An Old Friend Visits!

I've been back in Canada now for just over three years. The first year I spent just recovering from the change, relaxing, finding a light job. The second year, I continued to work, and to think ahead and start planning how to rebuild my life properly. The third year, I moved away from my home-town of Montreal again, leaving behind my friends, again.

Now, I'm not far away at all, but still - I don't get to just go take a walk or have a chat any more. So, when Denis (Bernicky) and his daughter decided to come spend a day in Aylmer and Ottawa, I was thrilled.

The idea was to go on a proper photo safari - to go out specifically to make photos.

Well, the best laid plans and all that - the weather was cold and far too rainy to have the cameras out. But the visit was not a waste; after a brief trial run at photographing the marina, we went to the Byward Market area and did some touristy things, like eating Beaver Tails (fried bread with sweet stuff on it...hmm...not too healthy, but a tradition, I think.).

Following our outing there, we ate hot dogs and poutine, and warmed ourselves up in the hot tub back at my place.

All too soon, my friends had to get back on the road and head home themselves.

A short visit, but really, really enjoyable! Can't wait for the next visit...

Photography - searching for inspiration through David duChemin

I'd like to blame the bleak Montreal weather for my lack of photography. I have not even snapped a photo in weeks. However, when I look back at some photos taken over the past few years,  I see that my photography had become lacking in creativity and vision at least a year ago, if not longer.

I realize now, when I am out with the camera, I am just rushing, or feel like I'm rushing, to take shots, but not feeling anything. I have lost my vision. But all is not lost! I discovered a photographer/author a few years ago - David duChemin. The tagline of his blog would let you know why I like this guy so much; not only is he a great photographer, but the tagline says, "Gear is Good. Vision is Better."

I bought several of his e-books over the years, and a few months ago, he published a new one called The Vision-Driven Photographer. I bought it immediately, but still have yet to read it, although I know it is exactly what I need. So, given that today is too gloomy to actually shoot anything, I plan to spend a couple of hours reading David's new ebook!

David duChemin's blog is here. And you can purchase the new ebook for $5 here.

Saturday in Shimada

We went to a drinking party near Shimada on Friday night (I'll post photos soon - I'm working backward in time), then spent the night at our favourite hotel in Shimada. A new co-worker joined us, and together we enjoyed Saturday running along the Oigawa where there's a great path, and then taking a walk over the famous Horaibashi (longest pedestrian wooden bridge, measuring 897 metres).

Goofing Around with my D90 on a Gorillapod, with remote control:

Camera Shopping - Lumix TZ3

A friend asked for our advice and help in purchasing a digital camera. I think it is even his first camera - digital or otherwise. I had him give me a few specifics - what size he wanted, what kind of photos he imagined himself taking, where he would take them, etc...After some research, I at first recommended the Panasonic Lumix TZ5 (reviewed here at DP Review). This looks like a great camera - and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Lumix fan!

However - I'd never recommend that someone buy a camera without getting a real feel for it. Different cameras fit different hands ...well, differently. A camera that I think is small may be too big for some people; and when I hold a tiny camera comfortably, someone with large hands may not. Also, are the controls suitable? For a first camera, you really want to make sure that you are not intimidated by the complexity of the camera, but yet that there is enough room to grow into.

And so, we took our camera-hunting friend to a large shop with a good selection of compact digital cameras on display. After playing with a few models, such as the Nikon Coolpix, and the Canon Power Shot A650, along with a few others, it was determined that the camera he was most comfortable with was....a Lumix TZ3!

In fact, after further research, and seeing that the impending release of the TZ4 and 5 had resulted in significantly reduced prices for the TZ3, that's the camera he that he decided to buy. You can read a thorough review here. It has 7 megapixels, 10x optical zoom, fits in his beefy hand and also in his pocket. Though lacking manual controls (so you can't set the shutter speed or aperture yourself), there are plenty of "Scene" modes, such as snow, parties, portraits, sports, food...(trust me, the "food" option is valuable here!).

We ordered the camera online at http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/emedama/guide.html

I'm sure the budding photographer will be happy with his purchase!

Autumn Rice and the Gotemba Sen

Our staff meeting on Friday went very well; we all gathered at the exquisite Kanaya Ryokan in Izu, which is rightly famous for its huge (mixed gender) bath and delicate Japanese meals. The meeting was stimulating, and the after-meeting socializing equally so. Although, I have to admit, we had a bit of lubrication! Brian and I there fore spent yesterday (Saturday) driving home and recovering from the previous day.

Today dawned sunny and glorious, and knowing that tomorrow was going to bring rain, we took advantage of the morning and took out our single-speeds for some excellent riding. As we were winding up our ride, we stopped to get some photos of the harvested rice, mount Fuji and, luckily enough, our infrequent train on the Gotemba line.

Tokina 100 mm Macro in Yamashi

We're fairly lucky here with the number of national holidays and all the time off we get. This weekend was yet another long weekend (September 23rd was Shunbun no Hi - Autumnal Equinox day; since it fell on a Sunday, we're blessed with Monday off). Taking advantage of the long weekend, on Sunday morning Brian and I headed off the beaten track and into the mountains in Brian's Mitsubishi Pajero - a fully capably SUV. We bought beer and chu-hi, found an especially isolated location, took some photos and camped for the night.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't co-operate with us, but we still enjoyed our time in the rainy wilderness.

Most of these photos were taken with my Tokina 100mm Macro lens:

Grass with rain drops:




What's camping without a brewskie?


Japanese susuki:


Dirt in a tractor tire, saturation significantly reduced in Photoshop:


Flowers and spiderwebs in the rain:



Frog (or toad?) up close and personal:




We got back home today at about 2:00 p.m. or so. I'll eventually post a map of our travels!

Turkey Photos

Well, two months late, but finally put up a web album at the Japan Rider site - you can find the album here - http://www.japanrider.com/galleries/Turkey_Gallery/ .

I have to admit that we were procrastinating - an unhealthy and unproductive habit that creeps up on us occasionally. In our defense, I say that we had to sort through more than a thousand photos, throwing away the poor ones and keeping the ones we liked. We then selected the Creme de la Creme for posting - but of course we had to then make minor (or significant) adjustments in Photoshop Elements (5.0).

Please let me know if the album page loads too slowly - I'm still trying to find the right (best) style of photo album.

World Press Photo and a Day in Tokyo

The typhoon mostly passed us by, and though we didn't get the clear skies that usually follow typhoons, we did get a bit of good weather yesterday, and since this was the last weekend that the World Press Photo 2007 photo exhibit was going to be showing, we decided to spend our Saturday in the gigantic metropolis of Tokyo.



The exhibit, at the Museum of Photography in Ebisu, was very well worth the time and effort to get there. Some of the photos were simply excellent samples of skilled photography while others were harrowing in their presentation of human suffering and death. The photo seen here on the book cover, by Spencer Platt, won Photo of the Year. It shows affluent-looking Lebanese refugees returning to their homes amidst debris of the attacks.

We only spent the day in Tokyo, divided between Shinjuku - where we did some shopping at the bike shops and the liquor/foreign food shops - and Ebisu, where we had a good Mexican lunch (complete with a couple of Margaritas) before visiting the museum.

A lull in the crowds outside the "quiet side" of Shinjuku station:


Tokyo is usually overwhelmingly crowded, and though a fabulous megalopolis, if I'm going to be going to Tokyo I prefer to go on Saturdays, since I need my Sunday to recover from the hectic pace and human masses encountered there!

Montreal: a sketch

I was recently playing around with Photoshop and sort of liked the way this photo of Montreal (taken from the window of the train) turned out:

Clockwork 29" in Line Art

Bernicky has also been busy with Photoshop, and as a creative project he transformed a photo of Brian on his new Clockwork bike into a pretty cool piece of digi-art:

A Shrine Photo

The first day back to work yesterday went pretty smoothly - it wasn't as hard to get back in the groove as I'd thought!

Over the holidays we managed to do some driving in place of riding and took some photos here and there. Brian's been working on his making them into HDR shots, which hopefully he'll post soon. For now, here's a simple photo from our Hatsu-Mode (first shrine visit).