I never thought the pots they installed downstairs would be good for anything. Surprisingly, they add a nice splash of colour in the grey of winter.
This past week I was on assignment in Keswick, Ontario, which is about an hour north of Toronto. I had to take pictures of a gas station owner and his son, but took the opportunity to take some other shots around the station including this one.
[Read more...]
I’m subscribed to a Nintendo emailed newsletter and recently I got this one regarding the new game Endless Ocean for the Nintendo Wii. I suppose what peaked my interest was the romanticized notion that I could become a freelance photographer for travel and science magazines, as noted in the screenshot above. Personally, I think it sounds pretty amazing, as I doubt I would ever find myself doing this in real life.
Check out the hands on review over at gamespot, which gives you a mellow breakdown on the gameplay. It’s in stores now, and is value priced at around $29.99. I think I may pick this one up.
Crossposted to ButtonMashThis.
With a Writer’s strike going on right now, it would seem odd that I would be posting a piece on must watch television. But it’s not so strange, since I’ll be talking about some great shows that just started up this month, that aren’t affected by the strike.
jPod – Produced here in Canada by the CBC, is a new series that started this month, based on the novel of the same name, written by Douglas Coupland. I suppose I’m biased because I’ve been a long time fan of Coupland, but after watching the first episode, which follows the exploits of a team of co-workers who are employed at a video game software company, I was completely hooked and constantly on the floor laughing. There is a fine line here, of the show being totally Canadian cheddar and being insanely brilliant. But most importantly, I’m entertained and I can’t stop watching.
Torchwood (Season Two) – Produced in Wales by the BBC (co-produced by the CBC), the second season of the acclaimed Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood started airing this month. I’ve recently watched the first two episodes of the season, and the show continually pushes the limit, with it’s blatant sexuality, mixed with it’s fantastic, sci-fi reality. John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack Harkness, keeps me coming back for more and I can’t stop the feeling of wanting to jump on a plane to totally check out Cardiff in person some day. On a related note, if you haven’t seen season 1, it was released on DVD this past week and retails for $69.99.
Trading Spaces (Season Eight) – Produced by TLC, Trading Spaces has jumped back on my radar, when I found out that they have brought back Paige Davis as host of the popular home renovation show. Her first episode aired tonight, and it totally feels like she never left the show. With her, she’s brought back some of her favorite designers, like Doug and Hildi back into the fold, as well as their original $1000 budget. The twist however is in the homeowner pairings, which they’ll be doing on the show. Being neighbours no longer make the cut. They’ve decided to focus on interesting relationships and dynamics between the participants. The first episode featured a divorced couple who had to renovate each others bedrooms. Season teasers, also mentioned, boss and employee trades, as well as a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law switch. If you were like me, and slowly tuned out, after Paige left the show. Now is the time to tune back in every Saturday.
With the PMA’s around the corner, Canon Canada announced their spring line up yesterday including a new digital SLR to the popular Rebel series. Their announcement also included two new printers, four compact point and shoot digital cameras as well as 2 new L series lenses. To my dismay, there was no news of any sort of upgrade to the very popular Canon EOS 5D, which means we will likely have to wait until August for their fall line up announcements.
For this post I’m focusing on the Canon Digital Rebel XSi. This newest addition to Canon’s digital SLR line up touts 12.2 megapixels and a large 3 inch LCD monitor. One of the things I first noticed when I saw the images was the camera’s sleek rounded edges which are very reminescent of it’s 5D older brother. Functionality such as Live View, Self cleaning sensor and Canon’s DIGIC III Image Processor are now standard on this entry level SLR. A big change in this camera is Canon’s move to SD / SDHC media abandoning Compact Flash as their previous standard for storage. Another notable feature is the inclusion of two kit lens choices which both are IS equipped (That’s image stabilization baby!). The EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS or the new EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS are included in the kit. (UPDATED) Estimated retail prices of $879.99 for body only and $999.99 for the kit with the 18-55 kit lens. Expect this in stores by April 2008.
This week I enlisted Martin Kuplens-Ewart to pose for the camera. He is a web developer working at Radiant Core here in Toronto. But the fella is more than just a webgeek. He spends a lot of his time volunteering as well. This coming year, will be his 10th year volunteering with Pride Toronto.
So we started off the shoot in the warmth of BCE place and walked through Union Station into the Sky Walk. This is where we had a lengthy discussion on whether that was a cinema in the Sky Walk complex or not. He was insistent and I wasn’t convinced (perhaps one of you readers could set us straight). We eventually ended up in St. Lawrence Market where Martin shared his love of back alleyways with me. Some of which I plan on revisiting, when it is warmer and brighter out. I ended up shooting this photo of him on Colborne Street, just off Church, where I bounced my flash off a post to illuminate his face. Not your typical portrait, but it was decidedly both our favorites from the ones I had shot.
On a related note, check out Martin’s Browser Sim photoshop action. It’s a great way to create a browser simulation for any type of web design you are planning to pitch to a client. Very handy, if you want to fully visualize the end product.
Is there anyone out there that has some power tools? I have this idea stuck in my head to build a table top backdrop. Basically, it would be a contraption that would accommodate standard size poster boards, that you can bend and slide into place, so you could take pictures of small items on it. The great thing about it would be it’s ability to switch out various coloured boards for a variety of backgrounds. Ideally, it would be hinged so that you could fold up the equipment and put it away for easy storage. I don’t think it would be a difficult build, but having proper tools would definitely help.
Mid-Thirtysomething, Queer, Blogger, Content Creator, Photographer, Karaoke junkie, Torontonian, Volleyball noob, Culture Documentarian, All around nice guy.
Available for events and headshots.
