Self Portrait

Here I am... thank god for self-timers. The camera in my hand is another medium format camera that I am trying out. It is a Zeiss Ikonta, from 1952 and takes 120 film for huge film frames that are 6 x 9 Cm. That is like 145 megapixels!!



I have been spending so much time shooting portraits for other people and I can't post them without their permission either, so my postings have been "light". I hope to have some new stuff up here during the Christmas break!!

Portraits

Trying to practice my portrait work.... I think the black dogs on a black background needs to be re-thought.

Autumn Finally Arrives

In a two week period the weather went from abnormally sunny and 26 degrees C to the cold, wet weather that autumn normally brings. The weather was so warm... The leaves never hit peak color.




What is to become of the weather in the future?

More ZIMSCULPT

A lot of people are asking for more shots of the sculptures.... here you go:

Scenes From Africa.

It is sunny and 23 degrees C here in Hamilton, and it has been like that for a week. I thought we would check out the ZIMSCULPT exhibit at the Royal Botanical gardens. ZIMSCULPT is a Sculpture exhibit from Zimbabwe, Africa.

There are over 300 sculptures set up throughout the gardens.

The stone the artists use is a lot like soap stone, and comes in various colours.

Each sculpture tells a different story, or depicts ancient African mythology.

Some of the artists also demonstrated their carving techniques.

They were also selling most of the sculptures..... The Price?

Anywhere from $1000 to $12000 ... Yikes!

Failure

Failure is an important function in life. In my case, failure is an ongoing process that pops its ugly head in and out every once in a while.
It is only because I keep trying, sometimes relentlessly that I begin to learn, and thus end up succeeding the next time. Take the photo below.


Yea, it is a light bulb. However, it is one of 9 that were sacrificed to get this one shot (I replaced everything in the house with compact fluorescent bulbs. Hummm, what to do with the old bulbs??). And it is still not a great shot. I have seen photos like this one that were perfectly in focus, very sharp and the entire bulb was in the photo. And I was shooting at 5 frames per second, with 1000 watts of light.

It is not the equipment..... It is a setback. It is like a lot of things in life, we can't always get want we want.

But the good news?

My music server is back, heating my garage and supplying music once again.

The Big Bus

I left you last week on the streets of Toronto. Remember the "Rat Pack" from the 1960s... Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, and Joey Bishop?

One thing stands out about the "Rat Pack"... they were cool!

For Cam and Amanda's wedding, I could not derive a theme... until I got the films back from a new medium format camera I was using.... then it hit me.....We are going to ride on a big bus with the "Rat Pack of the 2000s"...

Ok, so we are at the church, and we go outside....

Now Cam and Amanda did not have a limo.....

They had a big, big bus.... it was like driving around in a lounge at the airport....

It had a kitchenette, bathroom, satellite TV, Satellite radio, Satellite guided, radio tripping bus driver... I mean, it was a big, big cool bus.

Everyone on the bus just looked cool...

Or they looked like attractive cool stars.....

The pack posing outside a church... just looked cool.

Hell, walking down the street.... they just looked cool

Even the kid who started the bus ride.... looked cool.

I love black and white film.... it too, is cool.

See you next week for part three .....

Another Year, Another Wedding

This is Amanda.......

Remember last year, and Samantha and Brian's wedding? For the seven or eight of you who read this blog it is here.

This year another friend, Cam, got married to Amanda. They also had two VPPs shooting their wedding photos, and I spent sometime shooting "nice" shots with the two VPPs.


But Cam and Amanda also had an idea for some type of Guerrilla photography, whereby we shoot at any opportunity, and we include the general public in the action.

Like near the Airport....

Or waiting at a street car stop....

Or stopping a street car in the middle of downtown Toronto....

Or running down the street........

Or just stopping in the street....

Next week, the further adventures of Cam and Amanda... and the "Big Bus"

Taking a Break

I have not posted much over the summer. It is not that I have not shot anything, the fact is I have.
I have just not had time to get them up on the blog.
The real fact is... I have too many projects on the go, and I need to finish things off before the fall.

My daughter Rebecca has also been shooting with me. So this time, I am going to post one of her shots from Hamilton harbor.

Rebecca Murray, June 2007

I will post again in September.

Cottage Time, and the Return of Summer

Ontario weather is just kooky. 350 kilometers north of my house in Hamilton, lies the cottage. I rarely go up north in May, due to the fact that it is about three weeks behind Hamilton, weather-wise. It is cold, and damp. I also rarely venture north in may due to the dreaded black fly.

"The Black flies, the little Black flies"
" Always the black fly no matter where you go"
" I'll die with the black fly a Pickin' my bones"
"In North Ontario, In North Ontario"
-Wade Hemsworth,.

The Black fly is about the size of a grape seed. But they don't come in ones and twos..... they come by the hundreds.... sometimes thousands... Oh yea.... THEY BITE!!! And they are always around, everywhere..... for about three weeks. Then like magic...... POOF...... they are gone until next spring. That, is the only downside the spring in the North country.

The upside? Trilliums!

The trillium is a wild perennial flower the grows across Ontario. In fact, it is the provincial flower. I have seen a lot of trilliums......

The Trillium

This year... there were millions of them. As far back into the woods you could see them. Everywhere. White, Pink, Purple, Violet..... millions of them. Along every road, highway, and forest.

More Trilliums

The other upsides...... the shear beauty of a forest and a lake on a spring evening.

Manitouwabing Sunset in HDR

See ya in a few weeks.

Fun with Film

Wow... a month has gone by.

I was down at the docks last weekend shooting with film because I am working on a black and white assignment for the club. There are all sorts of interesting objects and subjects down near the lake.....

HMCS Hieda

Boats at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club

The Steam Museum

Water Playground near Pier 4

Oh... Alright.... Here is a color image done utilizing what is called "North Light"..