Through My Lens

Moving to new Blog.

2009-01-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

Why? I dunno. Wanted to start fresh I guess. Atleast you get to go waaaay back to see some of my old stuffs.

A Drive In The Country And Other Stuff.

2008-07-25T01:50:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-25T01:49:00.001-07:00

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The Good The Bad And The Butt Ugly!

2008-06-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-06-30T02:04:00.001-07:00

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2008-06-30T01:57:00.000-07:00

My MX-5!

2008-05-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

Self Portrait

2008-05-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-05-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

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2008-05-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Spring Has Sprung.

2008-04-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-19T00:36:00.001-07:00

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Black and White

2008-04-06T01:13:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-04-06T01:10:00.000-07:00

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Random shots.

2008-03-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

Published? Yah baby!

2008-03-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-03-21T01:00:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-03-21T00:56:00.001-07:00

2008-03-21T00:54:00.001-07:00

"...Time for my close-up Mr.DeMille."

2008-03-21T00:46:00.001-07:00

I swear this nut follows me everytime I'm in the park. I've never seen a squirrel that liked to pose before but he does. Every year, I'm convinced it's the same one. He always smiles at me to, which is really frightening. Well whatever he wants, he's not getting royalties.

2008-03-21T00:45:00.001-07:00

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2008-03-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Lunar Eclipse? Blah.

2008-02-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

Maybe it was just me but it seemed I froze my butt off for the lamest lunar eclipse ever. I've seen way better and in the end it didn't justify me freezing. Wow. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm cold and miserable right now. I need some hot chocolate!

2008-02-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

It's Posting Time Again!

2008-02-16T18:17:00.001-08:00

Wow. It feels like forever since I uploaded photos let alone take any! I actually managed to get out today. I better have since it was -1 on Febuary 16th!! It was wonderful to be outside after being relegated to the "not-so-great indoors" for most of the winter. Didn't really have anything in mind except the first picture. I snuck a couple of photos from a few weeks ago but only two.

And if you're wondering, " What the heck is with the churches?" It's okay. It's part of a grander scheme that I'm experimenting with. Muahahaha

2008-02-16T18:08:00.001-08:00

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And Now For Something Completely Different...

2008-01-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

A very long time goal of mine has been to photograph aboriginal dance. Everytime I had the chance something always would prevent me from doing so. It was to my delight to accidentally stumble upon this one at The Forks this summer. I couldn't believe my luck and had no choice but to start shooting away. What fun it was and what a phenominal event. The dress and dancing were fantastic. Out of the 700 or so photos I took that day, I narrowed them down to what you see here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did to take them. There's lots!

The only sad thing is, that this will be the last photos that I'll be posting using my old Nikon D70. It did me proud and it was my constant companion that allowed me to capture some wonderful things. It is in different hands now and I hope it brings as much pleasure to the next photographer as it did me. Farewell old friend.

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+2c on January 5th? I'll Take It!

2008-01-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

I had to get out today. It would have been a crime to stay in. It felt good to get out and just think photography for a while. And finally getting to utilize my new camera was something well overdue. Just a sampling of what stuck out for me today.

2008-01-06T17:09:00.004-08:00

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Wow. Who Woulda Thought?

2007-12-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

This was fun! ;)

More Tests.

2007-12-15T16:57:00.003-08:00

Nothing spectacular just fiddling with the the D300 a bit and seeing how it does what it does.

2007-12-15T16:57:00.001-08:00

2007-12-15T16:47:00.001-08:00

Why I Do This?

2007-12-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

What you see on these pages is not about a particular place, people, time or cause. It’s not about one type of picture or another. It’s not about sportsmen or fashion models or war or politics or the news of the day.
It’s about being a photographer.
It’s about the sheer joy of clicking the shutter…repeatedly! The sweet sound of the shutter and the explosion that occurs in your head and your heart when you make the shot. The deal is the shot, you know. You make the picture, and you know something just froze solid in a shifting world. Something stabilized, for all time. You just hung your hat on a moment that otherwise would be gone forever and now you can go back and take a look at that moment, be it amazing or ordinary, any time you want.
It’s about your eye in the camera as the light hits just right. It’s about the slight turn of your subject’s face that speaks the truth. It’s about holding your breath as you shoot. It’s about the nerves, the joy and the terror of wondering if you got it. And then dancing about, punching holes in the air when you know you do. It’s about...THE MOMENT IT CLICKS.

This is the intro to Joe McNally's new book,"The Moment It Clicks." After listening to him and reading this it absolutely nails how I feel about photography and had to share this. If you have never seen his work you should. Amazing.
http://www.joemcnally.com/portfolio/

Testing testing...

2007-12-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I have my new camera. Yeah. And wow, it's a lot MORE camera. One should always ask ones self, "Do I need my camera to do all that?" Yah it's great to have tons of options but be prepared to work more with them. It's like looking through a new set of eyes. My first venture out saw me more confused than excited. It will certainly take some more time to play with it and test the different settings. Only natural. So far so good.

File size is a different matter. Going from a 6.1 megapixel camera to a 12 megapixel is well...huge. Once I used to finish a photo and save it in Photoshop, I would have a 20mb file. Now I have 70!!!! Oh what have I done. I'm ready for my PC to go BOOM everytime I open an image. Great. :)

So I'm hoping my new D300 will allow me to do more than my previous D70. Only time will tell but I'm looking forward to it very much.

2007-12-09T16:42:00.001-08:00

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2007-12-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

My New Baby is Here.

2007-12-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

Some New Shots.

2007-11-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

Just tried to get out and about and came up with something old and something new.

2007-11-18T20:12:00.001-08:00

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2007-11-18T20:09:00.001-08:00

Yeah. More photos...finally.

2007-11-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile. Everything here was just indended to be used as a mental exercise for my own purposes. I needed to take something so I just grabbed the camera and started shooting at anything that caught my eye. It felt good and produced some decent shots I must say.

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