Look up, look waaaaaay up....

Yes, seriously... next time you are outside, take a few minutes out of your busy day and tilt your head up... and savor the view!

Some of nature's most spectacular vistas are right over our heads. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Sure Sign of Spring

'Tis the season... the motorcycles are out! This very cool bike belongs to the husband of a good friend of my sister...

I think spring is definitely here!

Cheers.

Lomography

Lomography - I just like to say it because I think it such a cool word. Lomography. Lomo... Graphy... Lomography.

What is it, exactly? Well, if I may quote Urban Dictionary (which by the way, has the most entertaining word definitions on the planet!!), lomography is:

"...the so called "art form” of taking really lousy pictures with an overrated, overpriced, overhyped poorly made piece of crap of a camera..."

In short, Lomo-style pics usually have intense vignetting, may be soft of focus, and perhaps have poor exposure due to specific camera's light leaks and low-quality plastic lens, etc.

Fortunately for me, there are many digital cameras these days with in-camera filters (including my K20, K7 and GF1), and of course there are tons of photo editing software programs which can be used to apply the effect as well. I utilized both of these alternatives in my capture of a spring storm and a subsequently flooded city park this week.

  

Someday however, I may have to regress and purchase a Holga or Diana plastic camera and see what results I get with the original lomo creators. Urban Dictionary warns:

"...This "art form” also includes the spending of $60-$70 on a poorly made camera, which probably has only a dollar or two worth of plastic in it. Although you could have bought a decent used 35mm SLR for the same amount of money..."

It sounds like it could be alot of fun, and no matter how crappy the pictures turn out, I'll be able to pass them off as 'lomography'!

Cheers!

Darn tootin'!

It's been a great month for me, photography wise! I've had some pics printed in a nice little community report about Southeast Alberta, I was a guest blogger for the Mountain Equipment Co-op, and several of my stock photos have been chosen for various (undisclosed) publications.

 

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Seeing my pictures in print and other media is very exciting! I guess my efforts haven't all been in vain....?!

 

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Cheers!

Kickin' It, Old School!

Vintage. Antique. Retro. Aged. Old school. Whatever the effect is technically called, I am LOVING IT!!! Not that I don't love vibrant, crisp, full-colored shots... because I so do!!! It's just that I am finding there are some scenes which create much more drama and impact if they are subjected to some sort of filter.

These photos were all manipulated in PhotoShop CS5 by using various actions. It is simple to create actions (or even download pre-built ones off the web). Actions are like macros - you record a series of editing steps and save them so they can be used again and again. Actions are major timesavers and are wicked fun!

Yes I know, of course I need to be more diligent with my camera itself - I should be utilizing physical lens filters as well as the in-camera filter settings... tsk tsk... or perhaps some of you are thinking that I should even roll back to using a film SLR and learn some true developing techniques...?! Until that happens however, I'm having a blast with my digital photo editing software! Stay tuned for my next experiment... with 'Lomo'!

Cheers!

Let the good times roll!

Wow!! Happy (albeit belated) New Year!! We're six weeks into 2011 already... and I can't believe it's been nearly three months since the last post... tsk, tsk. What the heck have I been up to, you ask??! Well, let me tell you. Or, I guess I could let my travel blog tell the story for me. Go on, check it out! You know you wanna!! Suffice it to say, I've been doing many things other than focusing on photography. Hee hee - isn't that an ironic sentence! Get it? Focusing... photography.... Okay, okay, that was kind of lame... moving right along... My camera has definitely been accompanying me places, but I unfortunately haven't spent alot of time specifically taking pictures.

However. After reading a most exciting email which arrived in my FSP Inbox this morning, photography is going to be ALL that is on my brain for the next while! The message was from someone in beautiful Hood River... wondering if I'd be interested in shooting an event down there in July... how could I say no to that? The Columbia River Gorge is absolutely stunning and I can't think of a better way to spend a summer weekend. Hopefully it all pans out - it would be an amazing opportunity, not to mention a great excuse to buy some new camera gear! Yeah!

Let the good times roll!

Cheers!

Family Photo Fun

While I was on vacation recently, I nervously checked the EnviroCan forecast back in Red Deer every few days... Not because I was worried about thermal shocking my body or anything (power engineering term - sorry!! hee hee), but because I had a photo shoot scheduled with some very important peeps for the day I arrived home. And who really knows, anyway, when it comes to Alberta weather!? At this time of year, it can certainly go either way.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about! Sunday was a beautiful day - quite atypical for November, actually - and I had a fabulous time with Mona and Ron. They brought their poochies along, and their kids joined us as well. It was awesome!

 

 

 

Thanks again to Mona, Ron, Terry and Karen! I had a great afternoon and it was wonderful to see you all!

Cheers!