Blog: December 2008

One Word Wednesdays: what’s your word?

What's the first word that comes to your mind?

In a former post my good friend Duncan left a comment suggesting I do my little "polarizing" effect on a critically sharp eye ball. Well I had one kicking around (an image, that is) and I decided to go to town with it. Doesn't look as polarized as the bird shot Duncan was referring to, but it looked interesting enough to blog. So here it is. It was taken from a much larger image, so I think I'm due for an eye shoot with my macro lens. Any eye volunteers out there?

Snowshoeing!

I've been meaning to snowshoe for a long time now, and never got to it. The first time I tried it was over 5 winters ago, in the middle of the great northern Ontario, in a bright wooded area with big tennis-like wooden snowshoes. There was probably 5 meters of snow below us and we were walking on snow. It was the most exhilarating "tame" winter activity ever! I loved it. I usually like careening down a steep mountain with my snowboard, but for some strange reason, I absolutely fell in love with snowshoeing, as dull as that may sound.

So just recently I finally decided to do something about it. I got the brilliant idea of renting showshoes from MEC and going to Birds Hill Park with my friend Mandy to take pictures of the great Manitoba winter. Well, this time it was narrow aluminum snowshoes that sunk in the snow, -70million degrees, half a foot of snow below us and the sparse woods of Birds Hill Park. Not exactly how I had imagined it, but it was still fun and a great way to get out into the cold with my camera. Strangely enough, the birds kept flocking around us, I guess assuming we had food to give them (which we didn't). I felt bad, but I still let them perch on my hands and sit on my head. I took a few shots and had fun in Lightroom with them.

studio crasher

I was a studio crasher the other day. Not in a bad sense, I was actually helping Elisabeth Schalla as she was doing a portrait shoot of her daughter and her friend in the daylight studio at school. I've enjoyed teaching and helping students at PrairieView this year, not only because I get to be around passionate photographers all day long, but because I get to do this: crash a shoot! Elisabeth, her daughter and her friend were nice enough to let me take a few shots. Thanks girls!