March 24, 2010

I sometime wonder about the quality of clients I have. Today one popped by the office just to give me the finger. Don't worry I gave it right back.
I was on the phone and I could here a commotion out in reception. This guy was bound and determined to see me he was even going to come back to my desk. Finally one of the girl delivered it for him. She was very disgusted. I don't blame her. I guess this guy has been hauling this thing around since it got lopped off a few weeks ago. (This is what happens when you use your hands instead your head on an rig site). His wife has been begging him to bury it. So I made a agreement with him. I'll take a picture for him which he can carry in his wallet (I even through in a frame-able 8X10 for the mantel) and he will sign a model release for me. Then he will bury the damn thing for his poor wife. I am going to bet there are not a lot of people that have photo like this in their portfolio. Is it wrong of me to hope he brings it next week when he picks up his photos so I can try for a better focal length?

March 23, 2010

Well I was on a photo binge today. I was playing with long exposures and horsing around. This shot was achieved with a 30 sec exposure while I would move into a pose hold for 7 sec and then move quickly to another pose. It was a fun shot.

The second shot was taken at my son's house. We were killing time between work and my pool league. He and my husband were jamming and down loading songs. I like the style of the photo but I wish Phil's guitar didn't look like it was sprouting out of the side of Andrew's head.

Then later that night it was pool night so I was fooling around taking photos of my team mates. I have almost have everyone used to me just randomly pulling out my camera and snapping away. Makes for much better candid shots.

March 22, 2010

Poor chair was just on the verge of being used again. Damn blizzard.

March 21, 2010

Guess what this is? No peaking.

It just wouldn't be late March without a blizzard. We were just leaving after our last curling game when the freezing rain started which quickly turned to sleet. So have you guessed what it is yet.

Then as we pulled into the driveway the snow started.

What you are seen is the ice pellets freezing as they hit our truck and then they built up. Cool eh. From a distance the truck just looks dirty. Love the look on the rims.

March 20 2010

Ok ok I didn't take this photo but I thought some of you wouldn't mind seeing a photo of me. It was taken with my camera and I figured if you guys had to suffer through another guy at a bar with a beer it might as well be Phil.

Canon Eos 7D, 1/50 sec, 4 AV, ISO eq 800, 28 mm

March 19 2010

Phil and I went for a walk around town. Just relaxing. I brought my camera and snapped away. I was torn on which photo to share but this one won out. Pretty standard fare, but you don't see many old fashion barber poles downtown any more.

Canon Eos 7D, 1/125 sec, AV 5 , 160 ISO eq, 50mm

I will probably redo this photo at a later date pulled back a bit. There was a fund raiser at the bar and the street was unusually busy and didn't want new vehicles in the shot. Phil and I drove by the next morning on the way to curling and counted 20 vehicles that had 'sleep overs'. We talked to few sore people the next day. (Including our skip).

March 18 2010

i only had a bit of timebetween getting home and running off to play pool. I did get a good shot of Dan but I figured three guys holding beers in bars would be a bit much. ( And I was worried about cat shots.)

Canon Eos 7D, 1/30 sec, AV4.5, ISO eq1250

I don't know if my mother-in-law will see this one i hope not just have this thing in the house freaks her out. I personally think it is pretty cute for a rattle snake.

March 17th 2010

Grasping at straws again. This picture was taken on my lunch hour fiddling around with aperture.

Canon Eos 7D, 1/80 sec, 4.5 AV, ISO eq 320

March 16th 2010

Canon Eos 7D, 1/200 sec, AV10, ISO eq 100 converted to B&W

I was on my way to photography club and stopped for a bite to eat in the park. I love how it looks like I'm in the middle of nowhere instead of the middle of town. The cabin is actually on the other side of a creek.

March 15TH

Well I figured out the toughest part of the day-to-day photo taking. It's the posting and blogging. Trying to work, have a social life, take a meaningful photo then get on a web site is way harder than it sounds. So here is March 15th

Canon Eos 7d, 24mm T/V 1/60 sec, AV 4.0, ISO eq 6400

I have been working with low light almost exclusively trying to work out, ISO to AV to shutter speed and hey lets try it all hand held. This is looking from the TV room out into the hall way.

March 14 2010

Phil and I took a drive up to Dunvagan. His favorite photo was the uper one the lower one is mine. It was taken down on the river bank between the slabs of ice that were pushed up the bank when the river was frozen. I like the sunlight and shadows. Canon Eos 7D, f6.3, 1/400 sec, ISO eq 100 105mm

March 13 2010

Finally a day to play with my camera. I took photos of wine glass, pop cans, roses, party masks, cats ,cats and more cats. I played with lighting, apertures, shutter speeds, ISO, then I used the news lens I picked up and did it all again. The photo I chose to share is from my nephew's birthday party.

Canon Eos 7D, f 4, 1/15 sec, ISO eq 200, 24 mm

March 12 2010

Another day of work and then straight out with friends. My poor neglected camera. Hmmm second day in row of a picture of a guy in a bar, does that say something about my life style? I like this photo other than the focal length is on the beer rather than on my friend's face. I'll have to work on that.

Canon Eos 7d, f4, 1/5 sec, IOS eq 640, 24mm

March 11 2010

Trying to learn my camera while working full time and then participating in after work extra-curricular activities is difficult. Muddle, muddle toil and trouble. This is taken while playing with no flash in low light. One of my buddies from my pool team. (No name's to protect the guilty) Canon Eos 7D f4, 1/6 sec, ISO eq 3200, 24mm

March 10 2010

My new camera arrived!!!! I was actually very nervous about picking up and beginning to take photos. It will take me awhile to learn everything on it as it is much more advanced then my last camera. Until I get it worked out I will just have to muddle through. Seymour doing his Jabba the Hutt impersonation.

March 9

One of my co-workers had her niece into the office for a visit. I won't be putting any names on my blog unless people tell me it is OK. So here she is cute as a button. The weakest point of photo skill is doing people so I am consciously do more people shots.

Pentax k100d f7.1, 1/15 sec, ISO eq 200, 45 mm

March 8th Not a pretty picture

I really didn't want to post this picture but vanity lost to creative choice. I was (still am) battling a nasty head cold. After working all day I just wanted to crawl into bed but needed to get my shot of the day. My eye was almost swollen shut it took every thing I had to hold it open for this shot.

Pentax k100d f/5 1/20 sec ISO eq 200 18mm

March 7 2010

I know flowers again; but when your 22 years old son buys flowers and a stuffy for no reason at all then gives them to his mom; it has to be shared with the world.

March 6 2010

We had a great day. Erich and Diane, (Rachel's parents) invited us to go bowling and then to dinner. There were ten of us. Erich and Diane, Andrew and Rachel, Randy (Rachel's brother) and his girlfriend Jenny, Ty (Andrew's friend) and his girlfriend Jessie and Phil and I. We split into two teams and played three games. We then went for dinner and then played Wii bowling. Did I remember to take pictures nope. So what you are seeing is part of the bouquet we picked up for Diane.

March 5 2010

Phil's hand. Slightly bruised from doing CPR. I snuck this shot. I wanted to get a picture with both his hands but I didn't know how to ask him.

Phil's hockey team got together last night for their Thursday night hockey game. I think it was very therapeutic for him and the entire team. Everyone who could be there was and anyone who couldn't make it sent regards.

One good night sleep and my Spock is back.

March 4, 2010

Phil came from hockey last night late. Normally he is stealth guy coming home at about 1:00 am. He was unusually loud when he came in at 2:30. I was half awake when he walked in the bedroom door and stated "I had a really bad night." His tone of voice immediately had me full awake. His hockey team had just been winding down their hockey scrimmage when one the player began complaining of feeling very tired, then he couldn't catch his breath with a tightness in his chest. Phil immediately had the "rink rat" (his words) call for an ambulance. A minute later the guy collapsed. Phil started the CPR protocols. It was tough, the guy would go from no heart beat, no breathing, to weak heart beat with assisted breathing, then he would try big gasping breaths on his own and around again. By the time the ambulance had him packaged up he was up to assisted breathing. This is a small town hockey team. Some of these guys had know him for 30 years. One was his best friend. They are a very tight group. Halfway through getting changed out of their hockey gear word came back that he had crashed again in the ambulance and died.

Anyone who knows Phil knows he is as logical as it gets without the pointy ears. His mind knows the stats of survival with heart attack and CPR but that pesky human side of him had a lot of emotions swirling around. Phil and I have been together for 24 years and I 've seen him cry twice. Once when his grandfather died and once when mine did. As he talked to me he leaked a little which was as unnerving to me as someone else having a complete melt down. We stayed up talking until about 4:30.

Phil and I went to work the next day (the logical thing to do), I was pretty tired though. Everyone was great. Sharon had a dozen roses at her desk she cut one off and put it in a bud vase for me. So that ended up being the photo of the day. Taken from above on my white desk it looks like a cut out, but the shot is "as is" dusted of course.

March 3

Well I have been waiting two years to get a picture of the northern lights. I am so thankful that today was the first time I was able to get them. I froze my ass off with the wind howling and then I get home and the photos are un-usable do to the ridiculously high amount of noise. This was the best "cleaned" photo of the bunch. You know what? It doesn't matter my new camera will be here in less than a week. Yippee!!! Pentax k100d, f11, 122.6 sec, 21mm, ISO200

I have the ISO set to auto I have no idea why it didn't bump itself up.

March 2nd

Phil and I were having a game of pool when he got called to another of his famous "quick" work calls. I thought it would be a great time to work on depth of field.

Pentax K 100D, f6.7, .5sec, 43mm, ISO 200

Breaking the rules

March 1 2010

Pentax K100D f/4.5, 43 mm, 6 sec, ISO 200. Photoshop convert to black and white.

No rule of threes, no symmetry, nothing to draw your eye. Just me playing with my camera having fun. Low light seeing how steady I could be in my 'triangle'. This was the best of the bunch. The hardest thing was my grey tabby. I was at his level so fair game for the bump and rub. He wasn't against sauntering through the photo either.

Hockey Night for Canada

Feb 28, 2010

Taken 40 seconds after Crosby scored. Enough said.

Food for thought

Feb 27 2010

There is not much artistic merit in the following three photos. but I just had to show them. They were taken in the "Haunted House." One of my girlfriends from work has a side job. She looks after homes that have been repossess for one reason or another. Of all the houses she looks after she refers to this one as the haunted house. It is an old home. The electrical was added after it was built as was the plumbing. All the wall, ceilings, and floor are constructed out of wood. with big square cut marks where they would add in an "upgrade" They would then patch the hole with what ever building material was available. Sometimes there was even an attempt to make it fit square, sometimes. It is a house that has been neglected for many years, and probably should have stayed that way. The last owners were attempting to renovate, but ran out of time and/or money. It is pretty obvious from their handwork that carpentry was not their paying trade. Anything they touched should be pulled down in the interest of safety. Anyways the picture above is taken in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Have a look at the artwork, a little house, The Cat in The Hat, one of the three bears, a little mouse in a hole. So in your mind's eye picture how old the kid is that lived in that room. Now take a minute to absorb that now lets shift our focus and turn around a look at the door we just walked in.

oh look Spiderman a little old for the theme but..... hey..... wait what the hell is that over the door??? Well isn't that delightful.

The first time I was in the this house it was night and that little over the door painting creeped me out. Now imagine being a three to sevenish kid and being trapped in your room by the creepy thing over the door. You have to walk right under to get out the door. There are times when you just need to shake your head.