Wanderlust

Someone please take me on a vacation. Like right now. I haven't been on a plane in 6 months, and I'm bored as frick with home. B.O.R.E.D. So bored, that I'm actually going through some photos from our trip to France last October. Speaking of the French, Phoenix' song, Entertainment is featured as the end theme to Now You See Me. Which is a pretty dumb film, by the way. It starts out with an interesting premise, but then it loses steam towards the end, and the last 15 minutes are just downright stupid. If you want a good film about magicians, watch The Prestige instead - Chris Nolan directs, stars Batman and Wolverine (Bale and Jackman), and David Bowie plays Nikola Tesla. Nuff said.

Okay, I got nothing interesting to say tonight. Look at some pictures, then go to bed.

Have Camera, Will Travel

As I gear up to teach another 4 night run of Using Your DSLR, I'm ironically debating leaving my DSLR at home for my next trip. We've booked our flights to Chile for November, and I'm weighing the pros and cons of going completely film this time. I'm thinking of taking this kit 1) medium format rig (Pentax 6x7), 2) 35mm rangefinder (Leica M6), 3) toy cam (Holga), and 4) 50 rolls of film. In today's world of ubiquitous DSLRs and high capacity memory cards, I realize people may scoff and label me 'hipster douche', but that's generally the superficial response from digicam toting Fauxtographers.

Shooting film is so much more rewarding than burst firing on a DSLR, and the results are so much more nuanced than a sterile, perfectly sharp digital shot. Some of my favourites from our last trip were shot on film. See below for a smorgasborg of photos from Vietnam and Korea. I don't feel like doing write-ups for each photo cause I have zero inspiration tonight, but if you want to learn more about any of these, just click on them, and you can read the stories I wrote up about them on Flickr.

First Scramble of the Season - Nihahi Ridge

Most years, we've been out by April for an early season tune-up, but the extended cold wet spring pushed the start of scrambling season back far later than normal for us. June 1st should be summer-like temperatures already and mostly snow free in the front ranges, but scrambling up Nihahi Ridge yesterday felt like a spring hike with patches of snow still dotting the route up. The top of the ridge was chilly as we sat unsheltered from wind, but otherwise, the day was awesome.






















The traverse goes on for 7km. We opted to call it a day and drink our beer.


Celebratory Summit Beer!


The only proof I was on this hike...


The descent.





The details: Nihahi Ridge starts at Little Elbow Recreation Area parking lot (not far from Bragg Creek). You walk through the campgrounds, and soon swing on the Nihahi Ridge trail to the right, quickly gaining elevation through forest, before emerging onto a bit of scree and then slabby rocks which you scramble up to attain the ridge. From there, you can traverse along the ridge for 7km.

Strangers in the City

I've started a new personal project that I'm tentatively calling Strangers in the City, in which I am approaching random people I encounter and asking them to sit for a portrait. The intent of this project is multi-fold. I want to break out of a personal comfort zone, while also breaking down isolating barriers that society has taught us throughout our lives about not talking to strangers. It can be strangely lonely in a city of a million plus. There is a huge void of intimacy and community as we all go about our daily lives - ignoring the people around us in favour of our smart phones. And out of 'politeness', we stare at our shoelaces rather than look at each other and perhaps establish some form of connection. Hopefully the people I meet as part of this project will feel more engaged and connected to this city, and maybe they will adopt a less distant demeanour towards the people around them as well.


This is Gabriela, a lovely lady originally from Mexico, but now a Calgarian. She liked that I was photographing strangers and building community. Photo taken inside Clive Burger on 17th Ave.


Say hello to Kate and Kelsey, who caught my attention when I saw them staring at my camera. Turns out one of their moms (or maybe both) is a photographer as well. Another interesting connection between us - they work at the Drop-In Centre, which I volunteered at for a year way back in the day. Photo taken at the streetside patio of Melrose on 17th Ave.


These three didn't want their real names used, but asked to be referred to by the faux gangsta names of Niqq, Kpop, and One-chain. Photo taken outside Reid's on 17th Ave.




I asked this gal if I could photograph her backpack cause I love the look of these Herschel Supply Co. bags. I wish I had also taken a portrait of her as well. Much regret!


This is Josh, a nice dude who was waiting for the bus on 4th street. I love the Pabst cap. Very rad!

In total, I approached 11 people today, and only had one person politely decline. Unfortunately, a photo of Drew and Darren (two Calgary firefighters) was ruined because I completely underexposed the shot, and got a big black frame. And one shot of Kristal is at the start of my next roll, which has yet to be developed. All photos taken with a Pentax 6x7, Takumar 105mm f/2.4, on Fuji Neopan 400. Developed at home in Ilfosol 3 diluted 1:9.