"The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box." - 365 Project, Day 58

It was a very warm and muggy day today and as I was enjoying my couch about an hour and a half before I write this, some sparks of light caught the corner of my eye.  Looking outside, I see lightning flashing me.  As I grabbed my gear and dash outside, very light rain starts.  I set everything up, and, as goes the story of my life, the party is over when I knock on the door.

Trying to capture lightning is a bottle is, if one doesn't know already, just as difficult as it seems (especially, as in my case, if the lightning has passed.  Photography can be a great pleasure, but frustration is also a tremendous part of the experience, for better or worse.  How many pictures have been ruined by flash, or bad focusing, or simply because of bad timing, one way or the other?  More than a few pictures I've taken, from my recollection, should have been re-composed, re-metered or re-focused, but alas, such is not a possibility.  The only consolation is that these photographic experiences get assimilated into my own brain in the hopes that I shall learn from them and not, to the best of my meager abilities, not repeat them.

The pictures today don't seem like missed opportunities, apart, of course, from my own.

Frank

His note: Went for a walk by the Rideau Falls today.  A beautiful warm afternoon, perfect for picture-taking.

Mandy

More of that Black Shatter.  This time with light teal... primer!

Shannon

Her note: Such a foggy morning.

Pat

My failed attempt at trying to catch a lightning bolt.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.  I'm out, because my cat is looking at me funny now.

"If you can smell the street by looking at the photo, it's a street photograph." - 365 Project, Day 57

There's a somewhat abrasive photographer called Bruce Gilden.  He walks the streets of Manhattan with a Leica in one hand and a flash in the other.  He pretty much pounces on his subjects as he shoots them, creating very particular shots.  He gets angry when people smile.

In any case, this has nothing to do with the point of the post, though he's the writer of the title today.  It wasn't the sunniest day outside, by an extreme longshot, and though it was warm enough, it was very humid, especially after the dumping of buckets upon buckets of rain for a few hours.  As I walked home, it smelled of humidity and worms. Though pungent, it was not the most appealing of smells my brain has processed.  I did think to myself, 'I wish I could capture this smell with a picture".  I don't know exactly what picture I would have taken to capture that smell (and not necessarily, as the title of this post proposes, with a street shot), but being able to smell that rank odor when looking at the picture would have made me happy.  Atmosphere, it seems, should speak for itself in this case.

Today's pictures are next, and probably not very smelly.

Frank

His note: The buds are finally out!

Mandy

Mandy probably sent me a message to go along with this picture but I didn't get it unfortunately.  I do know that she looked at a lot of places before she finally found her Black Shatter nail polish.  Here it is with a yellow undercoat/base/primer (?).

Shannon

Her note: Hmmmmm didn't know they made extra large peanut buttercups.

Pat

I was walking home and couldn't resist taking a shot of these two guys walking the other way.  I thank them more than they know for not looking back at me while I took a shot of them (for a few reasons).

I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I'm sure it will be different.

"No matter how advanced your camera you still need to be responsible for getting it to the right place at the right time and pointing it in the right direction to get the photo you want." - 365 Project, Day 56

My picture today is not my usual type of picture, as it's a very everyday picture.  It's an old camera; about as old as I am, in fact.  Where I work, we accept things for recycling and at times we get some pretty interesting items.  Taking a trip down nostalgia road is always a fun time!

The camera, as you can see, is a Kodak Tele-Ektralite 600.  This bad boy set you back roughly US$67 from 1980 to 1982, and had 2 fixed zoom settings (22 and 44mm, with constant f/8.).  The button on the left facing the camera is the shutter button, with a tiny red button in its middle, which controlled the metering system when taking a picture.  You see the zoom switch right below that.  On the top left is the viewfinder and the middle is the film chamber.  The funny looking thing swinging out behind the camera is a built-in case, securing the camera.

It used a very particular (but quite popular) kind of film, 110 film.  It was only 17x13mm in size (even smaller than current crop sensor DSLRs).  As far as I can tell, it came in its own plastic casing and didn't need any rewinding because of the type of case used.  It was produced from 1972 to 2009 (!).

Interestingly (and coincidently) enough, Shannon's first camera was one of these.  On to today's pictures.

Frank

His note:  It's a fake!

Mandy

Her note: Stairs + Mandy = No new picture today. One from yesterday

Shannon

Her note: Is this not a cereal?

(No comment.  Except to say that I want this.)

Me

My note is pretty much my whole post today, so I guess I can skip this.

Tomorrow should be another nice day and if this keeps up, I'll have a metric f-ton of street shots in the near future.

"Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography." - 365 Project, Day 55

I've asked a few questions before, one of them having the effect of how many times you can take a picture of the one same thing before it gets too familiar.  What, then, about photographing things that look similar?  This is a somewhat similar question, but, being only similar and not the same, offers up a different answer.

Being simple-minded as I am, I have simple ideas, and one such idea was of a small side project (in addition to this 365 project) comprising nothing but shots of the sky.  This, you say, may not seem too interesting.  You would be right, and rightly so, if I were only to take pictures of a clear blue sky and nothing else.  My idea was taking pictures of clouds in the sky.  Every cloud is different and every pattern clouds create is different.  Combine that with the manipulative powers of Lightroom and some very nice shots emerge.  A whole folder of such nice shots could easily be used for computer/cell phone backgrounds, and could be a nice way of perhaps kick-starting my simple-mindedness into only half-simple-mindedness.

This is nothing staggering and, as I have said, a little silly, but I don't consider myself an especially creative person, so I'm proud of my simple idea.  This brings me to another thought I've had.  I don't know if I should add more content to this blog for the moment.  I've wanted to post more pictures than simply the 365 Project pictures, but something (thought I don't know what) is holding me back.

That, however, is not so important at this juncture.  The juncture that is important is today's pictures, and here they are.

Frank

His note: Air pockets left by the construction of my balcony. I wonder what air pockets are deeper inside?

Mandy

Her note: I took an Easter hike with my Daddy today to take some photos together. This was really special to me. I saw a fellow daughter out in the sunshine, running with happiness.

Shannon

Her note: Went out to the inlaws for Easter and just loved the view in the backyard.

Pat

I didn't go anywhere special today but the semi-cloudy sky did provide some inspiration.  The colours are altered a little given the original shot looked a little off, because of the way I shot the picture.

I hope everybody had a good Easter, and I shall see you tomorrow.

"Photography is truth. And cinema is truth twenty-four times a second." - 365 Project, Day 54

On Friday, I helped a friend with shooting a video resume.  It was different shooting video and a great learning opportunity.  I know a fair bit about photography and, on the technical side at least, I can make a good exposure.  With video, on the other hand, I have very little experience.

 Firstly, because the video will be edited later, I had to think about framing and how cuts and overlays will be used.  Next, I had to think about making the subject look nice, and especially consider lighting with this.  Shooting indoors and shooting outdoors are very different.  Third, sound!  Fortunately, my friend rented a very nice wireless microphone, and though noise was already a concern, we had to make sure that at least she was clear and at nice volume level.

Adding time to photography is a curveball that made my day very interesting and I'll definitely enjoy doing something like this again.

This has nothing to do today's pictures, but I didn't have the staying-up power to say anything yesterday.  In any case, here are today's pictures.

Frank

His note: A pendant I wear on motorcycle rides.

Mandy

Her note: Kissies!

Shannon

Her note: Ok Pat you keep suggesting I take a pic of a door knob, I only have door handles at home... so here it is.

(Yay!  You finally did this!)

Me

The street outside my apartment is being torn up for whatever reason, but there's lots of piles of stuff around, so here is a pile or rocks.

Tomorrow is Easter.  Happy Easter.  I hope you all eat very well.

"A definition of a professional photographer: A "pro" NEVER shows anybody the mistakes." - 365 Project, Day 53

 Another quick post.

Frank

His note: Out with the old and out with the new. This old large Rockcliffe Park tree was cut down a few years ago.  Now for some reason they cut down the smaller 6-7 year old trees around it as well?

Mandy

Her note: Kisses by any other name would taste as sweet.

Shannon

Her note: Going through my things today and found a peacock feather that my uncle brought me back from one of his many trips years ago.

Me

I was shooting a video for a friend and we walked in the market.  Someone was playing guitar while people are walking around.  Simple street shot.

Tomorrow is another day, and so another (four) picture will be posted.

"Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures." - 365 Project, Day 51

I was talking to a co-worker, who's also a musician, and he said he didn't understand the concept of DJing, because all the DJ is doing is either playing songs by other people or sampling sounds that are impersonal and may have been recorded by someone else.  We didn't get a chance to finish our conversation because busy got in our way but it was a very nice conversation.

From his point of view, DJing would be somewhat impersonal (he, by the way, writes his own music and lyrics).  From my point of view, I don't think that matters if the DJ can convey the message they want to convey.  I've always said instrumental music is slightly on the tougher side of the fence because there are no lyrics.  It's easy to say what you feel through lyrics, because you can say (either literally or symbolically) how happy or sad (usually sad) you are.  With instrumental music, it's more of a challenge given you don't have lyrics to convey easy meaning.

Photography is, I find, much the same.  How do you convey happiness, or sadness, or disappointment, or something more vague, such as stillness?  Mood generally affects creativity and if one is, say, sad, how would the pictures taken differ from when one is happy?  I met up with a friend for a few hours today and had a great idea for a shot.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get what I wanted for reasons I don't want to expand upon right now, but the point is that if my head the picture conveyed happiness very well, even though she may not have shown pure smileyness in her face.  Beyond that, is there an easy way to tell the world how you feel at the moment you snapped a picture?

Let's see if we can tell what these photos are feeling.

Frank

His note: It was raining silly this morning (of course) and I really didn't want to go outside to get a photo. Looking outside from the protection of my window I noticed that on the balcony ramp a water droplet would periodically form and drop from its corner. I tried to get the perfect shot of the droplet at the moment it released from the ramp. I tried and I tried, even tried to count the seconds between the droplets but the wind made the drops fall so inconsistently that it got frustrating. Sooooooooooo this is the best my patience allowed me to do.

Mandy

Her note: The book I just finished. I'm sad it's over.

Shannon

Her note: On my bus ride home I noticed a wall full of colors. This picture would have been better if I had used my camera instead of my blackberry.

My picture

The view from my balcony is not stellar, but when it gets rainy the layers of mist/clouds forming in the horizon form a nice view.  I like the varying levels of clarity as you go farther back.

Generally in film, rain signified sadness, and though that was my initial intention when I wanted to take a picture of the outside world today, I ended with a layered look I prefer.  I'll see if the same happens tomorrow.

"There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept." - 365 Project, Day 50

I woke up early today, yet left for work late, and had to return home because I forgot something.  I got to work pretty late and my shift started out badly for reasons not really important anymore.  The point is that I didn't really have time to take too many pictures on my way to work (though I still did).  On my way home, I had food on my mind.  I did take a few pictures but nothing specifically great.  I was not particularly inspired, unfortunately, and even looking outside during the evening (that is, when I wasn't napping) nothing caught my eye.

I uploaded this one picture and I was trying to show the hose running down the block and a half.  I don't know how well it turned out.  I like the lines and idea and all, but there's something missing from it.  It's just too fuzzy.

The others' pictures are better.

Frank

His note: Went shopping today and potted plants were being sold everywhere.  This is from one of those batches.

Mandy

Her note: This is love asleep.

Shannon

Her note: Went for a walk at lunch and came across this bench. Not sure where the branch came from because there aren't any big trees around there.

Me

Like I said, I wanted to show the hose, but I don't know exactly how well it turned out.

The next few days should be better.  I promise that they might be better!

"I'm not a particularly verbose person. I think that's why I like taking pictures... they speak for themselves." - 365 Project, Day 49

Sometimes, I just take pictures because they look nice.  This is vaguely the same logic that explains the popularity of Rebecca Black's Friday (and, quite possibly, every other single song she dumps on the internet).  There may be a subject, though what that subject may be could easily be a total mystery.

I was walking around with Mandy today and as I was taking a picture, she said that I saw things she didn't.  Whether those things are interesting or not is completely debatable (and whoever would side with 'interesting' would no doubt lose), but the point is that some things just simply look interesting without meaning anything.

In the past few weeks, I've taken a couple dozen photos of the cloudy sky.  One of them I've posted on this blog, one of them I've put up on my Facebook page, but the rest are just interesting to me.  I don't know why that piece of sky attracted me, but it did, and hopefully others will be just as fascinated by it (or if they're only half as interested by it as I am, then I'll still be happy).  My goal is for my pictures to just say something without my explaining why I took them - by the way, simply disregard my explanation of why I took my picture today - or to simply look pretty.  Does something that looks nice necessarily need explaining?  A thing that is aesthetically pleasing can be a pleasure in itself, without any other reason for being enjoyable.

So here are the aesthetics of the day.

Frank

His note: This is like 'Where`s Waldo?' but instead it's 'Where' are 2 Tweetys?'

Mandy

Her note: ...and now we see the elusive street photographer getting a taste of his own medicine.

(Great picture, though, and not just because I'm in it.)

Shannon

Her note: Didn't know you could drink dandelions!

My pic

Considering Mandy's pic today, I had to put a street shot I took.  This boy was playing with the loose cable against the house and I had to take a picture of him.  Unfortunately (as is bound to happen), he saw my not-so-stealthy attempt to photograph the scene (even though I was taking the picture at hip-level) and stopped playing with it for the shot.  For those who care, there's considerable editing done to this photo given it was terribly underexposed when I took it.

Tomorrow will absolutely bring more pictures to this blog, but whether they're street or not, come again and see.

"A camera alone does not make a picture. To make a picture you need a camera, a photographer and above all a subject. It is the subject that determines the interest of the photograph." - 365 Project, Day 48

I remember watching a tutorial video of someone taking a long exposure photo.  He was taking a picture of the sunset at a beach.  His main conundrum was that the bottom of his frame was missing something, given it was only beach.  To frame the bottom of the picture, he ultimately chose the lapping waves, which created a white line given the long exposure shot.  He had a clear idea of what he wanted.  What if one is just taking a picture for the sake of taking a picture?

Is there a subject in a landscape, or would the whole picture be considered the subject?  By definition the subject is the focal point - the point of attention - of the, in this case, photo.  Some shots are particularly busy, and nothing seems to poke its head out towards your eyeball.  For that matter, if the shot is very vague (as in my picture of the out-of-focus streetlights from a couple of weeks back), would there still be a subject?  Is it possible to simply take a picture without a subject?  Imagining that would happen, would it be a good picture?  Perhaps, as Man Ray was indicating, a picture without a subject, is not a very interesting picture to begin with, and taking a picture for the sake of taking a picture is an ultimately fruitless endeavor.

Luckily all the pictures today have a clear subject, except, of course, my own picture.

Frank

His note: Went to Canadian Tire (CTC) early this morning to beat the crowds and in front of this particular CTC there is a french fry stand. Next to the chip stand these tables were bound and locked together with chains to secure them from thieves, I suppose. The winds today are very strong and gusty so I didn`t want to spend much time outside the comfort of the car. I took this shot for 2 reasons, one: who would want to steal them and two: who would want to sit at them to eat?  (Please forgive me for saying those things.)  In any event, I thought the tables were an interesting subject for today's shot.

Mandy

Her note: An interesting tree, RIP.

Shannon

Her note: Check out the ex snowflakes on my windshield.

(The weather has be pretty horrible in the past few days.)

My picture

My note: Walking to work today some pretty nasty-looking water was flowing down the side of the street, creating interesting patterns.  I boosted the contrast to separate the colours to make the patterns stand out.

I wonder what will be shot tomorrow.  I doubt it'll be anything particularly stunning, but you never know.

"Each photograph is a story captured in a single moment." - 365 Project, Day 47

The only thing I can say about today is that whenever I walked, I had wind in my face.  This has nothing to do with photography, but for the record, it wasn't particularly sunny today (as my picture will attest to).

I like Frank's picture, but maybe that's just because I like Big Bang Theory so much.

Frank

His note: I had a thought... I like Big Bang Theory so a while ago I got a few of their t-shirts.  This is one of my 2 favourites.  Scissors cut paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as always rock crushes scissors... BAZINGA!

Mandy

Her note: Condom-ents before fun!

Shannon

Her note: Was looking out the door and thought the tree looked neat through the glass.

Pat

My note: Waiting for the bus.  Simple street shot, with a drop on my lens.

Hopefully tomorrow will go better.

"There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are." - 365 Project, Day 46

Somewhat of a cheesy line, but true enough.  You see what you see because you have your own thoughts, ideas and experiences.  Some people like photographing landscapes, others buildings, others old ladies with canes.  I will never be able to emulate Dave LaChapelle, for a few reasons.  First, I don't have his connections.  Second, I don't have his creativity in photographing people.  Third, I don't have his vision.

We all see the world a bit differently, and that shows in the different photography of different people.  By the same token, I would hope that some of my better pictures show a piece of myself to the world.  I would also hope that if, say, Dave LaChapelle, would try to emulate me, he would not be able to do so.  I am somewhat full of myself like that.

Onto the distinctiveness of four different, totally unsame people.

Frank

His note: Wine glasses not quite in a row.

Mandy

Her note: Jon decided to open my toy for me, and preceded to play with it for 2 hours before work.

Shannon

Her note: Ok look at number 3.... How is beef and macaroni a Chinese Food?

Me

There's construction down the street.  I was taking a picture of the dirt dunes, but I loved the blown out sky and the rays of sunshine.  I know the subject matter isn't great, but I like the feeling.

Tomorrow was also somewhat boring, and I have a new toy to play with, so this is why my content is pathetic today.  I should be better tomorrow.

"It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter." - 365 Project, Day 45

I was walking to the movie theatre today and took a few pictures.  A couple such pictures were of a few high school kids standing in front of a wall.  When taking the second shot, one of them saw me and waved.  I prefer the first picture.  Street photography is very fun to do, but is very individualistic for the photographer.  Portrait photography is a little more of a social activity.

The main problem with portrait photography (and group photography, for that matter) is the model, unless they're a seasoned veteran, will always be nervous to some extent.  The most important thing, in that case, is to make the model feel comfortable, through trust.  Music, or chatting or telling jokes is usually what ends up happening.  In the few portrait sessions I've done, my models have trusted me, which is what made some of the pictures great.  When someone smiles at the camera, anybody can see the difference between something forced and something natural, though the mouth is not the facial feature to look at for this.  The eyes tell the story.  Being able to relate and talk to people is definitely more important than taking a nicely-composed, well-exposed photo.

Today's pictures!

Frank

His note: Got a new leather couch today !  Invited a few Rockstars to try it out.  3 got a little crazy, one got really drunk and crushed but the others were pretty well behaved... They all liked it.

Mandy

Her note: My beloved bear patty.

Shannon

Her note: I was at my parents place and I was trying to get my little guys pic and this was the best one.

Pat

Mandy and I caught a movie and went to a bookstore after.  She had fun looking at the photography books.  You can see her camera bag on the bottom and the amount of books she bought behind her.

Tomorrow will not be particularly social in terms of photography, given that most of the day, I won't be able to take pictures.