Photo walks

A couple of years ago, Jeff and I took a photographic leap: we joined a studio and invested in some studio lights. The world (inside our heads) has never been the same since. While Jeff didn't take as much of a shining to the whole studio thing, I've invested quite a bit of energy into learning how to work those damn lights; it's a process, and it's an ongoing and occasionally very frustrating one at that. But it can also be amazingly rewarding, which is why I've been posting the best (or even least embarrassing) results of my shoots on here.

 The downside of all that is that, until recently, I'd rarely ventured outside the studio with my camera. That changed about a month ago, thanks to the lovely folks at the Ottawa Street Exploration flickr group. They organize monthly photo walks throughout the city, in hopes of cataloging some of the lesser known local spots and getting a few good shots in at the same time. The first outing I joined was on St. Patrick's Day; we explored the ByWard Market and encountered its many festive and not-so-festive inhabitants. My favourite shot from the day has really nothing to do with St. Patrick (or his day), but more to do with the loveliness of taking a walk on a warm day in early spring:

 

 The shot that proved most popular, however, was one of two sales ladies from The Bay, presumably on their smoke break:

 


Check out the full set here.

For its April outing, the group decided to head to Chinatown. There was relatively little activity on the Saturday before Easter, so most of us took to shooting the inanimate side of things. Still, I did manage to snap one guy having a smoke on his front step. It makes me wonder: why do smokers always seem so deep in thought?
 

With the days getting longer, we had to cope with much brighter light and harsher shadows than usual. So I thought I'd make the best of it and play with some shadows:

 

 Full set here.

 All in all, I had a great time joining these photo walks and I'm looking forward to the next outing with this exceptionally fun and supportive group of talented photographers.