the photo show is over. All in all I was pleased with the results. It was financially profitable and it's lead to two photography assignments (two family shoots)...which scare me to death, but have me excited at the same time. I'll keep you updated.

More fun with Photoshop...

Last week, Ashlee, a friend from church, threw a 70's themed party/dance/fundraiser. We all got to dress up in 70's garb, have some good food, boogie and have an all around great time. Funds raised went to bring freedom to a Dalit woman in India. The Dalit are at the very bottom of the Indian social ladder. And just so you know, it's such a long ladder, they are not even considered people in the Indian system.

We decided to have everyone take a photo with a cutout of Austin Powers and then I had some fun in photoshop. There are many different ways of extracting people away from backgrounds. I tried out as many as I could find and figure out. Only advice I'll give here, is be patient when you first start.

We're doing another one of these in the Fall, so we're going to sell the photography to raise money for whatever charity then. What I'll be doing then, is create some backgrounds people can see and choose from and I'll shoot them in front of a sheet backdrop...I'm going to have a black sheet up and a white sheet up...that'll make it really easy to extract people later in photoshop. I might need a third sheet of some weird color, just in case someone comes in black and white :)

Anyway, just thought I'd show you something else done in photoshop. Sky's the limit.

Fun with Photoshop

Learning to do some fun things with photoshop. Will probably create one of these for each of our kids. This is easier than it looks.

If you want details on how to do this in photoshop, I can probably help.

Having said that, simply put, you set up your camera on a tripod to a smaller f/stop, f/16 and up. You don't want your camera to move and you don't want to zoom in and out or you'll mess up the background. Then you get your subject to move around and you take pictures, lots of pictures.

Next you import all your pictures into Photoshop and set them all up as individual layers in one file.

For each of the layers you have to add a layer mask. And then you use the eraser and the brush to remove/reveal what you want. This is a little more complicated than it sounds, but lots of good tutorials online. And practice makes perfect.

If you want more details I can probably help.

Meet you at the bench

More playing with "extreme depth of field" - I think I've figured it out now. Having lots of fun with it.

Last night was the opening night for my photo show at the Studio West Cafe. The cool thing about it was having not just people that I know from the church, but a bunch of my neighbours drop in. Sold a few pieces and lots of picture cards. It was a lot of fun. Still feels weird though, but fun never the less.

You can drop by my facebook page to see the photo album with the pictures that are up. For some reason I lost some quality and color in uploading the photos, and am not sure why, but you'll get the idea. I also have another 70 pictures I'm using as photo cards. Which I've not uploaded.

Stormin...

I know I haven't been posting too many pictures in the midst of getting ready for this photo show etc. But I have been taking them, so, as per your request, Ian, here's one I took last week. Yes, early last week we had, what I think was the last storm of the year, I'll try to post some of the other pictures from that day over the next few days.

This is also me fooling around with extreme depth of field (see last post). What I've realized is that the charts you download are a good starting point. But different lenses are, well, different. And as a result, the results you get using the charts might be less than perfect (much less in the case of my first tries). So, I've had to sit down with my wide angle lens in front of a landscape and take many pictures of the same landscape at different distances at each f/stop to discover the sweet spots at those distances and f/stops. It's tedious but you end up with the right measurements for your particular lens. There are some sites that allow you to find your own brand if you're willing to look. I've enjoyed the process though, because it allowed me to actually see the results.

Getting Extreme or Maximum Depth of Field

Since getting back into photography, nothing has given me more grief than "Maximum Depth of Field." This is when, as in the example above (sort of), you take an image and are able to get the majority of the picture in maximum focus, including objects both near and far. You don't always want this, but if you know how to do it, especially in landscape photography, the effect can be breathtaking. By the way, I did it above completely by accident, and it's not as good as it could be.

Ok, if you're looking for a technical or detailed explanation for how to do this, you've come to the wrong place. There's lots of sites to go to for that, where you'll read about depth of field, hyperfocal distances and circles of confusion. Worthwhile to read, but I read them and still couldn't figure it out. Once I figured it out, then they made sense. This is a nuts and bolts, do this and you'll get the results! Then you can read up the technical stuff and find out why it happens.

First you're going to need a hyperfocal distance chart. This link gives you four different charts, two for 35mm cameras and two for digital slrs. (one in meters and one in feet for each. You'll want to print out whichever one applies to you and keep it in your camera bag at all times.) The hyperfocal distance is basically the sweet spot of your lens at any given distance and f/stop, and it's different at every aperture (f/stop) and distance (in the case of my wide angle lens from 18mm-50mm.) When you take a picture focused on the hyperfocal distance, sweet spot, you will get the maximum focus you could get in that instance. Most people cheat by focusing on infinity, or one third of the way into the picture or at the farthest point, which will give you decent, but hit and miss results, but nothing like focusing on the sweet spot.

Okay, making it happen, I promise this will be, at least, as clear as mud - might need to read the how to a few times...

First of all, for getting extreme or maximum depth of field. You'll need a wide angle lens. Mine is a 50mm lens which means that it starts at 18mm and goes up to 55mm.

The other thing for maximum depth of field is you need to be working with f/stops lower than f/11 (which is actually the reverse of what it sounds - from f/11 to f/36 let's say) the higher the number the more extreme the depth of field you can get. (for the sake of saying it, the higher f/stops f/4 etc. give you shallow/minimum depth of field - great for portraits for example or any time you want to draw the attention to one object.)

You should be well on the way to being confused by now. Now it gets really confusing.

So, looking to the chart on the left, here's what you need to know. The bottom numbers represent the different distances on your lens, as I said before, in the case of my wide angle lens from 18-55mm.

The diagonal lines in the body of the chart represent your f/stops. And these intersect the distance markers at different distances.

The numbers on either side of the chart represent the hyperfocal distance (the sweet spot), in feet, when a f/stop intersects a given distance. The point, when you focus on an object, in your picture, at that particular distance, you will get maximum depth of field or maximum focus throughout your entire composition. Even though when you look through the viewfinder, it will look like that object you focused on is the main thing in focus. I'd explain that, but just trust me on that one, what you see is not what you get. Okay, let's go to the chart.

The example on the chart shows that, when you set your distance ring at 50mm and the f/stop at f/16, the point where the two lines intersect is 17 feet. So here's how it all works.

With my distance ring set at 50mm and my f/stop set at f/16 if I focus on an object in my picture that is 17 feet away from me. I will get maximum depth of field/overall focus in my picture. That means, and don't worry about this too much, but that means that everything from 8.5 feet into infinity will be in the greatest possible focus you can get at 50mm at f/16. Why 8.5 feet? Things will start to look in focus at half the distance of the hyperfocal distance. In this case 17 feet and half of that is 8.5. Not that it's important for now, but eventually knowing this will help calculate things if you want to work this out by doing the calculation according to which point you want everything to begin in focus. Don't worry about it for now.

If you want to know whether you got it look at the chart and calculate; what would be the hyperfocal distance if I set my distance to 35mm at an f/22 f/stop?

If you said 6 feet. You got the hyperfocal distance (the sweet spot) of your lens at that distance and that f/stop. So, at those settings when your composing your picture, if you focus on an object that's 6 feet away from you. You will get maximum depth of field/overall focus when you take your picture at 35mm at f/22. Again, even though when you look through the viewfinder, it only looks like the object you just focused on is the main thing in focus. Freaky, but true. Using this method and the chart you downloaded, you can figure this out at any distance and any f/stop. Note again. For maximum focus you want to use the lower f/stops (which is actually the higher f/stop numbers.)

The last thing I will suggest for you to get the best shot/most in focus possible, use a tripod and use your timer so that no part of you touches the camera when you trip the shutter. You'll be amazed at the results. Remember, practice makes perfect. I've been trying to figure this out for months. Yesterday I finally got it. I hope I've saved you some time.

So how do you know how far an object is from you. First, work with the measurement you're most comfortable with, feet/meters. Next, I hope your good at eyeballing distance. Otherwise you can actually buy a distance measurer or whatever they're called. There's some tricks you can find online for calculating distance, but unless this is professional photography if you're good with estimating distance, it should serve you well.

There's a good chance the professionals would laugh at how I've laid this out. All I know is it works. And once you know it works then understanding how it works comes much, much easier. Enough of that. I'll leave you to a link of what this can lead to when done properly. Now I don't know how much post editing is done to these photos but forget that, and just look at how everything is in focus from the front all the way to the back of all the pictures Check it out.

Tugboat

Drove by the canal and saw three tugboats hanging around, but didn't have my camera with me. Rushed home and came back to get some pictures, this being my favourite.

Who would have thunk...

Just received an e-mail from a supply teacher who's doing a photography class for grade 7 & 8's. In an attempt to look for a certain type of picture. Two students ended up at the same picture (above). Which is funny since I don't place tags on my pictures etc. That's all besides the point. I thought it was neat that this teacher would ask for permission to use my pictures in her class.

Anyway, just a fun happening in my day.

Graveyard

Drove by this cemetery, had to stop.

Lunar Eclipse

The conditions were great. But it was cold, and as I said before, I don't like the cold much. But that's besides the point. The little dot on the bottom left is Saturn, or so I was told.

6 more weeks until spring

This picture goes back, just over, a month. I have more recent pictures, but they're all still in my camera. Will have to take an evening to download them and crop them etc. Sorry, church plans have taken precedent over photography as we started 2008. That and...

Okay, I've discovered something about myself, as a photographer, that is. I don't like to take pictures in the winter. Okay, that's not really true. The fact is, I like the way winter looks, and all that, but every time I think of going out in the cold and taking some shots, I always seem to back out. So, the truth is, I don' like the cold and that impacts my photography in the winter. Update: My show date has been moved to April.

Quiet...

Loved the road in the middle and the two different types of trees sort of facing off against each other on either side. Of course you could see it as the two different types of trees accompanying each other on opposite sides of the road. And others of you might say, what?

Abandoned

This is an old abandoned (house? it's tiny). It's up by my brother in law's place. The outside of it is made out of cork.

"eye thots" - by eddie

Apparently, let me make that part clear, but apparently, I will be having a photo show in March. Now this leaves me both very excited, and very, very scared. Trust me, as much as I'm loving photography, there's a high jump between there, putting up pictures on the web, and actually putting your stuff on display where people walk in to eat, etc.

Having said that, Breah Patterson, a member of our Living Room, member of our church, is also the owner of a really cool local cafe. The Studio West Cafe here in Port. She sees her cafe as a means of ministry and one of the things she does is open it up to musicians and other artists. And last week she asked if I'd be interested in doing a photo show. Okay, long story short I said yes.

So, now to plan, what pictures to show or not? How to display? And last but not least, what do I call my photography. Thus this post - "eye thots" by eddie is Vania's idea. I actually like it, Vania and I don't typically see eye to eye on names. But this time I think I liked it.

Anyway, I'll be picking pictures and figuring out the rest of details 'till then.

Ari's Backyard

This is a partial, very small, view of my brother and sister in law's (Ari & Wendy) backyard up in Huntsville, where we spend Christmas this year. It was beautiful and the temperature was awesome.

Narniesque

Captured this at Niagara Falls on our date away in mid-December.

Hidden Cabin

Today I feel like being somewhere like this. Got this picture on the way back from Huntsville, after Christmas. Actually, there's a little bit of a spot in the sky on the right side, which made me look closely at the lens, only to find that there's some dust inside the lens, which stinks. Still like the picture though.

Back on track...maybe not...

I know there hasn't been much posting or pictures over the holidays. It's not that I haven't been taking them, but the holidays tend to be a very busy time, but as the new year comes in, things slow down a little, at least in comparison to Christmas. I took this shot a week or so ago, I'm not sure if it's two weeks, shots of the birdhouse didn't work for me during the summer and fall, but I really liked this one.

A joyful and blessed new year to all of you!

Falls at Night

Same shot as the last one, but a little later in the evening and with the lights turned on the Falls. Although you can't really see the lights on the Canadian Falls. Nice ambience though.

Not getting along

Lucas and Xanda came home from the bus stop screaming at each other, I could hear them down the street. Before I let them in, I made them sit outside on the porch swing holding hands for a while. Of course, I had to get a picture of the moment, something they were not into. By the end of the experience, everyone was laughing.

Note: As Ian Noted this was taken a while ago. But I'd wanted to get it in before I got into the Christmas season.

The Pied Santa

I thought this was a great sight. I'll leave it at that.

Monday - Santa drops by the Port

Okay, getting back into the swing of things. Took some shots this weekend when Santa arrived at Port by Tug boat. It was cold, but everybody had lots of fun. See rest of the shots over at our gallery.

If you look at Santa's face, you'll notice that it's rather on the red side. Well, with how windy it was, and with the fact that Santa came in by tug boat against the wind. I wouldn't be surprised if he got frostbite, still he was pretty jolly.

Monday - "Bug"

Some of us, more than others, were really bit and we couldn't figure out what was biting us. Eventually I figured it out. And in this picture I finally was able to get a real glimpse of the bug. In case you're wondering where it is, and it isn't very clear, it's on the top left side of the flower. The flower was about the size of the tip of my pinky. I only had a second to get the shot, thus, the blurryness.

Thursday - "No Pretense"

I don't really enjoy posed people photography. But I'm really liking some of the shots I can get of people when they don't know I'm shooting them. There's no way I'd ever get this shot of my mom if she knew I was taking it.

I love the full out joy expressed in this photo. One of my favourite shots from Cuba.

Wednesday - "Thief"

Found this little guy by the beach bar. He/she was no more than one inch tall, and very, very cute. Very photogenic as well. Tickled when you held him.

Okay, couldn't resist, just one more...

"MORNING ON THE CANAL" - Friday

I took this yesterday morning while going out of town to a pastor's meeting. Couldn't help myself, had to stop.

"Watch Out Below!" - Thursday

For two years, every time I've driven through the East Main St. Tunnel (tunnel that goes under the Welland Canal - for those not from around here) I have always done so, hoping to one day see a ship up top. For some reason others keep telling me they see this all the time. In two years, this past Saturday morning was the first time I saw it. The bright sunny morning and the fact that it's a nice bright ship makes the picture for me. Anyway, I just think it's really cool!

"Stolen Workspace" - Wednesday

Little guy decided to steal my workspace. A whole new generation of kittens that believes our home is their home.

"Fall" - Tuesday

I don't have a lot of time to shoot this week, although I'm traveling to Kitchener on Thursday so I might leave early to get some shots I've been wanting to get on one road here in the county. But if not, I'll be drawing on some that I wanted to post, but didn't over the last month or so.

Going back few weeks to Thanksgiving for this one. I really like roads, they just draw your eyes in. They tell a story. I like the mood that the colors and the darkness of the rainy day created.

"Birth" - Monday

Took this Friday morning. Love it!

It's now less than a week before we leave for Cuba (Sunday afternoon). Really, really looking forward to it . Lots of work to finish and things to leave prepared for the two weeks I'm away. I will more than likely not be posting anything while I'm away, unless I do from the resort. But at $8 an hour for computer usage, I'm not sure you'll find me on a computer on my holidays.

Breaking Through

Took this after one of our rain falls this week. Didn't really work in colour as it was pretty bland and washed out.

Oops, missed Wednesday...

Was busy all day, so I forgot Wednesday's photo...so, a late entry. This is my brother in law's shed which he built himself. Very, very nice. Photo might have been better cropped in, but I liked the way the branch is growing right above the shed.

Life and Death - Tuesday

Shot this on the go, actually Vania was beside me and I asked her to shoot this as we were coming up to the scene. I didn't see the cemetery sign until I pulled up the picture on my computer. Which I think is what makes the picture that much better for me.

Mother and Son

Really liked this picture after Vania rescued Marcelo from the pouring rain at an apple picking farm in Pickering this thanksgiving weekend. I'm pretty sure he didn't want to be rescued though. Will be posting some more from the Thanksgiving weekend throughout the week, maybe. There were a lot of pictures I really liked.

Having said that, you can see our "Thanksgiving Set" over at Flickr.

"Out East in Central Ontario" - Friday

This is the last of the Port Maitland Shots that I'll post here...although there are at least two more I really, really liked. Anyway, I was lucky to get this shot, as this was the only time the sky opened up and let the sunlight through. It lasted all of a few minutes while we were at this spot. Once again, right place, right time. Dave said, and I agreed, that the scene looked like something from out East...all the colors etc. That's what I was trying to capture here.

"Lighthouse" - Thursday

This is another on the series of pictures I took on the shoot a few nights ago. Although I don't usually use the Sepia effect very often, I like how it looked on this picture.

"Factory" - Wednesday

Went out shooting with friends and fellow photographers (Dave and Erin). We spent the evening in Port Maitland. You can see all the pictures at the flickr site. The contrast of the white smoke to the rest of the scene just begged to have this be a black and white photo.

I'm realizing something about myself, that I never thought I'd say. Although in everything else about my life I am a people person, when it comes to photography, I could just be by myself and shoot and shoot without the need for others around me. The good part of going shooting with others is the company to and from where you're shooting. As well as the learning factor that exists when you bring people together.

"Union Station Clock" - Tuesday

I took this on the run, going down a set of stairs. However, the more I look at this picture the more I really, really like it. and the truth is I'm not sure why. Something just appeals to my eye though. Not sure if it's the contrast of the clock to the straight lines behind it...there's just something I really, really like about it. I think I already said that.

A nose that knows

This is what happens when a little nose runs face first into a coffee table. Cried a little...but other than that is back at it full tilt. If he was older, I'm pretty sure that would have been a broken nose. Advantages of being young.

"Bridge at Night"

Took this on Friday night after a friend's (Maria K.) goodbye party. Took a whole series of them, didn't really like this one over the ones, just picked one. Really liked all of them. You can see the rest at the Flickr site.

"PEEK" - Saturday

While our Ladie's Living Room "Desperate Housewives" met at our home yesterday morning...Marcelo an I went for a walk...this is one among a bunch of fun pictures. Will upload the rest to flickr later. I have a feeling, in comparison to the other kids, Marcelo is not lagging behind in amount of pictures anymore...although we can't turn back time and get the last year and a half back.

Purple Flower - Friday

Took this shot last evening when it was darker and getting over crowded. The effect is taking the picture at a longer shutter speed while zooming in from 18-35mm (or there abouts)

So, this wasn't one of my mistakes, I actually meant to do that.

Narrow Path - thursday

At first I really struggled with Black and White. I really like Black and White, but everytime I tried it, it felt like I was missing something. Until I talked to my friend Krista. Krista pointed out that most of the time, when people are doing black and white, what you end up seeing is a lot of grey on grey...and gave me some pointers to get better at black and white. I'm told that scenery can be a pain with black and white, still I really liked how this shot turned out. Taken earlier in the week at Mud Lake.

Trucks - Wednesday's Photo

I took this last week on my trip to Kitchener. Really liked it. The red truck really stood out, so I decided to leave it as the only thing in color in the picture. I've been advised to use this technique sparingly, having said that, sometimes, it just works really well. I like it in this case.

Okay, enjoy.

"Parking for Blind" - Tuesday's Photo

I took my day off yesterday. The in-laws and us went to Mud Lake for a couple of hours. When we got there I saw this sign in the parking lot. I laughed! It's actually parking for "hunters." I don't understand why they call it "Blind Parking."

Got some nice photos. Later on Flickr, as usual.

Update: Ok, I'd uploaded it in color, and realized that I like it better in black and white. I've also uploaded the rest of the pictures on flickr.

"Moon" - Monday's Photo

Decided to try and get some pictures of the moon last night to see how the camera would do with the distance and quality, etc. Anyway, was really pleased with this shot (although at this resolution, it doesn't do justice to the actual shot I got.) It is a little overexposed, but it gives a better feeling than the "right" exposures. It is a little cropped in go bring it just a little closer. This was my favourite shot, but I was blown away by the quality of the other shots as I cropped in even closer. You can see those on Flickr later.

"Optimus Prime?" - Weekend's Photo

Saw the shot on my sideview mirror and hoped that it would turn out well. Love the way it did turn out. And the whole Transformer thing is an added bonus.

Vania says I'm going to get in an accident soon. However, I'm not looking through the viewer as I take the car shots, more of a point and shoot and hope for the best. For this one good shot I have ten other ones out of focus or of just a corner of the mirror.

Anyway, fun photo.

Vun was asking me if this is going to die down sometime soon. It probably will. I probably won't take that many shots every day for too much longer, but I find when I'm learning something I go all out, especially in the beginning until I get to a certain level of things I feel like I have more than just a rudimentary (how's that for the big word of the day?) understanding of the subject. However, I now have several friends who I know go out on a regular basis to shoot. So, that's something I'm going to get into. Nothing like learning something together.

What to do, what to do?

I'm having to think about what I'd like to do with this blog? Do I make it a photography blog, which it's seeming to be right now. Do I keep it as a family blog? Do I go back to an Ed blog and discussion of issues like emerging church etc? (but my attitude on that is can't we all just follow Jesus?, so I don't seem to have much to the endless discussions. If I could say anything it would be, stop talking and start being.) Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what the nature of this thing should be. And I'm not sure. Joining facebook, further has made it more confusing...does that take the role of what I was trying to do here. All that said, I'm not sure. So...I'll go on thinking for a while.

"AWOL" - Friday's Photo

For two years, once a month, I've driven past this streetcar on the way to pastor's meetings. It always strikes me as interesting when I do, yesterday I stopped and got a few shots...this one was my favourite. Also changed title of post and photograph. Thought this was more fitting...thanks Ian for the idea.

"Truly Canadian" - Thursday's Pic

Here's you are with Thursday's Picture. A friend was holding the cup when I thought, awesome! After a few shots in a pretty dark room this is what we got. I really like it.

We'll be in Kitchener all day today.No doubt will get some shots on the way there, back...or somewhere around there.

more tomorrow...

New Rules...

Okay, that's today's photo "Mistake" - it happened by accident but I love it. Couldn't have done that on purpose if I tried.

On that vein. I'm re-establishing my own photography rules for my own project. I've been taking a photo a day. Okay, I've been taking lots of photo's a day and picking one photo. But I think that my rules are going to be that the photo I choose has to be recent. Ie. No more than a week old. Reason for this is that there are days that there's four or five photos I really want to share. Anyway, that's my own reasoning.

On a more personal note. My brain is fried! I'm way behind this week. I shouldn't even be taking the time to post this right now...but I've been going like a madman...and I'm not really much further along in catching up. Seeing lots of great God-stuff this week, but it all consumes time. Living Rooms start tonight, again...awesome! But preparing for it is a change to the schedule and it means rearraging things once again...sometimes I hate the weekend. So much energy, so little impact...maybe not true...just feels that way sometimes. Okay, I've vented...will go back to work now.

Enjoy the pic!

"Sisters" - Tuesday's Photo

Loved this one!

"Romance" - Monday's Photo!

Took this picture in our bedroom. I'll say no more.

"Vania's Album Cover" - today's photo

Vania says that all she needs now is a carreer to go with it.

Today we went to a local auction house to look at furniture and appliances for both our parents...on the way back we stopped at Crystal Beach, where I snapped this shot. I'm thinking I won't be posting a daily shot on the weekends. Or maybe I'll save it for Monday. I don't really like to be on the computer on the weekend...but that has nothing to do with the picture. Anyway, really liked this photo...haven't really gonne through all the pics I took today. We were house hunting with Vun's parents and I clicked, to my surprise, over 500 photos...

Friday's Photo - Run!!!

Today's photo was hard to choose, I've been fiddling with black and white shots and I think I just like color better, however, a nice black and white shot is always beautiful. A little bit of fun with Photoshop and the green hat kind of fills out the picture nicely.

I have the feeling that my children are going to be the subjects of many of my photos...

More pictures on flickr site later on...all the other choices I didn't pick...

"Break Through" - Thursday's Photo

Like the picture...last one I took in the day. Just kind of showed up. Wish I'd shot it in RAW format and got a little crisper, less "noisy" picture.

Today's Photo!

Vania did a special desert for the kids which made for some fun pictures, this was one of them.

I'm trying to work on indoor Photography and I must say, right now I hate it. Flashes and crappy light just don't make for good photo's. I'll have to study up more on that. Anyway, really liked this photo. I'll upload the rest of them to the flicker account next.

Picture a week? A couple of days? A day?

I'm really blown away by what some people can do with a camera. I'm blown away by some people's ability to capture life in a still image. I'd like to think I have an eye for photography, but then I see some people's work and I'm left breathless...seriously!

Anyway, I want to become a much better photographer than I am. As I've done a lot of reading in the last month...some of it three, four, five times over, and I still don't get it, or I get it but then it doesn't work when I try it, which means I don't get it. And since I'm about to embark into the actual study of it through a course. I'm really excited.

I know this is not new to me...but in order to become a better photographer, or anything for that matter, one of the things I know you have to do is practice, and practice, and practice some more. In that vain I want to do what others before me have done and are doing. So, I'm going to try and figure out what a regular schedule will work for me to do this in. I'm not sure whether i'll be able to do a photo a day...or every other day, or one a week or even more, but I'm going to try and do something on a regular and true basis...ie. not borrowing from last year because I didn't do it this week.

Having said that, I'm not religious about many things...so, if I fail...I'll be honest about it...I just want to improve. In light of that I'm starting with two shots.

Up top, fluke shot of flowers in our dining room in the evening. The flash was too bright, so I blocked it with my hand, but a stream of light got through my fingers, causing this effect that I loved.

Down below...catching the tail end of a rain storm on our street this evening. Yes, Nick this is what I was doing when you drove by. Tomorrow, I'll put on flickr other pictures I took today.

So what did I learn today? Flukes happen and make you look creative. Shouldn't have kept the shutter open so long on the night picture, could have made the car a little more evident, making it look like it had sped through the stop sign, still, the idea is there. But for the first time, not bad. And now I know what to do next time. I will get that shot.

More Pictures

Still more pictures loaded up.

Some from an encounter between Marcelo and the above caterpillar. (I'm really enjoying photographing animals.) Did I say I'd really like to have a Macro lens? Okay, I know I did.

Some pictures from the latest room we're renovating (the Kid's play room) some more to come there soon. It's going to be "FUN!!!"

And lastly, some pictures of a trip to Ikea this afternoon. When I left the house Vun asked me why I was taking the camera. The one picture of C.J. and marcelo is just absolutely awesome, to me, of course. I also found out that you're not allowed to take pictures inside IKEA, of course armed with that information I put my camera away. Okay, I took some more pictures, but I would have missed all of Marcelo's funny faces otherwise. Means justifies the ends, okay, in some things. I tried hard not to photograph their merchandise and without many misses, I think I honored their wishes. Okay, they would rather have wished that I just put the camera away. Hard to do when you don't have your camera bag with you.

Okay, enough, sleep time!

Lots of pictures uploaded!

Caught my shadow taking pictures. I've uploaded many new pictures under four new sets... 1. Labour day camping 2. Labour day 3. Animals 4.1st day of school

Just click on "our photos" on the side bar if you want to look at them