A Drive In The Country And Other Stuff.

Trying to actually spend some quality time on the road enjoying the Summer and travelling around the province. Hopefully the weather will be on our side and I'll have more to post in the next couple of weeks.

The Good The Bad And The Butt Ugly!

Also titled, "Mike's Day At The Zoo". Yup. Had some good shots but was getting tired of sleeping animals and ones that decided they were going to show you plenty of their backside. Not much photo-opp there. So I happily shot away at what wasn't behind non-flattering wire and came up with some decent shots I guess.

Note to self...bring firecrackers next time. No no no. Just kidding.

My MX-5!

Ahhh...with Summer here I can't help but feel a lot better about things. I just need to get out and do some more photography but seem to do more driving instead. So why not combine the two? I wanted to get a bit more creative with something that would have a bit more impact so I came up with my Miata Series. There will be more but for my first effort I'm pretty pleased with the results. The last one is of a Mustang that I snuck in as well. It's the first photo I fiddled with to get the idea so I needed to include it. A happy little accident that developed into a neat idea. Enjoy.
Zoom-Zoom!

Self Portrait

I suddenly realized I haven't done a self portrait in a few years. I'm sure I'll do variations of this all Summer long but I like where it's going.

At Last...

Yes. Cue the Etta James song of the same name and there you have it. Imagine the little boy with his faced pressed up against the showroom window, dreaming of one day, owning his dream car. Oh the places they'd go. Near or far. The wind in his hair and not a care in the world. Sigh.

Well that year was 1989 and I wasn't a little boy but I sure felt like it when I laid my eyes on Mazda's brand new Miata. Oh how I wanted one. To me it was the perfect roadster. The best of British designs and Japanese engineering. Oh how could they make this car and I was not able to buy it? It was always just out of reach. My Holy Grail. But life works in strange ways and suddenly the years of dreaming, wishing and searching paid off. There it was. A silver 2006 GT. Could this be? It was too good to be true. Everything was just what I wanted. Then, what resulted in a couple of weeks of emotional hell I was finally handed the keys to my baby. 19 years of wanting and waiting were finally done. It was finally mine!

I've been a very lucky person in many ways and also had and still have my share of hardships. Still...I don't think I'd change a thing. Zoom-Zoom!

Spring Has Sprung.

Ahhh yes. Spring is in the air at last. With allergies gallore and all the road dust clinging to everything before the spring rain will finally breaks its bond. It's a glorious time of year. Our seven months of evil Winter is over and the timmid Prairie People are starting to shake off the effects of hibernation. Life on the prairies is glorious. Of course this would all be wonderful if we didn't have go through the hell of Winter in the first place! I hate that season and global warming can't happen fast enough. (Sorry for the politically incorrectness of my rant. It needs to be said!)
Anyways...I was actually able to get out with my camera and go for a quick stroll to feel the sunshine wrap it's blanket of warmth all over me. It was a great day to shoot and I enjoyed it. I am hoping for a long and wonderful summer filled with great photo ops.
Woo Hoo

Black and White

Just fiddling with some B&W images to see what I can come up with. The first image I'm pretty happy with. The second was a mistake. I was working the image and proceeded to get frustrated with it and started going crazy with the curves adjustment. Then I went,"Whoa....kinda cool." I made it B&W added some film grain and presto. The third image is just what it is, tree roots. I liked the flow of it. I'll probably look at it again next week and go, "Eeeew." Then delete it. LOL.

Random shots.

Nothing like forgetting to post pics after you've worked on them. Came across these that were just sitting there waiting to be posted after about a month. Duh.

Published? Yah baby!

Go figure. I've never entered a photo contest before but I'd thought it would be fun. I entered two photographs for the Manitoba Credit Unions' 2009 calendar contest as per contest rules and hoped they'd pick one. Not only was I blown away by getting one picture included I received a great compliment by getting two chosen! And best of all, one was used for the cover! I certainly felt great about it. Can't wait to see the final product. They are two photos I've posted here previously as well. He's a link to the winning enteries.
http://www.creditunion.mb.ca/news/previouswinners.htm

Flowers in March!

Well...I basically feel like a complete idiot. I spent the WHOLE winter wishing I had flowers to photograph. Yes, they became my suprise favorite subject of the year and I'm really looking forward to this summer. So...while I've been off in lala land I'd totally forgotten about our park's consevatory that would have kept me tied over until summer. So I only figured this out a few days away from spring and feel really dumb about this. I guess It's a head start anyways but geeeezzz...