This is a view looking up at the base of the Tulip Stairs, in the Queen’s House, Greenwich, England. I was struck by the lines; it reminded me of the “Golden Spiral” mathematical construct (related to the Golden Rectangle, I believe). Although originally shot in colour, I prefer the black and white, with its inherent focus on line, light and shadow.
This image was created at the ruins of Battle Abbey in England, site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The location practically exudes a sense of history. This image is of a monk’s common room, and is one of the more well preserved spots in the structure. The very dim lighting forced me to use a digital camera with a high ISO (about 6400) to make a handheld image possible.
Too tired to do much photography after the all night flight (feeling seriously sleep deprived), but when I saw this street shot opportunity in Canterbury I had to grab it. 🙂
I am a sucker for round staircases. and the lines they create in an image. I took this image (complete with mannequin) this weekend at VoxPopCon in Hamilton. The event was held at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, a fascination building with an interesting history.
I am in Hamilton, Ontario this weekend for the inagural VoxPopCon conference. Last night after the conference opening we checked out the Hamilton Art Crawl: a great street festival, with an amazing vibe! Lots of positive, creative people on the street, including this guy:
(NIkon D7100, 18-105 lens, ISO 5000, post-processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro)
I had a great time yesterday shooting with Rebecca again; I used a variety of cameras, including my Nikon D7100 and LensBaby Spark lens. The Spark is an interesting lens: it is a doublet (only two elements), and you focus by squeezing it like an accordion for a focus point, surrounded by blur; it can be a trick to control, but it is fun to use!
As I’ve said before, I am not a film-only purist, and there are times when digital technology s what is needed to get the shot. Last night was one of those occasions. I was shooting Angela Saini at the Free Times Cafe here in Toronto. A great location to hear great music, but the stage is very dimly lit. I had to crank up the ISO on my Nikon D7100 to 6400, just to get a decent shot in available light. 6400 is a speed that takes drastic chemical steps to achieve in a film camera, and I wold likely have ended up with golf-ball sized grain. I like this look better.
This week I am on a business trip in Lethbridge, Alberta. It’s a busy week, but I did have a little bit of time for some photography (digital and film) last evening, so I headed down to a park underneath the Lethbridge Viaduct railway bridge, on of the iconic sites in the city. As an icon, it has been extensively photographed, so I tried to avoid the iconic compositions 🙂
I noticed this young photographer on the subway yesterday. He was equipped with a Canon SLR and what appeared to be a manual focus lens, likely a 50mm or 35mm. What I noticed more than the camera and  though was his eyes:  he was looking at everything, noticing everything, and in his mind framing every possible shot. Without ever seeing an image of his, I am quite confident that his photography would be good.
He had the right gear; and I don’t mean his camera, I mean his eyes and awareness which transcend whatever camera he had in his hands.
Here is another image from the workshop yesterday. I found this workshop great, as I learned  that this kind of lighting is not as hard as I thought: one one side, a beauty dish with honeycomb grid, on the other side, a strip light, also with a grid to control the path of the light. I will be exploring this technique more in the future!
I should also mention the model Kaitlin’s skill as a dancer: her poise and grace came through in every image. 🙂
My Third Eye 