Reflections

New year, new blog post.  The first one in a LONG time.  I haven’t had a lot of inspiration lately, but a new lens and the new year has got me thinking about new picture ideas (amongst lots of other things).

2010 was a great year.  Got to see a few Canucks games, a few amazing concerts and a baseball game or two.  A big thanks to everyone who made 2010 such a great year (I think you all know who you are).

This picture is inspired entirely by the awesomeness of Optimus Prime.  The coin in the picture wasn’t actually supposed to be in the shot.  I didn’t edit it out because without it, it’s not clear that it’s a reflection.  Originally, the picture was just a straight reflection of the robot form, but I rather enjoy the idea of Optimus Prime looking into the mirror to see his vehicle form.  I wonder if he ever makes new years resolutions…

As for myself, I don’t have a new years resolution (for reasons that are mostly related to laziness).  Only to keep holding myself up to the Prime yardstick, and asking myself, “What would Optimus do?”

I did learn one very important thing in the new year that is reflected in today’s picture:  I am a huge nerd.

But I guess I always knew that.

Imitation, The Sincerest Form of Flattery

This is another picture taken at REC Retreat last weekend.

A friend of mine, Josh Curran (who’s also the subject in this photo) took a great picture of me last year looking very unimpressed while doing a time lapse video of the Storm walls being set up.  The editing on it was gorgeous, so when I took this similar-looking picture of HIM taking a picture, I decided to see if I could duplicate the effect on my own.

In editing this picture, I stumbled across something I had long forgotten about:  tone curves.  They’re bewildering at first, but they do magical things.  A few flicks of the curve and the picture started looking fairly similar to that of Josh’s original.

I remember spending painstaking hours trying to figure out how tone curves worked back when all I had was Photoshop.  Lightroom sort of took away a lot of the need for them, and I had all but forgotten how to use the damned things.

I think the picture looks pretty decent (and quite similar to the one of me), but I guess we’ll let Josh be the judge on that one.

(Check out the original picture in Josh’s 365 project.  It’s about 1/6th of the way through).

Rain, Cameras and You

A new post!  I know, a month late.  But I like to just tell myself this one’s worth the wait.

The picture was taken overlooking Howe Sound from the dock on a super secret camp (AKA REC Retreat).  How cool does that sound?

I took this picture in pouring rain, which is scary because from what I hear, rain ruins cameras.  I literally took the camera out, snapped 3 quick frames, and put it back in my bag.  I think my next purchase will be some sort of rain cover for the camera.  That way I don’t have to panic whenever the weather changes.  My only tricks so far for dealing with hectic weather situations is to find some cover and snipe some shots from there.  Unfortunately, more often than not I just look like a creep.

I used a VERY subtle vignette on this landscape picture, and made it greyscale just to enhance the dreary peacefulness of the entire scene.  I fiddled with the blacks/contrast sliders to make the fogged up mountains on the left more evident.

What I really like about this photo is the fact that it almost looks like a pastel painting, or something etched with charcoal.  The shades are so smooth and subtle, it’s almost too perfect.  I also think the canoe is key.  Without it, the whole picture is just too boring.

I would give photo credit to whomever was in the canoe at the time, but…  Well, you’re kind of small.  Hope you enjoy!

“Maybe I wanna be a pirate…”

I spent a while on my day off today taking pictures of myself.  I really hate taking pictures of myself, for several reasons (aside from the obvious reason that it gives the impression that I’m full of myself).

A)  Focusing is a pain in the ass.  You need to pre-focus on something that’s close to where you’ll be standing, which means it’s really only possible to take pictures up against a wall.

B)  I’m not the best model.  Obviously, I have no modeling experience, and I don’t find myself to be particularly photogenic.

C)  The percentage of usable shots compared to trash is very small.  When you’re looking through the viewfinder, it’s easy to take a picture exactly when the subject is looking their best.  When there’s no photographer (just a timer), it’s up to the model to make sure they’re looking good when the shutter goes.

I only take pictures of myself when I’m desperate for ideas, or when I’m really, really bored.  Sometimes it turns out a nice shot or two, but usually, I prefer taking pictures of other people.  I did learn an important lesson while taking this picture though:  these are the sort of shots that vignettes REALLY work on.  I’ve mentioned before that I think I’ve been abusing the vignette sliders on Lightroom, so I’m going to try and stay away from vignetting my pictures.  Unless, of course, they’re against a wall like this one was.

P.S. The sword in this picture probably seems pretty random.  Well, it is pretty random.  I found it in a “for free” pile on my street.  That being said, if anyone has another foam sword kicking around I could have, I would be immensely appreciative.  That way I could cross them and hang them on my wall (a little throwback to HIMYM).

SNAKE! …Cool.

So, I guess I’m late with this post.  I guess I’m REALLY late.  Whatever.

This was a super fun, super easy photo to edit.  It was taken on a trip down to Seattle at the Woodland Park Zoo.  The snake was just perfectly positioned, and although the picture was taken from behind glass, you can’t even tell.  I tweaked the vibrance, saturation and tint sliders until I came up with this.  I left the picture kind of dark, because I think it looks cool that way.  Makes him look shifty!

The only regret I have with this picture is that I didn’t close the aperture a few stops.  For those of you who have NO idea what I’m talking about, closing the aperture means that there’s a bigger depth of focus, and the entire snake would have been clear (not just his head).  Oh well, I guess that’s a lesson learned.

Nothing to say about society in general today:  just a cool picture.

Curse You, British Columbia

I am so upset with you, British Columbia.

I recently took a roadtrip through the Okanagan and up to Whistler.  Sadly, when I got to Vernon it was pretty overcast.  It was a nice city though, and I had fun while I was there.

Whistler, awesomely enough, was the complete opposite.  Clear blue skies at all times.

The drive to both Vernon and Whistler was breathtaking.  In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such beautiful scenery in real life.  It seems rather surprising that I’ve never seen a lot of BC, considering I live here.  It seems to be that way a lot though:  if you live in a certain location, you’ve never seen the landmarks.  Maybe people just think they’ll “get to it someday.”

I would highly recommend checking out BC if you have a vehicle and a few days to kill.  It’s a fun drive, and there’s so much to see.

The picture today was taken in Vernon, actually (I’ve got a potential post coming from Whistler too, though it may not have anything to do with scenery).  I was killing time in the late afternoon, and I spotted a bit of rain that the sun was trying to fight back:  the result was a rainbow.  The actual picture of the rainbow was pretty faint, but with some lightroom magic (most notably, the saturation slider), the rainbow popped right out.  This was my first heavy usage of the saturation slider, and I have to tell you, I think I’m in love.  The sky turned out looking very nice as well, which was a nice bonus.

So after all of this gushing, why am I so upset?  Well, how the hell am I supposed to leave BC now?

Loving a Loser

I was recently in Seattle watching a Mariners game.  I’m not the hugest Mariners fan, but since they’re technically the closest baseball team to Vancouver, I feel some sort of obligation to like them.

A bit of info on how the Mariners are doing, if you don’t follow baseball:  they suck.  They’re the bottom feeders of the AL West.

Then why do they have fans?  I guess that brings up an important question:  what’s the most important factor in liking a sports team?  Is it all about location?  Players?  Logo?  In the context of World Cup Soccer, how do people choose which teams they cheer for?  Sometimes it’s obvious, and other times, not so much.

While watching the game in Seattle I was having a conversation with a friend about how important it is for a team to suck, at least at some point.  It’s all part of the fan experience.  Teams that always win just aren’t interesting.

I think sharing in a team’s pain is important because it deepens your love for the team.  That’s why I like hearing from people who love terrible hockey teams (*cough* Toronto *cough*).  They’re so passionate, it borders on insanity.  In a lot of ways, being a sports fan is like following a religion.  You have faith because, let’s be honest, everybody needs something to have faith in.  No matter how awful you’re feeling, you can always watch your team play.  If they lose?  Well, at least they’re in the same sort of place as you are in life.  If they win?  Well, maybe there’s hope for you after all.  Loving a sports team isn’t about loving a team because they’re good, it’s about pride, competition and having faith.

The picture today was (obviously) taken at Safeco Field in Seattle.  I snapped it from the seats we were sitting in, did a bit of cropping, and enhanced the colours.  I made it look a little warmer than it would look if you were there, but I like that effect in this case.  Playing with the white balance isn’t something I often attempt.

I attached a poll to this post to see for what reasons people like their sports teams.  I’d love it if you could take a second to choose the main reason you cheer for any particular team.  I’m curious to see just why it is people cheer for their team.  In the spirit of the World Cup, maybe answer with your favourite country in mind.

Oh, Canada

I really love Canada Day (who doesn’t?).  Not really sure how they do things in Vancouver, but Victoria’s just nuts on July 1st.  The picture for today was taken on Granville Island, as lots of my recent ones are.  Sort of a cool picture that I just randomly snapped.

This year, I feel sort of like Canada Day is being upstaged by this whole HST nonsense.  Now, I don’t want to start a big debate on the HST, because frankly I’m sick of hearing about it.  The tax itself doesn’t really bother me a whole lot, but to be honest, I don’t know that much about it.  However, I’ve got news for you:

Neither do you.

Everybody likes to think of themselves as a self-proclaimed expert on HST theory.  I don’t claim to be that knowledgeable about it, but my thinking is this:  people in the government know what they’re doing, let’s just let them do their thing.  I don’t want to sound like a sheep, but come on.  We need to have at least a shred of faith.

I guess a lot of people just dislike HST because it’s more money out of their pocket.  But here’s another little fact for you:  freedom ain’t free.  If you’re unhappy paying more taxes, there are plenty of places on earth that don’t enjoy anywhere near the quality of life that we enjoy.  Go move there (or at least shut up about HST until tomorrow), and let the rest of us celebrate one of the best places on earth.

Be Different

Sometimes pictures aren’t good because of the photographer, sometimes pictures are good just because they happen to capture something strange.

This picture was taken off of the Granville Street bridge a few days ago, looking down on Granville Island.  I was walking across, looked down, and the mixers just happened to be aligned in this way.  I snapped a picture and almost immediately after, the asparagus mixer pulled away.

Just a few days prior, I was thinking about being different, and how it seems to run in my family.  I always remember the story my mom tells me about her license plate.  She went all the way to Vancouver to get the numbers, just so the plate would be different from anyone else in Victoria.  I sort of think about things in the same way.  I always choose things that are just slightly different than anyone elses.  I like underdog teams, uncommon colours and offbeat foods.  In fact, liking things that almost everyone likes sort of makes me uncomfortable.  Of course, that doesn’t apply to everything, but you get the picture.

I love how this picture turned out.  The three plain old cement mixers invaded by the crazy, asparagus mixer.  Sort of ties in to the whole “being different” concept.

So, here’s to being different.  Never hurt anybody.

(Stranger project will continue tomorrow)

Six Strangers – Stranger #3

I know, I know.  This photo was supposed to be posted days ago (if anybody actually even cares).

This picture actually took me forever to edit.  The original picture was taken on a somewhat sunny day underneath a tree.  The tree cast a really strange shadow over the face, which was one of two challenges I faced while taking this picture.  I managed to make the shadow disappear after a whole pile of photoshop/lightroom wizardry, using a few techniques that I won’t get into here.

The second challenge for this picture was actually to encorporate the guitar somehow into the picture:  not an easy feat considering how large a guitar is.  Thankfully, he seemed to know how to pose himself so it fit, and I barely had to do any work at all.

He was actually a really nice guy.  We talked for a few minutes, and he ended up giving me a CD of his after I gave him a tip for his time.  He just plays music on Granville Island as a hobby, apparently.  Still haven’t listened to the CD, but I’ll let you know what it’s like once I do.  As a musician, he was glad to have his picture taken, so I guess in some ways this was a bit of a freebie.  Not so hard to approach someone who doesn’t mind publicity.

This is definetely a portrait I’m proud of though, especially considering how much work I put into it!