Thursday, October 31, 2019

Weird

It's that time of year. If ever there is a day to post photos that are weird, creepy, odd, or whatever, today is the day. Some are out takes from photos you may have seen before. I don't think I've blogged these specific photos. Scroll. No special order. I hope you enjoy.

1.
An outtake from the Steampunk museum.

2.
Mushrooms, fungus, whatever they are. I like the shapes.

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6.
A buddy's model shoot.

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8.
Yes, Kelly, sometimes I do birds. I think this one was lining up to poop on me.

9.
More Steampunk.

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11.
Moreki rocks.

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14.
I deeply regret this photo. It's a fine example of my eyes seeing a lovely pattern of light in the criss cross of fern leaves, and none of it showing up in the photo.

15.
Are you getting a shining vibe?

16.
Bedroom decorations. Seriously.

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Street art.

21.
Just standing there. I wasn't sure if the gear was keeping them cool, or they were roasting.

22.
This sand shape was much more interesting in person.

23.
I couldn't help but think of Dr Who, and this being an entrance or exit from something, or somewhere.

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Deadwood of the Day


Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Blogged my way into a noodle, this is a detour

I spent part of the afternoon writing a long and complicated blog and got myself all bogged down in complexity. I started following the strands of spaghetti for various conditions and exceptions and got lost in the tomato sauce. Or something. I'll have to have another go at it, with more coffee.

So no more writing. Almost wordless Wednesday from now on. These are from October 18

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6.


Driftwood of the Day


Scavenger Photo
Last one of these. This was dark.


Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Covers, and the last Lynx

If you've been following the story you know that I've been the photographer for the local community association. It's been fun, getting out to all the different events, and thinking of ways to take interesting photos of what are pretty basic events. I'm not saying I've always succeeded, but there are some photos that I'm really pleased with.

It started with the community newsletter running a cover art contest. I sent one in, and suggested that I'd be happy to take photos for the newsletter. They asked me to show up to the next board meeting to discuss it, and next thing I knew I was on the Board.

The community hall isn't far from home; I could easily spend more time sitting at the two traffic lights than driving. As photographer I get in free, and can often get in on the goodies. However, much of the time I'm working pretty hard trying to get good photos.

I'm seeing some of the same people over and over; the ones that have figured out what a good deal these community events are. Some chat with me, some ignore the camera, and some of the kids are showoffs asking me to take their photo. From a purely personal perspective, all this has been a fabulous way to sharpen my photographic eye and skills. Why not come out to the next event, the craft sale Nov 2nd, and watch me in action while buying lots of stuff?

After the first cover, the editor started looking at my photos for the cover of the newsletter. I don't make the cover every month, but I've done it lots of times. Here's a collage of the covers.


After I took the photo of the cover, Linda gave me the idea for the tree photo (see Scavenger Photo). After that, since the cats were handy and their usual photogenic selves, I couldn't help myself. Yes, I woke them up during the impromptu photo session. Another small sin added to the long litany of complaints that they will lay before the cat judge.





Lynx of the Day
This is the last one. Hope you enjoyed the feature!



Deadwood of the Day



Scavenger Photograph
Tree. (Be creative, she said.)

Monday, October 28, 2019

Stories, an initial noodle

I've been musing about stories for years. Thinking about how to organize words to tell a story that will interest other people. As a writer I might see the whole story in my head. My characters have fun trying out different roles and different takes on conversations and situations, but in the end the reader gets one word at a time. Out of that they have to assemble a story.

This is why I like books more than movies. I like the intellectual exercise of putting that story together in my head from the text other writers produce, and even more I like to work on the word order of my own stories. What's in my head can be a richer place than a movie.

SQL code is like a story too, only better defined. You have to specify not only what playground, but what pieces of equipment within it, or them, and who is playing them in what order.

Photographs, the good ones, can tell a story too, only that's harder. There is typically just one image. The viewer has to think about what's happening in the photo, maybe what happened before or after. I'm working on getting better at photos that encourage the viewer to do that.

During the walk in Fish Creek the other day, I took several photos of things, and a few of people. The one I think that tells the strongest story is this one. Feel free to comment about the story here. No, he didn't get wet at this point, so that much is out, at least for now.


So I hear that one reader piping up from the peanut gallery. If that's the one with the most story, which one is the least? As far as I know this is just a pretty picture. If it's more than that to you, I want to hear about it.



Lynx of the Day


Deadwood of the Day
Remember, X never marks the spot.


 Scavenger Photo.
Black and White


Sunday, October 27, 2019

3 walks, 4.3K, 3.8K, and 85mm

Fish Creek 3 days in a row! A brief summary.

Friday (3.8K):
It started out a beautiful day, warm and windy.
The walk started on top of the bluff near bridge 9, walking to the gravel bar near the bridge

There were several different versions of the dramatic clouds over the trees.

A little later, still blue sky looking north.

I found this lovely reflecting pond and spent some time puttering around it. The first photo is from here as well.

Only a few minutes later I was hustling along looking for the path up and out. A quick stop to capture the clouds rolling in at impressive speed.

My car was a short walk away, and I'd barely started driving when the rain began. By the time I got home it was a howling monsoon, but stopped shortly after.

Saturday (85mm):
The plan was to rent a Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens for the community association Halloween party. The theory being that the f2.8 lens I used last year simply wasn't fast enough. (We need not get into a discussion about how or why a chunk of glass, metal, and plastic can be fast or slow, unless you really want me to. It's a whole other blog. Trust me when I say the 85mm lens is 4 times faster.)

However, whoever last rented that lens turned it in damaged, so it was not available to me. Sigh. I ended up renting a Canon 85 mm f 1.2 lens. Great, I thought, even faster. (Don't ask unless you really want to know.) The results were better, but still not what I had hoped.

It started with my favourite model and all round BRBE Michelle indulging me during a snowy afternoon. There are some lovely shots of her that we are both pleased with, but then there was this.


You probably look at her and think it's a nice photo of her, and you'd be right. (The others are much better.) It's the background that kills me dead. Look for the green and purple lines along the curbs. Gah! It's called chromatic aberration, and it's gross.

Not to get technical on you, but this is a known thing for this lens, and the so-called solution is not to shoot wide open. So this is at f1.6, which is significantly slower than wide open, and there's still huge chromatic aberration. My question is, why buy an extremely expensive lens to be able to shoot at f1.2 when you have to shoot at f2.8 to get usable photos? There are other lens that shoot f2.8 and they are MUCH less expensive.

The other solution is to be really, really picky about your background. Like this.


I love her serene and confident look, but look how the background is out of focus. That's what you want faster than f2.8 for.

Anyways, I shot the Halloween party, and the photos came out better than last year, but still not as crisp as I had hoped. Here's one shot I really liked.


The problem in a dark room is that I needed to shoot like the camera was a mirrorless to see what I was focussing on. Every time I took a shot I had to wait 5 seconds to take the next one. It just killed me. Kids move much faster than that.

Sunday (4.3K):
I was one of several people taking another walk in Fish Creek today, over towards bridge 1. Lots of nice shots, and we all seemed to be having a good time. One of mine is in the running for Image of the Month coming up in a few days.

I don't often have much luck with running water, but I like that the flow is obvious.



Water is good for other things too.


A weird shot for me. The bird took off just as I clicked, and I played with the photo to bring up the swirl of the wings.



Lynx of the Day




Deadwood of the Day



Scavenger Photo