HEAD FIRST
They say the scariest thing is failure. I picked up (with the best of intentions) a small Godox flash and trigger about a year ago. I ordered it on Amazon and I was amazed that it arrived in a couple of days packed as if it was delicate China. I’m not sure how delicate it was, but it was certainly shipped from China. It was eerie how fast the shipping process was. Anyway, I digress. Both units have been sitting somewhere in my house these last 12 months and really, I was going to pick it up and give it a try… sooner or later.
If I was a psychologist I would say this is a phobia of sorts. At least on a half dozen occasions I’ve made a small effort to figure it out, but the great beast that is flash kept pushing those babies back into their pouches and safe in their drawer.
At last, a few months ago, more out of shame than anything else, I finally committing to it as our companies new website was going to need some new head shots and since the owner (me) is supposed to be a bit of a photographer (yeah, right), it just made sense to hire, well me!
So every couple of weeks now I’ve been inching towards learning about flash. Little pieces of the puzzle have been slowly revealing themselves so that now, I think I may actually be able to do this. Not in any professional kind of way but at least it’s not the great beast in my mind that it once was.
These are a couple of shots of my son Solomon who graciously gave me his time while on reading week. I think they are pretty decent. Not great. Certainly not a work of art. But it’s a start. My first head shots. It’s all pretty darn cool.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-PR02, XF35MM F/1.4
THY NAME IS CORONAVIRUS
With half of my wife’s extended family still in China, this years celebration held at Noble Seafood Restaurant was a bit of a quieter affair. My mother-in-law made it safely back from Shanghai a couple of weeks ago but her siblings are currently stuck waiting for the coronavirus epidemic to get sorted out so they can get flights back to Toronto and Sweden.
The vibe at Noble was a few degrees less than the typical new year’s meal. It wasn’t quite as busy or frantic as it might have been. Even a week ago (pre WHO emergency declaration) there were those that figured a celebration at home was a safer choice.
Still, it was decently busy and we united to put on a good show of overconsumption. Good times were had; crab, lobster, fish and abalone with a dash of pig and chicken were on the menu (12 courses in all). Believe me, no one went home hungry. Red envelopes were shared. Next year, we hope that we will all be together and Corona can go back to being the name of an imported Mexican beer. Until then, enjoy the pics and stay safe.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-PR02, XF35MM F/1.4
CALIFORN-I-AY
Yup, I finally made it down to LA for a few days along with a side trip to Santa Monica.
I can’t say this was every really on my radar. I have nothing against LA. We’d been to San Fransisco and had a wonderful time right before our first was born. It’s just that LA represents a lot that I don’t really care for in this world; the excess, the glitz and the glamor just isn’t me. It ain’t my scene honey.
So it was pretty easy to dodge it all these years. Somehow or other in a moment of desperation… you know that feeling, when you’ve rifled through a dozen holiday destinations and no one can agree on just one. So LA with a side trip to Santa Monica it was. And to be honest, other than a terribly overcrowded, depressing walk along the walk of fame, it really was pretty cool. The people were great, the food and the accommodations were amazing and the coffee was strong. Really not much more to ask for.
SHOT WITH FUJI X100F
RENO STORY - PT 2
And now for some color images.
Something just felt right about doing the first part of the renovation story in black and white. All that tearing down and emptiness just lent itself to a black and white vibe. And when I look back at my original shots, I realize there were days when I simply fixed my camera to jpg black and white and left it there. Outside it was typical grey and bleak fall weather and I probably had an hour long drive to get back to where we were staying and color just wasn’t in the cards.
But there were other days when the feeling was all color and the images below are from some of those days. This was a six month journey after all and there were lots and lots of visits back to our home.
The days with the sun shining in, there was real beauty in the chaos.
Perhaps I’ve left color for the second part of the story because there’s more hope in color. If a tearing down is black and white the rebirth should be in color. Or something like that.
In any case, after two years sitting on these images (and many hundreds more) it feels like the renovation project is now officially completed. It’s no longer haunting me from my hard drive to let it have its final breath. Finito.
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A RENOVATION STORY
This is the story that didn’t want to be written.
We’ve been living back in our home since February 12, 2018. Yep, that’s almost two years ago. That’s far longer than the renovation itself, although it felt at least as long at times.
A lot has happened in the two years I should have posted this. Our house no longer feels like it’s a strangers. It’s now fully and completely a home. That transformation was awkward. It wasn’t binary as in one day it just suddenly felt like home. It was much more nuanced. In fact, I still find myself reaching for the light switch that’s no longer there. Still turning right when I need to turn left. Perhaps after twenty three years in one house that may never change. I’m hoping eventually my brain will adjust.
The stats are pretty straightforward. The plans started in earnest in the summer and fall of 2016. We moved out the first week in September 2017 (not coincidentally the week both our kids left home to be away at school) and we finally moved back home six months and eight temporary homes later. To no great surprise, we went dramatically over budget and move in was pushed back to accommodate the growing list of add ons.
Horrors? Yes we had a few. There’s no surprise like a renovation surprise. A completely new heating and ventilation system, water proofing all sides of the house (only to have it fail and flood the basement on the very first heavy water fall), new flooring on all three floors, plus the dozens of small upgrades that slowly tear away at your soul and provide the nuances that make any renovation memorable.
In the end, we endured living out of a duffle bag for half a year, the beloved (and humbling at how lucky we are to normally live so close to work) Toronto commuter traffic jams as we ambled our way to and from our temporary residences, countless heated and occasionally fiery discussions and the never ending (or so it seemed) weekend shopping expedition to replace everything we tore out and threw away.
Lessons learned? Boy that’s a tough one. The glib answer is to never, ever, ever do a renovation. No sane person would do this fully knowing what lies ahead. On the other hand, you can’t help but feel reborn when it’s all done. The sheer newness of everything is in fact completely rejuvenating.
My favourite room by the way by far is our new music room. This has become my sanctuary. It’s all coming together, we’re finally getting the stereo system completed, and the new area rug was taken from the third floor where it was too big and has found a new home beside the Eames chair. I can’t help but feel a sense of pride. We imagined it, we created it and now it’s there to enjoy.
Alice and I sat down the other night to listen to St. Peppers Lonely Hearts and Abbey Road on our new turntable, the lights were dim, a glass of decent red wine in hand and the romance of those ancient discs turning round and round. I was transported to being 18 years old all over again. Perhaps Alice was as well. This is now officially a home. Our home. There truly is no place like it.
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BEAUTIFUL UGLY BEACH
Beautiful ugly beach. That pretty much sums it up.
These are images from my recent visit in Mount Saint Hillaire, Quebec visiting with Patrick Laroque. After we took pictures of anything and everything in my hotel room that might be interesting, we ventured off to a nearby beach where Pat launches his kayak.
The task was to get close. Pat provided his Fuji XF60 F2.4 lens, a lens I’ve not used before. The light was not very cooperative and to be frank, I couldn’t really get comfortable with the focal length or the subject matter. The beach was also fairly rocky and as I was wearing my Birkenstock’s I was fearful that I’d loose my balance and find my ankle facing a new and unattractive angle (something I’ve regrettably done before).
Yet I’m rather pleased with these images. They are quite unlike anything I’ve done before. I can’t say whether I feel compelled to run out and buy this lens, but it was a lesson well learned. Something about when life gives you lemons I think.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-PRO2
ROOM
I have a day job. Lately my day job is getting a little less stressful as I’m learning to delegate and take a step back from the work that’s consumed much of the last four decades of my life.
When I picked up photography in the early teens I had no idea how rewarding it would be. But it’s also a shit load of commitment and hard work; at times more than I have the bandwidth for. And as pros and amateurs know, there are times when there’s not much left in the creative tank.
Enter Patrick Laroque. Pat is my Duracell recharging pack, my photography guru and safety net all in one package. A two day session with Pat is like taking my photographic skills off of life support and putting a 600V electrical signal through my body and brain. The man sees things that mere mortals don’t see.
The images below are from our last session towards the end of August. Since Pat was going through a dose of renovation hell and neither of us wanted to deal with Montreal traffic, we took to taking images in my hotel room at the Manoir Rouville-Campbell. What can I say, with Pat’s magic touch even his shoes are interesting.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-PRO2
CURATING COLLECTIONS
Curating this site has given me all kinds of lessons on how to put together a collection of images. Something I would previously have taken for granted actually takes a fair bit of skill and lots and lots of practise.
You would think finding “like” images is a simple process but I’m often surprised by how it looks when done. There’s so many variables from the subject matter, the colors, the shapes and so on. It’s a never ending battle of trial and error.
These are a few from our recent trip to the south of Italy. The images look “warm” to my eye. Not surprisingly, they were taken in July during the hottest time of the summer.
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ANOTHER 4 HOUR BOAT TOUR
Yep, we went on (yet) another one of those cheesy 4 hour boat tours. Every time I do one of these, breathing noxious diesel fumes and watching Alice get sea sick, I swear to the heavens that this will be the last one.
A special thank you to Pat @laroquephotogram for helping with the curating and processing of these images.
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SEASIDE IN ITALY
The cool breeze coming into the room as I write this reminds me how far we are from our July trip to the south of Italy. Warm days and warm nights. The relentless heat that will melt your gelato if you don’t slurp it up quickly.
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SIMPLY 60
Most of my friends are all turning 60 this year. Simply 60. Has a warm ring to it doesn’t it? Could it be the name for a popular new TV show? Perhaps a new drug; “Simply 60… Something wonderful to sooth what ails you”. I’m not sure I’m able to get my head around it quite yet.
In a few weeks it will be my turn, but on this weekend in Algonquin Park we were there to celebrate my dear (old) friend Gary’s milestone along with his wife Gill and my sweetheart (not even near 60) Alice.
What better way to enter into your sixth decade than with old friends, savouring the sheer magnitude of something much bigger than any of us (that would be you mother nature). And because this was Arowhon Pines, the food was both magnificent and plentiful. if we couldn’t eat like we did in our thirties we certainly gave it our best effort.
We tend to mark our big birthdays with something important, something that we’ll remember. Or we don’t. I’m more in the latter camp. More of a “call me from my cave when it’s over” sort of guy.
At another dining table they were celebrating a fellow’s 95th birthday. They’ve come every year to honour him (father, grandfather and great-grandfather). I think that’s wonderful. He was still pretty agile for a 95 year old and he looked like the happiest guy there. Maybe that’s the secret. Every decade is a good decade, every year is a good year. Every day a good day. Carpe diem!
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KANSAS CITY, MORE THAN JUST BBQ
Business or pleasure. The line sometimes blur for us when we’re in a city that’s known for its good food.
Flying in from Toronto where it’s been one of the coldest, wettest and miserable springs on record, we landed in Kansas City to 90ºF temperatures. It was feeling pretty tropical.
But what I noticed most on the first days was the quality of the light. It was like being in Portugal or Barcelona all over again. Man do I miss the sun living in grey Toronto.
My photo time was limited to the 10 minute walk to the convention centre and back to our hotel. The days would be spent working, but at night Alice and I ventured to several good to very good barbecue joints.
In Kansas City everyone you meet has an opinion on where the best barbecue is. We only had four nights but alas, after two substantial barbecue meals we were brisket and pork ribbed out (clearly, we are in the minor leagues of bbq).
Our stay was just too short to really get a handle on the food scene. But I can say the architecture and the vibe in the city was terrific. A visit to Knuckleheads capped off the five days watching my childhood favourite Burton Cummings.
I know they’ve got all kinds of violent crime issues in Kansas City but from a photography perspective, it’s a place I would gladly go back to. Free public transportation in the city, clean streets and stunning and well maintained old buildings. And of course there’s the barbecue.
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