Elemental View

Sugar Overload

2012-02-13T12:33:00.001-05:00

Delicious cupcakes from a colleague's birthday.

Moxie and Belle

2012-02-10T15:12:00.005-05:00

You'd think Moxie and Belle are long time friends but in this photo (and series) this is actually the first time they have met. Moxie (with more white on his underside) is our indoors-only cat whilst Belle (who turned out to be a male) is somebody else's outdoor cat. We saw Belle outside doing his I'm-hungry meow so we let him in. After a few minutes of giving each other suspicious looks, they started to play together.

On cold nights, Belle presses his nose on the backdoor glass to ask to be let in for the night.

Moxie and Belle album

Olympus E1, 14-54 f2.8-3.5, ISO400 (there's still a lot of life left in this 5MP classic)

Happiness is...

2012-02-10T09:34:00.002-05:00

Dancing with your best friend! Dec 2011
(Sony a65, 16-50, cropped, 16% of the frame area)

Shooting Stills and Video... successfully!

2012-02-10T00:17:00.001-05:00

Dan echoes my thinking that for the small scale stills photojournalist, the use of video can only enhance the product. The difficult part in implementing video along with stills is making sure that one doesn't take away from the other. Ideally, shooting Stills and Video should add up to 1+1=3

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9982656990/no-future-in-photojournalism-interview-dan-chung

yellow bike, yellow lunch and snow flurries

2012-02-09T14:06:00.001-05:00

Dundas Street. Nikon D5100. Jan 2012

Memories of Paris #6: Gypsy musicians on the Paris Metro

2012-02-09T09:01:00.001-05:00

Paris, 2002.

Memories of Paris #5: Girls and their handbags

2012-02-09T08:58:00.000-05:00

Paris, 2002.

equilateral ice on ice

2012-02-08T15:18:00.004-05:00

A piece of ice with bubbles and a berry inclusion, resting on a frozen pond, sidelit by a late afternoon sun. Feb 2012

to go or not to go...

2012-02-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

Feb 2012

The Buds of Spring (in February)

2012-02-08T10:11:00.001-05:00

Feb 2012

Life in Decay

2012-02-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

Nature Studies. Feb 2012.

Hockey-in-the-Woods

2012-02-07T11:53:00.009-05:00

At the Guelph Arboretum, under tall maples, birches, poplars, and cherries are areas that are flooded in the winter and spring. I came across two U of G students, Joey and Ben, enjoying a game of hockey on an unseasonably warm early February day.

High Definition version

The credit for the music should be:
JS Bach, 23 French Suite No. 6, BWV 817, E major_ Sarabande
(A newer version with the right credits will be uploaded next week).

Milkweeds

2012-02-07T09:45:00.002-05:00

Guelph Arboretum. Feb 2012
a few more Milkweeds here!

The Bench in the Park

2012-02-07T09:11:00.001-05:00

Enduring grace. Feb 2012

"Snowed": Excellent video using the GH2 in low light!

2012-02-06T22:43:00.002-05:00

Montage of a snowed covered Occupy LSX at St Pauls filmed with the Panasonic GH2, 20mm f1.7 lens
by Felix Goncalez

The Environmental Disaster that is happening NOW!

2012-02-06T22:37:00.001-05:00

"First Nation Community members voice the effects of the Tar Sands industries".

Great interview video on a grave subject!

First Nation Community members voice the effects of the Tar Sand industries.
Over 11 million litres of toxic water leaches from industrial Tar Sands tailings ponds each day.
4 billion litres of contaminated tailings water already enters the groundwater each year, and new projects could expand this number to over 25 billion litres within a decade.
Tailings ponds are known to contain dozens of toxic contaminants like heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and naphthenic acids. Naphthenic acids in particular break down very slowly and therefore pose a long-term threat to the groundwater of the region. The tailings ponds sit upriver from the Peace-Athabasca Delta, one of the world’s largest inland freshwater deltas and home to Fort Chipewyan where residents already have serious concerns about pollution and their health.
Tailings ponds are built on bare ground with walls made out of earthen materials. Both Alberta and federal legislation prohibits the discharge of toxic materials into the environment, but tailings ponds leakage is sanctioned by the Alberta permitting process.

"Embedded"

2012-02-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

Under tall trees, on shallow standing water yellowed by decaying organic matter, are designs by nature enabled by the freezing and thawing of gases bubbling up to the surface. Organic (literally) and ephemeral (now-you-see-it-now-you-don't), these are as original as you and I.

Please see more images at Guelph Arboretum - "Embedded"

Feb 4th

Nature's Swarovski (Happy Valentine's!)

2012-02-06T09:51:00.003-05:00

At the Guelph Arboretum, under tall maples, birches, poplars, and cherries are areas that are flooded in the winter and spring. Cycles of freezing and thawing produce these amazing creations that are both elemental and organic. Elemental because they are echoes of galaxies, of cells and molecules, and of the primordial plasma that I imagine all of us came from.

Please have a look at more of these images at Nature's Swarovski.

Sony a65, 16-50. Feb 4th

Random acts of Niceness

2012-02-06T00:01:00.003-05:00

What drives some people to do something pleasant for other people to experience? I don't really know... I'm just glad something does!

Seen while on a walk through the Guelph Arboretum: Vanessa and her pipe cleaners!

(the "m" in Dream was added after these photos were taken) Feb 5th.

Bright Lights...

2012-02-03T12:36:00.002-05:00

... and Dim Lights

Jan 2012

iPhone Diaries #439: Ave Maria

2012-02-02T08:42:00.004-05:00

worth reposting, if only for its inner glow.

A variation on the Rule of Thirds... and that inner glow.

2012-02-01T09:55:00.003-05:00

the soft caress of a late afternoon January sun on a lamp post in front of a red wall... always in search of images that seem to glow from within... same with people... some people just glow from within.

2 cars and a truck

2012-02-01T09:31:00.001-05:00

Chinatown. Jan 28th.

A tragic replay of 80 years ago-The Great Depression

2012-01-31T15:07:00.000-05:00

If you are allowed only one item to read regarding the current recession/depression, let it be Joseph Steiglitz' piece in Vanity Fair: "The Book of Jobs", the most succinct, easy-to-understand, comes-with-a-historical-perspective article on the current mess.

It shows how we got to this point, how we have misdiagnosed the source of our current predicament, and offers clear, albeit painful, solutions.

Illustration by Stephen Doyle

the view from here

2012-01-31T10:01:00.000-05:00

downtown Toronto. Jan 31st.

iPhone Diaries #438: "High Noon in the snow"

2012-01-29T13:04:00.000-05:00

The Lion Hunter and the Lord of the Neighbourhood. Jan 29th.

Long hair and Red moustache!

2012-01-29T11:24:00.001-05:00

an unintended look... detail from wall art. Jan 28th.

Lobster and All-Day Dim Sum!

2012-01-29T11:16:00.001-05:00

Observed at the entrance to the Dragon City Mall on Dundas and Spadina. Jan 28th.

The colours of Kensington Market.

2012-01-29T11:02:00.003-05:00

A grey, cold and overcast day made for a sparse crowd (and super saturated colours) in Kensington Market. Images from the back streets around Dundas and Spadina in Toronto's Chinatown.

Jan 28th.
More photos here!

Why wedding photography costs the way it does!

2012-01-27T11:25:00.005-05:00

A bride from Puget Sound, Seattle, posted this on craigslist, wondering why photography costs the way it does. (as it appeared in dpreview.com)

Here is response to the craigslist posting from Nikki Wagner, a photographer from Erie, Pennsylvania.

Here is my own pricing strategy and why it is lower than most other photographers.

Not even taking into account the unquantifiable (in money terms) talent, energy, and artistry that goes into creating the images that you'll have for the rest of your lives, today's digital weddings require equipment (cameras, computers, hosting service, etc) that doesn't come cheap!

Financial advice for Occupy protestors

2012-01-25T11:44:00.012-05:00

One example of two people devoting their time, talent, and expertise to help the Occupy Movement attain its goals.
"Some former Wall Street financial experts are annoyed by the Occupy movement's unsophisticated understanding of the markets. So they're helping the movement understand the markets better to be more forceful in their criticism". from CBC Radio One podcast, Jan 9, 2012

The Current, Jan 9, 2012

(at 24:01, listen to David Sauvage educated prognostication for May 1st, 2012)

Cathy O'Neil's blog

party at the Spherical Arts Academy

2012-01-23T08:59:00.003-05:00

I had the privilege of photo-documenting (shooting!) the coolest Bat Mitzvah ever at the Spherical Arts Academy last Saturday. Hosted by Gabrielle and powered by Edan Kaufman from Solepower Productions, it was quite a celebration and a party!

Sony a65, ISO3200. Jan 21st.

"Oh when the saints... go marching in"

2012-01-20T14:12:00.004-05:00

And now for something light (and yet profound on several levels):

The evil that is SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-18T17:10:00.002-05:00

My favourite blog I Wrote This For You has this to say about SOPA/PIPA. What he has to say is a more articulate echo of what I have to say!

Open for business!

2012-01-16T16:37:00.000-05:00

Wilson and Macdonell. Jan 8th.

Siesta

2012-01-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe this is Guelph at noon in early January. Wilson Street, Jan 8th.

Extremes

2012-01-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

Brightest light and darkest shadows. Wyndham and Quebec Streets, Guelph. Sony a65, Sigma 10-20f3.5. Jan 8th.

Nikon fused vs. Sony Twilight mode

2012-01-16T12:03:00.005-05:00

Fused-image from 3 images (-2V, 0, +2V). Shooting the bracketed exposures on a tripod, to processing in Photomatix, then Photoshop CS5 took approx. 15 minutes. RAW, Nikon 5100, 16-85 f3.5-5.6G, 2sec, 1/2sec, 1/8 sec f5.6, ISO400, tripod.

Straight out of camera jpg using the the Twilight Mode on the Sony a65. Shooting handheld and opening in Photoshop CS5 (for resizing for web) took approx 1 minute. Jpg (no RAW option), Sony a65, Sony DT16-50f2.8, 1/60, f3.2, ISO6400.

A fine-looking dog

2012-01-15T21:17:00.006-05:00

Ruudi, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, with Ben. Jan 15th.

Biggest Christmas tree...

2012-01-15T21:03:00.000-05:00

... with the most lights I've ever seen in a residential home. Denise, Paul, and JP's tree. Jan 2012.

bottlecap

2012-01-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

the lowly bottlecap. Jan 14th.

"sunfire"

2012-01-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

a luminous creation in stained-glass by Mary. Jan 14th.

"je ne sais quoi"

2012-01-14T20:31:00.007-05:00

Je ne sais quoi aptly describes that "certain something", that certain something that can only be French... I'm referring to a package that we got in the mail from my sister in Paris, France. A package of Hediard chocolates, a red-and-black ribboned box of Gallic elegance. A whiff of fresh cacao combined with antique-looking hand-made brown nuggets, some sprinkled with what looks like flakes of gold greets your senses, and in the late afternoon sun of a Canadian January winter, memories of a certain Parisian summer come to mind.

In comparison to Hediard, Laura Secord is so pedestrian, Godiva is too cute-pretentious, Lindt is too perfect, Toblerone is industrial-strength boring, and anything North American is so, well, forgettable.

Merci!

Forsythias and Robins

2012-01-09T14:18:00.003-05:00

Today, as I listen to the chirping of Robins outside my window, the radio reports that forsythias are blooming in the Dupont and Dovercourt area of Toronto . Wednesday's forecast calls for a high of +8!! This is in January!!

What's up with that?

See the blog entry below.

Pardon me?

2012-01-09T13:54:00.006-05:00

"Foreign money" could gum up pipeline approval, Harper warns. (The Globe and Mail, January 6, 2012)

"Foreign money" refers to "environmental and other radical groups" (according to Resources Minister Joe Oliver). As if the oil industry money is "local money".

And as far as standing up for the environment and the people directly affected by the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, there should be no distinction between foreigners and locals. Pollution recognizes no borders, money knows no borders, and Robert Redford and Leonardo Dicaprio are world citizens when it comes to the environment. How convenient it is to collectively call ourselves "westerners", i.e., more enlightened, when faced with terrorism but all of a sudden, it's foreigner Americans for the likes of Redford and Dicaprio (and the other millions of sympathetic souls).

There's the unmitigated gall, criminal actually, when the government holds public consultation on an issue that it deems to be a fait accompli. "Growing concern has been expressed to me about the use of foreign money to really overload the public consultation phase of regulatory hearings just for the purpose of slowing down the process", the Prime Minister told reporters Friday in Edmonton.

As it has done in the recent past to have its way with their plans, the federal government is threatening to introduce legislation to limit the "consultation process" so as to speed up the approval process. Why consult if it is going to be approved anyways?

The environmental catastrophe that is unfolding with our dependence on dirty oil (or any other oil, for that matter) is a criminal offense that would dwarf the number of victims of all wars ever fought (my estimate). The Hitlers, Stalins, and Pol Pots of our past will look like rookies of their trades. Unfortunately, our human minds are not equipped to be emphatic to the victims that we don't see, the victims of stronger-than-ever storms, desertification of farmlands, rising sea levels, droughts, etc. The shareholders of oil companies who view their holdings as mere statistics, so conspicous by their silence, are complicit in this crime. By their silence, the religions of the world who trumpet the supremacy of made-in-the-image-of-god humans above all on this earth are accessories to crimes against humanity and the earth.

Perhaps as Canadians, Western Canadians especially, the effects of climate change will hit close to home after the prairie fields become deserts when the rivers dry up after the Rockies glaciers have disappeared. By that time, the permafrost will be no more, and as a result, the atmosphere will be closer to the one in Venus. The desecration and spoilage of aboriginal lands from resource extraction is akin to small-pox-tainted blankets and the wholesale slaughter of the prairie buffalo; we are all just 1 or 2 degrees away from the first victims.

It's worth remembering the photo below, snapped by astronaut Bill Anders on the Apollo 8 mission:

On Christmas Day, a day after it was taken, Archibald MacLeish wrote:

"To see the Earth as it truly is,

small and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats,

is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together,

brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold -

brothers who know now that they are truly brothers".

4 hours before the kitchen closes for the final time at The Carden Street Cafe

2012-01-08T21:24:00.002-05:00

The Carden Street Cafe across from the Guelph City Hall served it's last patron today, Sunday, June 8th. I managed, with the permission of owner Jer Robbins and the patience of the very accomodating staff, to grab a few pictures inside before the place filled up quickly after opening at 4:30 pm. I had hoped for more time to take in the atmosphere and translate it into photos but it was not to be. But no regrets here... the faithful who showed up for their "last meal" at the iconic restaurant deserve to have their time at the Carden Street Cafe.

Write-up by the Guelph Tribune and more photos of the Cafe.

church stones and winter afternoon sun

2012-01-08T20:04:00.001-05:00

The Royal City Church on Quebec Street, Guelph.

and...

... the boy across the street from the church. Jan 8th.

A lovely, lovely celebration

2012-01-03T16:49:00.004-05:00

A guest at a community Christmas Dinner in St. James Town, Toronto. The genuinely warm feelings of community and sharing will be a source of inspiration for the rest of my life. Organized by the Toronto City Mission.

The same guest being prodded along.... too many choices, so little time :-) Videos to follow. Our Lady of Lourdes School, Dec 22nd.

Christmas tree in the living room through bleary eyes...

2011-12-30T16:19:00.000-05:00

... where's Santa? morning of Dec 25th

iPhone Diaries #437: "somethin' talk about"

2011-12-30T15:06:00.001-05:00

Gerrard Street, Dec 30th.

iPhone Diaries #436: Zeitgeist

2011-12-30T14:59:00.001-05:00

on a lamp post on Gerrard Street, Dec 30th.

Giant reindeers...

2011-12-28T14:03:00.000-05:00

at the Eaton Centre. Dec 28th.

The nice people you meet

2011-12-28T13:54:00.001-05:00

Saw Kevin at the Eaton Centre to buy his used Sony hot-shoe adaptor. Just outside, at Albert and James Streets, I had...

the best Polish sausage I've had in years, and...

met Carlos, a gentleman.

The ethical guide to eating out

2011-12-28T01:21:00.002-05:00

Read this link and the next time you go out for a meal, it will make you think deeply, as you look into the eyes of your server/waiter/waitress!

Guelph @ ISO200, @ISO6400 and @ISO12800

2011-12-26T21:30:00.002-05:00

Our Lady of Lourdes @ ISO200

War Memorial Hall, UoGuelph @ ISO6400

Lincoln Alexander Hall, UoGuelph @ ISO6400

Delta Hotel @ ISO12800

Sony a65, Dec 26th

Guelph panoramas

2011-12-26T20:41:00.000-05:00

Gordon Bridge on the Speed

College and Stone at dusk

Guelph gazebo at sunset

sculpture on the Speed

Sony a65, Dec 26th.

Woman's rant against the atrocities committed in The Democratic Republic of Congo

2011-12-25T10:24:00.007-05:00

A participant in a demonstration (Queen and Bay, Toronto) against the atrocities committed in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a result of the mining of Coltan. The DRC supplies 75% (!!!) of the world's coltan. Without Coltan, none of the hundreds of millions of cellphones would function.

One more video on the what is happening in the Congo:

Protest on Queen and Bay, Toronto

2011-12-25T10:08:00.002-05:00

Stumbled across this gathering protesting against the continuing atrocities in The Democratic Republic of Congo, fueled by the rush to mine the mineral Coltan, a key component in electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, aircraft engines, and military equipment.

It's one thing to read about this in print; it's a totally different experience when you hear their pleas for help personally. I cannot imagine what it would feel like to look into the eyes of the victims of these crimes against humanity.

These crimes include child labour, recruiting children to be child soldiers, mass rapes, environmental destruction of wildlife habitant, and the contamination of the soil and water supply to last for hundreds of years.

Jorge de Guzman: Why I volunteer - truly an inspiration

2011-12-22T14:14:00.002-05:00

Jorge de Guzman: Why I volunteer - Citizen Bytes

Dreaming of a White Christmas...

2011-12-21T23:52:00.001-05:00

...doesn't look likely at this point.

(photo from 2007)

iPhone Diaries #435: "never too old for Santa"

2011-12-21T17:37:00.006-05:00

the official version (Nikon photo)

the behind-the-scene version (iPhone photo), Dec 21st

Vaclav Havel: The world could use more of his kind.

2011-12-20T11:48:00.004-05:00

Havel and the politics of common decency, The Toronto Star

photo from the Toronto Star by Petar Kujundzic/Reuters

Typhoon update: "it may be just a two-lane bridge but..."

2011-12-20T11:40:00.002-05:00

I must have gone over this bridge linking the towns of Tanjay and Bais thousands of times in my years growing up in the Philippines. The national highway that snakes around the perimeter of the island of Negros is the ONLY artery that links the towns and cities, almost all of them on the coast of this mountainous island. Losing a bridge (and losing any section of this road due to heavy rains or landslides) means losing the hospitals in the capital city of Dumaguete, people are unable to go to work, foods and essential supplies cannot be delivered. In a word, everythign grinds to a HALT!

When I was there in July, whole sections of this national highway were under renovation; steady but painstakingly slow progress due to the lack of proper equipment (forget electrical tools... miles of steel bars have to be sectioned off with hand hack saws, for example). Now, all that valuable work is all for naught.

Here's a YouTube video of this particular bridge as posted by a kababayan (fellow countryman):

One more video of a road being washed out:

Many thanks to the posters who raise awareness of the damages from this typhoon.

Typhoons, then and now: one person's perspective

2011-12-18T17:44:00.008-05:00

The Philippines has always been ravaged by typhoons (also known as hurricanes in the west hemisphere) several times a year, for as long as man has been around. Growing up in Negros Oriental, we were usually spared the full force of typhoons bearing down from the Pacific Ocean by other islands east of us (Cebu, Bohol, Samar). As late as the 60's and 70's, as in other parts of the Philippines, the mountains were forested and the lowlands were less populated. There was flooding (esp when swollen rivers met high tides) but it seemed that calamitous disasters were limited to the coastal areas.

I found this YouTube video which illustrates a storm through a child's eyes. "Bagyo sa Dagat" means "storm on the sea",

Typhoons meant days off from school, smelling the perversely-intoxicating post-storm air, wading through ankle-deep waters (oblivious to the health risks), and surveying the debris strewn along the swollen riverbanks and the coast. Downed coconut trees across fences and roofless houses were fascinating to look at. Of course, typhoon damages were very real to the farmers and the homeowners. Roads and bridges have to be repaired and the cost to an already impoverished people is very difficult to imagine. But that was for the adults to worry about.

Here's a YouTube photo composite posted yesterday, one day after Typhoon Sendong battered the southern Philippines, showing the very real damages a typhoon can inflict:

The aftermath: damaged infrastructure, contaminated water, ruined farmland, lost lives. What are we to do?

Chinatown

2011-12-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

Chinatown on Spadina, Dec 16th.

A wedding video, Part 5 of 5

2011-12-12T16:00:00.003-05:00

While Sarah and Jayne do the Stills, I do my video thing. Music by Feist, "In The Park"

A wedding video, Part 4 of 5

2011-12-12T15:56:00.004-05:00

Aaron getting ready for his wedding to Catherine!

A wedding video, Part 3 of 5

2011-12-12T15:54:00.002-05:00

Overcast skies and happy people: recipe for a great photoshoot!

Canon 60D, Tokina 11-16f2.8, Tamron 17-50f2.8, Manfrotto monopod, Azden shotgun mike (I wouldn't recommend this mike... I think either the Sennheiser or the Rode is a better value).

A wedding video, Part 2 of 5

2011-12-12T15:51:00.002-05:00

This segment was a little too difficult to edit. Key moments in the footage weren't in proper focus, a shortcoming of manual focus DSLRs without the proper (expensive) rig setup (hello Sony VG20!). While most wedding highlight reels favour 1-2 sec clips, I couldn't resist lingering on Catherine's (and Aaron's) faces for tens of seconds at a time... it just feels more comfortable in the dappled light of a spring day... languid and unhurried... living in the moment.
The audio was unuseable due to the wind noise and this is where a lav mike would have come in handy!
Technical details: Canon 60D, Tokina 11-16f2.8, Tamron 17-50f2.8, Canon 70-20f4L, Azden shotgun mike, Manfrotto monopod. Edited in iMovie'09
My video education (adventure) goes on!
Music by Martin Sexton "Marry Me", Alison Krauss "I Will", Janet Monheit "I'm Glad There Is You", and Creedence Clearwater Revival "Hey Tonight".

A wedding video, Part 1 of 5

2011-12-12T15:44:00.003-05:00

A beautiful, intimate wedding with a close circle of friends at the Old Mill. Catherine is preparing for the ceremony with Julie. Photography by Boston Images. Videography by yours truly.

Technical details: Canon 60D, Tokina 11-16f2.8, Tamron 17-50f2.8, Canon 50f2.5macro, Rotolight, Azden shotgun mike, Manfrotto monopod. Edited in iMovie'09

Music by Jack Johnson: "Angel" & "What You Thought You Need"

Many thanks to Catherine, Aaron, and Sarah/Jayne/Chris from Boston Images for allowing me, and giving me the space, to shoot my very first wedding video.

Soft High-key Picture Effect on the Sony a65

2011-12-12T08:49:00.003-05:00

Program Setting; what any normal camera with centre-weight metering would produce. Auto ISO at ISO250, 1/15sec at f4.0, using DT16-50 f2.8.

Soft High-key Picture Effect. Both photos taken handheld (with Sony's patented SteadyShot in-camera stabilization on). Auto ISO at ISO1600, 1/15sec @ f2.8, using DT16-50 f2.8.

Twilight Mode on the Sony a65

2011-12-12T08:39:00.004-05:00

The twilight mode on the a65 has to be one of the most under-rated feature on this revolutionary feature-laden camera. Both photos shot hand-held, meter locked by first pointing it at the dark-brown hutch. 1/60 @ f4, ISO1600, using DT16-50f2.8.
Twilight Mode should be doable from RAW but first, this would require a tripod, bracketed exposures (unless one knows exactly what area to meter), and proficiency in Photoshop to extend the dynamic range to avoid clipped highlights and blocked shadows (unless desired).
Whereas in Twilight Mode, it's just a few clicks of the dial.

it's like stumbling across a vein of gold ore!

2011-12-09T09:27:00.001-05:00

Just shot an event yesterday with the a65, stills and video. Just processing the image files now but I have to say in all "brutal frankness" and after using the 5D (two shutter mechanisms worth) and the 5D2 over 5 years, that this Sony technology (semi-translucent technology, or SLT) will be the wave of the future, esp now with the 2.4M pixel OLED viewfinder. I shoot with the traditional optical viewfinder 6 days a week and I don't like it anymore. And this 24MP resolution on an APS-C sensor!! This really blows the FF sensor out of the water, esp on a camera that cost me less than a thousand for the body!!

I had my serious doubts about noise but ISO12800 is not a problem if the exposure is right. And if it is a perceived irritant, I've heard that Topaz Denoise is an amazing plugin for reducing noise.I'm a camera slut...I'm only loyal as far as the tools allow me to express myself... I go where the technology goes and I realize that it's the photographer not the camera... but I know of what I speak of. But don't take it from me...if you are a Nikon Canon user right, and you have a few thousand dollars invested in lenses, and maybe planning on adding on to it, you owe it to yourself to try the latest Sonys. You could always sell it on Craigslist at a slight loss.
Other pluses:
ability to take other lens mounts
focus peakingoption to use lenses on the "rangefinder-type" NEX series
PHASE-DETECT CONTINUOUS FOCUS FOR VIDEO!!!
(sample photos on this blog to follow shortly)

My Sony a65 set-up for Stills and Video

2011-12-08T13:12:00.005-05:00

a65 (a77 would be too big for this setup),

HVLF43AM Flash (the 58AM would be too big for this setup),

ThinkTank's CB Junior bracket w/ enough room for an LED light.

A study in contrasts: a warm holiday dinner for the 99% and an ad for the 1%

2011-12-06T01:51:00.009-05:00

I have just come back from shooting Stills and Video, part 2 in a series of 3 Holiday Dinners for the Toronto Mission City, whose purpose and vision is to transform at-risk communities. "Concepts" such as sharing, giving, appreciation of the small things in life, and a sense of community, are still fresh in my mind.

I unwind by reading the paper and this is what I see:

Selected phrases from a full-page back page ad (read: expensive!) in the Saturday Globe and Mail for a condo development with individual units in the million+ $$ price range. The copy writer must have had a field day!

why is it "instinctively home"?

what about common sense? what about scientific reasoning? what about financial reality?

???

... and not with the sweaty, smelly masses?

but this "home" screams "I am filthy rich!"

like a plain-looking Rolls Royce,

what exactly does this mean? tender ratios?

a building that promises a religious experience?

are we all driven to belong to the 1%?

obviously... not unlike our instinct for a full stomach, our instinct for a warm bed...

East-end London European? Athens European? Bucharest European? Marseille European? Sarajevo European? or is it a cozy, "familiar" Hallmark card mish-mash of Paris, London, Milan, and Vienna?

iPhone Diaries #434: "Food Drive"

2011-12-03T12:46:00.003-05:00

I just hate it when I have to go through a gauntlet of fresh-faced healthy kids with their parents and coaches collecting money for their sports teams, especially hockey teams. Perhaps "hate" is too strong a word; "dislike" is probably more apt. It just seems to me that a purely discretionary sport, particularly a money-intensive sport like hockey, should not be collecting money in a manner that preys on our altruistic natures. There is the "guilt" factor too; one feels like a grinch when the wide, innocent eyes are passed by without handing over a token quarter or a loonie (or the register receipt).

So it was with trepidation that I approached the entrance to our Zehr's supermarket this morning on seeing a group of hockey-jersey-clad youngsters manning both doors. Trepidation was washed over with relief on seeing that these kids were handing out slips of paper reminding everyone of the disadvantaged amongst us (see photo).

What an excellent gesture! The coaches and parents should be commended for an exercise that not only benefits other people but also instills in children lessons in sharing. I would gladly share a bit of my bounty every time a group devotes their time advocating for their neighbours, a prime example being the Salvation Army. Arguably, a dollar going to a sports team is a dollar less for those who could really use it.

Now don't get me started on the people who exploit children by asking them to sell chocolates based on commission pay coupled with blatant lies about the proceeds supposedly going to help needy children.

Love-at-first-sony! This relationship had better work. It will be too expensive to switch (yet again)..

2011-12-01T15:20:00.005-05:00

I just picked up the a65. I was in line for the a77 but it's not in stock. I could switch within 2-3 weeks if the a77 comes in but if there's such a thing as love-at-first-sight, it's happened to me! I've been around the block (Nikon D100, D70, D80, D90, Fuji S2PRO, Canon 5D, 5D2, 40D, 60D, Olympus E1, E3, E-30, E-330) averaging over 100,000 clicks a year at work and at play.... but this a65 is the real sweetheart. I might just stay with this instead of the a77.... or use this a65 as a backup to an a77.

Some major plus points:

-SteadyShot allows me to shot 1/2nd sharp (f2.8 at 75mm equivalent). Without SteadyShot, my sharpest is at 1/30th (50-year-old hands will do that to you).

-Focus Peaking.... a godsend when using manual lenses.

-EVF.... I've forgotten about optical finders already.

-Ergonomics, controls... usually an acquired taste but just overnight, I'm already comfortable with it.

-24MP sensor... noisy at 3200 but I expect noise at !SO3200. Anyways, its a killer resolution and one has to use a premium lens to realize this potential. I got the DT16-50 (should have been classified as a premium G lens) and it is NICE!

Some minor plus points:

- lens corrections in the camera body,

- panorama feature,

- twilight mode really works.

So-so HDR but then I'm used to Photomatix.

I have a video shoot this Saturday and on Monday (4 hours each) so we'll see how the video works for me. It better because this is the main reason I switched from Canon to Sony.

The major downers for me are:

-the lack of weather sealing (a77 has it). I shoot weddings and I've been splashed a few times so it matters.

-The a77 also has 150,000 actuations versus the a65's 100,000. The $400 price difference is about the price of a shutter replacement.

-No PC sync socket. A must for using pocket wizards.

I love this camera! I hope this love-at-first-sight becomes a long term relationship!

In-sanely In-expensive!

2011-11-30T10:20:00.002-05:00

Assuming the beer is San Miguel Beer, the best beer outside of Germany, 20 pesos is equivalent to $0.47CDN! Or a case of 24 for less than $12CDN. Typical ad for a club in Dumaguete City.
-photo courtesy of PLOD.

1 degree of separation (but a few degrees above normal)

2011-11-25T15:58:00.000-05:00

TTC announces reduced service

Scandinavia's late start to winter

Murmuration of Starlings

2011-11-25T11:47:00.006-05:00

murmuration: a collection of starlings.

After you read this Wired Science article and watch this video as posted on Vimeo, doesn't it make you wonder if we as a specie, when viewed from above, are doing our own naturally-choreographed dance as we live our lives, except that in our case, it is not a happy ending?

Video by Sophie Windsor Clive

Memories of Paris #4: Artist and Sitter on the Seine

2011-11-25T08:43:00.000-05:00

Paris, 2002.

Memories of Paris #3: "what's it all about, Alfie?"

2011-11-25T08:38:00.002-05:00

Seen at a park outside Victor Hugo's apartment,Paris, 2002.

Photos from the Emma-Rose Fund Gala

2011-11-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

http://emma-rose.ca/2011-gala-photo-gallery/

more photos at:

http://elementalview.smugmug.com/Events/2011-Emma-Rose-Fund/20055361_GtvjmH#1581244200_XpvcPRK

Robert Redford on the Alberta Tar Sands and the proposed Keystone Pipeline

2011-11-21T09:47:00.003-05:00

Op/Ed letter to the Globe and Mail

iPhone Diaries #433 and Book Review: "Small Acts of Resistance", by Steve Crawshaw and John Jackson, and on a related matter, the relevance of the Occupy Movement

2011-11-20T23:10:00.144-05:00

One would have to be on a deserted island not to know about the Occupy Movement in various cities around the world. The chattering class has written about it and invariably, it's been about how pointless the exercise has been and will be, and how it has inconvenienced most people. Time, and history, will surely tell that this movement is at a seminal crossroads whereby Western society realizes that the 1% has subverted democracy to the detriment of the other 99%. The Occupy Movement is an act of resistance.

Now on the book, "Small Acts of Resistance".

Most people in North America have never heard of baby strollers and the role this communal act played in bringing down the communist regime in Poland. This happened in Swidnik, in eastern Poland. A very innocuous, almost silly exercise became one of many acts of civil disobedience that brought the communist Polish government, and shortly thereafter, loosening the Soviet Union's iron grip on eastern Europe.

There was the designer for the lowly Burmese one-kyat note who softened the physical features of the widely respected Burmese General Aung San so that it resembled his dissident daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi. This quietly subversive act was one of the rallying points for her party's overwhelming victory in the 1990 general elections (ignored by the ruling junta, at their peril).

We learn of Rosa Parks (December 1, 1955) who refused to move to the back of the bus. But do we know Claudette Colvin (March 2, 1955) who was arrested and thrown out of a bus under identical circumstances?

Some of us have heard of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. But have you heard of Carl Lutz? He saved tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest.

India's Mahatma Gandhi is rightfully revered for espousing civil disobedience. But outside of the Indian subcontinent, who among us has heard of the Pathan (Pashtun) leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who is arguably just as remarkable as Gandhi.

Numerous individuals are mentioned in this book. There is Edmund Dene Morel, a junior clerk in a shipping company who exposed the horrors perpetrated by King Leopold of Belgium in the Belgian Congo.

There is Peter Benenson, saddened by the incarceration of two Portuguese students simply by raiding their glasses to liberty, who started Amnesty International.

There was the aptly named Lovings, Mildred and Richard, who brought about the end of miscegenation in the United States! When Barack Obama was born in 1961, the "miscegenation" of his white Kansan mother and black Kenyan father "was illegal in more than half of America's states".

In 1994, Boris Dittrich, a 39-year-old Dutch judge', led efforts for the first state-sanctioned gay marriage; similar laws have followed around the world.

More famously, Muhammad Ali refused to go to Vietnam saying, "Ain't no Viet Cong ever called they ask me to put on a uniform nigger". He said, "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam, while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?"

Marian Anderson singing at the Lincoln Memorial instead of Washington's Constitution Hall (where she couldn't perform because she was black).

The U.S. general Alberto Mora who argued publicly, against the acceptance of, and the use of, torture under the Bush Administration.

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno set up a huge hoax to entrap Dow Chemical (Union Carbide) into accepting responsibility, and therefore shining a spotlight on the Bhopal Chemical spill in India.

Less stirring but just as significant are the Iranian taxi drivers refusing to pick up turbaned men (mullahs).

There's the Iranian women sneaking into soccer stadiums in defiance of the mullahs.

The Burmese sticking pictures of the hated general Than Shwe on stray dogs to show their defiance of a curfew; dogs, afterall, are not subject to the curfew.

Just as remarkable and significant are the groups.

The workers at the Sarajevo paper, Oslobodjenje, showing defiance against the Serbs and the inattention of the rest of the world; the Afghan television show, Afghan Star, for art and women's rights; the daily protests on Plaza Mayor that led to the ouster of the Peruvian president, Albertio Fujimori (and his subsequent conviction); Belgrade's anti-Milosevic Radio B92.

There are many more mentioned in this book! They did what they did because they felt it was the right thing to do. they didn't wait to be told

One has to read this book to just get a glimpse of the efficacy of civil disobedience and that any act of resistance, no matter how small, can be very effective, in the short term and in the long run. This is a very inspiring book!!

The Occupy Movement will soon take it's place in a future book of social revolutions!

"The history of nonviolent action is not a succession of desperate idealists, occasional martyrs and a few charismatic emancipators. The real story is about common citizens who are drawn into great causes, which are built from the ground up". - Peter Ackerman and Jack Du Vall, A Force More Powerful.

The scene (and behind the scene)

2011-11-19T18:34:00.001-05:00

From a photoshoot at the Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto.

Behind the scene. Oct 2011

Canon 60D, Tokina 11-16f2.8 (on a monopod)

iPhone Diaries #432: "early Saturday morning cat"

2011-11-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

Moxie on the window, 8:30 am on a Saturday morning. Nov 19th.

On so-called "sports" bars.

2011-11-12T21:35:00.001-05:00

What makes a bar and pub a sports bar? I guess it would be if they showed sports on TV. But is it just a matter of installing a big screen hunker on every available wall space?

Any "sports" bar who brands itself a sports bar should be cognizant of the flavour of the moment, and not just the same same-old-same-old.

Take for example, Guelph's Arena Bar and Grill and The Real Deal. On the biggest (boxing) fight night of the year, when the Pacquiao-Marquez III fight arguably rivals the historic Ali-Frazier III (Thrilla in Manila) fight, both bars are featuring the same old inconsequential Leafs (historic perennial losers). The woman who answers the phone seems not to know who Manny Pacquiao is, only that she's been answering the phone for the umpteenth time, having to say, "sorry, we don't get that channel". To the managers of these bars, you'd think a handful of pints would pay for the pay-per-view fee on HBO!!

Sports bars should be more than just hanging mass-produced sports memorabilia on the walls; it should be about being cognizant of what the market is for the viewing public. I personally don't frequent sports bars but this would have introduced me to the Arena Bar and Grill and I most likely would have gone back if they showed European soccer on a regular basis (I don't have cable).

To be fair, none of the other bars I phoned were showing the boxing match; but then again, they didn't call themselves "sports bars".

Personally, it's okay because I am able to go to a friend's house to watch the fight.

iPhone Diaries #432: "Manhattans"

2011-11-08T07:50:00.000-05:00

Barry Smit, Geography Professor (UofG) and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change, joined Host Doug Larson at the Manhattan Club for the third part of Mash Mondays, an evening of songs, stories, discussion, and insight on the first Monday of every month (til April).

I went in on the suggestion of my Geography student-son. Lively crowd, good host, and my first pint of Innis and Gunn beer tasted really good. I volunteered to do the videotaping for the proprietor, Thomas Aldridge; hopefully the audio will be acceptable!

My first time at Manhattans won't be the last.

The Garbage I Became

2011-11-07T08:59:00.002-05:00

This poem is copied/lifted from my favourite blog: I Wrote This For You

Now the TV's on at 3am and you're sleeping on the couch, because you

can.

Now the plate is where you left it, no one else is going to move it for

you.

Now the politics of blankets are gone.

Now the people on the radio sound so far away.

Now you've got no plans when you wake up, just keep on keeping on.

Now the morning fades to light, to twilight, to night.

Now you rinse and repeat.

Now you remove the sleeve and remove the film.

Now you remove the sleeve and pierce the film several times.

Now dinner takes exactly 2:30 minutes.

Now the earth hurtles through the universe around a giant ball of

fire.

Now none of your acquaintances know they're really your only friends.

Now none of your friends know they're just acquaintances.

Now you've got to get used to being alone, like when you're born, like

when you die.

Now you're free.

Now you can do whatever you want.

You just have to do it alone.

"Galvanized"... love this word...Occupy Vancouver and the Downtown East Side

2011-11-07T08:48:00.010-05:00

In today's Globe and Mail, the headline reads: Vancouver set for showdown with occupiers after woman's death.

"The weekend death of a young woman at the Occupy Vancouver tent protest has galvanized determination by city officials to end the 23-day downtown encampment as quickly as possible."
"Given that we have had a very tragic death, which I think really shook people up, we need to move in an expedited way," city manager Penny Ballem told reporters Sunday, after a day of meetings with other civic managers, including police and fire representatives."

Wouldn't it be amazing, even miraculous, if Vancouver city officials would be galvanized by even just one death on the Downtown East Side?

The cynical side in me thinks the city officials were just waiting for one death at the Occupy Vancouver site as an excuse to clear the premises. I bet you the word "bingo" flashed in more than one city official's head as soon as the news hit.

Galvanized: to stimulate or excite as if by an electric shock (it's how steel is coated in zinc for rust-proofing). Hey, wasn't Robert Dziekanski galvanized (tasered to death) on Oct 14, 2007? In Vancouver?

Wedding Fusion: Photography and Videography by one person

2011-11-01T09:20:00.009-04:00

Due to the advent of DSLRs that are just as capable of superior Video as they are of amazing Stills, it is now possible for one person to do both Stills photography and Videography. It's not easy as the two disciplines require different modes of thinking, different parts of the brain. More (expensive) equipment is required, as well as a thorough knowledge of what a wedding day involves.

Wedding Stills photography is a demanding profession, as evidenced by the fact that although the digital revolution has enabled more photographers to capture technically decent images, only a few are able to combine photo technique with the ability to communicate and to capture the essence of a wedding day. The addition of video capture demands even more from the fusion photographer.

I have to mention a caveat here. The fusion photographer is not meant to replace a regular videographer. It is not possible, and anybody who claims they can do so is pulling a scam.

Starting in 2012, I will be offering fusion photography, not just for weddings but also for certain events (suitability to be determined on consultation).
Here's a line from my wedding site (www.rara-avis.smugmug.com):

"AND, and as an added service that is not reflected in the wedding fee, selected portions of the day will be shot on video. This is not meant to replace a regular videographer but it has always struck me as odd that FIRST DANCES, wild RECEPTION DANCING, certain once-in-a-lifetime SPEECHES, and OTHERS, are not shot in video more often. I understand that the old paradigm was to hire a photographer, AND a videographer. The latest technology (and a lot of learning on my part) has made possible FUSION PHOTOGRAPHY (a hybrid of Stills and Video).
And here I am! For the price of a value-for-your-dollar photographer, you have at your disposal a (primarily) Stills photographer who can do video, photojournalistic style.
Please note that the video coverage will never replace a regular videographer. The video coverage will be different for different weddings due to time and venue factors."

If interested, shoot me an email!

iPhone Diaries #431: "The pumpkin and the loot"

2011-11-01T08:21:00.000-04:00

Oct 31st.

iPhone Diaries #430: "not a mirror image "

2011-10-30T21:45:00.000-04:00

Moxie, the inmate, and Bello, the parolee. Oct 30th.

iPhone Diaries #429: "Walking the cat and the dogs"

2011-10-30T14:03:00.006-04:00

on a fine, crisp, Sunday morning. Oct 30th.

iPhone Diaries #428: "Hostas on the front yard"

2011-10-29T23:00:00.003-04:00

Hostas, a boring drab green and white in the summer, "come to life" in the fall, exploding in colours as the leaves "die down" for the winter. Hostas on the front yard ringed with frost.

Autumn is like an old book;

Marred spines turn mean yellow,

staples rust red-orange.

Every stained page is stressed

by a splat of color. Rough-red

like an old tavern,

we become hungry birds

and prepared for fall.

Shape and shadow are candied citron

as a lantern turns bitter yellow. Autumn

is a red fox, a goblet filled with dark wine,

a hot chilli pepper with smoky eyes.

Pressed leaves take in the colors

of seafood paella and saffron; these leaves

are like death, climaxing with a smile.

Autumn: her dress is a net of mussels;

dark shelled, it covers up

summer's weatherbeaten body.

So pull out your boots

and stand on an aged, wood floor

like an evergreen.

"Autumn" by Mary Hamrick

Oct 29th.

Maestros of the Bar

2011-10-27T09:35:00.003-04:00

No rehearsal, spur-of-the-moment performance behind the bar at the Grand Luxe on Bayview. Flaming lighter fluid on the counter, vodka pouring down bulls-eye on the glasses. It was all over in 20 seconds! Ephemeral! Oct 21st.

Canon 60D, Tamron 17-50f2.8 (busted zoom ring so it's treated like a prime lens, push-pulling on the lens barrel for the right focal length... but still as sharp as any Leica lens around), ISO1600, 1/20@f2.8.

iPhone Diaries #427: "The Emma-Rose Fund's Biennial Fundraising Gala with Grenville Pinto on violin."

2011-10-24T09:58:00.004-04:00

Grenville Pinto on violin in performance at the biennial fundraising gala for the Emma-Rose Fund. It is always a privilege to devote one's talent to a worthy cause. Additional photos still being processed; check the Emma-Rose Fund website for more details. Oct 21st.

A gift of flowers

2011-10-24T09:18:00.000-04:00

A most beautiful gift! Oct 23rd.

Another worthwhile endeavour

2011-10-20T15:08:00.000-04:00

Community Micro Lending Society