My Wishes to you all.....

I Built a City

I decided to build a city that would be located by a lake, and reach into the sky. We could drive around my city, at night and listen to music:
DOWNLOAD: Driver. By The Teddy Bears

At night my city would reflect its lights across the water.

Or.. we could rent a helicopter and fly over it at night... see all of the lights.

In the evening, we could sit out in the lake and take in the sunset.

This is my city.... That's correct, my city is just made from staples, a mirror and colored lights.

But if I add some additional color effects... I kinda want to visit for just on night.

Wanna come for a drive?

I bought a new Camera

Ok... after processing film through the scanner, I noticed that my work flow is not quick. Especially with Sam's wedding, and Thanksgiving (where I lost a complete roll of film due to the camera being setup wrong)
The Film workflow:
Compose->Shoot->Send To lab-> wait->get films back-> review-> scan-> adjust-> upload.

A couple of weeks ago... I went a little kooky. You know.... Shit happened, life got all screwed up and I could not figure out why.... The cure for this???

You go shopping..... and you buy something! Sometimes... you buy something BIG!

I did it... I went out, and bought a high-end digital camera... The shots below are from the new camera.



High-end is a funny term..... even though it is still a Nikon, the lenses they make for these things don't allow super close photos. But.. since it is a high-end Nikon, it will allow me to use all my high-end lenses from my film cameras. That's right... I still use the damn thing set in "Manual" mode to get the best shots.


I will still shoot film, especially medium format. But a lot of the quick stuff I need, they will most likely be digital.

The Digital workflow:
Compose->Shoot->review->adjust-> upload.

Toast, and Things of the Simple Life.

I love the smell of toast... something from my childhood, possibly those many hours as a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons... and eating toast and jam. What is it about specific smells, or music that can evoke long forgotten memories. Many such memory flashbacks are of simple things in life, like toast.

I have always been a fan of Steely Dan for years. So many of their songs played parts in burning special memories into my brain. Playing the songs keeps providing me with just as many images that I have remembered. Here is one of my favorate.. I was playing this on the MP3 player when I took these photos. DOWNLOAD Dr. Wu.

This week I experiment with what is known as "Camera Painting"

Camera painting is simple, set the shutter to a small f-stop like f22 and set the exposure time to a large 2 seconds. Then move the camera in a motion that paints the scene.........

Autumn #1

Fall has the special smell too. After the first couple of days past labour day, the leaves give every child their first hint for the start of the school year.

Autumn # 2

Autumn #3

Finally as frost sets in, the smell starts me thinking about Christmas, family and the long nights ahead.

Frost

I am off to make some toast... it has been a long time since I smeared my mother's home made jam on a peice of toast... simple things are most often the best things.

Back to the Studio

I got my films back.. I built a new studio lighting rig with various spots, fixtures and coloured filters... To celebrate here is a tune from what is arguably one of the greatest Jazz albums ever written.. DOWNLOAD: "A Love Supreme" By John Coltrane.

The hand... it molds, it moves, it creates. Its soft touch is felt as it gently slides down the smooth surfaces of objects in comes in play with....



The sun... it warms, it feeds, it gives us life energy. Its glow in the early morning or late evening can elicit emotion that nurtures the soul.


The cup... is made by the hand, baked by the sun, and can hold dreams of desire or nightmares of sorrow.


The fruit... is fed by the sun, sowed by the hand, and contained in the cup. Its taste can please the soul and tempt the heart.



hey.. the poetry sucks but the music is great!!!

See ya next week.

Thanksgiving

I normally like this time of year.. it is my favorate time... it means change!

First we need music.. some Jazz...
DOWNLOAD: "So What" By Miles Davis.
Now, pull up a chair.. we are back at my cottage... in the north woods.. on the lake... the Stereo is playing....

Thanksgiving in Canada is a fall festival.. the kind they have pretty much everywhere to celebrate the harvest and give thanks. ... I only need to look at the scenery, listen to Mr. Davis.. have some good friends, good wine, good food..... hell man! Why not give thanks!


I am doing the 330Km trek Friday... up to the cottage with family and friends... I'll be back Sunday... I really wish everyone happy harvest time... and I wish you where with me.

Sam's Wedding... The Actual Truth. Part 3 of 3

This is a Bride:
And this is a Groom:
And this is the Brides Mom and the lady who fell down the stairs:
And this is a Bride:

This lady is into Satan worship


These three guys own and operate a shrimping boat....


None of these fine people where actually at Sam's wedding reception, but they were enjoying their own wedding receptions at the same place as Sam.... Why... What were you thinking?

And it was important.. Because in introduces today's music... which is from an Acadian musician who lives in Hamilton... In the music you can here the basis for the Zydeco they might play on a shrimping boat. DOWNLOAD: "Trinques L’amourettes" By Scantily Plaid.


I started this whole thing with a nice photo of Sam.. I am going to end it that way too... So here is Sam's parents... What do you think they are thinking? Their daughter is getting married!!!

I mean I have a daughter too... but I am buying her intended Groom a ladder...

This is the inside of the church....

Here is a wide shot of everyone waiting... we do alot of that a weddings don't we... we wait for the previous wedding to end so we get a seat, we wait for the ushers, we wait for the bride, we wait for the religious services to be over, we wait for the preist, the photographer, the church to clear... hell we even wait for the bartender


For this shot I wanted the Bride, her Mom, and Her Dad to be small in the photo and give it a feeling of being overwhelmed at the whole thing..


And finally...... Mr and Mrs Muscat


The last song is fitting.... It is by Tangerine Dream DOWNLOAD: "Dolphin Dance" .

The End.... The Middle.... The Beginning... Your choice. We all live on this planet in our own realities....

Sam's Wedding... A further extension of truth. Part 2 of 3

Ok.. this week I want everybody to get the song for this post..... it is essential to this week's theme. It is by Dave Brubeck... DOWNLOAD: "Take Five"

We last left Sam's wedding looking like this.... A full-blown Hollywood party was underway. Dancing, Drinking..... people just having fun.
Kinda looks like something from an old James Cagney.. or Humphrey Bogart film..

Hey just for fun... let's pick on the guests this week....... Suppose we were photographing famous detectives back in the 1940's or 1950's....

Wow... "Ok.. copper.. I surrender"

Or maybe..... There are cheap black & white photos of people doing things they shouldn't, like being drunk in public or committing unsociable acts...

yeah right, ......at a wedding?

I'll bet that some of the guests are actual private eyes.... yea, they wear their private eye smile, and dress in their detective style clothes and...

they are even accompanied by their beautiful detective type girlfriends.

Sometimes an actual crime is about to be committed....

This is Sam's new boss and his wife.... now suspiciously....they left the party right after eating diner... no goodbye, no farewell, nothing! ....I never even got to dance with his wife.... Nor did I get to harass them much.. But her face is saying two things... either something about the guy taking photos is an asshole, so let's leave or..

"you wait 5 minutes... till that "Chicken Kiev" takes effect hubby dear..."

Hey guys..

This is Katie...... I have tons of photos of Katie... in every damn one she has a drink in her hand....

Now Katie is very attractive and photographs very well.... even with a drink in her hand.. but I wanted to make her more than just a cheap black & white image... and go back to the glamour of Hollywood for just a moment.....

The 2006 Best Actress Award Winner.....

"Way to go Katie.... let me buy you a drink".

Notice that I used color...... ewwww, aahhhh. The photo is an obvious fake and you can tell.. but what if I take someone who is very likable... someone like Brian's brother Leo....

Well damned if he isn't a dashing fellow!! Very charming indeed...
But given the right circumstances......

"Waaaassss Uppppp"

Ok.. I have to ...No... I want to be nice... for just a moment. Because we take time in our presentation to pay homage to... Sam's Mom.

If you look closely at Glennis you see Samantha......

Right... homage over....... This is Baylee... Sam's nephew and a highly active "little person" ... what's more he is a professional Hollywood dancer.....
Photos don't lie.... do they?


See ya next week..... oh yea.. please leave your comments below <- This line

Sam's Wedding... an essay on reality (Part 1 of 3)

I'm not much for marriage... I tried it once and it broke. But don't let me stop you .... everybody aught to try it at least once, because no two are really the same. That whole "Wedding" part though... Man... I love weddings... hey we all do, especially if the food and drinks are free... well not quite free... they generally cost me the price of a high-end toaster... Hey, admit it ... some of you did not even go to the church, just the diner (Remember...I have photos).

Canadian weddings are all pretty much the same... ok, minor differences in getting the "Principle couple" to kiss, but the goal is the same.... the pomp and cerimony are relatively standard fare.... Everybody has and Aunt or an Uncle that dance to a beat that has is far different than the song the DJ is playing..... and people like me, stay though the entire thing and consume far too much alcohol... and do things that someone with a camera might capture....

This is my friend Sam...

I never thought about her as being "beautiful" before... she was a buddy, a pal and someone you would work with and then go party with her and her friends for hours. But after seeing her dressed up I must admit, she is probably the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.

Now Sam and her new playmate/husband Brian.. who is the most beautiful groom the teenage girls in my house, have ever seen... had "Real" photos done by a very professional photographer (hence forth know as a VPP).

I'm just not much into pre-positioned, "pretty" photos that we get from a VPP.... don't get me wrong, I'm sure every VPP can be creative and do some great stuff that I would bow down too...And the VPP gets paid BFB to take photos... I'm lucky if I get invited to the event.

This blog is about experimentation... and I wanted to do something different with the photos I took at Sam & Brian's wedding. Imagine if the wedding was on July 22, 1957 instead of August 12, 2006.. would you know the difference?

Think again......

Somewhat of a different reality isn't it...
Hey, you know what?... this page needs a song..... yea, we need a song to go along with our reality trip.... DOWNLOAD: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" this is done by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole..... Oh yea, like you actually pronunciated that name!

I like the 40's and 50's photos .. black and whites.... tons of grain... Shots taken by a guy with a camera the size of a compact car. What if Sam and Brian were the A-List, hot Hollywood couple........

"Hey, I didn't know those two got married........"

I was trying out some film with an ISO rating of 3200... the stuff is really shitty and has little use other than to get shots without bothering folks with a blinding flash (sorry to the lady who got blinded on the stairs, I hope the stiches don't scar). After getting the negatives back, I noticed that the shots look like they were taken off of an old 1950's style, black&white TV...

How do we know they were not.....

"Hi, there.. Tony Falconi here, and welcome to Dancing with my Aunty and Uncle"

"Our contestants are all waiting for the music to start"

"Oh boy!.. look at them go... One or two seem to be falling off the beat"

"Wow, I think we have our winner here folks"!

Now I did not mean to slam the VPP. Most VPP's are butt ugly.. that's why we pay them to take our photos, and we don't shoot theirs. In this case though the VPP was attractive... had a great smile... ooopss, was that my finger that hit the shutter button?... sorry. But this page can also change things around a little.... change perceptions, change realities.... I wasn't shooting a VPP at a wedding.... No, No, No my friends... I was back in the Sixties.........

VPP Lisa Drenters

See ya next week!

Oh, please leave your comments right below this line!!