Thursday, December 31, 2009

Resolution


Never put off until tomorrow what you
ZZzzzzzzzzz...


Shot with a 40D & 12-24 at 12mm, f5.6, 1/10th, iso 400, lit by the TV, lamp & a little flash fill off the ceiling at 1/16th power.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

More Speed


Indoors. Again.
Playing with toys. Again.
Legos. Again.

Just messing about with movement. Really.

Shot with a 7D & 24-105 at 35mm, f4, 1/2 second, iso 200, under the family room lights.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Parallel Parking


Sometimes you need an overview of what it means to get that big old car into that little tiny parking spot, and why anyone would try doing it backwards.

So, you get out the Legos and build a parallel parking school. Saves on gas and the paint too...

Shot with a 7D & 24-105 at 28mm, f4, 1/6th, iso 400, handheld under the living room lights.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Ready, Aim...


While waiting for my sweetie to check out the movie times, I stepped out of the parking spot to take a closer look at this church in Victoria BC. While looking up at the enormous steeple, I thought it looked like something that might just take off for a moon shot.

Shot with a 7D & 24-105 at 24mm, f8, 1/250th, iso 100.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Swan Pond


We went to the Butchart Gardens after dark to check out the Christmas decorations and see if we could find all the hidden elements of the "12 Days of Christmas". After our second outing (after warming up) we managed to find all twelve, including the 7 swans a swimming.

Shot with a 7D & 70-200 @ 130mm, f2.8, 1/40th, iso 400.

For those of you that are counting, one of the swans swam out of the picture...

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Fifty!


It's a special birthday today - Lance is turning 50.

Happy Birthday Lance!

Shot with a 40D & 50mm at f1.4, 1/60th, iso 800 lit with the kitchen lights at Gr & Gr's house while Grampa held a flashlight as a backlight.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas!


A day of gifts.

Another day of life.
Family to enjoy it with.
A home to be warm and dry in.
Presents to share.
Energy enough to race in and open 'em...

Shot with a 40D & 12-24 at 12mm, 1/15th, iso 400.

This Little Light...


Here's the only photo I got for the day. Actually, "I" shot over 1,200 - using a time-lapse shutter release to trigger the shutter every 4 seconds.

The resulting movie is the last few minutes of our Christmas Eve Church service...

Shot with a 40D & 12-24 at 12mm, f4, 1/25th, iso 400.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Express Yourself!


The power of the camera is amazing sometimes. Point it at your typical sane person and suddenly a completely different personality pops out.


This is the result I got right after he said: "I'm schizophrenic, and so am I"...


Shot with a 7D & a borrowed 24mm at f1.4, 1/160th, iso 200.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Escape


Climbing the stairs out of Boulevard Park tonight, in the dark, it felt like we were escaping someplace like Alcatraz. Our voices hushed with a small flashlight to aid our step on the darker landings, we climbed up and out with relief when we reached the top.


Shot with a Canon G7, 7mm, f2.8, 1/10th, iso 200.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Playing with Bokeh



A simple explanation of how the background bokeh in a previous photo was created.

Shot with a 7D with 12-24mm f4 zoom and an 85mm 1.8 opened up to f2 for the final photo.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Into the Wind


We walked the bay trail today, reaching Boulevard Park to sit by the shore briefly before turning around and heading back to town.


Shot with a 7D & 24-105 at 24mm, f5.6, 1/125th, iso 250

Quiet Water


The shoreline can be an amazing place. Maybe I don't have words to go with it...

Shot with a 40D & 70-200 at 200mm, f22, 10seconds, iso 200.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Stirring (Not)


A very still night down by the marina tonight. My sweetie & I had a nice walk with a view to a few boats decorated for the holidays.


Shot with a 7D & 50mm 1.4 at f2, 1/15th, iso 1600, hand-held against a lampost pretending to be a tripod.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Coming Soon...















Shot using a 7D & 85mm at f2, 1/40th, iso 200, lit with a 580EX overhead at 1/128th power. Stars provided by the Christmas tree lights and shaped by a paper cut-out over the lens.





For more information, see Charlie Brown Christmas.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Eyes


Just a close-up of my daughter and her amazing windows to her soul...


Shot with a 40D & 85mm at f2, 1/30th, iso 400, lit with a single 430 on camera turned 180 and bouncing off the wall behind me.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Bates?


Is this what it looks like on the open road late on a rainy night when your eyelids are heavy and the needle is approaching E? The only place where you can get horizontal for some fitful shut-eye and the structure seems to be crumbling right in front of you? Is this where the manager's mind slowly leaks out of his socks while he dreams of exacting his revenge on the next person to hit that little bell on the counter?

Shiver. I'm glad I'm home tonight instead...

Shot with a 40D & 50mm at f1.4, 1/80th, iso 400, lit by the flickering neon and the seasonal porch lights.

Monday, December 14, 2009

The Understudy


Sometimes you have to step aside and let the youngster in on the game.

Shot with a 7D & 70-200 at 95mm, f5.6, 1/200th, iso 100, using a single 580EX overhead in a softbox.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Snowing. Just, snowing.



There's something very peaceful about just standing outside when snow is falling.

So, I mounted a video camera on the tripod and recorded some of it. Pretty basic, but it was a good excuse to step out of the house for a few moments of quiet and wonder.

Shot with a 7D & 70-200, f2.8, 1/60th, 720p, iso 800.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Railing


Out on a walk along the water this chill evening, we stopped into Woods Coffee for a warm up. What a great place to hang for a moment and sip something soothing.


The stairway to the loft, next to our seats, built with this wonderful wood and stainless steel, cried out for a shot for the night...


Shot with a 7D & 85mm 1.8 at f2, 1/20th, iso 800.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Bearded


The branches near Whatcom Falls were layered in a new coat of frozen mist today, and probably for the last several days, since the mercury dropped.

So I wandered over to check it out, picking my steps with great care...

Shot with a 7D & 12-24 at 13mm, f16, 15 seconds, iso 100, using a 3-stop ND filter.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Fire & Ice


My sweetie & I had an evening sans children - all too rare an event. Hey, I love my kids, and so does she - but now and then you need to be able to finish a sentence without interruption.


So we had a nice dinner at Anthony's Hearthfire Grill and dreamed about sailing away on one of the boats out front.


On the way out we spent a moment with the frozen water fountain out front wondering how it was done - and then realized there probably wasn't any planning, maintenance simply forgot to turn off the water in the sub-freezing weather we're having...


Shot with a 7D & 30mm 1.4 at f2.5, 1/15th, iso 400, handheld (with two hands, I'm slowly mending - yippee!)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

21st Century Battleship


It's not the game it was a century ago.

No.

Now you have to know stuff. Like how to hack your opponents laptop, or find a wormhole.

And, it's played for keepsies...

Shot with a 7D & 30mm f1.4 at f2, 1/2 second, iso 100, with a single 430EX overhead in a softbox. Blew up 3 laptops in the process.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Dessert First


Life is so short. Each moment is a gift - better try the sweets whenever they are presented to you...

Shot with a Canon G7 - again because I can hold it in one hand.

Frosting


Out to start the car this morning & I was greeted with a nice coating of frost. I didn't have a window scraper so I left the frost in place, thinking I could see through the pattern.

I was wrong.

When the sun lit it up, nothing outside the window could compete with the contrast...

Shot with a Canon G7, one-handed.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Celebrate


My sweetie does her own creative thing. Often times with little scraps of paper and a bit of glue.


This time it gets it's own museum mounting and special lighting too.


Shot with a 30D & 50mm 1.4 at f4, 1/10th, iso 100, lit with a single 430EX w/grid and seasoned with the remaining tungsten dining room bulb.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Pantry Raid


can't sit.

can't stand.

can't lie down.

can't type.

MORE PAIN MEDS!!

al i cn say is: don tear ay limagints, uh, ligaments...


shot with a 30D n 12-24 at 12mm, f8, 1/10th, iso 100, lit by a 580ex & 430ex gelled cto, seasoned with a little tungsten kitchen lighting.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Outlier


This one was a stand out.


In a parking lot littered with fallen leaves, this one caught my eye from 20 yards (metres?) away.


Maybe it was that ray of sunshine lighting it up. Who knows?


Shot with a 7D & 12-24 at 12mm, f4, 1/500th, iso 200.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Abstract Decorations


Today, I planned my day down to the minute. From a quick breakfast onward, every activity had a time slot and the choreography rolled like a fine Swiss watch.


Yeah, right.


At 11:37 I realized I hadn't had the camera out of the bag and the sands were running out. Since I'd noticed the neighbor hadn't turned out the non-denominational winter holiday decorations (must have gone to bed without thinking, like me) so I raced out with a camera to see what I could make of them in the huge slice of free time I had left to me.


Here's the result.


Say, are those amoebas in my lens?


Shot with a 40D & 70-200 at 200mm, f2.8, 1/40th, iso 800.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Box O Fruit


Not much to say here. I'm not feeling 100% today, so I'm shooting the first thing that moves. Er, acts fruity.


Shot with a 7D & 12-24 @ 24mm, f4, 1/10th, iso 400, handheld under the kitchen lights.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Speck Check


While walking back to the tire store, after opening my wallet for 4 new tires (ouch!), I got to enjoy a welcome bit of sunshine.

Upon returning home to have a look at the photo results, well after the sun had set, I was chagrined to learn that my lens is thoroughly filthy. And I don't mean that in the way Chase uses the word.

I guess it's time to build that clean room I've been thinking about...

Shot with a 7D & 12-24 at 12mm, f16, 1/80th, iso 100.