Anatomy Lesson: Ornithology Part Deux

So by some random stroke of fate, I encountered yet another dead bird while strolling around my workplace today.







This should be my last bird carcass post for a while. Assuming no further ash related disruptions, we fly out on Saturday evening... fingers crossed.

-G

Anatomy Lesson: Ornithology

I apparently have a morbid fascination with dead bird carcasses (see here for a previous photo post)... I spotted this one today during a lunch time walk by the river. It's interesting how clean the bones had been picked off and the fact that the entire neck and spinal column is left intact.



-G

Calgary Sunsets

I'm too tired to write up anything and there's so much shit to do before we fly out on Saturday (assuming flights are back to normal by then), so just another generic photo post. These were taken during a sunset photowalk on Friday, with the 50mm f/1.2. I just loved the beautiful dramatic lighting of the setting sun...







This is my favourite shot out of the entire set. I just love the interplay between lines, angles, light and shadows.










By this point, the sun was mostly below the horizon, and I packed it in for the evening.

Abomination

Too much time on one's hands leads to an abomination of horrors: a Holga 120N masquerading as a Leica. :)



Eleven days till we fly...

-G

Papercraft Family

I have a love:hate relationship with papercrafts. I love the finished products, but freaking HATE the intricate cutting, folding, and gluing of the stupid papers involved in making said finished product. And having said that, here's introducing the newest member of my papercraft family: Cheshire Cat. You can download the paperform from here if you care to make one yourself.

My fat fingers

While we were in Vegas, I bought a Superheadz Ultra Wide and Slim camera from Urban Outfitters for 10 bucks (STEAL OF A DEAL - they go for 30 - 40 normally). The only trade off was that it was bright banana yellow coloured. Whatever. Anyways, it took me forever to finish off a roll of 36 exposures with it - the lens is a fixed 22mm, and it has a fixed aperture and shutter speed combo that is ONLY good for bright sunny conditions.

So I finally get the roll developed, and the photos are totally rad (massive naturally occurring vignetting, vivid saturated colours). And for the first time in my life, I had managed to take a half decent landdscape photo. Except for the fact that I ruined almost EVERY FACCCKKKING SHOT with my fat fingers in them. Apparently, 22mm is SUPER WIDE. Like, so wide, that you can't even grip the little bastard camera without getting your digits in the shot!!! This is unfortunate, because the photos I took in Vegas were seriously awesome if my ham hands weren't EFFING in the corners of every shot. Seriously, FACCCCKKKK!! On the plus side, I did manage to squeeze 39 exposures out of a 36 exp. roll.

Random Desk Shot

This is what my current messy tabletop looks like. I need to do a bit of organizing, obviously. I'm curious what other people's desks look like. Take photos, post them somewhere, and drop a link in the comments.



Contents:
24" iMac, WD MyBook external hard drive, travel journal, freeze dried astronaut ice cream, earbuds, craft scissors, exacto knife, sharpie/pens/markers, Flintstones Vitamin Gummies, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Lonely Planet Croatia book, JVC mini stereo, Papercraft devil and Robocop

CDs: Gorillaz - Plastic Beach, Spoon - Transferrence, Yeah Yeah Yeah's - It's Bliss, Tegan & Sara - Sainthood, Sonic Youth - The Eternal, Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next, Flight of the Conchords - I Told You I Was Freaky, Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest, Various Artists - Dark Was the Night, The Lovely Feathers - Fantasy of the Lot, Hotel Costes volumes 7 and 8.

Cameras: Leica D-Lux4, Kiev88, Superheadz Ultrawide and slim, Voigtlander Vito II, Diana Mini, Std. P-Sharan Pinhole, Hole On-EX Pinhole, Canon AE-1 Program. (That's 7 film to 1 digital!).

Other camera shtuff: Kiev88 TTL Prism finder, a second Kiev88 film back, Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4 lens, Nikkor AI-S 50mm f/1.2 lens, various lens and body caps, 1 pack of Polaroid 779 integral film, various 35mm slide and print films, custom 120 film cannisters, stack of instax photos taken with Diana Instant Back, box of 35mm slides from someone's 1978 vacation to Greece, Epson V500 Scanner.

Hasselbladski

Today was a little bit like Christmas - my new Kiev88 CM kit arrived (cause what I really needed in life was yet another camera), and then my film order from B&H arrived. The Kiev88 is a Russian knock off of a Hasselblad (many times more expensive) medium format rig, which Marc would absolutely find amazing because 'it takes pictures from the top'. And then the box of film was a bit underwhelming and a relief at the same time. I had envisioned 100 rolls of medium format and 35mm film to occupy a much greater volume... but now I feel like I may just be able to cram everything into my carry on pack after all.