Photography by Ellen

2011-01-09T23:57:00.006-05:00

Untitled

Well hello, blog. I've missed you.

Stepping cautiously back into the world of blogging.. I miss exploring my creativity and using this as an outlet for it, so I think it's time to revive this space. If any of my old friends are still out there, hello :) And if anyone new happens to stop by, welcome!

There have been so so many good things. Too few have been captured by my camera, but that's okay. So for tonight, from my new home in Houston, an ode to Chicago:

2009-08-25T23:47:00.003-05:00

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. - Rumi

2008-07-12T22:13:00.007-05:00

Viva Cuba!

So I got back from a week in Cuba at the end of June, then had to move right after I got back and put my things in storage for a month, so I haven't had a chance to even look at most of the photos I took there. But I did manage to get a few before that! So here they are, just some randoms from the trip. I'll post more in early August when I have my computer back!

I really wanted to try and get some good photos of my friends in Cuba this trip; the only good place in their house for pictures is on their tiny balcony/patio, where I can hardly back up enough to get 1 face in the picture! But I did get these of Helen and Dixia, which I'm happy with (all technical issues aside):

I also forced Kristin, the friend I go to Cuba with, to pose for me much more often than she would have liked.. Here are a couple of those:

At our friends' mother-in-law's house:

A police officer friend:

At a home ec picnic day at Helen's school:

Delivering rice:

Playing dominoes:

That's all for now.. Whew, finally got a post up here! Hope everyone's having a great summer!

2008-05-05T14:32:00.002-05:00

Girl.

I don't babysit much here, but look at this gorgeous lady that I do get to spend time with sometimes.. Just a few shots from a lazy afternoon!

Aaand, we're done. Note the lenscap in hand! Haha.

2008-04-27T18:44:00.004-05:00

"May your world be full of colour
............and your crayons never melt" - Tymm

2008-04-16T10:30:00.007-05:00

So I skipped a season...

Hellooooo! Anyone out there? It's been way too long. Winter came and went without a post to this blog, and now I hardly even have time to type since I was supposed to start working on a report 2 hours ago.

Here's the post in a nutshell:
1. I miss you
2. I've hardly taken any pictures in months other than bar pics for facebook
3. I'm really happy but really busy
4. My apartment still has centipedes and no, we're not friends
5. I went to DC for a conference and loved the blossoms!
6. I truly hope you're all as happy as I am
7. One day, someday, I'll check your blogs again
8. I miss this blog, so I'm going to try to post more
9. I discovered I like calamari
10. I miss you!

Now I'll overload you with pics from DC and a couple of fun ones with a friend yesterday. I'm going to try to revive this blog!

DC:

My awesome friend Amy who posed for some backlighting yesterday.. Isn't she cute??

The prepared speech pathologist with her 100 pound bag of materials:

That's all for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll post some pictures from Christmas! :)

2007-11-21T10:33:00.000-05:00

Great Expectations (and fog!)
Hi guys! It's been a while. Things are going well here, school is busy but ok and the centipede population in my apartment has greatly decreased. I find that I'm just not getting my camera out as much as I used to day-to-day, but I'm hoping that over the next couple of months I'll get better at that again. I'm loving being here though. I've been thinking about things that have happened here that I wasn't expecting, there are quite a few. I guess expectations are really just fears, so it's cool when you don't have to be afraid of things anymore..
- I wasn't expecting everyone here to be so nice: Ok, I'll admit that sometimes it's a little weird. I know more store clerks' life stories than I ever have before. But it's also very nice! I know I can't go anywhere without people smiling and saying hello. And people in stores are starting to remember me, which has never happened to me before. The only bad part is that I feel even more guilty if I leave home without washing my hair.
- I wasn't expecting to make friends that I hope I'll know for life. At least not so quickly... I tend to take a while to get close to people, but I already have a few friends here who I know I will be friends with for a long time. And who will tell me if I have something stuck in my teeth.
- I wasn't expecting to feel so comfortable here. I walk down the street and feel totally normal and relaxed. And sometimes when I pay for something at a store, I get surprised that I'm using American money.. I must really feel at home!

I have my first American Thanksgiving with a friend's family tomorrow, so excited! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I went out with my camera when it was just getting dark last night. It was so so foggy out there... These are different for me and definitely not perfect, but I've never really tried taking photos in the dark before, so I'll cut myself some slack. I followed the girl with the umbrella for two blocks, I hope she didn't see me!

At the construction site across from my house:

85mm, f.2.0, 1/160, ISO 1600

85mm, f.2.0, 1/160, ISO 800

85mm, f/2.2, 1/100, ISO 1600

85mm, f/2.2, 1/100, ISO 800

85mm, f/2.0, 1/125, ISO 1600

85mm, f/2.0, 1/80, ISO 1600

2007-11-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

A real subject!
Woohoo! I actually had a real person agree to some pictures today. It was like Christmas morning! Lol. We only spent about 5 minutes since we were on our way out, but still. It's something. As soon as Nikki showed up at my house with this blue sweater on, I knew some photos were in order. Aren't her eyes beautiful? They look so awesome with the sweater and her hair.. So gorgeous!

I was definitely a little rusty with these.. I've hardly shot adults period, and none at all for a few months. So I had a hard time telling her how to stand. I also had some trouble focusing, not sure why.. The full-body shots were way soft, and the ones I tried up against the brick were messed up as well. But I got a few that I like, and it felt really good to be processing photos of a person! Yesterday I was considering posting a blog retirement announcement, but I think I'll keep it going for now. I'm sorry I can't visit your blogs as much as I'd like to.. Grad school is crazy! But if any of you with kids ever have any questions about speech/language development, please feel free to ask me :)

Thanks for looking! CC is welcome. I posted some of these on ILP but haven't gotten any responses, so if you have any thoughts please let me know!

All with my 85mm 1.8 at f/2.2, ISO 100 and shutters around 1/125 - 1/200.

(Super soft!)

And one of me, courtesy of Nikki! I got the shot set up for her then we switched spots!

2007-10-24T19:23:00.000-05:00

Busy + Ugly + Beautiful
Hi guys! How are you? I hope you had a good week. Mine was ok.. Getting real fall weather here now, busy with school, my mom is here visiting. I haven't had time to do much of anything, but it's been nice. I've been so frustrated though! Every day after school the light has been beautiful. I hurry home, grab my camera, and it's gone! But I really don't want to lug my camera around at school, so.. Maybe one of these days I'll make it in time. Although I guess the tilt of the earth is working against me right now... Anyway, yesterday after I missed the nice light, I went out and tried to work on some of my goals. Then I broke all my own rules because, you know, I'm a rebel. Lol.

Trying for lots of DOF (with motion blur - the first is handheld at 1/6) - notice the mostly in-focus foreground and background? These were with my 30mm, I need to break out the super wide soon.

Then I got frustrated, so I decided to just photograph boring stuff with a shallow DOF, my old standby lol. Here are some shots from the alley!

(not so shallow, but they reminded me of fallopian tubes haha)

Now, check out these beautiful things that came in the mail today! Play food cakes and cookies from Etsy! I was sooo excited, they came so quickly and they're gorgeous. They're a birthday present for one of the kids I babysit back home. These are from Mon Petit Soleil on Etsy, you should definitely check out her shop - very reasonable prices, awesome product, and amazing customer service!

p.s. Lottie and Lulu, I'm going to call Scotland Yard (do they still exist? lol) to search for you if you don't post soon. Seriously, you're missed.

2007-10-15T18:07:00.000-05:00

Food, glorious food
Sometimes there's nothing more beautiful than something to eat. You know those times, when it really doesn't matter *what* it is, just as long as it's in front of you and meant for your consumption. On Saturday after a long day of observing therapy sessions (I have to do 25 over the next while so that I can start actually performing speech therapy), some friends and I went to Panera for a bite. And let me tell you, it really hit the spot. It wasn't just that it was good (which it was, although I'll argue that my black bean soup is tastier!), it was that it was warm, available, and mine! And that was the best. While we were in line, I was admiring all the textures and tones of the bread on display. It all looks so beautiful, and of course tastes amazing (although again, I'll argue that the bread I baked from scratch the other day was actually more delicious than the loaf you'll see below... It was ugly though, so no pictures). So I picked up a few items and decided to photograph them this morning before they were sliced and put in the freezer. I was going for detail here (remember? One of my challenges) and placed the bread on a wooden chest that I thought would compliment the tones of the bread. I thought a deep conversion worked well with these (it's actually Brenda's b&w II with various changes), but please do critique this. I still don't feel confident at recognizing what's good and what isn't in black and white images. I think I may put a couple of these in my kitchen, so let me know which is your favourite! I'm really looking for hard critique this week, so don't hold back :)

As always, thanks for visiting! I'm going to go into last week's comments and answer questions now, so if you asked one go back and check!

2007-10-07T18:44:00.000-05:00

A trip to the beach
Because my bedroom windows face east, I'm waking up earlier than I ever have before. It's good though, since I have to be at school quite early every day. I wasn't quite so happy last Sunday morning though, when I woke up and the sun hadn't even risen yet. I'd been wanting to see the sunrise for a while though, so I packed up my camera and headed out. I didn't end up with many shots I was happy with, but got a few! I'm definitely going to try again sometime, the next time I'm awake at sunrise. You may have to wait until I'm up at night with my first child. Lol!

Geese flying over the water:
No swimming!

Seagulls basking in the morning glow:

A building.. With cool sunrise refections in the windows..

I've decided that I really need to try to take my photography to the next level technically since I've been at a standstill for a while. Over the next while I'll be working on capturing a narrow tonal range (I love contrast, but want to aim for increased detail here), practicing using lots of depth of field (hyperfocal distance) since I usually rely on a narrow DOF for a photo's "cool" factor, and practicing bracketing exposures. Obviously not all at once, but those are the things I have on my list. If anyone wants to join me in these or other goals that would be awesome!

Have a good week everyone!

2007-10-02T16:42:00.000-05:00

Live from Chicago
Hi everyone! I know I've been away for far too long. I've been so busy that I really haven't even picked up my camera.. And I guess I don't really know what/where to shoot right now, so I don't have much to show for my.. two? three? weeks. However long it's been..

I love my apartment, I really do. I think it was a good decision to get one on my own, I don't think I would have been as happy living with random people.. I'm with people I don't know all day, so it's nice to be able to come home and have some time to myself. Except for the part that I live in fear every night because these little ****ers are crawling all over my walls! It's so scary and gross.. Some of them are the size of my middle finger! I sleep with the light on and have a shoe near me for crushing at all times. I think it's starting to improve though.. Maybe they're getting the message that I'm a serious killing machine! Haha. Hmm, what else? Oh, there's some really nice construction going on near my apartment right now, so I'm woken up every morning to the lovely sound of a wrecking ball. It's great! Built-in alarm clock :)

Here are a few photos of my new place.. It's looking a bit more organized now, but I still have work to do. I did finally order a couch though! So I'll have to clean up the living room soon so they can deliver it.

Nice and serene, my bed:

Aaand the not so serene part of my bedroom:

Eat-in area of the kitchen:

The rest of the kitchen:

And the dreaded living room:

It really is very spacious though, I like it a lot.

Oh I got a new roommate! Here's Carol.. She's very quiet :)

The other living things in my apartment right now:

(Think I can eat these?)

My new collection of spices, from an awesome store that grinds them fresh every week:

And one last pic from my last days in Toronto, just for fun!

I did take some pics at the beach the other morning, so I'll post those within the next couple of days. Otherwise, I'll probably be posting about once a week for a while.. School is crazy and I need to get back into the swing of things. And I haven't been to any other blogs in weeks, but I will make the rounds as soon as I have the chance.

Thanks for visiting if you're reading this! I really do appreciate it and I've missed finding out what's going on with all of you. Talk soon!

2007-09-10T10:04:00.000-05:00

Saying goodbye (or starting to)
I said goodbye to some of my babysitting kids the other night. It was sad, I've known them since the oldest had just turned 2! So I've really watched them grow up. I spent almost every day in the summer with them for years, I've known their teachers, friends, and family. Of course I'll see them when I come back home for vacations, but still.. They're going to grow and I won't be there! They know my program is 3 years, so when I was leaving they said (from oldest to youngest) - "see you when I'm 11!," "see you when I'm 9!," and "see you when I'm 18!!" Lol. I don't know where she got 18 from, she's only 4. But at least I can take comfort in the fact that I'll be gone for 3 years and not 15! Lol.

We took some pictures so that I'd have one of the three of them to put somewhere in my apartment, and just had a really fun night.

I couldn't get the colour right on this one, but I still love it. I may go black and white I guess.

30mm, f/2.5, 1/100, ISO 200

What do you think of the conversions on these next 2? I know they're sort of dark, I was trying something new to go for a more deep filmish b&w look. Well, sort of trying, sort of accident. Feedback would be great :)

30mm, f/2.5, 1/200, ISO 200

Of course we had to try out the self-timer.. This was the only semi-decent one, I don't like it of me but the idea of it is nice lol.

30mm, f/5.0, 1/100, ISO 400

I know he looks a bit goofy here, but I still love this one.. His eyes in it are so cool! I finally believe the people who say they didn't do anything to the eyes, because I didn't do anything here. The blurry gray thing is his sword :)

30mm, f/2.5, 1/200, ISO 200

Poor C had to get her hair cut off due to the recent lice problem. It looks pretty cute though, and luckily she loves it!

85mm, f/2.0, 1/250, ISO 400

A decided to get out her camera, so I had to shoot her shooting me :)

Then we had cookies.. Mmm, cookies...

And then we played Sorry. I was in a moody/grainy b&w mood when I processed these. Her pj's have been through all 3 kids, and she was playing with her feet for the whole game. Love this kid!

I'm going to try to post once more before I move on Friday! Working hard to get *OUT* of the funk for good. Thanks for all your encouragement!

2007-09-01T22:27:00.000-05:00

I'm here, alive, etc.
Hi guys. I keep putting off updating because I kept hoping that the next day would bring something more exciting photography-wise. Well each tomorrow has turned into another boring today, so I figured I'd might as well stop in and let you know I'm still here! I don't want to stop blogging and I've still been stalking your blogs without commenting much. It's all just so beautiful and creative and.. Sigh. I don't know. I'm obsessing over decorating and moving and all those kinds of things right now.. I'm moving in less than two weeks (no, I'm not there yet Meghan, but there will definitely be pictures when I am) and it seems like I have everything and nothing to do, all at once. But please know that I'm still thinking of you guys and wondering what you're up to, and stalking you. I've just been avoiding commenting in the hopes that you'd think I was on some exotic vacation or something :)

Here are a few shots from my backyard on the weekend, just because I liked the colours and light. All with the 30mm 1.4, at around 1.6 or 1.8:

We took a trip down to Chicago to check out my apartment again and to sign into the country/school officially. We left Toronto at 4am (!) so I had to capture a bit of the sunrise as we drove. I hate getting up early, so this was not a good day lol. All taken out of the car window with the 85 1.8. There was so much fog and colour in the sky, if we could have actually stopped I would have gotten some great shots! And none of the others in the car (the 2 ladies I live with, like extra moms, and my best friend) would let me take a photo of them for the entire trip. Nice, huh? Haha. I'm hoping to catch my friend for some practice shots before I leave though, so watch for those (although don't hold your breath, she's been avoiding me for months..)

Thanks for visiting and for all your awesome comments on the last post! I know I've been tagged a bunch of times.. I'm having trouble coming up with 8 interesting things about myself, but I'll think about it more and post it sometime.

And if anyone has a picture that they still haven't sent me for my photo display, there's still time! ellen314@gmail.com.

2007-08-24T17:34:00.001-05:00

Hello!
Thank you so much to all of you for the sweet comments on my last post. I felt so much better after reading them, you knew exactly what to say! And while I still maintain that I'm in the middle of a funk, I am feeling more hopeful that I might actually come out of it someday. So thanks!

The past few days have been pretty boring here. Not in a bad way, just in an everyday life moving along kind of way. Oh. Well except for my sister getting sent home from her trip to France early (teenagers! *shakes head* and points and laughs), my best friend getting hired at our old high school (crazy! She'll be our old teachers' coworker now, sort of anyway), everyone I know having lice (ew. Hopefully the next post won't be a supermacro shot of my infested scalp), and lots of recent conversations with the US *dept of homeland security.* I'm a huge risk, obviously. Lol. The real issue? I entered my date of birth wrong on my visa fee form. I said I was born in March 2007. I had the homeland security officers cracking up over that one, but it's figured out. Hopefully. So to all you US dwellers, bar your windows and lock your doors, the smartest 5 month old *ever* is coming to stay.

Took one of the kids I babysit out to shop and have lunch for her birthday the other day. It was so fun to just hang out! And she got to spend her money on whatever she wanted. She got a matching purse and wallet, a skirt/shirt outfit from Old Navy, a pink belt with white skulls all over it from H&M (who designs these things? It's hilarious), and this "cell phone," filled with different colours of lip gloss. It was a great day, and the bbq pizza I had when we went for lunch was delicious. I want to get a job there as a chef just to learn the recipe.

30mm, f/1.6, 1/1600, ISO 100

Because of the new job, my friend has had to quit her babysitting job with her beloved "B." She's been working there for over 2 years and is very sad to leave. So I took some photos so they'd have something to remember each other by. Not perfect, but I love these anyway!

85mm, f/3.5, 1/250, ISO 200

85mm, f.2.8, 1/500, ISO 200

Finally, a shot that I just liked. Sort of a monochrome-ish look, something different!

exif lost in translation

Again, thanks so much for all your comments!

2007-08-19T23:35:00.001-05:00

The end of an era (last visit to family cottage)
Weekend: Bittersweet. Tears for beginnings and endings (but nobody died). Emotional ties to physical locations really suck, especially when you know you will never ever be able to return. To that place or that moment.

I'm in a bit of a photo funk (I don't have anyone/thing to take photos of, I'm not getting any better, therefore why do I bother), so I didn't record the weekend as well as I should have. Or the things I should have. But I can't beat myself up because now it's too late. No going back to a place that will be sold and bulldozed very soon.

Even with crappy weather it was beautiful.. I so love the beach there, the lake is just perfect for swimming and walking along. And the sand was always so perfect for playing.

(Not trying to copy you Lulu, I promise. Harry drew the heart spontaneously and your version is much better anyway...)

On the wall in our old room.. My sister at around 4: "i am letl but i am strong." I love this.

The little hedgehog or.. something.. that hangs from our curtain rod. Just because.

I've been absent but will be back for real tomorrow or Tuesday. Feel free to ignore this post until I comment on your blog, I know I probably haven't visited in a while and I'm sorry.

2007-08-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

Beautiful old things.

Some of you may be completely disgusted with me after reading this post, and that's ok. I get it. But I won't apologize :)

I've really been trying to figure out what kind of look I want to go for in my new apartment. I know that I need it to be beautiful and functional (very functional) - I end up living in filth pretty easily, so those cleaning products need to be within easy reach and the clothes hamper can't have a lid. I got some small things the other day at Ikea, have been packing the few things I already have, etc. I'm not taking a moving truck there because it's just too expensive, so I'll have to buy everything big when I get there (other than what can fit in my dad's mini van). I have, however, found some great stuff recently that I will be able to bring. Guess where? In the garbage. That's right. At the side of the road, on people's lawns, on the sidewalk. The highlights are a really cool telephone table with a seat that I'll use as a coffee table, a mirror (brand new!) with hooks underneath (the mirror is cracked, but it's only $10 to get the glass replaced while the whole thing retails for over $40), and the thing that's featured first in this post. Probably one of the things I'm most proud of owning, even though I've only had it for one day. I think it's so beautiful, and just so perfect. I'm so excited to have it in my living room. And I found it at the side of the road! It had a sign on it saying it was free to a good home.

Here it is (one part of it) - a Singer sewing machine in a wooden stand with drawers and an iron bottom! It even works! From what I can figure out it was made in Newfoundland in 1936. You've probably seen these before.. The sewing machine actually hides inside the table until you want to use it, so I can use it as a normal occasional table type thing or as a decorative piece with the machine out or I could actually try to sew with it.

Here's the base:

A view of the whole thing (excuse the setting.. Shooting with the 85mm inside a tiny house doesn't work too well):

And some detail shots... Isn't this the coolest free thing ever??

And then, when I was thinking about how beautiful the sewing machine is because it's so old, I got thinking about my violin. It's also old and very beautiful (although it's missing a string right now, I snapped it off lol). I don't play anymore, but did for a few years and I really enjoyed it. Aren't violins gorgeous? I love the curved edges and the deep wood tones. And this violin has a really sweet sound when you play it. This violin has been in my family for a while, and it's at least 100 years old. I think I'll start playing again sometime soon.

And here's the whole thing in a spot where I could back up a little more.

p.s. All edited on my laptop again, so don't judge me. And no b&w because I'm too scared to try in Elements.

p.p.s. I would never take anything upholstered out of the garbage. Just so you know lol.

p.p.p.s. Questions from the comments of the last 2 posts are answered.. Sorry I'm so slow about that.

2007-08-09T20:55:00.001-05:00

Malm? Billy? Galant? Where aaaaaare you?
Took a trip to the Swedish homeland today. You know, that giant store that will be my home away from home as I furnish my new apartment. The one with meatballs. Ikea! Lol. It may be crap, and I'm trying my best to find better versions of some things, but sometimes you just can't beat a flower pot for $0.59 or 12 cool spice jars for $8.00. And the meatballs just rock. I didn't make much of a dent in my Ikea purchase list today, but I did get a few things. And the trip was long enough to be worth it and short enough that I don't want to pull my hair out at the thought of going back. These photos aren't anything to write home about, but they're fun anyway. Although all I had was the 85mm, so I couldn't capture the sheer scale of the place this time. Next week maybe!

All edited on my laptop, so I apologize in advance.

Eating! The best part, so we did that first. Also because once you're through the store it's impossible to find the damn restaurant again.

The "free" $1.00 refill sign. Now *that's* a tough one to figure out.

Me, trying out a matress. Hustad? Hogbo? Hasselback? Don't ask. I took a close-up of the one I want though.

Children's Ikea. I love the colour!

Kid's chair bokeh.. Just fun :)

Ikea's new set of bowls. Genius. I propose a new name though: Bröstvårta. That's either nipple or nipple ring in Swedish, I'm not sure, but either one will work! Lol.

My small but heavy bags next to the broken bench I sat on to wait for the bus.

The end. Thanks for visiting!

2007-08-05T16:30:00.002-05:00

{film}
I found a roll of colour film in my room the other day, so I grabbed my dad's old Canon av-1 and snapped away. Av mode as the only option pretty much sucks since there's no way to lock exposure and I'm so used to metering off of different things and then recomposing. And there's really no such thing as exposure comp on this thing either, it's truly all av. There is a backlighting button though, which overexposes by 1.5 stops or so. I ended up changing the iso around as exposure compensation, but I have no idea which shots I did that on lol. Oh and it's manual focus, that was a challenge. I'm just not used to it at all. It was fun to try though, and I really really love the results. This is just a simple roll of Kodak 400 iso film, but the tones and detail are awesome. I think I may have to get my own film cam and practice more, I love it.

To anyone who shoots film: I didn't get any prints, I just got the negatives scanned onto a cd. The files are really small though (less than a mb), so if I edit those they won't be able to be printed very big, right? That's my only concern here. These are all SOOC because I didn't want to edit and then get disappointed because I can't print them lol. Should I have specified high-res scans?

These are all with the Canon av-1, 50mm 1.8 lens (old one that was my dad's, my lenses aren't compatible with the camera). Many at 1.8, some between 2.2-5.6, ISO 400. I have no idea about shutter speeds.

Around my mom's house:

Her dresser/wall.. Love the light in this room.

Glass bird on her front window.

2007-08-01T22:46:00.000-05:00

More Backlighting + Awards
Sorry again to the workshop people! Nothing new to see here :)

But for the rest of you.. Here's some more backlighting that I've been working on. I really like these, although I got some good CC on composition and colour on the workshop forum. I did change the colour according to the CC, but I think once I get back to my computer with PS I'll have to change it back, because to me these just look washed out now. Does that ever happen to you? That you prefer a photo before you apply the cc from the "experts"? I need to have more of a creative backbone I suppose. Although I'm standing by my comps on these. I don't care how wrong they are, I like them.. That's me being a rebel, in case you can't tell.

Meet my sister and brother, Anna and Harry. They were pretty good sports about this, for the first minute anyway...

85mm, f/2.5, 1/1000, ISO 100

85mm, f/2.0, 1.1250, ISO 100

85mm, f/2.0, 1/1600, ISO 100

___________________________________________________

Now for the second part of this post.. The lovely Jennifer has awarded me with a Thanks so so much Jennifer.. I'm more excited than a normal person probably should be! lol. Really, I don't know what to say, I'm sitting here blushing. But thank you!! And sorry for being sort of boring lately.. But I think my creative juices are starting to flow a little faster these days, so hopefully I should have something more interesting soon.

Now I'm supposed to award three of these to other bloggers who I think are awesome in their creativity, writing, music, layout, photos, whatever. General blog creativity and awesomeness. This was really hard to choose, but here are my choices (in no particular order):

1) Lulu. Because we all know that this girl is the queen of creativity, and she can take a picture of anything and make it look like art. Anything. Including a dying apple tree and laundry. And I love her music, her headers, her writing, and her comments on my blog and others. You know I love you Lulu!

2) Meghan. Because she always makes me laugh, she posts fun things like product reviews, her photos are awesome and so fun, and she's the mom I want to be when I grow up. Her little guy Xan is always gonna be a cool kid.

3) Amy C. Because I still can't get her pictures from China out of my head, and she takes beautiful photos in every situation no matter what. And she's funny and nice and her love for her entire family inspires me.

Thank you to all three of you, plus all the other bloggers out there, for all your inspiration and kind words and.. you know. All that nice stuff. So go hand out the award to three people who inspire you, if you feel so inclined, Lulu, Meghan, and Amy. But I'll still like you if you don't.

And p.s. if you asked questions in the comments of the last couple of posts they're answered!

2007-07-30T08:18:00.000-05:00

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 :)

2007-07-26T23:42:00.000-05:00

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 :)

2007-07-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

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 :)

2007-07-16T22:05:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-07-15T00:50:00.000-05:00

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 :)

2007-07-12T03:19:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-10T01:31:00.000-05:00

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

2007-06-15T03:17:00.000-05:00

Ellen has left the building
By the time most of you read this, I'll be in Cuba. I hope everyone has an amazing 3 weeks, and be sure to check back on the night of July 8 or July 9 during the day! Stay out of trouble, don't do anything I wouldn't do :)
Nos vemos.

2007-06-13T00:44:00.000-05:00

12 of 12 June: The Graduate
Today was the 12th of June, time for 12 of 12. It was also my university graduation day! How exciting. It was a really nice day spent with family and friends. The actual ceremony was long and hot, but the rest of the day more than made up for that unpleasantness.

I apologize for my recent absence (again!).. Life just seems to be getting in the way more and more lately. I promise at least one more post before I leave for Cuba on Friday, and lots of blog visits before then.

Here are the photos of the day.. I think there are only 11 here actually, I got frustrated with the colour in one and gave up lol. Still really trying to *not* underexpose. I may have overcompensated in some of these!

6:37am: I was so upset at being awake I just had to take a picture .

12:30pm: Outfitted in my gown, hood, diploma, flowers, and necklace after the ceremony:

12:45pm: The crowd milling around. The inside of this building was complete chaos with people returning gowns, getting gowns, collecting the composite picture, etc. I got out as fast as I could!

1pm: It was a really hot day today.. This family came prepared :)

1:45pm: At my post-graduation lunch party. My great uncle George, he's so full of life and has so many amazing stories. It's always fun when he's around.

2pm: My Grandma. I really like this picture of her, she looks so content. We weren't sure she'd be able to make it today, I'm glad she did.

2:30pm: Various food and drink at the party. It was a lot of fun, and very tasty. Although there was a lot of shrimp which is not my favourite lol.

3pm: My brother. I just love these shots of him. This conversion is completely different for me, let me know if you like it!

3:15pm: My cakes! Deeeeeeelicious.

4-6pm: The hammock where I took my afternoon nap after everyone left. Very relaxing and serene, except for the ants in my shoes!

5pm: My graduation necklace. Got it from a friend (thanks Jen!) on the weekend, and put it to good use today. I thought this summed up the day nicely!

Thanks for reading! CC welcome as always.

2007-06-04T19:13:00.000-05:00

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

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!

2007-05-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

Tagged again
I was tagged again, this time by Lottie. I have to admit this is somewhat of a wimpy post, no photos today! I've had such a busy week preparing for an upcoming conference that I haven't had much/any time for photos. Suuucks. I'm away from tomorrow morning until Saturday night in the exciting city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Prairies, here I come! I'm bringing my camera (which I'm completely disgusted by, btw.. the sensor is soooo dusty!) and new lenses, so hopefully I'll get some cool shots.

Until then, here are my answers to the tag!

4 of my favourite jobs:
- Babysitting. I love watching the kids grow up, and it gives me time to express my inner child! Lol. I always feel sad when I've gone a few days without any kids around. Keeps me young and cheerful!
- Teaching Sunday school. More kids I've seen grow up.. They're all off to university now and I'm so proud of them. We're having our last dinner as a group tonight, bittersweet times!
- All my speech volunteer work. I LOVE the kids and adults that I've volunteered with over the past couple of years. This has been my main "work" for a while, 25 hours/week while I was in school. I loved it so much, and encourage everyone to volunteer!
- Hmm. Grasping at straws here. I'll post my least favourite job I think.. Grocery store clerk! I did that for one day! The customers were sooo rude, and the coworkers shunned me because I don't smoke. I'm sure it could have gotten better, but I decided to nanny for the summer instead. That was a good decision (and much better pay!)

4 favourite local places:
- The park. It's so fun with kids, and for biking on my own, and for romantic walks (not that I have anyone to go on those with, but that's a whole other post!), and other park-ish things. Love it.
- Restaurants. I can't choose one because I just love to go out to eat in general. But if anyone's ever in Toronto I can definitely help you out :)
- Downtown. I really love downtown Toronto... From Chinatown to Little Italy to Little India, from the Eaton Centre to Queen Street to Yorkville, it's all so vibrant and fun. Just walking around and enjoying it is one of the best parts of summer.
- Public transit! Ok, maybe a crazy answer. And it might not qualify as a place. But I think it does. That's where I do my thinking, and finish my assignments at the last minute. It's where I listen to music and overhear interesting conversations. It's where I wake up in the morning for real. I really love it, and I'm so glad it exists :)

4 favourite foods (it's a really really hard thing for me to choose only 4!):
- Cheese. I love flaming Greek cheese, crumbly English cheese, Canadian cheese curds, italian cheese, old cheese, fresh cheese, almost any kind of cheese. I'm not a big fan of cream cheese though!
- Anything with peanut sauce. I make a really good peanut noodle salad. It's a bit spicy, good for you, and totally yummy. I also love fresh vegetable rolls with peanut sauce. Mmmm.
- Most spicy things. Like many Indian dishes, and Thai dishes, and Chinese, and my mom's cooking...
- Pickles. There's simply no substitute for a juicy, garlicky, cold pickle.

4 favourite international places:
- Cuba. Cuba Cuba Cuba Cuba. Have I said that enough? I love it. I'm going soon and you'll see the pictures. I stay with friends in the heart of Havana, just living the life for a few weeks. It's my favourite time ever, and I'm always an emotional mess when I get back. The friendships I have there are amazing and it's a beautiful country. Enough said :)
- Spain. I've only been once, but I really loved it and would be happy to go back someday. Especially to the south of Spain.
- Costa Rica. It's such a beautiful place, so rich in nature and culture. I spent 2 summers there studying and would love to go back someday.
- Australia. I have family there and have been a few times. Even after seeing far too many snakes and spiders and SHARKS (chasing me!) I still think it's beautiful. There's nowhere like it on Earth, and the range of experiences you can have there is amazing.

I'm not going to tag anyone else at this point, I need to run and pack! Angie I'll do your tag when I get home! :)

I've been really out of it on blogs lately, so please forgive the lack of comments. I'll be back in the swing of things soon!

2007-05-22T15:32:00.000-05:00

Tagged!
I've been triply tagged.. Thanks Jenna, Jenn, and Stacey! I'm supposed to post the top 5 reasons why I blog, then tag 5 more people to do the same.

I didn't have anything else to post today, so I made it a bit of a project. Here are my reasons!

1. I always felt stalker-ish for visiting blogs without leaving comments. But I love visiting blogs. Now that I have my own I feel much less shadowy.
2. I want to document my learning of photography. I'd definitely forget all of it otherwise!

3. All the cool kids are doing it. And I am one. So therefore I must do it too.

4. I'm way too wimpy to post my pictures on flickr or ILP for critique (most of the time). But I don't want them to sit on my hard drive unseen. Blogging is the perfect remedy!

5. The most important one of all! I love your visits and your comments and your blogs and your friendship.. And just everything. Thank you for everything x897!

Finally, one extra shot. Just loving my 85! :)
And to the following list: You're tagged. Have fun! I hope I'm the first tag for all of you.. I had trouble finding people who weren't already tagged! I don't think you all know each other though, so maybe this will expand some horizons :)

Tiarra
Katie
Meghan
Lottie
Jen

2007-05-20T15:28:00.000-05:00

Walkin' on Sunshine
Woohooooo I'm excited. Can you tell??

Ok, cheesy title. And song. And first picture to go with it. But hey, what's life without a little cheese? Even the vegans can enjoy this type :)

So here I am, walking on sunshine.

And here's why!! I've been agonizing over lenses for a while. Macro, wide, telephoto, L, zoom, prime, it was like a synchronized swimming show in my head. I finally decided to get the best of both worlds, and went for the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 and the Canon 85mm 1.8. Together they came in under the price of the 17-55 2.8 I'd been considering before, and weren't much more than the Canon 10-22 on its own. The Sigma gets some great reviews, and I think it will be great. And the 85 speaks for itself. You all know how much I like a good shallow DOF, so the 85 is right up my alley. These are my graduation present from my mom.. So excited!! And I've never owned a brand new lens before :)

Here's the first shot off the 85.. Flower in the dining room.

And here's the same flower at 10mm:

I wanted to show you the card I made with one of the pictures from last week... Here it is, wide.

Here's a branch.. I'm so loving the 85.. So smooth to focus, lovely bokeh.. I'm in love. Of course I had to shoot wide open the whole time.

I've been jealous of all the dandelion shots I've been seeing lately, so here's my version. I think it's so pathetically cute lol.

A rake up against the wall.

Check out the airplane! Can you see it? Don't mind the power line lol.. I was just excited to be able to see it through the viewfinder, there was no chance of that with the 30. Thanks for looking! I'll hopefully have some more exciting shots with the new glass soon...

2007-05-15T23:55:00.000-05:00

Fruit: A poem.
Thanks for the inspiration, Dr. Seuss. This is an ode to my favourite fruit when I'm late for school and need something to eat as I run out the door!

2007-05-12T23:20:00.000-05:00

12 of 12: May
I was a 12 of 12 slacker today, hardly took any pictures for most of the day. I'm not going to link these to Chad's blog, I'd rather they didn't have so much exposure and I didn't take pictures all day anyway! But here's my pseudo 12 of 12 for you guys to enjoy :)

3pm: My new external hard drive. Not really a back up since I'll be deleting the things I put on it from my main computer, but maybe now it won't take 3 minutes to crop a photo!

4pm: Afternoon snack. Chocolate milk and cheese and crackers on a Sesame Street placemat. Life is good.

6:15pm: Happy birthday Xan!! Hope you're having an awesome day!

6:40pm: Watering can in a playhouse. I just liked it!

6:45pm: Here we go. Some actual real person pics from me! Here's C, doin' what she does best... Silly!

7pm: We went to the park and found all kinds of treasures left behind today. Like these stylin' sunglasses. S was very sad that we couldn't keep them.

7pm: Purple turtle.

7:15pm: Inspector A. I love this one!

7:30pm: Colour is weird on this, and I was sliding backwards down the slide as I took it, but I love the look on her face...

7:40pm: C being pensive on her bike.

7:45pm: Doll head!! Totally creepy. Luckily they didn't want to bring it home..

8:00pm: Climbing the web. Love her expression here.. She's a somewhat melancholy child, but when she smiles she really smiles!

8:15pm: Found some free strawberry plants and decided to take one each. We had to wheel them home on the scooter! (Click to make bigger)

If you have any specific CC, please offer it. I may post some of these on ILP, but probably not. But I'd love suggestions for improvement! Thanks for visiting guys.. I love you all!

2007-05-11T20:49:00.000-05:00

Treasure
I wanted to grab some pics in the long grass before it gets mowed tomorrow, so I decided on a toy as my subject. This is from about 1945. It's a little acrobat guy, you wind him up and he spins around the bar like a gymnast. It's so cool, and so simple. I love old toys like this. He belongs to one of the ladies I live with, and he gets brought out on special occasions to show his skills. He's still going strong at 60 and shows no signs of slowing down. Why don't they make toys like this anymore? Some simple physics instead of flashing lights and music.. I could watch this thing spin for hours when I was little.. We need an old-fashioned toy revolution I think.

Also, don't forget that tomorrow is the 12th! I hope some of you participate in the 12 of 12, which is where you take 12 pictures throughout the day, pretty much of anything, then post them with the time it was taken. The idea came from Chad, click the link to find out more. Meghan told me about it, and I tried for the first time last month. I'm excited it's the 12th again! So I hope to see 12 pictures from more of you tomorrow :)

And, I've been wanting to give a PSA about bloglines.. If you don't use it (or something similar), it's very easy and convenient. You create an account, then copy and paste the addresses of the blogs you visit into it. Then you can see which blogs have been updated, instead of just randomly visiting. I love it, and it's really streamlined my blog-reading. Some blogs seem to have more than one feed to choose from, I always choose the first one and it works well. You should all give it a try! I always feel bad when my statcounter lists lots of visitors when I haven't updated...

Here's the toy! Most are normal colour, a couple vintage/grainy. All with my 30mm at ISO 100, f/1.8, shot in RAW. As always, thanks for visiting!

2007-05-07T19:43:00.000-05:00

Framed
I found the most awesome frame at the side of the road yesterday, so I took it out into the garden for some photos today. It's big, and I looked ridiculous carrying it on the subway, but I totally love it.

Here's my lovely doll (with the eternal bad hair day) posing with the frame:

This pink bush (does anyone know what it's called?) was my very favourite part of our garden when I was little. It's only in bloom for about 2 days a year, so I went a little overboard trying to capture it. I'm sad I don't have a macro lens yet though... My P&S would actually do a good job, but a friend borrowed it. How inconvenient.

Notice the ant:

And these, I really really love these. I hung the frame up high in a tree, and then hung this cute little outfit inside. I took so many of these, but I'm on my way out. So you may see more later in the week! The blue sky is fake in this one, can you tell?

The back of the outfit... Aren't the ruffles sweet? Ignore the background :)

Look at this blue, blue sky. This is basically SOOC, from a few minutes before I started with the frame.

2007-05-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

Mishmash
Ugh, I suck. It's been almost a week! I'm sorry. I hope I still have visitors even though I've been violating the "keep your visitors by having a regular posting schedule" rule. Ah well. It's been a crazy week! In a mostly good way. I've decided to go to Chicago for sure, so I'll be going there again this week to look at apartments. Wish me luck, I've never apartment hunted before! I'll definitely have my camera with me :)

I'm debating what type of lens I should get right now, so if you have any suggestions please let me know. What have you found most useful for urban/travel photography? I want something new for my trip to Havana in June, but I can't decide whether to go wide (10-22) or long (100mm macro). I can really only afford one. I've also been considering the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS, which is supposed to be a great lens. But I'm worried it won't be wide enough or long enough! Ugh. Let me know if you have suggestions.

I'm starting to get sad about moving away, especially from the little ones I babysit. Tonight one of them told me "never forget how I run. Even when you're in "Cheego". Never ever ever forget." How can you not melt when you hear that??

These photos definitely need some explanation, so I hope you all actually read what I'm writing!

Had a fun "shoot"with a friend and the girl she looks after and I'm really happy with the results. I can't share them, but here's "B" when she decided she'd had enough....

And just for fun, here's me! Circa 1986:

1995 (yes, that's Sasha!):

And here are more shots from the 10-22 rental. I'm not really happy with them, but I played around with vintagey noisy looks. I think they're kinda cool. These are all from Chinatown.

And here's the view looking down with the 10-22 (cropped!) :)

2007-04-29T17:30:00.000-05:00

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! :)

2007-04-27T18:10:00.000-05:00

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! :)

2007-04-25T15:02:00.000-05:00

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..

2007-04-20T21:56:00.000-05:00

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:

2007-04-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

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:

2007-04-18T00:47:00.000-05:00

Photographing Light
Sorry for my long-ish absence, I had exams on Monday and yesterday. I should be back to an every day or every other day blogging schedule now :)

Today I set out to photograph light as a subject, rather than focusing on finding a subject and hoping for good light. If that makes sense. I think I'll try more tomorrow. And I have a couple of fun things up my sleeve for the weekend, so stay tuned...It's a surprise, not that it's exciting to anyone but me :)

I loved the way the light was falling on this blanket this morning. And I also love eyelet. I was trying for a lighter black and white than I usually do in these, but I'm not sure if they're sort of muddy.. What do you think? I know the window in the second shot is blown, but I still like it, I wanted to show where the light was coming from.

These are from my garage, it has a really cool big window, and then 2 doors that open up the whole front. It's all old wood and old stuff, I'd love to clean it out and use it more. Someday! So here's a pan and a mini broom. Very exciting subjects, don't you think? Lol. But the light was cool, and I love the texture of the wood.

2007-04-15T15:14:00.000-05:00

Bad photos and happy thoughts
The skies here are white, and the light is dim. So, I don't have much for you to *look* at. But keep reading, I have some good things to say! :)

1) THANK YOU to everyone who has been visiting and responding to my posts. It's so awesome to come and find comments on my snapshots that no one in "real" life could care less about. And I really love visiting all your blogs, there's so much amazing photography and inspiration. I wish I could meet all of you! And you all really motivate me to practice too, I see things and think of who I know would like them! Lol. Lame. But hey, it works.

2) I'm moving to Buffalo!! And you know what that means? I can get Victoria's Secret stuff anytime I want. And shop at Target and eat Buffalo wings all day. And, I can buy things without paying duty at the border. Like lenses. And prints! WHCC here I come! Lol. I've been thinking of this stuff in a more positive light and MAN, I'm looking forward to it. Nothing like consumerism to cheer a girl up ;)

Look! Catchlights in Sasha's eyes. The composition sucks, but check it out. You can even see me waving the cheese in her face in there (yes, Rebekah, I'm bribing her with cheese!) I'll stop down more next time to get that snout in focus. I didn't think of that at the time.

And here's a little friend of mine, trying to catch up with the older kids. I love her little pose here (and her outfit, of course). And can't we all relate to this feeling? Trying frantically to keep up with everyone else. I loved that a minute later she gave up and came and walked with me instead. We held hands and chatted while the others raced around. Then we saw a dead squirrel, and she was heartbroken... "I have some VERY SAD NEWS!!" she proclaimed to the rest of the kids. I love 3. Such a great age.

2007-04-13T01:49:00.000-05:00

12 of 12
Here's my very first 12 of 12, an idea started by Chad. I admit that I cheated a little and took pictures in clumps, some of the same thing. And I don't have any with a body part (of mine) in them. But still, this was a lot of fun. I completely forgot until I read Jenna's post about it! Thanks for reminding me, Jenna :)

Here are my captures of a rainy, boring day! All with my 30mm f/1.4.

11:30am - Chinese food truck outside a U of T library (my first library visit for the day).

11:30am: Hot dog stand outside the same library.

12:15pm: Walking to the subway. I love the umbrella to the left! I want one.

1pm: Lunch at La Mexicana. Soooo good. I devoured these chips in about 1 minute after taking this photo. Then I waited a very long time for the rest of my meal.

1:30pm: Finally, fajitas. (With my statistics book in the background, let's not talk about that lol)

1:30pm: The all-important guacamole, pico de gallo, and cheese. I think pico de gallo is my favourite food ever. I regularly eat it on its own.

4:30pm: Library #2: Toronto Reference Library. I love the light in this little area, it's my favourite spot to sit. I just love libraries, actually.. They make me feel so peaceful.

5:00pm: Hanging plant in the library. I love that they have live plants.

5:45pm: I want a cinnamon roll!! But I spent all my money on lunch :(

6:45pm: 3 almost-2-year-olds and a 3-year-old. My idea of a fun night :) Sorry, I can't show the little guy's face. He was over for a sleepover! The rest are my regular little friends.

9:45pm: Beautiful flowers. You can actually see them in the background of the above photo. A big bunch of beautiful roses. The lights were hitting like a spotlight, I couldn't resist.

10:00pm: After putting my camera away, I decided to try a new angle. I love the result! Not sure whether to call it backlighting or what, but it's cool. A flower yearning for the light.

2007-04-12T00:30:00.000-05:00

In the closet
My dog, that is. It's her favourite spot to sleep. I don't think you've met her yet, so here she is, Sasha! My baby, I got her for my 10th birthday. She chased me around biting my toes and fingers for months, and then she got lazy. Now she sleeps 90% of the time and begs for cheese the other 10%. She really is a beautiful dog, although she looks quite scruffy in these pictures. She's going for a bath tomorrow, so I'll post some calendar-dog portraits soon. But this is real life. Sasha in the closet. If you wake her up too early in the morning to take her for a walk, you get an angry look and then a downright refusal. She can pull her head right out of her collar if you try to pull her with the leash. Some days she doesn't get up until 1pm! She's stubborn, frustrating, and usually aloof, but we all love her anyway.

Here's a reflection of me taking a picture from outside in my pj's.. It's the only way to get even a bit of light into the closet. This dog gets mad when I get out the camera, and then refuses to look at me. I'm still dreaming of catchlights in her eyes lol...

I made a few changes around the blog today. New header (the garlic was just a filler, although I really do love garlic), new music (I'll update the song pretty often, you can of course pause it if you prefer!), and I finally got rid of that ugly blogger bar at the top. Can you tell I have lots of schoolwork to do? Lol.. There's no better way to procrastinate ;)

Finally, a picture that goes with my new header. I love lemons, tomatoes, and these shoes. So I thought I should take pictures of them. The tomatoes look weird somehow, I'm not sure what happened to them. But I'm still loving these... I figure if I can't wear the shoes (since it's still -5 here) I'd might as well photograph them! I've eaten the tomatoes and the lemon, but at least I've got this to remember them by.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone. You're all awesome. A shout out to Lulu today, hang in there girl, I'm thinking of you... You'll do great. Love you!

2007-04-10T22:26:00.000-05:00

Godspeed, Bruce.
I found out today that a man in my group at a place I volunteer died over the weekend. He wasn't in the best health, but he was there every week and was quite the character. He always brought a full cup of coffee with him to our table, but never took a sip. He always ate his cookie though. He didn't seem to have a very high opinion of himself or his value to the world, but he really did make an impression on me and I'll always remember him. I hope he's doing well up there. Beautiful skies are always comforting I think.. Treasure life, though. It's so short.

And here's an oldie, one I found from the shoot with Pedro. Yes, he's in a roasting pan. His 6-month shoot is coming up pretty soon!

2007-04-08T21:37:00.000-05:00

Put your records on
Happy Easter, everyone!

Thank you for your comments on my last post, I so appreciate them.

I'm feeling more like myself again, thanks mostly to the joy (and chaos!) of children that I've experienced over the weekend. Corinne Bailey Rae is one of my favourite artists right now, and her song "Put your records on" is really fun. It always helps me feel better when I'm down, and makes me feel like I can do *anything*, which is helpful especially before exams! So, I'm sharing this message with you. The quote on the picture is the first couple of lines of the song. I found these clip-on birds at the dollar store and thought they were cute!

I got some really great shots of the kids over the weekend, but because they model I can't share them (it's in their contract). Their mom and dad love the pictures though, much better than their modelling pictures since this is real life! I'm sharing a couple of non-face shots though, they said that was fine. Not the best, but I still like them. Also a 100% crop of an eye, I think it looks pretty good for ISO 800.. sort of looks weird here, maybe because of resizing.. We decorated Easter eggs, which was so much fun but of course their hands were all stained. That's the fun of it though, right? Getting to do things that aren't part of the everyday. And to just enjoy being a kid. That's what they're best at, I find! :)

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

2007-04-05T23:35:00.000-05:00

Ellen and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Ugh. I have *nothing* cheery to say today. At all. Sorry to be such a downer lately guys, thanks for still visiting.

I'm applying for master's degree programs for next year, for speech-language pathology. I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting in, but apparently all the other applicants are robots who do nothing but study... I found out yesterday and today that I've been rejected from ALL the Canadian schools. I did get into one in Buffalo, NY, which is the silver lining and I'm happy about that. But for now I'm also just really disappointed so I need to vent. I hope you know that feeling...

I'm seriously thankful though that I'm in somewhere. I so feel for my friends who are still waiting to find out, or who have been rejected almost everywhere. If I could do anything to get them in I would. I'd even give up my spot if that would work. But it won't. So I'm really really hoping they get some good news soon! Hang in there, guys.

Oh, and I missed the subway and the bus on the way to school. And I dropped my waterbottle and dented it, forgot to bring the book I needed, and realized that I'm way more broke than I thought lol.

And there you have it. A SUCKY day in pizzaville.

On a completely different note: wtF is this white stuff doing on my fresh spring plants? Hello? It's April. Get out of here.

I'll be away from the computer (sob!) until Sunday because I'm babysitting for the weekend. I may have some internet access, but no photo uploading or photoshop. So I'll see you all on Sunday. Have a great weekend, and congratulations if you made it through this post! If you did you get a sticker (it's invisible)!! :D

2007-04-02T16:28:00.000-05:00

Challenge me!
I feel like I'm falling into a slump. I haven't even taken my camera out since Saturday. So, to anyone who reads this, please give me a challenge! It can be something to capture, a technique to try, a photoshop thing, whatever. I'm open to any idea and I'll give anything and everything that's suggested a try. And I'll of course post my results. Hopefully this can be something we all can try if we feel inspiration-less :)

2007-04-01T01:02:00.000-05:00

Just Nothing
I don't have much to say today. Or post. I've been having a very normal couple of days, which I guess when it comes down to it is a good thing. No disasters. It's April, though! I'll take my last undergraduate exam this month, go to my last class at this university, and probably see a lot of people for the last time. Pretty crazy since I feel like I just started high school.

I want to send out a big *thank you* to everyone who visits here. I don't think I say much of anything worthwhile, but I'm really glad you stop by! I get so excited every time I see a new comment, it's pathetic lol.

These shots are just from my backyard this afternoon. I wanted to see if I was making up the better sharpness of my 30mm over my 50mm. I really don't think I was, all these shots (with the 30!) were sharp (i.e. sharper than the images from the last post which were with the 50). So, here you go. An earring hanging in a hedge, and a very early-90's glass object on a fence. I added some grain to the earring shot, just testing it out...

If you ever have CC on any of my posts, please feel free to give it. I'm not posting my photos anywhere else right now.

Oh, and if you're ever bored: Check out the live stream from Nkorho at Africam. It's so cool, a 24-hour live feed of a watering hole in Africa. I saw a whole family of giraffes there a while ago, and a herd of weird looking animals yesterday. Just click on "Nkorho Stream" near the top left. Just don't hunt me down if you get addicted. Once you start it's hard to stop...

2007-03-29T22:17:00.000-05:00

Funnnn
I took my camera to school yesterday.. I don't know why, I just grabbed it on the way out. 250 photos and many laughing-until-crying moments later, I'm so glad I did! My friend Jen and I got out in the sun and found a really cool tree. We tried some Anne Geddes baby poses (didn't go so well. Maybe because we're not babies? I may post some of those another time if I get brave lol), practiced our climbing skills, and Jen did an *awesome* faceplant into the ground below. I completely failed that moment though, I didn't get a picture or catch her! Ugh. She didn't like the idea of recreating it though. Too bad. We went to the tree twice, once around 3pm in full sun, and again around 6:30 right before sunset. The lighting wasn't great either time, and there are harsh shadows and distracting things in the background. But I totally don't care, I really love these. I wish I'd had my 30mm with me though, it's sharper and I needed the wider angle. CC on how to do better next time would be great though!

I hope you like these are much as I do. Jen is an awesome subject, and sooo much fun, so hopefully you'll be seeing lots more of her :) And she didn't do too bad with the camera herself, I'm actually including a picture of myself in here! Yikes.. At least now you'll be able to imagine me. Thanks Jen!!!

Sorry for the obnoxious watermark. I've decided with recent events that it's better to be safe than sorry...

2007-03-27T20:50:00.000-05:00

My Best Friend
She *doesn't* like having her picture taken. At all. But I helped her with an essay last night, so she owed me a few shots today! For my birthday she also promised to let me do a "shoot" with her. I think I'll take her to yesterday's graffiti for that one sometime next week. She should let me take more pictures of her, don't you think? :)

Please offer any CC you have, I'm open to anything since I'm always trying to learn! Both are with my Sigma 30mm 1.4, at f/3.2, 1/200, ISO 100.

2007-03-26T13:24:00.000-05:00

Urban Art
Took some snaps of the local graffiti today. I love colour, but I'm warning you, these are bright. I had fun with them though, and I like the look. Quite a change from the baby feet from yesterday :) I walk by the graffiti almost every day, but I don't usually pay much attention. I had fun exploring it today though, there's so much detail! Sorry there are so many, I couldn't choose. I'd love if everyone chose a favourite, I think I'll get one prined just for fun to see how the colours turn out. Thanks! (*Remember you can click to make the picture bigger*)

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3.

4.

5.

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10.

11.

12.

2007-03-25T01:06:00.000-05:00

Babies are sooo cute
I got to spend some time with this cutie tonight. She's less than a month old and was completely mellow. She just lay in my arms looking at me all night! So sweet. It's been a while since I've looked after such a little baby, and I really love them, so tonight was a dream. Grabbed a couple of snaps while I was there. It was night, so I only had the regular room lights. And I was too busy holding her to really worry about pictures. Nothing too exciting, but I still love them :)

2007-03-22T19:18:00.001-05:00

I'm lucky this was a doll...
I'm really on a roll! This posting thing is turning into a good routine late at night. I took another of my dolls out for photos today when I got home from school, wanted to catch the light right before sunset. I'm so excited that there was still light at 6:45! Her hair was a mess, does anyone have any tips on taming doll hair? It sort of sticks to the brush when I try to brush it. Maybe I'll try a comb. I don't remember this doll's name, I think it was either Emily or Emma. I always thought she was sooo beautiful :)

Here she is gazing into the sunset.

And....

Here she is after she fell off the ledge onto the stairs below. Into a puddle. Her hair needs even more help now, but I'm happy to report that she's drying nicely and should be back to her old self soon. Thank goodness this wasn't a real kid.

In other news... I plan to get a life soon and have some pictures of things other than dolls!

2007-03-21T23:45:00.000-05:00

Blast from the past
Wednesdays I'm in school from 11am-10pm, so there's not much time for picture taking. Tonight I really felt like doing something photography related, even if it wasn't taking pics. So, I went through some older files and these 2 jumped out at me. I must be in a nostalgic mood.

This is one of the little characters that sit by our plates at Christmas. My grandparents lived in France for a while, and I think they go them on a trip to Germany while they were there. These little guys are old and falling apart now, but I can't imagine a Christmas without them... Family traditions are cool, I'm going to try to appreciate mine more I think. Usually I just roll my eyes.

This is a little clown. Obviously :P
I love clowns. I have a whole collection of clowns, some beautiful, some cuddly, some creepy. When my grandmother announced she was moving into a nursing home last year and wanted us to claim what we wanted from her apartment, all I could think of was the little box of clowns. There are 3 little clowns like this in an old blue Birks box. I used to take them out of the drawer and play with them whenever we visited her house. And now I have them. I think they're my favourite clowns of all. I felt really guilty when this one kept falling off the fence into the dirt while I tried to take his picture.. They don't sit up very well!

2007-03-20T18:45:00.000-05:00

To sleep like a baby...
How gorgeous is she?? I'm so jealous of the sleep she's getting in these pics. I'm quickly popping in to post this, but I won't have much internet time tonight/tomorrow otherwise. I've got a huge project due tomorrow that is nowhere near finished. Sorry to everyone whose blogs I won't get to until tomorrow/Thursday! If you commented here and haven't seen me at your blog yet, this is why. I will make it though, so don't hate me.

I'm ridiculously tired and I have no idea why. I really hope I'm not getting sick.

Stupid joke I've been laughing at all day: Two silkworms were in a race. It ended in a tie.

Have a great evening everyone! (Or morning, day, afternoon, whatever...) :)

2007-03-19T15:43:00.000-05:00

Seriously? This is pathetic.

This is what I should be doing:

This is what I am doing:

I really love Grey's Anatomy though. And coupled with ILP it makes for an awesome afternoon. But those darn books keep haunting me... They wail and moan from under the bed, they creep into my thoughts at the most inopportune times. I will need to stop ignoring them at some point. But I'm happy with McDreamy for now :)

2007-03-17T15:19:00.000-05:00

Bowl of bubbles, anyone?
Lulu (see link at right) inspired me to try blowing some bubbles for pictures today. Lulu, please tell me someone else was blowing them for you. Please. I couldn't do it. Put stick in mixture. Bring to mouth. Blow. Put down stick. Bring camera to eye. Focus. POP! Bubble is gone. Although really they were mostly carried away in the wind before I could even put down the stick. I had fun trying though! So I came inside and blew bubbles back into the bubble mixture instead. It's a mixture of water, dishsoap, food colouring, and blackstrap molasses. Not very exciting, but it was amusing.

I'll consider this a self-portrait. I'm waving to all of you, hi!!

2007-03-16T19:04:00.000-05:00

Toy fun
Sooo, things get difficult when you don't have any subjects. So I took some of my old toys out to play today. I think they liked the fresh air after so many years in the basement! I tried some new post processing on these, do you think it works?

2007-03-11T18:14:00.000-05:00

Agnes: Backlit.
Tried out some backlighting today for the first time. I don't think it went too badly. I like the results, actually, I'm excited to try again soon. I metered off her face and shot away. She has a tendency to look grumpy in all photos, so I was happy to get a smile!

2007-03-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

Progression
I've been looking back at some older captures recently and revisiting them to see what I'd do differently now. This was taken in the end of December (ok, they're not exactly the same image. But close enough to prove my point) and I thought my first edit (the first picture below) was awesome. Now it just looks so blah. The current edit still isn't perfect (couldn't get the burning right), but it's come a long way. Progression is exciting! :)

2007-03-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

Sooo, it's been a while. I've been really busy with school (and shouldn't be posting now, I have my stats midterm on Saturday morning!)... But, I can't leave Pedro at the top of the page forever. One of my favourite food blogs is 28 Cooks, and I love trying recipes from there because they're always amazing. When I saw black bean pie on there, I knew I had to try it. I'm only one person though, and most people I know wouldn't be caught dead eating something "weird" like this. So I knew I couldn't make a whole huge pie, it would go to waste. So, after a few days of figuring out what to do, I came up with a plan. I made a batch of flaky cream cheese pie crust, and while it was chilling in the fridge I made the pie filling. Greased up a muffin tin, rolled out the crust dough, and cut it to fit overflowing in the muffin holes (can't think of a better word... spaces?) I mixed the filling with the cheese, filled the spaces with the bean/cheese mixture, and pulled the excess crust up over the top. They look something like apple strudels, and OMG they're good. I ate a couple (ok, 4) and froze the rest. They reheat really nicely in the microwave or in the oven. I had some leftover filling, so I warmed it and put it on a roll as a sandwich. That was amazing too! I love this stuff! I even converted the vegetarian-food-haters that I live with, they love these little pies too. Try it, you won't be disappointed!

2007-02-16T16:46:00.000-05:00

The result of my boredom today - meet Pedro:

2007-01-31T01:34:00.000-05:00

Today's challenge: Beauty.

Those are my "beautification" tools in the background, lol. Don't you love my bling lettering?? :D

2007-01-29T19:55:00.000-05:00

Just a shot of some branches near my house. I went upstairs for more chips (see the post below!) and saw this cool sky, so I grabbed my camera. Metered off the sky as described in "Understanding Exposure," and I'm pretty happy with the results. Especially at 1/50 and no tripod!

2007-01-29T16:44:00.000-05:00

Ugh, I've been falling behind on these daily challenges... School is taking over my life!

Here's my try for "chip." Enjoy!

2007-01-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

"Beginning" was the theme today. So I took an egg out to play in the snow! Accidentally shot at ISO "H," which is the highest ISO on my camera.. Thankfully I wasn't shooting anything too important :)

2007-01-22T20:21:00.000-05:00

Today's challenge: Indulge. The only thing I could think of was food, lol.. So what better subject than the amazingly expensive bakery down the street? Maybe someday I'll get to indulge in something from here. When I'm amazingly rich!

2007-01-21T17:38:00.000-05:00

Today's ILP challenge theme was "double." This is my contribution:

2007-01-19T23:28:00.000-05:00

Some photos from around Toronto today:

The insides of a big truck:

A weird door near my house. Do these people have slaves? Or are they aliens??

A flower that was given to poor Agnes, who has a terrible cough:

Winter's wrath on a sunflower:

Someone's dirty underwear in the slush at the side of the road:

2007-01-15T20:51:00.000-05:00

My first post on my photography blog, and it doesn't contain any photos! That's pretty sad. I'll post some soon though. Hopefully this blog will document my IMPROVEMENT over the next while!