Celebration!

My mother-in-law asked Anita why I bought myself a new camera this week. Was I celebrating something, she inquired? Not that I need an excuse to buy cameras, but I guess could go with 'I'm celebrating my demotion.' I'm not the boss of anyone anymore, ha-lle-effin-lujah!

Instant Gratification - the Instax Mini and Instax 210!

I've been really digging instant photos lately, shooting Polaroids (type 600, not that ridiculous Impossible Project stuff) and Instax Mini pack film willy nilly. And so after a bit of humming and hawing, I broke down and bought the Fuji Instax 210 Camera. I've lost track of exactly how many cameras I own, but I think this is number 26 or 27. I'm about 10 cameras over my hypocrisy limit for criticizing Anita's shoe collection.

A note to anyone actually considering buying this camera and film in Canada, The Camera Store in Calgary carries the camera for a hair under a hundred bucks, and then Black's is surprisingly the cheapest source of pack film at 25 bucks for a twin pack. That works out to about $1.25/ shot, which is only slightly more expensive than shooting medium format roll film and having it developed at a lab (process only, no prints). Having done that math, I now feel more at ease about shooting this widely available Instax 210 film with wanton disregard. Instant film is Carpe Diem-ing gratification... and the images have this visual aesthetic that digital cameras will never achieve, so you can take your 'that's obsolete technology' argument and shove it.

The initial results I've gotten so far are typical of integral film cameras - slightly soft, sort of muted colours, and just plain AWESOME. Top two shots are from the Instax 210 Wide, bottom two are from the Diana F+ with a Instax Mini back.

Scenes from Portugal

More photos from our last trip abroad - I present you with a set of black and white Holga shots I took while in Portugal this past May. It's looking like our plans to go hit up Chile and Easter Island this year are fading (much sadness), so I guess I'll have to continue mining my current collection of shots for inspiration... click to view the large versions on flickr.















More Portugal photos here.

Amateur Strobist Session

Despite her usual reluctance to pose for my photos, Anita patronized me this evening by not refusing to sit for a portrait session. And so we messed around with a single light setup for a few portraits (and by 'light setup', I actually mean I turned on a floor lamp as the sole light source - it doesn't get more amateur than that). The results aren't terribly inspiring, but she was getting impatient after a few minutes of this posing, and so I only got a few shots to work with.

Life Drawing at Sandy Hill

I was in Ottawa this past week for work, and took the opportunity to hit up the local weekly life drawing scene at the Sandy Hill Community Center. Having only previously done this at Harcourt House in Edmonton, I wanted to see how other cities ran their sessions. I was impressed by the large turnout here (I'd guess in the 45 - 50 people range), and also by the relative low cost (only $4 bucks for the drop-in session). There were no tables, only chairs and a couple couches, so you either had to bring your own easel and sit in the back ring, or else, prop up your sketchbook on your lap. This wasn't nearly as inconvenient as I thought it would be, and made for a very good use of the limited space to house everyone. The pose lengths included 5x 90sec. gestures, a 20 min, and then 3x 30 min. poses, with breaks in between long poses for the models.

If you're interested and live or happen to be in the Ottawa area on Wednesday nights, check them out. Friendly folks, great atmosphere, and the chance to get inspired by the amazing talents of the various artists there.

Examples below - Pentel Pocket Brush, Chalk Pastels. 3x 30min poses, and 1x 90sec gesture.









And lastly, for a quick look back to all my 'life drawing related posts, click here.

Dear Tim Cook

Today is the 1111th day since I got my iPhone 3G (that translates to me getting it back on August 22, 2008). Patience is not a trait one would normally describe me with, yet here I am, still in my monogamous relationship with my slow as all shit 2nd gen iPhone. I've been using this antiquated single tasking phone long past 1) its prime, and 2) my hardware upgrade eligibility timeframe (18 months ago), despite the fact its circuits and solder are so old, it's essentially useless at anything other than making phone calls (like anyone actually does that anymore). All that, despite the ample availability of two full generations of hardware I could've upgraded to. Partly out of sheer stubbornness against subscribing to the 'product obsolescence lifecycle' bullshit pushed on us by manufacturers (my last PC ran Windows ME for 7 years before I went Apple - SEVEN YEARS and WINDOWS ME!!), and partly out of spite that I ended up in a line 3 people too long from getting an iPhone 4 on the day it came (and sold) out, I've been punishing myself this past year and a half with long loading times for everything from checking email to writing a note, to even opening the effing calculator.

I relay the above to you not in an attempt to show you how stupid or stubborn or persistent or tenacious I can be when it comes to NOT doing something most would have expected to be a no brainer, but rather to express this: WHEN IN THE EFF ARE YOU GOING TO ANNOUNCE AND RELEASE THE NEXT iPHONE, TIM??!! I refuse to the be sucker that buys the iPhone 4, only to have it obsoleted in a couple days/ weeks/ months by some new sexy beast of a smartphone that will flush your toilet and butter your toast at the same time.

WHEN, TIM, WHEN?!!

Roadtrip to Drumheller

We took a road trip out to Drumheller a couple weekends ago to check out the badlands, and also to hit up the Royal Tyrrell Museum. The photos are mostly self explanatory, so I'll save you the effort of reading some boring write up...

These sights are an increasing rarity.

Horsethief Canyon at sunset.

Coins + Fish = BAD?!


Seen inside the museum. Kinda gross, but I couldn't stop looking.

Anita shadowboxing an Albertasaurus.



The immature child in me finds this photo amusing... mostly because this is as close as you get in real life to seeing a T-Rex prepare to chow down on some unsuspecting passerby.

Who doesn't like a bit of sunflower action...

Hiking Old Goat Glacier

Third weekend in a row that we drove that crater filled gravel road beyond the Canmore Nordic Centre to get to the Smith-Dorrien for a hike. We chose a shorter trek this weekend, opting for a small 650m elevation gain hike in to see the Old Goat Glacier. As you approach, the glacier looks pretty pathetic from afar, but when you get right up to it, you realize it's far more impressive than you first thought (it extends much further than you can see, as much of it is currently buried under the loose rock).



Obviously, this photo has been heavily edited. I like how it looks like Anita and I were here in 1973, and not just yesterday.

Twelve South Book Book Laptop Case

I ordered a case for my MacBook Air, and it was due to arrive tomorrow. So when UPS showed up with this package one day early, I was giddy like a schoolgirl who just received her case for her Macbook Air one day early. The actual case is designed to look like an old leatherbound book from an era long gone, and is cleverly named BookBook. If you wants one for yourself, go here.

Scrambling Ha Ling Peak

Two scrambles in two weekends. Now that's more like it. Although Ha Ling can hardly be called a scramble, as it's really just a steep-ish hike. But that's not to take anything away from Anita. I'm proud of her for pulling this one out, considering she has the hiking skills of an 87 year old. I mean that in the nicest, most endearing way of course. As nice as calling your wife an 87 yr old can be, that is. Despite her relative lack of mountain prowess (more like NONE AT ALL), we managed to summit in under 2 hrs. And surprisingly, there were many other groups on the trail that turned around before the summit because of the perceived scary factor. So yay Anita! And yay to the taster's selection on the menu at the Grizzly Paw Brew Pub! Perfect way to finish a perfect day.