Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Mom's garden - Part 1
Last weekend, I was kindly invited to take some photos of my mom's flowers. The inordinately wet weather seems to have agreed with them, so they were in full bloom and very eager to be shown off.
After much going through my shots, pondering and debating, here is a sneak preview of my mom's garden. (More shots to come, didn't want to overwhelm this page with too many photos at once, and the slideshow idea is getting old).
After much going through my shots, pondering and debating, here is a sneak preview of my mom's garden. (More shots to come, didn't want to overwhelm this page with too many photos at once, and the slideshow idea is getting old).
Monday, July 27, 2009
Macro!
Here is my first try at macro photography, on a photo walk around the neighbourhood. Not with an actual macro lens, but I got some pretty fun results.
Coming up soon, my second attempt at macro, in my mom's flower garden. Until then, I leave you with these pretty things...
Coming up soon, my second attempt at macro, in my mom's flower garden. Until then, I leave you with these pretty things...
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Cats
Apart from its roof, another wonderful feature of my apartment building is its placement. It's downtown, and a 7-minute walk to the Rideau Canal, along which Jeff and I usually run a few times a week. The walk takes us through a beautiful residential neighbourhood east of Elgin Street; the area probably has plenty of other things worth a praise, but the aspect closest to my heart is the abundance of cats. Some days, it seems like having a cat is a requirement for anyone looking to buy a house around there, and on any given day you will most likely see at least 3 cats over about 6 blocks.
Since this suited me just fine, a feline photo walk was, of course, in order. Here are its more notable results.
Since this suited me just fine, a feline photo walk was, of course, in order. Here are its more notable results.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Love, ghetto lighting, and a rose
Today's been a bit of a tough day, with a couple of curve balls thrown at me from a couple of directions. All that changed, however, when my wonderful boyfriend picked me up from work and gave me the most beautiful red and white rose!
Now, to your average girl, taking the rose home, putting it in a vase and possibly bragging to a couple of friends would be enough. I, however, needed to (1) move all my furniture around, (2) set up the world's most tangled ghetto lighting setup including every lamp I own, a few metres of aluminium foil, parchment paper and foam, (3) take about 70 shots, and (4) post 3 of them here.
So please enjoy, and if you see Jeff, please thank him from the bottom of my heart for being the wonderful man he is, and lifting my spirits whenever I need a pick-me-up and a reminder that having awesome people in my life makes life pretty damn good.
As for me, I'll be cleaning my apartment for the next 3 hours.
Now, to your average girl, taking the rose home, putting it in a vase and possibly bragging to a couple of friends would be enough. I, however, needed to (1) move all my furniture around, (2) set up the world's most tangled ghetto lighting setup including every lamp I own, a few metres of aluminium foil, parchment paper and foam, (3) take about 70 shots, and (4) post 3 of them here.
So please enjoy, and if you see Jeff, please thank him from the bottom of my heart for being the wonderful man he is, and lifting my spirits whenever I need a pick-me-up and a reminder that having awesome people in my life makes life pretty damn good.
As for me, I'll be cleaning my apartment for the next 3 hours.
Vancouver Aquarium
My trip to Vancouver wouldn't have been complete without a visit to the Aquarium. If you haven't been, I can tell you I was in awe of some of the coolest fish, birds and otters (among other species) I've ever seen. It's an amazing place to go if you love fish, and a great place to take your camera if you decide you have too much self esteem.
If you like shooting fast-moving fish, in the dark, through thoroughly fingerprinted glass and speckled water, then this is your photographic paradise. Otherwise, though? Please leave your camera at home and just enjoy your visit.
... Or do what I did and stubbornly take 150 underexposed, *slightly* blurry shots. The ones I had most luck with were, unsurprisingly, starfish (which didn't move), jellyfish (which were brightly lit and moved slowly) and a Mandarin duck, which was slowly wading in a pond outside (and therefore in bright light):
If you like shooting fast-moving fish, in the dark, through thoroughly fingerprinted glass and speckled water, then this is your photographic paradise. Otherwise, though? Please leave your camera at home and just enjoy your visit.
... Or do what I did and stubbornly take 150 underexposed, *slightly* blurry shots. The ones I had most luck with were, unsurprisingly, starfish (which didn't move), jellyfish (which were brightly lit and moved slowly) and a Mandarin duck, which was slowly wading in a pond outside (and therefore in bright light):
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Vancouver -- Chinese Garden, Take 3
While in the Chinese Garden, we also got the chance to catch a glimpse of an Indian wedding. The couple came by for wedding photos (and video, as it turns out), and I tried to get a few shots of them as well. Didn't fare too well overall (due to the number of guests, photographers, other tourists and walls obstructing the view ), but I did get a couple of shots, which I thought might also be a nice selective colouring project.
The bride's bouquet
The happy couple
The bride's bouquet
The happy couple
Monday, July 20, 2009
Vancouver -- Chinese Garden, Take 2
The second installment of the Chinese Garden photos, still trying to make the best of some very unforgiving light...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Vancouver -- Chinese Garden, Take 1
Somewhere in the midst of my photo-posting hiatus, I went to Vancouver for Jeff's graduation, and got a tour of the city for good measure. I'm finally getting around to doing some real editing now, and finding out that tourism trumped photography this time around. Still, I'll post some of my best (and maybe most representative) shots, and let you be the judge of them.
To start, a few shots of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden. Jeff and I were there on an unbelievably bright and sunny day, which made for good tourist weather but less spectacular photography. Thankfully, the omnipresent bamboo helped provide some interesting shade...
To start, a few shots of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden. Jeff and I were there on an unbelievably bright and sunny day, which made for good tourist weather but less spectacular photography. Thankfully, the omnipresent bamboo helped provide some interesting shade...
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Shoes
In case you're wondering, I haven't stopped shooting salsa events. Most recent one was on July 4th, when Jeff and I shot a SalsaOle party. I might refrain from posting samples from the actual shoot though, lest anyone get sick of salsa photos. We'll see.
However. When I first came into the room where the salsa event was going to happen, and was looking for something -- anything! -- to act as a subject for a few practice shots (it had been a while!), I saw a pair of shoes that somehow looked interesting; they reminded me of a b/w photograph I'd seen a long time ago, of a pair of very worn boots against a white background. I remember being in awe of how something so unappealing in everyday life could make for such an interesting photo subject, and I like to think that lesson's stayed with me until today, at least in my more inspired moments. I don't kid myself that the quality of this shot is anywhere near as good as the one I'd seen back then (all other criticism aside, it was the first practice shot, about 2 minutes after walking into the place), but I'm still putting it up, to remind me never to lose my curiosity, and to keep shooting new things, even when the subject is as mundane as a pair of shoes.
However. When I first came into the room where the salsa event was going to happen, and was looking for something -- anything! -- to act as a subject for a few practice shots (it had been a while!), I saw a pair of shoes that somehow looked interesting; they reminded me of a b/w photograph I'd seen a long time ago, of a pair of very worn boots against a white background. I remember being in awe of how something so unappealing in everyday life could make for such an interesting photo subject, and I like to think that lesson's stayed with me until today, at least in my more inspired moments. I don't kid myself that the quality of this shot is anywhere near as good as the one I'd seen back then (all other criticism aside, it was the first practice shot, about 2 minutes after walking into the place), but I'm still putting it up, to remind me never to lose my curiosity, and to keep shooting new things, even when the subject is as mundane as a pair of shoes.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Life at 50mm
As part of my recent photo equipment shopping spree, in addition to the 24-70mm Beast, I also got myself a nifty little (or, in this case, not quite so little) 50mm prime lens. I was talked into this by Jeff (i.e the boyfriend), who loves his own 50mm and sings odes to it in a lovely tenor voice whenever he takes it out for a shoot.
So. In honour of my having caved, we both went out with our respective Nifty Fifties and, as is tradition (it seems!), got rained on abundantly. Before that, though, we did manage to get some good shots. Mine are below, and you can see Jeff's on his brand new Flickr account at www.flickr.com/photos/jeffhuangphoto/.
Flower box along Sussex.
Some bikers abandoned their bikes for a minute on Alexandra bridge, to take photos of themselves (and each other) with Parliament Hill as a backdrop. I, on the other hand, was happy shooting their bikes.
A groundhog in Jacques Cartier Park. He ran away, but kept poking his nose out of his burrow even when I got this close.
Decided to try and shoot something less shy... like a wall.
... And then this little guy came out to play, probably hoping to be fed. He eventually gave up on that and went to chill with the groundhog.
So. In honour of my having caved, we both went out with our respective Nifty Fifties and, as is tradition (it seems!), got rained on abundantly. Before that, though, we did manage to get some good shots. Mine are below, and you can see Jeff's on his brand new Flickr account at www.flickr.com/photos/jeffhuangphoto/.
Flower box along Sussex.
Some bikers abandoned their bikes for a minute on Alexandra bridge, to take photos of themselves (and each other) with Parliament Hill as a backdrop. I, on the other hand, was happy shooting their bikes.
A groundhog in Jacques Cartier Park. He ran away, but kept poking his nose out of his burrow even when I got this close.
Decided to try and shoot something less shy... like a wall.
... And then this little guy came out to play, probably hoping to be fed. He eventually gave up on that and went to chill with the groundhog.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
What's your favourite colour?
In keeping with the somewhat patriotic / Ottawa-specific theme of my previous post, I went by Parliament Hill tonight. It was in part to play with my new toys (new tripod, new 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, my first L-series, hooray!) and in part to get some shots of Ottawa by night; what hadn't occurred to me was that the Sound and Light Show was going on. For those who haven't seen it, it's a... let's call it a movie (all about Canadian heritage, of course) projected onto the facade of the Parliament building (Centre Block, if we're being exact). I believe it to be cool.
Anyway. I set up my tripod and my new lens (lovingly called "the Beast"). Since the images/lights were moving relatively fast, I had no idea how my shots were going to turn out, but I figured I'd just take a nice long exposure, hope for the best, and see what happens. I was pleasantly surprised. All of the images below were 30-second exposures at f/8.
So: what's your favourite colour?
Friday, July 3, 2009
Happy (belated) Canada Day
Here is, hopefully, the end of the aforementioned hiatus, brought to you by Canada Day.
My new apartment has a wonderful feature: its roof. It's a wonderful feature not only because it keeps rain from making its way down onto my stuff, but also because I have access to said roof, which also happens to grant me a view of downtown Ottawa and, on Canada Day, a half-decent view of the fireworks. Still had a few buildings in the way, which is why this year I decided to focus on tighter framing of single (and sometimes multiple) bursts rather than broader landscapes. Comments are, as always, very welcome.
My new apartment has a wonderful feature: its roof. It's a wonderful feature not only because it keeps rain from making its way down onto my stuff, but also because I have access to said roof, which also happens to grant me a view of downtown Ottawa and, on Canada Day, a half-decent view of the fireworks. Still had a few buildings in the way, which is why this year I decided to focus on tighter framing of single (and sometimes multiple) bursts rather than broader landscapes. Comments are, as always, very welcome.
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