Monday, June 4, 2007

Cows gone wild: Saskatoon
Hey guys! I missed you all while I was away, but I had an awesome time! The conference was so much more fun than I thought it would be, a positive outlook on things can really do wonders! We laughed until we cried many times each day, saw lots of cool animals, got driven around in a police car, and.. yeah, we presented some research too :)

Here are some photos from the trip.. Still loving my new lenses, especially shooting wide open with the 85. I've included settings with these just in case anyone's wondering, and to document them myself. I've admitted to myself that I have a problem with constantly underexposing images, so I tried to work on that this trip. I still had a lot of underexposures, but a few less than usual I guess!

We walked to the bovine research centre of the university and found some cows. They were... interesting. They followed us around everywhere. Then tried to eat me.

Wide angle shot of our stalker cows:

11mm, f/5.0, 1/250, ISO 100

Then they started to get personal:

10mm, f/5.0, 1/250, ISO 100

Check out these cow eyelashes!

85mm, f/1.8, 1/640, ISO 100

Then it got nasty. I'm sure my shoes are delicious, but come on guys! That's gross.

85mm, f/1.8, 1/640, ISO 100 (for the 3 on the
side, the other is from my friend's camera)
Click to view bigger (it's better, trust me)

Then we headed to the natural science building. I would FREAK if I saw one of these in real life, but behind glass they're pretty cool:

85mm, f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 400

85mm, f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 400

Another day we went to this beautiful riverside restaurant and berry farm. They had awesome flowers all over the place:

85mm, f/1.8, 1/8000, ISO 100

Windmill on top of the barn:

85mm, f/4.0, 1/1600, ISO 100

Old thing.. I don't know what it is but I thought it was cool:

85mm, f/4.0, 1/1600, ISO 100

My friend I do research with, leaning on a cool old building.. I couldn't get this quite right, but I still like it...

85mm, f/1.8, 1/2500, ISO 100

Sitting on the steps of the house:

85mm, f/1.8, 1/2000, ISO 100

To anyone who hasn't had a comment from me in a while, I'm making the rounds slowly but surely! In no particular order.. I had 200 new items on my bloglines when I got back. But I hope everyone is well, and I should be back to normal soon!

28 comments:

Rebekah said...

Hey, I thought you were in Cuba! ;) I love the one of the barn and the wide-angle of the cow and its tongue... that's too funny. Oh, and I love your description of the cows - that made me laugh. ;) I've not been commenting on many blogs either, but I'm slowly getting around to it. I have missed your posts though!

m.e. said...

So great to have you back, Ellen! You're always such a breath of fresh air for me ;-) Glad you had a nice trip. Your photos are fabulous. I love the frogs! I'll be back soon to check in. Happy week to you!

m.e. said...

BTW, I love that you include your settings! It helps me in my learning ;-) Thanks! And the Jack Johnson rocks...

Amy (3 Peas) said...

Awesome photos!! BTW- I *LOVE* your song- it's one of my faves :)

Dogeared said...

I'm guessing your shoes were leather, in which case - double ewww, they're licking leather?

Nice photos, you really got the freaky/crazyness of the cows across!

Lulu said...

Yay! Ellen. It's great to have you back...looks like you had a fab time...and you are just rocking those new lenses! Wow! :)

The cow/feet ones are hilarious...great idea for a mosaic and you are beautiful. :) Love the frog shots, that second one is ART.

My favourite shot of all is the last one...perfection!!

Looking forward to your next post... ~ L.

Lipglossiping said...

Welcome back Ellen, we missed you! Glad to hear you had a great time... and those cow shots are fantastic.. I couldn't believe when I opened the storyboard one bigger - do they not feed those animals?! too funny!

Tiarra - Little Faces Photography said...

You are amazing! I wish I could get that kind of focus at 1.8!

Stephanie said...

Some of those are SO funny!! Glad you had a fun time, and captured some really awesome photos. Who would have thought that cows had so much personality. :D

Jennifer said...

oh Elle, these are awesome and beautiful as alwas! I love to come back and see what you have new. Ewww, a cow tongue is so gross, and I can't believe that the cow tried to bit your shoe wow, did it have mad cow disease?!:) That frog is so cute I love frogs! Your flower pics are so pretty and colorful as always! I love the last portrait very interesting and beautiful!

willowonthewater.com said...

What on earth did you step in that was so darn tasty!?! Those shots are priceless. I can see the tongue one on greeting card. Not sure what occasion... but obviously something in the humor section!

Angie Penrose said...

I'm so glad you're back! These shots are amazing. I love the cow shots. I live in a cow town, it reminds me of home. These are all really great. The color is gorgeous. Looks like a fun trip!

Kayte said...

I absolutely LOVE the tongue photo - it looks so fun! And what a beautiful subject you have in your friend there - she's gorgeous.

Meghan said...

Oh yes... that tongue photo made my day.

So nice to have you back, m'dear.

Megan said...

Alright, the cow shots are so you..and I mean that in a good way..I always enjoy coming to see what you've posted..you make everyday objects seem so interesting..you have a GREAT eye for seeing how to make things fun and unique. I'll be honest though.the cow tongue did gross me out a bit..ha!

Love the last one of your friend..great location! Glad your back...

Ellen said...

Thanks everyone! I love that I can go away and you still remember me :)

Rebekah - Cuba is the NEXT trip.. I'm leaving next Friday! :) Thanks for dropping by girl, I always love your comments.

Jen - Thanks so much! And I'm glad you liked the settings and the music..

Amy - Thanks.. Yeah I love this song too, I keep coming back to it!

Helen - OMG you totally made me spit out my tea on this one. I hadn't even thought of that! Hilarious. Thanks for posting lol (and you owe me a new keyboard, mine's drenched!)

Lulu - Thanks!! Lol I definitely don't feel so beautiful in that shot, but it's too funny not to post. Thanks for always stopping by, you're a good friend (and are you still coming to Canada this summer?)

Lottie - I think the feeding of the cows is definitely questionable. They were following us around like WE were the pieces of steak :p

Tiarra - Thanks.. I'm sure you can though, trust me it's alll trial and error :)

Jinksee - Thanks! And you're right, I never knew cows could be funny.

Jennifer - Lol I hope it didn't have mad cow disease! I'd be in trouble :) Thanks for always visiting

Willow - Hahaha.. I have no idea. Maybe a card for.. Valentine's day! Because the cow obviously loved me :)

Angie - Thanks! I'm glad I could remind you of home.. You should get out there and visit the cows too, I'm sure they're lonely :)

Kayte - Thanks! Yeah I think she's a pretty hot subject :)

Meghan - Thanks. Glad something so slimy and gigantic could lift your spirits lol

Megan - Hahaha. I'm glad you said you mean that in a good way lol. Thanks for the comments though, I always hope the things I post seem fun! And trust me, the tongue grossed me out too. Big time.

Lulu said...

Ellen, the answer is yes! We just need to book flights...should be my mum, my little sister and me.

We're coming to Toronto for 3 or 4 days, because we have friends and a million cousins there...around August 2 or 3, I think...you are in Toronto, right? And then we're going to a cottage on one of the lakes for a week with friends. :) I can't wait!! I hope we can meet up.

Ellen said...

Awesome! Yes I'll be here. Where is the cottage, do you know? There are some amazingly beautiful places around here.. And I have a cottage on a lake too :)

I do hope we get to meet up.. Maybe your cousins will be my neighbours!

Angela said...

Very cool pictures! Um, the cow tounge is gross but really funny!

aboutimage said...

Glad to hear you had a great time and good to see you back.

I LOVE your images -- very cool. Love the detail of the eyelashes and the tongue, lol -- so cute!

Rebekah said...

Hey, that's cool that you're coming to Canada, Lulu! I used to live on the shores of Lake Huron, in the town of Kincardine. There are many nice lakes in Ontario and maybe some are similar... but if you get a chance to go to Lake Huron (at least on the Canadian side) and see one of the sunsets, it's one of the most amazing things *ever*. Definitely perfect for photography! And of course it would be great to see what photographs you and Ellen come up with if you happen to meet in person! :)

Ellen, I *love* the last photo of your friend. For some reason, I didn't see it earlier, but it's a beautiful portrait! I love the location too, and the colours.

Ellen said...

OMG Rebekah, you used to live in Kincardine?? I spent all my childhood summers just down the beach from there, in Point Clark/Amberley! I've been wanting to get back up there to take photos, I haven't been in 5 years or so since we sold the cottage :(

We definitely need to talk more. I went to my first movie (Free Willy 2!) alone with a friend in Kincardine, used to go to the boiler beach, all the restaurants, ooh I loved the house with mirrors. And the french fry truck near the laundromat!

I'm going over to your blog now to make sure you check this. Now I'm excited! What years were you there?

Rebekah said...

No way! You know Kincardine??? I lived there from the end of 1996 to fall 2000... (ages 7-11) and pretty much all my childhood memories are from there! Boiler beach was my favourite place ever... and the bagpipes of course, though they aren't everyone's style in music. But hey, I grew up with it! :P I actually posted some pictures on my blog from a few weeks ago when the Kincardine Pipe Band came to NB and there are some of the boiler & beach on my website too... Anyway, that is so cool! I should tell my sister - she adores Kincardine and it's practically her life's ambition to move back there someday... :D
Oh, and I don't remember the house with mirrors, but I definitely remember the double decker french fry bus!

We might know some of the same people, actually... how weird is that?!

Ellen said...

Ohh, the bagpipes! We used to go to the Sunday(?) night parade a lot, I loooved it. That's sooo cool that you lived there! I always wondered what it was like in winter.. How old is your sister? I was 11-15 during those years, but I was there all the time in the summer so we probably have some connections.

The mirror house has little diamond/square shaped mirrors all over the outside of it, and it's on some mainish road. I always thought it was sooo beautiful lol.

I'm going to stalk your blog and website for those photos now lol.. I should read more carefully I guess!

Rebekah said...

Hey Ellen! Yeah, I loved the weekly parade... I think it was every Saturday and we always went. :) Do you remember Blinky??? We were so disappointed that he didn't come to the Maritimes LOL! ;)

My sister is 1.5 years younger than me, so you wouldn't have known her... but I had some older babysitters and my best friends had older siblings that might have been your age... plus we had some friends from the cottage areas who just came for the summer, so maybe you knew them...
Oh, and LOL about the winter comment. I used to wonder the same thing about NB! Then we moved here and lived through the 2003 ice storm, haha. I actually made a snow chicken in Kincardine when I was in Gr. 3 and painted it with food colouring and water... I so need to find that picture! (I can't remember where it is.) Anyway, Kincardine winters were actually really interesting. Sometimes the lake would freeze along the shore for about 50-100 metres out and we even walked on it once. It was cool... and then in the summer we had so many lightning storms and even twisters out on the lake... but I'm getting wayyy off topic! I am just so excited that you know Kincardine!!!
The coolest thing is that you probably knew it when I did... when the boiler was way out in the lake and the little stream on Boiler Beach was huge with all that algae. The stream is gone now and the boiler is up on the sand. I just posted some pictures on my blog a moment ago... sorry I rambled so much!! ;)

A Thousand Words Photography said...

Love the cow tounge shot! I always enjoy your posts, and you're as adorable as your writing! Nice to put a face to a name :)

Lulu said...

I miss you Elllen! Come back soon!

Christie said...

hey there, ellen! i LOVE the cow tongue closeup and the second frog shot... and the shots of your friend too. i just love your style. i always look forward to your music choices too. they seem to be so "you", lol.