A Sucker for All Things Camera

I'm a fiend for all things camera related. I don't think there's ever been a camera themed object I've encountered where I didn't think, 'OOOOOH!' So my brother-in-law bought me this retro styled rangefinder camera iPhone case, and yep, my reaction was a predictable, 'OOOOOOH!' This is in spite of the fact that using the case would turn an otherwise sleek phone into a bulky, unwieldy, clumsy brick that would require a fanny pack to carry it around. Calling all hipsters: I need you to make those cool again!

A Splash of Fall Colour

As we approach the 'official' end of summer, it's easy to get depressed knowing that the fall season is about to usher in months of stuff to complain about: colder weather, annoying teenagers listening to their iPods way too loud on the bus, daylight savings time, CBC running daily NHL lockout updates when there's actually nothing to update ("Gary Bettman seen at JC Penny", or "Donald Fehr takes a shit in KFC"), etc. Ugggh...

However, I do also find the next couple weeks of the year to be the most interesting, colour wise, in Calgary. The neighbourhoods are awash in a splendour of golds, ambers, reds, and even a bit of orange foliage. Coupled with the bright blue skies and beautiful late afternoon sunlight, it's hard not to be impressed by the beauty of nature soaking in the last rays before the snows come. If you're one of my little students in my DSLR class, Professor Mach commands you to go out and shoot some of these late summer/early fall scenes.

Lightpainting: G.Mach's two minute tutorial

A friend asked me about light painting, and I got a bit intrigued, having never done it myself. So I figured, it's 2am, what the hell, let's give it a go. I'm sure folks in the neighbourhood seeing the rave-ish lightshow through my window were thinking, 'That Asian kid is on THE ECSTASY again'... whatever. That's about as close as this middle class yuppie will get to being a misunderstood artist. So after two minutes of set up, and a couple tweaks, I doodled off a few random things with my 'laser' (flashlight) for funzies. I also made an attempt at the USS Enterprise, but it turned out more like a flying sperm whale, so I didn't post it.









Quick tutorial

Gear:
-Camera with self timer, long exposure mode, and (preferably) manual focus
-Maglite with front hood removed (or any small point LED light should suffice)
-Tripod or other surface to set camera on

Instructions:
-Set up camera on tripod and self timer for long exposure
-Prefocus on where you will be drawing from
-Turn out lights
-Start long exposure (I did between 20 - 30 seconds)
-Face camera and draw with light

I don't think this needs to be said, but just in case, you want to do this in darkness, or your effect will be greatly diminished.

Life Drawing - Calgary Edition

I finally found out about some life drawing groups in Calgary! One of them held a multiple model session last night at Eau Claire's community room. See below.













These next four were done on an 18" x 24" sketch block, which is too big for my scanner, so I had to photograph them, hence they don't look nearly as good here than they do in person. Come visit, I'll show you. :)

Hawksley Workman

I was cleaning up my mess of art supplies, and came across an old charcoal drawing that I don't remember posting before. So here's me kicking off the weekend with a little Hawksley Workman, sketched buddha only knows how long ago...



Enjoy your weekend, folks! I'm gonna go draw me some more nekkid peoples tonight.

Pot - Bad; Cocaine - Good (?!!)

I read an interesting article today about a study that demonstrated some detrimental health effects of using marijuana. The basic gist of it was: Pot, Bad. Cocaine, Good! Of course, if you want to read a more elegant summary of the findings, see the statement excerpted below, or go here for the actual article.

Using marijuana may increase the risk of developing certain forms of testicular cancer, while using cocaine may reduce the risk, a new study has found.

Now kids, the take home message here is NOT that you should take up recreational use of cocaine to avoid ball cancer... but rather, we now have definitive proof that Lance Armstrong was a doper.

Cue the *audience groans* sound clip...


Above photo shot with the Kiev 88 on Kodak Ektar 100.

The Dead Bird Diaries

Those of you who have followed this blog for the past few years will be familiar with my infrequent Dead Bird Diaries series... And for those that are new, welcome to my slightly morbid series of art in death.