Monday, November 30, 2009

365: 74 Mopey Monday

   Today I awoke to the first real significant snow of the year.  There wasn’t a huge amount on the ground because the grass was still showing through but there was just enough to make everything picturesque.  Today felt like one of the coldest days of the season so far.  I don’t know if it actually was but walking out to the porta pack without a jacket was a chilly walk.  I’m not going to write as much as yesterday cause yesterday I was in a super expressive mood it seemed.  I think it might have just been the Christmas spirit, or lack of homework on the weekend but I was in a good mood :).  Today’s picture is another ornament on our tree.  I think both my brother and I have identical ones like this so not sure who’s it is.

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   I forgot to mention earlier but I did find my lens cap for my 70-200mm lens wedged in my physics textbook still holding the page for the answers.  It was a good way to start off my morning, I would have been in a bad mood had it not been there.

   Well that’s all I’ve got for today so until tomorrow,

Ciao,

Dave

Sunday, November 29, 2009

365: 66-73 Christmas Mode

   Well since American thanksgiving has now passed I guess that means its officially the holiday season, although I have heard/seen signs of the season since November 1st.  I guess it might be because we are going away this year that it might feel like things are happening faster than normal or it could just bet hat the lack of extremely cold weather or snow makes it feel like its earlier in the year than it actually is.  The tree went up Wednesday/Thursday I think, Christmas music was going during that time as well.  We also had the first fire of the 2009 “winter” (‘cause its not officially winter yet) this evening, and I ended up watching the end of Elf, which just puts you in a happy mood, without fail.

   This past week was pretty crazy, especially the last two days, I had three test in three periods, period 4 Thursday, and periods 1 and 2 Friday.  Only upside to that was very little homework this weekend.  I wrote the hardest math contest of my life on Wednesday, I ended up spending the last half of the time just doodling because I had no idea what was going on on the contest.

   I was supposed to have a lot of hockey this weekend, but Friday night at our game, on one of my first shifts I fell on my wrist pretty hard and I figure I sprained it, I played the rest of the game but t’was not pleasant.  So that took me out of practice/beer league on Saturday night, and exhibition game/practice today.  It feels a bit better today but I wouldn’t play hockey quite yet.

   I was awoken at 8 o’clock this morning by my father telling me we were going to get out H1N1 shots.  Now I don’t know about you but I haven’t seen 8am on a Sunday for who knows how long.  I was not happy to say the least.  The clinic was pretty dead however so that made it tolerable and breakfast out afterwards made it all good.  I spent a bit of time today going through last night’s parade photos which will make up some of today’s photos (oh yeah, photos, you weren’t getting bored of reading were you?). 

  I guess I have blabbed enough about the week that was so I guess I can get to the real reason people are here, photos.  Most of ‘em are from the parade last night, with a few of some Christmas ornaments on our tree.  The parade ones were kind of annoying to take because my battery needed to be charged a while ago and I was pumping the flash sometimes so recycle time was pretty slow so there were some missed opportunities.  On top of occasionally trying to press the shutter with my mitts on or a frozen hand, there were a lot of photos on the way to the trash.  Look at me, still blabbin away.  Anyways here’s the good stuff.

IMG_5372 
This one changed into all sorts of pretty colours :P

IMG_5382  Don’t know what/who sponsored this one but I just liked the way the lights came out.

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This one was pretty cool, they had the wipers flipped up and on so the car was waving at the crowd.

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“Robots need love too” ‘nuff said.

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The mini OC Santa bus.

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On to the ornaments!
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The s’more ornaments, we have quite a few of these courtesy of Christmas Tyme in Huntsville, Ontario.

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And another one from the collection.

   Anyways that about sums it up for this week.  I’m gonna try to keep up with daily posting but we’ll see if school agrees with that.  I have a couple more parade/ornament shots that can be posted as well, or I may just put em up on flickr or facebook, or both.  Until Tomorrow,

Ciao,

Dave

Sunday, November 22, 2009

365: 65 Sunset Saturday

  Back again today with a non hockey shot.  Didn’t get a chance to take any pictures today because I woke up at about 11, finished up some questions for work which as it turned out I didn’t need to do, then got ready for work and was at the bus at about 1:25.  We went downtown to the Empire 7 theatre which is located in the World Exchange Plaza.  We got there about 2-ish and waited a little while for Rick, the GM of the new theatre where I will be working to show up.  Then the day consisted of Ice Breakers, Company  values, how to make the theatre look good, and sexual harassment and violence talk. All that lasted about 4 hours.  They made it pretty fun and it didn’t feel too long.  I get to go back tomorrow and do another 4 hours probably.
 
   Anyways, today’s shot is from a little while ago, the sky was all kinds of crazy colours and patterns with clouds so I went out to take some pictures of it.  I really warmed this one up in Photoshop and that’s about it.

Sunset Saturday || Canon EOS 50D / EF 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/160s | f/9 | ISO500 
 
   I should have said this yesterday but if you click on the picture it takes you to a larger version and they all look much better.  I probably won’t have any time tomorrow to take pictures because of work and then homework possibly before and after.

   Well I am half an hour late for Saturday but I think it’s close enough. Until tomorrow,

Ciao,

Dave

Saturday, November 21, 2009

365: 43-64 Oh…My…Gosh!

 

  Well if this isn’t laziness I don’t know what is!  It has been 22 days since my last post, yes that was the Thursday before hallowe’en.  I guess I have just been pretty busy with school and hockey that I haven't gone out and taken many pictures recently.  It seems that 67’s games on Friday are really making the bulk of my photo collection (and today’s blog post).  As well, I really need to start venturing outside my backyard to take pictures, its getting really repetitive, although last time I did get a few nice shots.  I won’t be titling shots or embedding the meta data today cause I really don’t have the patience to look it up for 22 shots

IMG_4700 IMG_4707 IMG_4796 IMG_4813 IMG_4818 IMG_4923 IMG_4928 IMG_4950 IMG_4982 IMG_5024 IMG_5072 IMG_5134 IMG_5163 IMG_5177 IMG_5221 IMG_5222 IMG_5223 IMG_5248 IMG_5258 IMG_5262 IMG_5283

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  We ended up getting really close seats for the Plymouth game and it really helps to get nicer angles for the the shots.  Well hopefully I can get back on track again and keep up my posting.  I would have added captions to some photos but the formatting of windows live writer is the most annoying interface on the planet and I really don’t feel like messing with it tonight.

   I have orientation at work tomorrow, which work now refers to Empire Theatres, I am going to be working at the new theatre they are opening on Innes Rd.  I don’t know what I will be doing specifically yet but hopefully that will be cleared up tomorrow or Sunday, yes I have orientation for 3.5 hrs both days.  The theatre I will be working at is set to open December 18th, and unfortunately we are leaving for our cruise December 19th so I won’t be working very much then.


   Well that about sums up 22 days of absence from the blogosphere.  Hopefully I can keep the posting up and not have to make massive posts like this again in the future. 


Until tomorrow,

Ciao,

Dave

Thursday, October 29, 2009

365: 42 Leaving Trails

   I did take my camera, I did not take pictures.  Coffee house was pretty good although it seemed kind of short with only 10 performances. After it was over and we helped clean up a bit we decided to go to Broadway's with a bunch of other people who were there already/on their way.  But first we decided to make a stop and pick up Gavin at work.  Worst decision ever.  Gavin said he would be done at 9:30, it was 10:00 before we left Moe’s for Broadway’s.  We were the last ones to arrive and it turned out that I was the last one to leave. So because it was so late and I didn’t have any new photos today, I almost considered going to bed without posting, but then I thought, “I am on a roll, 14 days running, I can’t stop that.”. 
    So for today’s way back playback I am going back to the first day I had my new camera.

Leaving Trails || Canon EOS 50D/ EF 50mm f/1.8 II | 1/250s | f/5.0 | ISO100

    Well wrapping it up here today, I have to drive my brother to school in the morning for 8 so gonna have to get up a bit earlier than normal.  Be back again tomorrow with hopefully some more recent photo’s.

Ciao,


Dave

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

365: 41 Contrasting Leaves

Hello again,
   
   Back with another picture and recap for you viewing and reading pleasure.  I am going to need to come up with some more interesting ways to start off these posts because I can only imagine reading hello again for the 243rd time might be a tad annoying for some.  Today was not a fun day at points.  I got a few quizzes/tests back that had plenty of room for improvement to say the least.  I am doing this post fairly early tonight because I am going to try to get up early and go to extra help for math tomorrow morning.
   Tonight because of homework and various other things I did not take an  new exciting photo’s to share but I still have plenty of good ones hiding away from other days’ shooting.  I did two edits of today’s photo, colour and a black and white version available here.  I couldn’t really decide which version I preferred so I will leave that up to you.

Contrasting Leaves || Canon 50D / EF 70-200mm f/2.8L @ 70mm | 1/640s | f/6.3 | ISO200
   I may bring my camera to the coffee house at school tomorrow night, we shall see.  Then depending on whether I do or don’t bring my camera I may or may not post a picture from coffee house :P  Well I ran out of stuff to say about 3 paragraphs ago so I will stop rambling now.

Ciao,

Dave

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

365: 40 Glass Through “Glass”

   Back again for I think the 13th day in a row!  A few times the posts haven't been posted on the right day but they were started on the right day so it’s all good.  I ended up finishing The Digital Photography Book today.  I’ve only read a few pages of Vol. 2 at this point but it seems like there is going to be a big emphasis on off camera flash which I don’t have yet, and if I want one its going to cost me a few hundred bucks.  Photography is an expensive “hobby”, I already spent a crazy amount on what I have currently, and already I could spend probably at least another grand on more stuff I want.  A wider lens than 50mm ( x1.6 on my body) is a bit hard to fit in some stuff sometimes but its nothing that I can’t get over.  My next lens purchase, at this point anyways, would probably be the Canon EF-S 10-22mm.  Add a tripod and/or monopod, a bag, a filter or two, and I’m sure that would still leaving me wanting something new in a little while, haha. 
   At school this morning we had the high school awards ceremony.  I “helped” organize the grade 9’s from last year/grade 10’s this year.  I quoted helped because I guess I wasn’t doing the job right but I was pretty much demoted to ushering people into their rows.  The ceremony was pretty boring, with everyone in grades 10-12 who earned honour roll the previous year getting called up, as well as another probably 50 awards to be handed out for various accomplishments.  Maybe it was just the fact that I only got honour roll that made it seem so long for me.
  Today’s photo: Explanation on the title, glass through “glass”, the first glass is referring to the glass of the National Gallery of Canada.  The second glass, the one in quotes, is a slang photography term for a lens.  Makes sense seeing as all a lens is is a series of glass lenses (confused yet).  So its a picture of the National Gallery taken from Majors Hill park a few weeks ago.  Not much else to say really other than enjoy :).

Glass Through Glass | Canon EOS 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L @ 200mm | 1/1600s | f/5.0 | ISO200
   Finally, before I wrap this up I want to share another video that I find quite humorous every time I watch it (which is about 10 times now).  Funniest parts of the video in my opinion involve the police, lol.



   Well I am going to wrap this one up here and I am going to try to get to bed earlier than usual tonight.  I need my beauty sleep you know :P

Ciao,

Dave

Monday, October 26, 2009

365:39 Bulls Eye

   Monday! Everyone's favourite day of the week no?  Yeah me either.  Getting up this morning, oh that was not fun.  Went to bed at like 1 last night, actually heard my alarm go off at like 7:10 this morning which is pretty early, but just over 6hrs of sleep is not a fun way to start the week.  I had to get up kind of earlier than normal cause we got new flooring in the kitchen/laundry room today so I needed to help move some last minute stuff.  The guy came after I had left for school and finished around 1 and the floor looks pretty nice.  We moved the fridge back into the kitchen from the hallway and avoided scratching/compressing the new floor.
   I picked up three books from the library that came in today. I have read 143 pages of the first one (its very easy reading so that number seems like more reading than there actually was, plus its half pages, pics on top).  The books are all photography related and I still have another 3 or 4 on request but 2 are more Photoshop books.  The titles are The Digital Photography Book (Vol. 1 and 2) by Scott Kelby, and Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson.  Good book so far, Vol. 2 seems like its dives into more advanced stuff, so far this one has been quite a bit of stuff that I have read before, it just simplifies and explains it a bit clearer than I had previously read.
   On to today’s photo, I took it at like 10:50 cause I realised that I hadn’t taken a picture for the blog today and I didn’t want to go back into my old pictures today.  As you can probably tell this shot is pretty posed :P.  I used a piece of red construction paper as a diffuser/bounce card for the on camera flash because ambient light just wasn’t enough to hand hold and get a sharp shot.  It worked pretty well and gave it a nice even exposure.

Bulls Eye || Canon EOS 50D / EF 50mm f/1.8 II | 1/15s | f/2.5 | ISO200 
  My hockey team won our first game of the season tonight with the game winner being scored by yours truly.   We played pretty well but it helped that the ref was calling a lot of penalties against them (we didn't capitalize on the PP unfortunately) and they were a pretty weak team.  We ended up winning 3-0.
   I don’t have class all morning tomorrow because of the High School awards ceremony which is running till lunch and maybe a bit into it.  I think that about wraps up my day today so there isn’t anything else to say.

Ciao,

Dave

365: 38 Setting Sun

   Well its that time of year again when the days are noticeably shorter and the days are cool.  In a weeks time we will be rolling the clocks back one hour, although I think the UK did theirs today or last night. I slept in till about 11 today, and tonight is not going to be fun trying to fall asleep after going to bed at like 2 last night. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but I think that Sunday’s are my least favourite day of the week.  I just have a bad feeling all day that there is little time left in the weekend and that there are things that need to be done.  Now most of the time I just don’t do certain things so its worrying about nothing but the feeling is still there all day.  I end up procrastinating homework and other stuff all day but while procrastinating I just lay on the couch.  For example today I did not do anything of value till about 5, when I showered and got dressed.  I didn’t start my homework till about 8.  Anyways enough of that.
   I did take a few shots today, nothing really of fantastic artistic potential but I did kind of like the picture I am posting today.  I just leaned out the porch door and focused on the light.  Pretty much all of the leaves on my tree have fallen off now so that let the sun shine through the branches.  I put the 50mm back on my camera after it had been rejected for quite some time, it has pretty much resided in the 70-200’s case for the last 2 weeks at least.

Setting Sun || Canon EOS 50D / EF 50mm f/1.8 II | 1/2500s | f/6.3 | ISO500  

   As I mentioned last week I requested a few books from the library, and since then I have added one or two more.  Only one is ready for pickup but two more say in transit so hopefully I can get more than one at once, also the one that is ready right now in #2 and #1 is one of the in transit ones so hopefully I can read them in order.
   I was showed this video yesterday and I have watched it probably 5-10 times since then.  Some of you may have already seen it but I think it is hilarious every single time.



   Hope you enjoyed that!  Well it is late and I probably won’t fall asleep for a while but I am going to pack it in for the night.  Apparently I have to get up a bit earlier to help my dad move the kitchen table out of the kitchen for the flooring guys tomorrow.  We already moved the stove, fridge, washing machine and dryer off the floors being done. Anyways

Ciao,

Dave

Sunday, October 25, 2009

365:37 Blue and Brown

   Well I didn't get out to shoot anything exciting today.  The weather was pretty crappy all day with it raining at points then misting at others.  This one is from the first time I went downtown with my camera and its of the Library of Parliament, or at least the roof of it.  My mom was not a fan of the blue and gold on the “spires” but I really like it.

Blue and Brown || Canon EOS 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L @ 70mm | 1/800s | f/7.1 | ISO200 

   Tonight was the second week of Saturday night hockey and we had way less guys out than last week.  Our team had 2 spares and the other team only had 1.  I got extremely tired about halfway through. I don’t know if it was lack of blood or spares or a combo of both but I just had no breath left.

   Tomorrow is going to be a busy day with moving all our appliances in the kitchen out because we are getting new flooring on Monday.  As well I have quite a bit of homework to do :( I’m going to keep this one relatively short and wrap it up here, technically this is an hour and a bit late but it still counts for Saturday’s post.

Ciao,

Dave

Saturday, October 24, 2009

365:36 Pink Game

   I (with friends) returned to the Urbandale Center (still sounds weird) tonight for the 67’s game.  In support of Breast Cancer Research the 67’s and the referee’s and linesmen were wearing pink uniforms.  It was pretty confusing from our first seats, which were all the way up, second last row.  I kept thinking we had a player hanging up way down by their blue line but looking closer it was a ref.  The uniforms looked fine and its great that they are supporting Breast Cancer but I just don’t really think it works for an actual game, sure its some nice novelty merch. but beyond that I think it was just additional chirping ground for the other team.

   As I kind of mentioned our seats were less than desirable so for the second period we moved down to behind one of the nets.  Unfortunately neither of these seats were great for pictures, first seats were just too far and high up, second I had to deal with netting and glass/supports.  This one picture is ok, the netting didn’t seem to have as much of an effect when I was at 200mm shooting the far end, it just made the colours kind of washed out.

Pink Game || Canon EOS 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L @ 200mm | 1/1000s | f/3.2 | ISO1000

   The final outcome of the game wasn’t that great either.  We ended up losing 7-4, with their final 2 goals coming in the last 4 minutes or so.  Perugini seems to have found a way to make himself permeable to pucks.  There were at least three that went right through him somehow, it was frustrating to say the least.

   I donated blood this morning and everything went fine.  There were a lot of first timers though that had similar experiences to what I had last June.  There was 5 people that needed additional care by nurses and probably at least 5 more people who were rejected for various other reasons.  My donation took about 7 mins which was pretty quick.  I think it was the hydrating and a full stomach which helped this time go a little better than last.

   I’m technically going to post this one a day late because it is after midnight now but I started on the right day so it’s all good.  I may or may not be doing a haunted wagon ride type of thing tomorrow and I may or may not bring my camera if I do end up going.  I kinda want to get out and get some more new picture but I’m not really sure what to shoot.  Anyways that about does it for about 8 days in a row now I think :D

Ciao,

Dave

Thursday, October 22, 2009

365:35 Abstract Light Trails

  Real exciting and witty title eh?  I’m sure I could eventually come up with something but I don’t really want to sit here for a couple of hours trying to think up something.  I am going to try to get this post done in 18 minutes and then head to bed because tomorrow I have to get up earlier than usual to drive my brother to school and in an attempt to not repeat last years blood donor clinic incident of me nearly passing out I am going to try to get as much rest as possible.  I drank a lot of fluids today (2 cups of hot chocolate when I got home from school, and now I just drank about 1.1L of water after hockey.


   Today’s picture is a little bit of a deviation from the norm of what I have been posting here.  I grabbed my camera and turned off the lights and took a shot of the light on the computer speakers.  The length of the exposure and my unsteady hands made a neat little pattern.  I then proceeded to take many more picture in an attempt to come up with something.  Then the darker blue trails you see are from the lights on the computer tower.  The picture you see below is a composite of 5 images.  I did have most of the pictures I took in there but it just ended up being too cluttered so I got rid of most of them.

Abstract Trails || Canon EOS 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L | 1s | f/32 | ISO500

(7 mins gone)

   We had our second hockey game of the season tonight and we had our butts handed to us by the other team on the scoreboard.  We definitely got outplayed in the first period, pretty even second, and better third period.  The final score was 5-1 but in my opinion 3 of their goals were lucky tips.  We did have less guys show up for our team tonight and I played D so I got much more ice time as opposed to last game.  I got a new stick on Sunday and today was the first time I got to use it and I must say that I really enjoyed it :D.

   Looks like that about wraps it up (and early too, still 6 mins to go).  Hopefully tomorrow will go fine and there will be no exciting stories to tell but if there is, all the better, makes the thinking up stuff to say much easier. 

Ciao,

Dave

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

365: 34 Repeating

   Back again with a post, 7 days in a row now!  I’m going to keep this one fairly short because its late and I am very tired (even The Dudes weren’t enough to get me out of bed promptly).  With today’s picture (another one from Friday) I was trying to get some sort of repeating lines going on.  I think it kind of worked and kind of didn’t so I will let you decide if you like it or not.

Repeating Lines || Canon EOS 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L @ 70mm | 1/1000s | f/9.0 | ISO200

   This evening there was an information night for all the Ontario Universities, I went to the Western one as well as the U of T one.  The only thing that they made me realize was that I am likely not getting any entrance scholarships, and I probably can’t afford to go there anyways :P
   Glee was pretty good tonight and if you are following me on twitter (*read* do it if you aren’t already) you know that it left me smiling :).  Anyways I am gonna head of to bed. 

Ciao,

Dave

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

365: 33 Church and the Apocalypse


   I contemplated not writing this post today but I figured I was on such a roll, why should I stop.  I think I am a little tired seeing as I set my alarm to go off for 6:30 this morning, I did not wake up until 7:10 and only then because my mom came in to wake me up.  The goal was to be at school for 7:30 but that didn’t really happen, I hopped in the shower and grabbed breakfast for the road and got to school for 7:40.  It was fine though cause Mr. Harvey never starts extra help at 7:30, I still had plenty of time once I got to his class.  The math test went alright first period, I kind of ran out of time and had to rush through a few questions, and one was ridiculously time consuming so that one didn’t get finished.  The rest of the day went ok.  I had subs all afternoon, chem. just for the day, french is going to be for the next month or so.
   On to today’s photo.  Again I am going back to last Friday's stash.  This one was taken from Majors Hill Park near the lower end of the canal.  The church is Notre-Dame Cathedral which is one of the nicest churches in Ottawa that I have been in, if not the nicest.

Cathedral Spires || Canon EOS 50D/EF 70-200mm f/2.8L @ 70mm | 1/2500s | f/5.0 | ISO200     
   I ventured on to the Ottawa public library site today for the first time in ages.  I downloaded the Frankenstein audio book because I am going to be reading it next semester in my Literature class.  As well I got in some pretty big lineups for some photography books.  Then by chance I stumbled upon an old favourite author of mine, Bill Bryson.  This guy is the funniest “travel” writer you will ever read.  I thoroughly recommend that everyone reading this reads A Walk In the Woods.  I read this book in grade 7, and I remember that because I honestly nearly broke out into laughter when I was reading this (I definitely had a smile on my face the whole time).  He has a book titled a short history of nearly everything, which is exactly what the title hints at.  My parents both read it and really enjoyed it but I never got around to it for two reasons, 1. The size of this thing is enormous (hmm, just looked and its only 554 pages, but I’m sure its not easy reading), and 2. just the content was probably a little too deep, he describes pretty much the start of the universe in a way the average person can.  I thought about getting that one too, or even going to the library to pick it up because Orleans said it had one checked in, then I though about Frankenstein and Oedipus the king and realized that would be plenty of reading for a while.
   Finally I have two nuggets of internet goodness to share with you all.  The first is the video you see below which was part of a Fox newscast and I just love how angry the guy gets. Secondly still along the lines of oh my god why would you do that we have this link :http://www.topcultured.com/bacon-jam-its-b...you-can-spread/ You can just read the title and pretty much get the idea but there are pictures that are really insightful. 



  Enjoy those? I hope so, cause I know I sure did!  Well now that everyone feels like they ate relatively healthy today (I hope) I am going to head to bed.  I hope that I don’t sleep through my alarm as bad tomorrow.  I think part of the problem was the music choice I had, Amy Milan isn’t exactly wake up peppy kind of music (no offence Amy :P ).  Might have to find some really upbeat music to start the day off.  I’m thinking The Dudes might do it :) Anyways,



Ciao,

Dave

Monday, October 19, 2009

365: 32 Monday Monday

   Hello again for the 5th day in a row!  Ah Monday’s, gotta love em.  Math review was non-existent this morning, I was almost falling asleep in physics, chem was review of the same organic chemistry we did last year, and a quiz (sorry “épreuve” ) that didn’t go so well.  What a way to start the week! Oh then I get home and have pretty much been doing math review for the test tomorrow the whole time. I’ve not done any in the last hour and a bit but before that I was pretty much working the whole time.  I’m almost done my review and I am going to go early tomorrow morning for extra help.
As bad as I made that sound it really wasn’t that bad.  Pretty much an average day for me this semester unfortunately.  

   I didn’t have a chance to get out today to take a picture with all the math work.  This is another one from Friday’s walk around downtown.  I did a fake tilt-shift lens effect on it.  I think it looks ok, not great but it kinda works.  I called this one Scary Bridge because when I was younger the sound that this thing made when we drove over it.

Scary Bridge || Canon EOS 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm | 1/1600s | f/2.8 | ISO200

The following picture isn't really part of the blog its just a picture of the new IKEA tables that I set up yesterday.  The narrow one with the CRT monitor on it goes all the way into the corner and then the wider one with the computer that is on is against that one.  I much prefer this new setup to the old one.  There’s a lot more room, around the computer as well as space for math studying :P.

New Tables

   Well that just about does it for day 32, I might take another look at my math before I head to bed and then up early tomorrow to extra help (which probably won’t be, as anyone has gone to one can attest to) but hopefully it will clear up a few things.

Ciao,

Dave

Sunday, October 18, 2009

365: 31 One month down, 11 to go

   Well I’m keeping up with the posting now which is good.  Taking plenty of shots that you like also makes this a little easier. Today’s shot is another one from Friday’s walk downtown.  The colours of the leaves on this tree were so vibrant and contrasted the blue sky very nicely.  I did enhance the colours a fair amount afterwards in PS using both the burn and dodge tools.  I really didn’t have any final product in mind when I was doing it so it might be a little over the top :P . 

Loud Leaves || Canon 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm | 1/640s | f/7.1 | ISO200

  To me this has a kind of HDR look to it but I can guarantee that it is only one photo :P .  This tree was in Majors Hill park if I remember correctly.  I think that was the only place where there were trees that I took pictures of because there were a few others that had amazing colours too them.   I don’t currently have any shots lined up for tomorrow but I’m sure I will be able to find one that I have already that I like, or get out and take another one for tomorrow :).  

   My parents picked up some new tables for the basement/computer area yesterday and we set them up today.  I really like them cause there is a lot more room than before plus its just a cleaner looking area.  It was a pretty big job of clearing the space, manoeuvring one table in, putting as much on that one as possible, clearing the old table off, moving the second new one into place and finally hooking up the newer computer again.  There is still a lot of cleanup of random cd’s and floppy disks that are lying around that need to be organized as well as clearing off some stuff off the table that really doesn’t need to be there.  I think we may be going back soon ‘cause we are going to get some better chairs because right now folding chairs just don’t cut it.  Adding that to the list of shopping that I need to get done soon which also includes, new winter shoes (mesh running shoes won’t cut it), hockey practice jersey (my old one just disappeared over the summer), and going to get a suit for our cruise.

   Yesterday and last night was my final shift at the Orleans Tennis Club for the 2009 season.  We had a round robin and the AGM in the afternoon and then the banquet at 6:30.  Dinner was a potluck with everyone supposed to bring their specialty and then we voted on which was our favourite.  Saturday night hockey started at 10 p.m. as well.  It was a pretty fast pace for the first night and only 3 spares a side.  That about sums up my weekend so I will end this one here.

Ciao,

Dave

Saturday, October 17, 2009

365: 30 Squirrel Time

  Whoa! posting 3 days in a row, not too bad.  I am home from my final shift of the ‘09 tennis season at the Orleans Tennis Club.  I am going back in an hour for the year end banquet but that is just eating, not much work!  We had a round robin followed by the AGM (Annual General Meeting) where members voice their opinions on certain things, vote in the new executive, executive reports etc.  It was pretty boring and at some points even confusing.  None of this relates to the title, its just a recap of what went down for me today.

  The title comes from the fact that since getting my camera I have taken more than enough pictures of squirrels.  I took one on Thursday, then many more downtown of this one squirrel although many were deleted. I’m doing a first today, I’m posting two pictures on one day.  The first one is the one that I took on Thursday and never ended up posting.  The second is one from yesterday that I call super squirrel, and you will see why if you scroll down :). 

Stocking Up || Canon 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm | 1/400s | f/4.0 | ISO200

  I was in the basement and my dad called me on the phone intercom and told me there was a squirrel out his bedroom bay window so I grabbed my camera and went upstairs.  That’s why the perspective is eye level, I was on the second floor of our house looking straight out at this guy.  It looked like he was eating a lot of the helicopter things that you find in maple trees.

  Second shot for the day is, as I said, titled Super squirrel.  This squirrel was in Majors Hill Park I believe and I got lucky and got him while he was airborne à la superman.

Super Squirrel || Canon 50D/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm | 1/800s | f/5.0 | ISO200

  So there are just a few of the squirrel shots that I have.  I managed to only take 30 minutes to make this post which is pretty quick for me, lol.  I do have another shot lined up already for tomorrow so it looks good for making it 4 days in a row :)  Tonight after the banquet Saturday night hockey starts up which, again as I have previously said, am really looking forward to.  Thanks again to those who read, leave a comment on blogspot or FB and let me know if you are reading.


Until tomorrow,

Ciao,

Dave

Friday, October 16, 2009

365: 29 Fall Corn

  As I mentioned yesterday I went downtown this afternoon after my workshops at the University Of Ottawa.  I took “Why Take English?” which I really enjoyed as well as “Why Take History?” which wasn’t as good, it was pretty much a Q&A about stuff that was in the pamphlets that we were given.  I got my fair share of walking done today though, walking back and forth on campus then down through the Byward market and around downtown.  We started at the beavertails stand in the market, walked down the fruit and veggies stretch, which was pretty empty, then up the York Steps, through Major’s Hill Park, up to the Samuel de Champlain statue near the art gallery and back, to the Rideau Center to catch the busiest bus of my life, the 95 back to Orleans.  When we got on I popped in my tickets and didn't move, that’s how full it was.  I felt somewhat violated at some points just because of the proximity of others and what they would do to let some people off.


Fall Corn || Canon 50D/EF 70-200mm f/2.8 @73mm | 1/180s | f/3.2 | ISO200

  
   This was the first shot of the day actually, and as you can tell by the picture, there was a lot of corn.  I took this picture because I just liked the look of the way the corn was set up.  I took about 140 pictures today, a lot of this one squirrel near the peace keeping memorial.  I actually have too many picture that I want to post now, and I will probably end up taking some at work tomorrow as well.  So there will not be a shortage in that department for a while.  One of my favourite shots of the day is now my desktop wallpaper, twitter background, and as well its on flickr. 

   Tomorrow is my last shift at the tennis club for the season.  We have a round robin then the Annual General Meeting followed by a potluck banquet that evening.  Saturday night hockey also starts up this week which I am pumped for.  I am just looking forward to playing a little more often than my normal hockey cause he have 3 lines of forward plus and extra so there is much more standing and waiting than playing.  Saturday night hockey we usually have like one or two spares a side so there is no excess of players to worry about. I guess that is it for today.

Ciao,

Dave

365: 26-28 Catch-up Again

  Well after my super post on Monday some may have thought that I would made an effort to stay on track.  Unfortunately those people are incorrect.  I have to say honestly that I really am not making that hard of an effort to get out and get pictures every day.  Especially now with the colder weather I think I might be less likely to get out if there is precip. or just really cold weather.  Anyways I did get out today when I got home from Tennis at school because it appears that pretty much every leaf in our front tree had the same idea today and that idea was fall to the ground.  There was a good 2-3 inches of leaves covering our entire yard.  I took a few shots from various angles and this was my favourite. 

Fallen Leaves || Canon 50D/EF 70-200mm@200mm f/2.8 | 1/400s | f/2.8 | ISO200


   We got pretty cold last night, probably -5° or around there.  There was a wind chill this morning which is just depressing.  Looks like my mom’s flowers in the front garden are done for the year.  I didn’t notice at first but upon further review I started to see flower people in the picture.  The one on the far right is the easiest to see, middle requires a bit more imagination and I don’t really see one on the right but you have a much better imagination than I do.  What I liked about this shot was the detail on the concrete behind the flowers and then the contrast of them on the concrete.  Plus the purple adds a nice pop to the image as well.

Flower People || Canon 50D/EF 70-200mm@70mm f/2.8 | 1/160s | f/2.8 | ISO200


   Moved to the backyard and there were more frozen flowers.  This one was a little less colourful than the previous ones.  It was kind of getting dark and my hands with the 70-200 aren’t exactly the steadiest of surfaces so its a little blurry, but I did manage to fix it up a little after the fact (raw is still awesome).  Only thing with RAW which I’m sure there is a website somewhere regarding it is when I go to save as 8 bit the colours get really desaturated so its kind of annoying.  Right now I am just doing save for web and that seems to work well so the only reason I would do it the other way is so that it keeps the EXIF info.  I may have posted some pictures (facebook or flickr maybe) of this flower when it was in its previous glory, it used to be bright red I think.  Again it looks like the frost got to the flowers over the last couple of nights.

Seen Better Days || Canon 50D/EF 70-200mm@200mm f/2.8 | 1/100s | f/4.0 | ISO200


   So tomorrow is the University of Ottawa Open house day, I’m doing english, history, and physics demo’s then afterwards I am planning on playing tourist downtown again for a bit.  I did have another shot from today lined up by I may or may not post it tomorrow depending on how tomorrow afternoon goes :).  Anyways, back on track…for now, hopefully I can keep it up for a few days at least. 

Until tomorrow,

Ciao,

David