Day 74 of 365

Fog

Stopped at the park off Island Park Dr. for a break.
Temp had reached +5 or so & fog was settling in along the wetter areas.

Wasn’t sure what this apparition was until a few dog walkers also went by.

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Day 73 of 365

Rooster

Tuesday is lighting class at Algonquin for the next while. Had to forgo camera club as it’s on the same night. Lighting & printing are my 2 main stumbling blocks, so this is it until April.

After a couple of intro remarks & studio familiarization, we shot the first studio type still life. Simple, no reflections, just get used to the process.

Day 72 of 365

The music room

I got a book on “Painting with Light” for Xmas.The basic process is that the camera is mounted on a tripod to shoot the same setting numerous times. The whole scene is shot in the dark. Small parts are lit individually to create a series of images. All images are then combined to make one picture, hopefully, illuminated in an interesting way.

Today (last night) I tested the theory by shooting a setting and lit the parts with a small flashlight. It’s more exacting than it seems at first. You have to pay attention to all the areas in the scene to make sure they are all covered. This takes about 3 tries for each “painted” area to get the best covered one.

The real time consumer is the post production. Each image is brought into Photoshop and selected (non lit) parts painted out using a mask. When done, the series is collapsed (flattened) to create the one picture.

Not quite what I expected – I was looking for more details & soft highlights. Can’t really see what’s being done until after it’s been shot. The author said that it would take time. This took 11 layers – 200MB. Maybe I won’t do too many of these.

Anyway, this is the music room. Guitars, cards, beer, etc. all happen here unless there’s kitchen stuff going on. The burn mark happened a couple of years ago when the hydro went out & candles were being used & I hadn’t noticed the smoke alarm batteries were low. House is still here – another bit of experience.

Day 71 of 365

Speed Skating

The Provincial Long Track speed skating championships were held this weekend at the Brewer Oval, located, appropriately, at Brewer Park. Long Track skaters use outside ice due to the size required and Short Track is usually held on hockey rink ice.

Photographically, Long Track is great for capturing speed and detail – especially on a sunny day, but the action suffers from there being only 2 skaters and sweeping corners. Short Track has the excitement of bunches of skaters fighting for position, swooping low into tight corners with hands extended to the ice surface, but suffers from hockey rink lighting.

Anyway, I lucked out with this shot. This is Kevin Frost, a Canadian skater with Olympic ambitions (and he is fast). There are only two things in his way — Usher Syndrome and the International Paralympic Committee’s failure to recognize deaf-blind speed skating as a sport.

Did I mention he’s fast? He was half a track ahead of his competitor after 2 laps.

Day 70 of 365

Dance

The folks associated with the Habitat for Humanity, El Salvador Habitat building project are preparing to make another trip in March to help build new homes and whatever is needed. A fundraising dinner and auction was held tonight. The food was great, the auctioneering spirited and entertaining and the bidding generous.

Three different El Salvadorian dance teams provided added entertainment just before the auction started. These two were captured as they strutted the floor.

Experience again. In spite of previous episodes of a lapse of focus, the camera was left abandoned on the studio floor. On the trip outward, a beautiful, partly cloud covered moonrise was missed (well, it’s still in my mind’s eye). Cellphone technology came to the rescue for this image as the only lens I had handy this night. Luck was pretty much with me as anyone who has tried for precision shooting with a cell phone can attest.

Day 69 of 365

Signs

Ottawa’s Byward Market area. Signs everywhere, vying for attention. Street signs, traffic lights, restaurants, money machines, etc.

Bright colors on a cold day. According to the colour wheel, red and green are conflicting color combinations, suitable for leprechauns & Christmas trees. They do catch the eye, though, even if somewhat jarringly.

Day 68 of 365

Superdome

Took a detour off one of the main drags, Hunt Club Rd., onto Knoxdale ‘long about sundown. The inflatable Superdome houses 3 indoor fields (good for soccer, frisbee, etc.), including a golf driving range. Made an interesting study in the way shadows affect accentuate shape and add to the illusion of depth.

One of the interesting side effects of this shot-a-day business is being a tourist in your own town & discovering some fun things to add to the agenda. Golf in -24C weather? Great.

Day 67 of 365

Sunset on the Farm

Got a call from Cassandra. Get out to the field, quick, it’s a beautiful sunset. Of course, by the time I got there, a scant 4 minutes hence, it was mostly gone. This is the sunset’s sunset over some buildings at the Central Experimental Farm along Woodroffe Ave.

I’m not sure if the -24C temperature had anything to do with the show. Going to be a frigid week for the middle eastern part of the country. Interesting that Whitehorse is -10C while Yellowknife is -28C.

Day 66 of 365

This is a foot

There is an evolutionary theory that the skin on our fingertips wrinkles when it’s wet to allow us to grip better. These toes seem to be somewhat advanced.

Day 65 of 365

Grain elevators

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Grain elevators at the Central Experimental Farms on Woodroffe Ave.