My weekend
Hi everyone! Sorry I've been away from blogging for a few days, I spent the weekend babysitting and didn't have much internet access. What a fun weekend we had! My best friend and I spent 3 days with these little guys, our favourite kids to babysit. They're so full of character and always making us laugh. And they slept for 12 hours every night! :)

All except the apples with the 30mm 1.4.. I hadn't been too happy with it lately, but I think I'm liking it again.

Here's P chillin' on a chair in the kitchen. Isn't she just so precious?

Don't you love early morning kids? Here are the twins in our bed after they woke up.. Lazy and sweet...

And here's our fun lunch on Saturday.. It all started with a request to stir the macaroni, and.. well.. Let's just say cleanup took a *while* but it was worth it lol...

Here's the pouring of the cheese sauce/mixing (major colour issues here I know, I'll deal with it sometime) - Click to make bigger!

The the eating:

Then we put them to work. (Joking! E, the oldest, went and got the broom all by herself. Then spread the macaroni residue all over the kitchen with it lol)

Apples on the tree in my backyard. Canadian apples for you, Lulu.

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the photos you've sent! I love them all, keep them coming :)

Late again
Hi guys! I feel like it's been a long time.. Although I have sort of "spoken" to many of you over the week through email. Thank you so much to those of you who have sent photos.. I love them all! And please, to the rest of you.. Don't stress! I just want a fun reminder of all my photography friends. And lurkers, occasional commentors (that's you, Helen) and anyone else who might feel out of place or weird or whatever, stop. I would love to have a photo from every single person who's ever visited this blog, even if they just typed the address wrong! I love you all. So please, don't be shy. And again, just so it's clear.. Send me a photo, any photo that you like of where you live or something you love. It would be best sized at 4x6 300 dpi so I can print it easily, and if you can find a way to sign it in photoshop that's awesome (but not required!). I will post a photo of the display in September after I move! Thanks again everyone, I'm loving what I've got so far. And if anyone else (someone already asked) wants a photo back from me, I'm happy to send one of your choice or mine. Just let me know!

Now for this post.. These photos are from last Saturday, and I'm just now getting around to posting them. You may have already seen some of them on ILP or the lighting workshop forum, if so I apologize! But I really like these so I wanted to post them. I've been practicing backlighting more, for the workshop (which I love! It's Deb and Dee's Creative Light workshop, it's awesome), so that was the main goal of this "shoot." I took some other shots too though of course!

We ate cookies:

Spied on the neighbours (well, their cats...):
And looked at Ellen sadly while she made us stand with the sun to our backs.




Then we danced!

And just for fun.. The fingerprint bandit shows no mercy :)


Thanks for visiting :)

Read the whole post guys!

I have some stuff to ask you today, so I'll get straight to it:

1) Has anyone's bloglines been going crazy lately? Mine keeps telling me that people have 25 new posts, going back to February! It's really annoying, but I'm not sure if it's just mine..

2) I'm getting a free 16x20 canvas from Canvas on Demand (here's the link, thanks Tiarra for sharing the info), but I have no idea what to get. It can really be of anything, and I want to put it up in my new apartment. Please, if you have a chance, can you tell me a photo of mine that you think might look good? I've looked through and nothing has really jumped out at me, so I'd love other opinons. Thank you!! :)

3) I'm planning a photo display for my new bedroom, something like this. I'd love to have a photo from each of you to put up as part of the display.. I'll probably get them printed like postcards, so they're a bit thick. Something that represents either you or where you live would be amazing.. I'll be printing them as 4x6's or 5x7's. If you'd like to send me one, you can email the file to ellen314@gmail.com (check that you have what's there now, there was a typo!). Or, if you want to but you don't want to send me your file, send me an email and I can arrange something. I'd also love if you signed them, even just in PS. I really hope this isn't a crazy thing to ask.. I think it would be really cool!

Ok, that's all. If you hate reading what I say you can stop here :)

Was practicing backlighting today.. This one isn't great, but I loved Agnes' expression and the focus was ok (that was messing me up today for some reason).

85mm, f/1.8, 1/250, ISO 100

We've had sooo much rain here over the past couple of days.. Here are a couple of rainy shots!

85mm, f/2.2, 1/125, ISO 400

85mm, f/2.0, 1/125, ISO 400

85mm, f/1.8, 1.125, ISO 400

85mm, f/1.8, 1/500, ISO 100

And these next 2 are just shots I thought were kind of cool.. These were the places that I used to imagine faeries and gnomes and trolls living.. And minpins, if anyone remembers those :)

85mm, f/1.8, 1/160, ISO 100

85mm, f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 100

Thanks for visiting.. There's still at least one more Cuba post to come, but I felt like posting something new first! And thanks for any answers to the above, I know I make you work too hard :)

Havana's bringing sexy back
If you asked me my favourite city in the world, I'd say Havana with no hesitation. It's so beautiful, complex, and just plain awesome that there's really no other choice (for me). The Cuban people are blessed with beauty in a huge way. I see more good-looking men and gorgeous women in a day there than I see here all year. While I don't go there looking for love, and don't really see a Cuban husband in my future, it's very difficult not to spend hours trying to figure out how to make it work... Trust me ladies, they're hot. Ironically though, I don't have many pictures of this hotness to show you. But these next 2 somewhat show what I'm talking about..

Check out the muscles in this shot:


The men in Cuba are lucky too:


I also love the outdoor displays of books for sale in Cuba. They're so rich with history and culture, and reading is just a favourite activity of mine anyway (yes, my mom's a librarian so I come by it honestly).. I think books are so beautiful, but they're hidden away so often here that I loved photographing them outside for once.




The men selling the books. And reading. I love a man who reads...



A dog near the books.. I think this is one of my favourite Cuba shots of all... There's just something about him.. Although when he tried to come closer I ran away ;)


This man was in a square near where the books were being sold.. I just liked this one, so I added it. And I need to finish with these Cuba posts at some point.


Thanks for reading and looking.. Sorry for flooding the blog with millions of Cuba posts, but honestly I have *nothing* else to show you right now, and I need to motivation to go through these so I can also prepare them for print.. I'm making an album and also planning some kind of display for my new apartment!

Cuba: Kids
I'm taking a first aid/CPR course this weekend and am so looking forward to just collapsing into bed. Don't you love sleeping when you're tired? I think it's my favourite thing ever. Anyway, I had this whole other post planned for today, but it will have to wait. For now here are some pictures of cute kids in Cuba.. Oh and a bird. Almost all with the 85mm, I'll try to post settings tomorrow. I don't know most of these people, but I always asked the parents if it was ok.

These first 3 should really be a storyboard I guess, but I didn't get around to it. These boys were fascinated with the birds and puppies for sale. I love how one is grabbing the other's arm, so sweet.





This guy stopped me in the street and asked me to take his picture with his sandwich he was eating. It was a crowded street so I couldn't get back far enough to catch the sandwich, but I love his expression.

I love this outfit.. I think i'll try it out tomorrow ;)

These bycycle (bici) taxi's are very popular in Cuba, we take them all over the place.

Check out the legs on this 2 year old.. I'm so jealous.

This boy asked to have his photo taken when he saw the camera.. I love his serious look..

Sons of a friend.. Kristin actually took this, in AV mode. Loving their eyes here, and the oh so joyful expressions.

Street shot.

A special little baby, our friend's new nephew Dayson.

Baby at outdoor concert.

In the streets of old Havana.. We always tease Helen that this is her boyfriend :)

Cuba: Wide
I used my 85mm in Cuba almost exclusively.. I really do love it, and I found it to be perfect for nearly everything I wanted to capture. Many days it was just too much to carry an extra lens, so I just took the 85. Unfortunately, I didn't use the 10-20 nearly as much as I was hoping I would. I definitely need more practice with it, I found it very challenging to use.. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to focus on, and almost all shots had blown highlights and clipped shadows (to the extreme). I love the look of wide angle shots though, so I'm not giving up!

Here are a few wide angle shots from the trip:

1) A classic Cuban shot.. Cars like this really are everywhere, it's really cool. Mixed in with less exciting Russian cars like the one next to this one though, but still. Here's a car story from this trip: I was in Cuba with my friend Kristin, and her mom came down for a few days during our trip. Our good friend Tony (Helen's dad) told us we'd pick her up from the airport in his friend's car, a classic Mercedes. We jumped at the opportunity, thinking we'd really be introducing her to Cuba in style. Sigh. We didn't quite know just *how* classic this car was. It was so classic it had holes in the floor, and you could see the road racing by under you. It had no windows, and the outside finish resembled papier mache. Oh and the ignition? There wasn't one. He started it by touching two wires together. It was too late to find anything else though, so off we went to the airport in this true antique of a car. It was hilarious, and we loved it. Kris' mom wasn't quite so amused, but she was a good sport. We delivered her back to the airport in a newer car, but we took this one back when we were leaving. Unfortunately for our friends though, after they dropped us off a huge rainstorm started, as they drove the 40 minutes to get back home. Without windows. Nowhere but Cuba! The car in this photo is a much shinier, nicer, newer, and better-maintained version of "our" car :)

10mm, f/9, 1/400, ISO 100

2) Another car shot, sort of. I just like it.. This is in a small town a couple of hours from Havana, we went for a 2-day tour with Kris' mom:

10mm, f/14, 1/100, ISO 100

3) A view into a school in another town we visited on the day trip. All the kids all across the island wear the same uniforms to school - red and white for primary, mustard and white for high school. It's cool to see that continuity throughout the country, and the smallest kids always look sooo cute!

10mm, f/5, 1/100, ISO 100

4) Some kids playing in front of a mural in Havana. Just a fun shot!

10mm, f/11, 1/400, ISO 200

5) A mural in Havana. Roughly means "The fundamental clay that molds our deeds (revolution) is youth." - Che

10mm, f/8, 1/200, ISO 200

I'm Baaaaaack
Did you miss me? I hope so, because I missed all of you! Reading blogs has become such a part of my daily routine now that it was really strange to not be keeping up with everyone. Meghan, I was thinking about you and your house all the time, Lulu I wanted to know what you were up to and how your exams were going, Jennifer I was sure I was missing lots of awesome photos at your blog and missed your faithful comments, Rebekah I was at a beach in Cuba that reminded me so so much of the beaches of Lake Huron, it was crazy.. Sigh. I can't mention everyone, but I hope you know I mean it when I say that I really did realize how much I just *like* all of you while I was away! And thank you for the comments on my last two posts, I loved reading them when I got home.

Now, onto Cuba. Some of you wondered what I was doing there, so I'll explain a little about that.. This was my 5th trip to Havana, my best friend and I were lucky enough to meet a family there 4 years ago who have taken us in and become some of the best friends/chosen family you could ever imagine. It's such a treat for us to get there and just live in the culture for a few weeks. We stay with our friends, right in the middle of Central Havana. I love it so much, it's hard to describe. There's nowhere that I feel happier or, strangely, more at home. It's no luxury holiday (our friends live in a 1 bedroom apartment, so it's our friends and us all sleeping together (husband, wife, 10-year-old daughter and us), but we wouldn't trade it for anything. I have so many stories that I don't even know where to begin to tell them. I wanted to organize my pictures by theme, or at least by date when posting them here, but through my tears today (I'm hate leaving them behind, hate it. I cry for days every time) only certain photos spoke to me. So those are what you'll see today. I'll post more for sure, I took over 2000 photos while I was there. All snapshots, but I'll post some with stories over the next few days.

Here's beautiful Helen, our friends' daughter. She dances beautifully and gets straight A's. She always does her homework right away and never gets in trouble at home. And she's got spunk. Lots and lots of it. She and her friend Raul drive their teachers crazy with their antics, and she and her cousin Daisiris write inspired songs with titles like "Lunch," "Ham," and "Hair Relaxer." She loves to hear stories about Canada, about the kids I babysit and the crazy people on the subway. Her favourite song right now, that her toddler cousin from France taught her, is "We will, we will F*** you, F*** you!" (i.e. F instead of "rock"). She totally knows it's a bad word, but pretends that she doesn't. She does gangster rap motions and sings it to everyone she meets who speaks English. She knows I know she knows, but she also knows I'd never tell her parents!

Both this picture and the next one were taken in the one spot in their house with good natural light, the doorway from the little laundry balcony into the bedroom. I just love the light there. It's a tight sqeeze though, especially with the 85mm.

85mm, f/1.8, 1/400, ISO 200

Helen's grandmother brought her cousin Jan Carlos over for some pictures since she doesn't have any of him. Isn't he gorgeous? He's 3.

85mm, f/2.5, 1/250, ISO 100

Tiny (and well-dressed) photography fan at an art market/street party:

85mm, f/2.2, 1/320, ISO 100

Fun light in the evening. This is the capitol building, modelled after the US Capitol Building. It's not used for government proceedings anymore though. We live right close to here. I played around with this a lot, and added some texture. I've never done that before, so tell me if it's terrible!

10mm, f/11, 1/250, ISO 200

One of our neighbours feeding her granddaughter on the stoop of their building. Accidentally at ISO 1600, I had just walked out of the house and didn't realize. Ah well, I like grainy b&w :)

30mm, f/4.0, 1/125, ISO 1600

Shoe store on our street. There are lots of commercial shoe stores in Cuba where you can get Nike, Puma, Fila, etc. shoes, but they're the same price as in the rest of the world, which can be a year's salary for many Cubans. So stores like this exist where they come and trade shoes or pay around 10 cents for a pair. All *very* used. If anyone's ever going to Cuba, take old shoes! Much more useful than the traditional gift of soap.

30mm, f/3.5, 1/100, ISO 800

A man who always sits outside this expensive hotel begging. I don't think I've ever seen anyone give him anything. He makes his hat fresh out of the newspaper every day, without reading it. "It's all that it's good for" he told me. After I took the photos and showed him on the LCD, he laughed for a good 3 minutes straight. "Look at that, look at that. How handsome." I gave him $2 and he decided to call it a day early.

Both 30mm, f/2.0, 1/500, ISO 800