Blue is Nice

I'm on a printing kick right now and have been focusing on our trip to France last year.  As I write this a crisp print of this image is rolling off on a 17x22" sheet of luxurious photo paper.  I captured this during our trip into amazing Nice last June.  It wasn't long after leaving the airport that I assigned blue as the color of this beautiful city.  And stopping at a light alongside the boardwalk I looked out onto this scene and quickly framed and snapped from the taxi.  For whatever reason I think of Pete Turner when I look at this.  Not because of the specific color, but rather the vibrance of it along with the fairly minimal composition.  Immediately became one of my favorites.

And as I finish writing this my print is complete.  Gotta love the digital darkroom.

Kingston

Had a short trip this week and found myself in unexpectedly-cool Kingston, Ontario.  Unfortunately not much time to enjoy the area but would like to go back some day.  Did happen to grab a few frames along the way, with my day starting by looking out my decidedly grungy hotel window facing the 401.  That highway never sleeps.  With morning light baking down thought there was something interesting in focusing on the window grime and liked the result.

Was an enjoyable drive from Mississauga to Kingston, and after arriving we headed off for lunch and found ourselves at the Tir nan Og pub.  Great lunch, and the interior had an immense amount of character, texture, and amazing window light to boot.  My colleagues are now used to the sound of a shutter slap so I don't worry too much about hauling out the camera in the middle of lunch.

Later in the day we had to head out on Refreshment Duty.  While heading back to the car for whatever reason this roofline caught my eye.  Aim, crop, shoot, check, and on our way.

Next morning as I'm preparing to leave the street below caught my eye.  I liked the look of it, the lone vehicle in front of the restaurant, the reflection of the neon sign on the truck's hood, and the spear of dawn illuminating the building. 

Arrived early back at Pearson with hopes to grab a different flight.  No luck but gave me some more lounge time to catch up.  A Faceless Traveller was on the phone by the window and thought it made an interesting frame.  Snap, snap.  Done.

And, finally, Pearson's Terminal 1 ceiling while waiting at my gate to board.  I liked the shapes and the light.  Flight was on time, actually landed a bit early, and the weekend was again upon me.

The Exchange

Went out for lunch in The Exchange District. Nice patio, nice weather, and a good view of a brick building. Initially I though it curious that it was adorned with signage composed of boxing mantra.

That is until I saw a group of folks walking by putting on the gloves and heading off for what I'm guessing was going to be a pretty harsh workout. Expecting them to head back I waited and, sure enough, after a while they returned. Each of which with decidedly less spring in their step than on the way out.

While I was biding my time I also shot the adjacent building for the contrasting color, hard shadow, and rich texture.

Missed Opportunity

While biking through a local gravel pit slash marsh a few weeks ago I came across this rocky outcropping. At the time the water was still high and fully surrounded the rocks. It immediately struck me as a good opportunity to capture that S-curve leading out to the reeds. With a long exposure the water would become a silky, milky blanket.

Damn perfect summer weather did away with that idea!

Headed out this evening to scratch this one off my list and arrived to see... mud. Muck. Yech. My stones were still there, of course, but now losing their strength in the composition. Made due with what I had and shot a few frames to line things up.

The final black and white is still mildly interesting. Had to employ some heavy burning to the area surrounding the rocks so they jump out. But frustrating to picture how much better it would have been would I have gotten on my horse earlier. Lesson: don't plan to come back for a shot. Get it while you can.

Around the Block

Took a stroll this evening around the block with the D700 over my shoulder just in case. A few grabs below...

Memories

Playing around with HDR while following a tutorial. Needed some fodder (ie. a series of bracketed images with a full range of brightness captured) and found myself browsing images from Kelowna, BC from a couple years back. Great trip, great town, great scenery, great wine. Few nice shots to show for it that haven't seen the light of day. Add 'em to the pile.

Here's my "lesson material" of sunset over Lake Okanagan.

Here Comes the Sun

It's amazing what you find when you least expect it. Turns out there is a substantial sunflower field not 5 minutes from my house. Bit of a playground, but still waiting for the right weather.