Moving on up...

Once again, I have been too busy to post anything here. Not really... but busy sounds better than lazy. Have so much news I have to catch up on now.

Since my last post I have been for a few great nature walks, and came away with some great photos. Had a lot of fun despite the weather cooling off a great deal in the last few weeks. Probably won't be doing a lot of these walks during the winter, but am looking forward to trying a lot more of them come next spring. Here are a few shots from the walks:







Also worth noting is the lens I recently bought, as well as the darkroom setup I purchased. Have made a few prints from some old negatives lying around to give it a test. Absolutely love it, but can't see myself having much time for it. Will do some work with my old Yashica medium format for something on the side. Very curious to see the quality.

Speaking of quality, the lens I most recently bought is absolutely amazing. The Canon 135mm f/2L is every bit as wonderful as anything you have ever read about it. As of yet, I have not taken any serious shots with it; but rest assured knowing that they will be here as soon as I do.

Finally, I am moving in to my own place come Nov. 1st. Will be nice to have all the space I need to get some shots taken care of indoors. Call it a tiny little studio if you like. haha. If that weren't enough, I will also have high speed... so you can expect more frequent photo uploads.

With all of this exciting news, I hope to be updating more. We will see how that works out. Stay tuned...

Easy come, easy go...

Remember when I said that I would try and update more often? Well I am a liar.

Have been so many things happening that have been worth putting up here, but that is half the problem. I have been far too busy doing those things to find time for this. My new Crackberry is keeping me abreast of all the online happenings, but I still haven't felt the desire to post a blog update on it.

I am pressed for time even now, but felt I should post a quick update. Bought a car, so now I won't have any issues getting to and returning from shoots. Definitely enjoying it. Below is a photo I shot while in Brandon, MB.



Also, I have just sold my old motorcycle and put a portion of the money toward a set of Kenko extension tubes. Look forward to some macro work being posted as soon as the set arrives in the mail. Considering lighting equipment, but as of yet, I am undecided on more Alienbees and a Vagabond II portable power unit... or getting some speedlight type flashes for even greater portability.

Ketchup...

So I have a lot of catching up to do on writing here, as always. Oh, and yes, that is the basis of my post title. I knew you would love it.

Anyhow, so much has been going on and I just haven't had time to write anything down here. Just got a Blackberry, so I have been spending more time on the net with it than this computer. Unfortunately, I can't be bothered to type a blog entry on a Blackberry. haha



Have been getting very interested in off camera lighting as of late, and hoping to do a lot more work with it as I find the time. Still looking at making a Vagabond II portable power system my next purchase. At the moment I only have one Alienbee 800 studio strobe, so I would like the ability to shoot outside with it.



It looks as though this is all I will be able to write before I have to leave for work, so perhaps I will post again tonight with even more info.

Unintentional Photo Walk

First and foremost, let me just say this... Don't ever leave home without your cell charger!

Was in another town a couple hours from where I live, visiting a friend for a couple days. With my incredible memory, I ended up forgetting my cell phone charger at home. Long story short, my truck broke down about halfway home and I ended up walking 12km to a payphone in the dark. Took my camera along and snapped a few shots when I eventually came to a few lights. Now that I type it here, it doesn't sound nearly as much fun as it actually was.

Here is where my truck decided it should stop and let me take a shot:



I won't put them in this post, but I may add some of the shots from the walk to my Flickr in the morning.

Tonight also turned out pretty well. Found a great tutorial here on how to build your own Beauty Dish, and decided to give it a shot. Turns out it is incredibly quick and easy (not to mention cheap), and I was finished in no time at all. Rather impressed with how it turned out; as well as the output. Still not quite finished with it, so perhaps I will have have it looking and working even better tomorrow night.

Here are a few shots to take a peek at now:

Reaching out...

This post will be no more than a simple test. Have been working all day on having my blog show up in various other places I frequent. Certainly a sluggish ordeal when working with the connection I have; although I will try to stop complaining about that now, as I'm sure you have heard quite enough.

Here is a quick photo I took the other day that I never found the opportunity to throw on here.

Horse of a different color...

Had a great time at the lake today with the end of the August long weekend. The temperature felt a little closer to early September than the beginning of August, but all in all it was a pretty good day.



Got a bit of a late start on the day and arrived just in time for the trail ride we had booked at the Trailhead Ranch, near Onanole, MB. Everyone had a great time and I am looking forward to doing it again. Perhaps a longer excursion is in order for next time. Thankfully the rain held out for the most part, and made for a great ride. Would definitely recommend the place to anyone interested in going for an enjoyable trail ride.



After spending about three hours on the trails, and learning to use my own legs once again, we (which I should mention refers to my entire immediate family) enjoyed a picnic near the lake.



I managed to get away as the sun was getting near the setting point, and thought I would test my new Graduated ND (neutral density) filter at the beach. Didn't find much for great spots to shoot from, since I had a very limited time. What I did have enough time for, however, was to find that my filter had a very noticeable magenta color cast to it. Looks like you get what you pay for, so I will be looking at purchasing something along the lines of a Lee filter system for these types of shots. Stacking of screw on filters isn't such a hot idea on wide angle lenses anyhow.

Anyhow, that about sums up my day. Managed to salvage the landscape shooting of the day with an HDR capture on my way out of the park. Just lucked out with a nice sky as I had to stop on the side of the road and snap off three quick shots.



Wonder what tomorrow will have in store...

That's a wrap...

This post is just to share a single photo. No big story behind it or anything. I was just having a boring afternoon the other day and decided to play around with my strobe and a gumball machine I have in my basement. Actually, the original idea was to get a self portrait, since I don't have any recent photos of myself. haha. I soon found the gumball machine to be much more aesthetically pleasing.

All information on how I set the shot up can be found in the Flickr description if you follow the photo link. Would love to hear any comments/critiques here, or on my Flickr page. Thanks.

Also, keep watch for some portraits I should have coming up shortly. If only I could get the people in front of my camera, the photos will soon follow here.