COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR
Saturday, February 13, 2016 was indeed a very cold day. The car's digital temperature readout said -25ºC but it felt more like -35ºC. Not that I know what -35ºC feels like but really, after a certain point it hardly matters. It was cold. Very very cold.
The day before I had a training session with Patrick Laroque, one of the most talented photographers in Canada, perhaps the world. He's also one of a small group of people who are official Fuji X-Photographers; ambassadors for the Fuji X series of cameras. Patrick is helping me to become a better photographer, to "see" better and to try to make something of my limited skills.
I've recently started getting assignments from Patrick. This week, lucky me, was the theme of Winter. Patrick asked me to find the art in winter. I knew where the temperature was going and figured this was the needed jolt to get me out of my comfort zone and out with my camera on a day where it would normally be safely tucked away in the warmth of my house.
So here's the thing I learned, the Fuji cameras are made mostly out of magnesium dies cast bodies. This is a wonderful, light metal that is very strong. It also gets unbelievably cold in these conditions. After 10 minutes it's like carrying a solid piece of ice.
So my early morning walk didn't last too long. About 15 minutes tops. But it was a beautiful start to the day. Later we would all venture to Kensington market for our weekly shopping. Everyone was seriously bundled up for the task. We Canadians are a hearty bunch. No need to let a little arctic chill ruin our day.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-E2
BERLIN + HAMBURG
We visited Berlin & Hamburg in December/January 2015/2016. It's now August 2017 as I'm writing this. The memories from this trip are still vivid. This is the great gift of photography, in an instant you can be taken back to another time and place.
As I'm rummaging through these I know I would process them differently today; quite a bit differently. But I'm reluctant to make any changes. It's like time stamping, once it's done it's done. 2-1/2 years later I'm very happy with the images in this post.
Berlin is a great, fun city to hang out in, notwithstanding the sobering visit to Sachsenhausen, the infamous concentration camp outside of Berlin. I think I would have preferred a warmer time of year but in some ways it was perfect. Our trip to Hamburg was capped with a visit with my old friend Shane who I hadn't seen in many years. We're both quite a bit greyer then the last time we met, but time has stood still in many ways and the sign of a true long lasting relationship is one where the conversation flows as easily as the day we met.
SHOT WITH FUJI X100T
