Don't let the pigeon use the camera
I got bored again today. So I made up a little story for you. Anyone who's familiar with Mo Willams' awesome pigeon books will get this. If you don't know the books, hopefully you'll like it anyway :) All the inspiration came from Mr. Willams, of course. Sorry some of the pictures aren't the best, it was hard to do this by myself!

And a little note, the awesome and amazing Meghan has nominated me at Blogger's Choice Awards, so feel free to vote if you feel like it. I won't be mad if you don't though! Thanks Meghan! :)

Pizza = Life
I love pizza. Seriously, I eat it all the time. The pizza below is probably my favourite kind. It's got healthy things like garlic spinach and a whole wheat crust but maaaaan it's good. I ordered an extra large and I've been eating it for 2 days. I'm down to the last piece though! So sad. I may need to get another one. I love how a favourite food makes me feel all happy and full, even when I have lots of studying to do. Anyone else love pizza? What's your favourite kind?


And some other random shots from today - flowers that I've been forgetting to water:


And one I just love of Sasha. Not perfect by any means, but it's just so her. When she doesn't want to go for a long walk she picks up her baby and takes him out with her. We get some funny looks in the street, but it's so cute!

Thanks for visiting! :)

Chicago!
Hi everyone. I'm so sorry it's been so long. Please forgive me? I spent most of Saturday and Sunday with a friend who's going through a really tough time right now, and then was busy getting ready for Chicago on Monday. I got some more shots with the wide angle lens before I gave it back, but nothing that I'm really happy with. I may share more of those later in the week. Thank you SO much for all the comments on my last post. I loved reading them and I really appreciate them!! It's so great to know that you guys liked them even though I wasn't so enthused. I think they're growing on me :)

I had a great time in Chicago! I felt so brave lol. I bought a day pass for the city trains and buses and went all over the place. No cabs for me! Even from the airport. I went to Lincoln Park to the zoo and conservatory, which are both free. Isn't that amazing? The Toronto Zoo is over $20/person. Then I took more trians/buses to Evanston where the school is. I really enjoyed it and I think I may end up going there. I'm still going to visit Buffalo though. I love that the school in Chicago is right on the lake! Here are some snaps from the trip. Sorry there are so many! My back completely gave out in the afternoon, so I didn't take many of the University or after that since I could hardly walk!

Here's the pass :)

City over Lincoln Park:


Flower. This is growing outside! We don't have anything like this yet in Toronto.

Cool flower in the conservatory:

Pulley wheel in the conservatory:

Abstract leaf:

I think this thing is so cool. I have no idea what it is though:

Red flowers:

Pretty white flower.. Really hard with the lighting not to blow this one, but I tried:

Dog in purse at conservatory:

Zoo!

I love giraffes.

Look at these guys! They were totally posing. Happy feet!

Random, but some light showing through the slats underneath the train station:

Pond thing at Northwestern:

Lake, with Chicago in the background. Notice the colour on the rocks, the students paint love notes and messages all over them!

Chicago from Northwestern, man on bench:

My glamorous Chicago dinner (after finding a Walgreens to get a heating patch and Advil for my back!):

A boat in the river? I didn't know Chicago had a river. Maybe it's part of the lake..

Going Wide
I decided to rent a super wide-angle lens this weekend, just for fun. It's not expensive at all (I don't think), $25 for Friday afternoon - Monday morning. I got the Canon 10-22mm. It's really cool! A totally different perspective than I'm used to. I have a Sigma lens that goes as wide as 18mm, but 10mm is REALLY wide. I like it though I think... I'm considering buying this or something similar, but I haven't decided yet. I'm also considering the 85mm 1.8. Go figure, I can't decide between two completely different things! I'm not too excited about these shots, but I thought I'd share my results anyway. I've got two more days, hopefully I'll improve. Does anyone else have a wide angle? I'd love to know what you think of it. Also, if you have tips to help me improve my shots from today please tell me! I was basically fumbling my way around, especially since I forgot to look at a DOF calculator for such wide focal lengths.

In other news (lol), I may be moving to Chicago instead of Buffalo! I have a thread on ILP asking for advice, but of course I have to let you guys know too. If anyone has opinions on either city, let me know! I'm going to Chicago on Tuesday to check out the school (Northwestern). I'm totally frazzled and worried I'll make the wrong decision. It was so easy when I didn't have a choice!

Oh. One more thing :) I made it so you have to click play on the music, just because of the chorus in case there are kids around. Click it though if there aren't, this is such an old song but I love it. I used to obliviously rock out to it when I was 11 :D

Here are the pictures... Taken on my way home from the rental place, almost all at 10mm.

Toronto City Hall with seagull (I know it's crooked lol):

City Hall skating rink/fountain.. Right now it's neither:

Along the side of City Hall:

A man. I paid him, don't worry. We had a good long conversation before I asked if I could take a picture. Notice the selective colouring.. Does it work?

Posing for a friend:

Fruit market:

Again:

Aaaand again. I love limes though, couldn't leave them out:

Flowers for me
I got flowers today. From myself! :) There's a new little florist's shop down the street. The lady who owns it is so sweet, and she's often there working past 10pm. I really want her to succeed, so I've been buying far more flowers than I usually do (which is none). I decided I needed something beautiful today, so I stopped in on my way home from buying popcorn (my only outing today, except for walks with Sasha. I had popcorn on my mind all day!) I love flowers, my day was instantly brightened. We all need to treat ourselves sometimes, right?

Played with light more here, with varying results. I'd love to know your thoughts. I think the very last one is my favourite, but I enjoyed getting all of these. The dark ones took a lot of trial and error to get the exposure even close to right. The ones with black in the background were taken with the flower hanging from a beam in my garage. The window was to the side of the flower, putting quite a strong light on the flower but nothing else. So I exposed for the flower and everything else is black (well, except for the one where you can see the opening of the garage door!)

Thanks for visiting, and remember, I'm always open to CC :)

The dark (I can't choose between the second and third, opinions?):





And the light: