Big Cone

Don't always need to be shooting for fine art or photojournalism.  Can be fun, too!

iPhone + Hipstamatik.

Corydon

It's Long Weekend Time here and I decided to extend it an extra day.  Passed the time this morning with another self-imposed "photowalk", this time down Corydon Avenue.  Funky area, nice morning, and a relaxing way to start the weekend.  Made my way home early afternoon and spent the balance editing and making some prints.

The entire set can be seen here on Flickr.  Below are my favorites of the morning.

First off is an otherwise simple scene of a red mailbox offset against a green light standard against an essentially monochomatic background.  I have a vertical of this as well with just those two elements.  But for this framing I wanted to add someone walking by, oblivious to what I thought was an interesting splash of color.  Many thanks to this gentleman out for a morning stroll for adding the extra interest.  I particularly like the book peeking out of his pocket.  Wondering if he's coming from or heading to somewhere to read it.

Further along was a gunmetal gray brick storefront.  Another monochromatic scene otherwise interrupted by splashes of color.  And again it turns out there is red and green playing off each other.  I really liked those aspects of the frame as well as the shapes and geometry of it all.

In contrast to the order of "For Sale" above is the grit and dirt of this tucked away alcove, featuring a broom that deserves more use.  This area is actually in somewhat of a "grotto" behind a metal gate so I was standing there poking my lens through the opening, presumably looking quite silly.  This is probably an indication of how my brain works as despite the pile of debris there is still order here with plenty of straight lines throughout.  I also love the texture of the stucco'd wall and soft diffused light.

And finally some more stucco and texture... and green.  I have a thing for shadows and contrast.  And here I like that you can see the tree trunk, but its leaves and branches are visible only by way of the shadows they cast.  That these happen to be on a green wall sweetens the deal.

All in all a successful and enjoyable day.  Test prints are waiting for me for each of these to be reviewed, refined, and printed to large(ish) scale.

Now... it's Margarita Time.

It's Just a Handrail

Having a camera in a phone really is a great thing. Walking into the office this morning and notice the line and texture created by hard morning light. Normal people see a handrail and a step. Or nothing at all.

I see a need to stop and shoot with my iPhone in one hand and my Starbucks in another. It's a sickness, really.

Converted to black and white with Nik Software's amazing Snapseed app.

Light is Light

Nice light is nice light. Doesn't matter what it's illuminating. Even an in flight breakfast menu can look interesting.

Olde Ottawa

Too many photos, too little time.

It's like the hangover after the party.  I very much enjoy exploring with my camera while travelling, but the problem is dealing with the frames afterwards.  There's downloading, editing and selecting, cataloguing with metadata and keywords, and of course fine tuning.  Not able to leave well enough alone every image gets the personal touch.  

My camera doesn't develop everything - I do.  The burden of the RAW shooter.

And so I find myself scheduled to head back to our nation's capital next week and realize I have a batch of images circa my last trip there {cough - November 2011 - cough} that have been in purgatory.  It seemed fitting that I finally get around to doing something about that as there were a few I quite liked.

And so we start the day with fairly crappy weather.  Didn't much care as I knew I'd be spending it with my colleague in the hotel working over some stuff.  Looked outside and grabbed my camera to capture this rather cold and dreary view of Parliament.

The remnants of that first snowfall (which in typical fashion occurred during the few days I happened to be in town) quickly started melting and provided some contrast against the concrete walkways and tunnels along Rideau Ave.

These stairs offer all sorts of shooting opportunities.  No shortage of line and form and perspective.  Parked myself down low to grab this, and then dragged the shutter to get some movement from passers by.  One shot is just about the geometry of the stairs, the other catching the sense of movement of passers by.  Still can't figure out which one I prefer.

A little further along and there's yet some more stairs.  Too much of a good thing, perhaps?  These make their way down to the Rideau Canal, with an abstract archway thrown in for good measure.  Always enjoy shooting detail that most simply ignore.

While I've been to Ottawa before I've actually never gone down to the canal, famous for being the world's longest skating rink (although many in Winnipeg would debate that as we - I say "we" as if I had anything to do with it - actually beat them a couple years back but with much controversy).  And just popping over to Wikipedia I just learned that the Rideau Canal is also the "oldest continuously operated canal system in North America."

There's much to see along the canal and makes for a nice walk.  There's very cool architecture and stonework...

...and of course docks aplenty leading into the canal...

The actual canal mechanisms - I'm guessing lock gates - are heavily weathered and make for great texture and monochrome fodder...

So lots of cold concrete.  But there's warmth to be had as well.  The leaves had fallen as this was late autumn, but were still loaded with color and contrasted against the stripped trees.

And despite all the rock and stone along the canal there were still plants trying to make a go of it...

As was this runner, getting some fresh air along the walls of the Chateau Laurier Hotel...

All in all it was a nice way to unwind at the end of the day and get some air.  Eventually made my way to the airport for the evening flight home.  Comfortably checked into the lounge and waiting for my flight, with a beverage in hand if I recall, I noticed this great sunset lighting up the sky.  Too bad my fellow traveller was engrossed with her e-mail.  Missed a beautiful show.

From Earth to Sky

At my daughter's weekly soccer game tonight and the weather was fine. I'm generally hoisting the "big" guns and pretending to be a sports shooter but tonight I left the gear at home. Too many photos to deal with as it is.

Too bad as the light was nice. Cracked out the iPhone for a quick study in shadows, and then looked to the sky. It looked as if someone had painted in some clouds just for me.