2012 Booty Bash

My latest video, shot in a really, really dark venue. It's a challenge in itself but in addition, the Sony a65 I used is capped at ISO1600 for video. I wish I had the hacked GH2 with the high ISO and high bitrate.

Now that I have the Sony a57 (capped at ISO3200), I'm looking forward to my next wedding video in early October. I used 3 lenses: Minolta 50f1.7, Sony 35f1.8, Sony 16-50f2.8. Lighting on some clips was with a Lumahawk 144LED.

I couldn't use the soon-to-be legendary (and proprietary) Sony phase detect autofocus because this closes down the aperture to f3.5. I used manual focus and although the focus peaking works really well, the room was so dark I had to pull and push the focus quickly to find out where the focus was. It was a constant battle looking for focus in a fast moving crowd. I used 1980x1080 @60p.

The soundtrack needs to be redubbed as "the highlights are clipped", to use a photo term. Not sure what the proper wording is in the audio world.

LX3 Diaries #475: Scenes from a Ribfest, Guelph 2012

What do you get when you have the hot summer sun (and acres of exposed flesh), a classic/vintage car show, live country music, a midway, a staff of volunteers, and ribs, ribs, ribs? Why a ribfest, of course!
A ribfest is a type of food festival that occurs throughout the United States and Canada. The size of each ribfest is often measured by the number of travelling professional "rib teams" which sell food and compete at the events.
A rib ffestival generally has multiple food vendors selling barbecue beef or pork ribs, puled pork sandwiches, chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, and other food choices.The vendors usually compete against one another for top spot in several categories including: Best Ribs, Best Sauce, Best Pulled Pork, and the People's Choice Award. (from Wikipedia)

Net proceeds from the three-day event went to local charities.

Chris, from the Boss Hog Team, brushes on the key to  winning the people's vote: the sauce!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The teams!

 

The food and beer tents...

And of course, all that food has to end up somewhere...

 

The arcades...

And what was I thinking? I should have taken pics of the vintage cars, the giant stage (country music), the rides, the people...

iPhone Diaries #467: liquid comfort: my tribute to Weegee

Guelph City Hall Splash pad. Aug 3rd. 2012

Photo by Weegee, Upper West Side, New York, ca. 1945

Art On The Street, co-hosted by the Guelph Arts Council and the Guelph Business Association, July 14th

Wyndham Street on the left with the temporary open-air studios on Quebec Street

The Fountain at St. George's Square

Artwork by Aisha

Aisha at her easel

Artwork aficionados

Artwork by Noelle

Noelle at her easel

Canada Day... and the Fireworks

They came by the tens of hundreds, filling the parking lots, walking up Woolwich Street, streaming into Riverside Park for the much anticipated Canada Day Fireworks. This crowd was a sampling of the Canadian mosaic: a country made up of people from around the world, from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, of varied sexual orientations, the disabled and not-so-disabled, living together in the best country in the world!

The fireworks last all of 10 minutes but the joy is in the gathering at the park: setting up picnic blankets and chairs, young children darting in and out of the crowd, young people stealing kisses and touches in the dusk, parents and grandparents enjoying the sight of their kids. There are the concession stands (the usual Canadian selections as well as an Ethiopean food stand), and the small collection of rides and amusement arcades.

It is the middle of a gorgeous long weekend and the problems and issues of our world may be set aside, at least for a few moments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riverside Park, Guelph. July 1st.

"please pick the biggest bag of candy floss I can get for $4"

to paraphrase The Barenaked Ladies, "if I had a million dollars, I'd buy your whole concession stand". Riverside Park, Guelph, on Canada Day. July 1st.

(almost) a full moon on Canada Day

After the fireworks, people mill around the concession stands at closing time. Riverside Park, Guelph. July 1st.

2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography

Welcome Home, The Story of Scott Ostrom
Craig F. Walker: The Denver Post