Monday, May 31, 2010

Day 150: Taboo

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/50, ISO 800)

As mentioned in the previous post, we ended up playing Taboo into the night.  For those unfamiliar with the game, there are essentially two teams.  Teams take turns with one member drawing cards and having to describe a word without saying any associated words that are printed on the card.  Teams try and correctly guess as many words as possible in a finite amount of time.

We had split into girls and guys, with a few guys substituting on the girls team, who eventually ended up winning by one.  Dangit.  Nonetheless, good fun was had by all.  Keepin' it short.  There's rain forecasted for later today, but we won't let that dampen Ultimate Mondays, now will we?  Har har har.

Day 149: Game On!

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~145mm, f/4, 1/2000, ISO 320)

Practically a month after finishing school, the real deal of summer kicked off with Ekklesia's first game this past Saturday.  Couldn't have picked a better day too, with the sun out in full force and barely a cloud in the sky.  As such, the field was incredibly dry, leading to many a dust cloud or 'poof' whenever a ball was caught, slide made, or hard grounder hit as seen above with first baseman Patrick making a catch.

 
(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~160mm, f/4, 1/2000, ISO 200)

Shooting-wise, it was a bit of a slumpy day for me.  Shot in Aperture Priority at a constant f/4 and very low ISOs thanks to that direct sunlight.  Autofocus was set to AF-C and Dynamic Area AF.  Ended up missing practically all the 'action' plays; tag out by the other first baseman Albert Leung (pictured above) made whilst he was mid-air after being drawn off the bag by an errant throw, several slides into second, two dives at short, and a slide at third.  Heck, I missed one play because I was enjoying a popscicle... you can bet I was pretty PO'ed at myself when that happened.  Chalk it up to the sun and probably not sleeping much due to all the catch-up blogging several hours prior.


(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/4, 1/1600, ISO 200)

Still, there was still plenty of action to be seen, such as below.  Of course, there are also some off-field moments to be had.  Above is a common Ekklesia tradition, nicknamed the "Tunnel of Love".  It bares resemblence to the rituals known as 'Crossing the Desert' and 'The Unblinking Eye' from an episode of The Simpsons (Homer the Great), during which Homer must endure the Stonecutters' initiation trials.  Well, except the fact that the Tunnel of Love is a bit less degrading and substitutes paddles for the occasional misdirected hand.


(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~120mm, f/4, 1/1600, ISO 320)

After the game, most of the team headed out to a pub further north in Markham and proceeded from there to one of the team member's houses.  Much poker, watching the Phoenix Suns, yelling at the Phoenix Suns/LA Lakers, and Taboo to be had.  The last of which continued a little bit into the next day.

More coming.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Day 148: Lots O' Lastolite

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5.6, 1/160, ISO 100, Flash @ TTL)

It was perhaps the earliest Project365 photo ever - taken at 12:40 AM Friday morning.  

For a while now, I've been mulling over getting a softbox and venturing into the realm of portraiture.  Diffusion domes and bouncing off of walls can work, but what if you need more or if you've got a blue wall as is the case in my room?  For me, I turned to Lastolite, which produces a compact softbox for hot-shoe flashes.  Their appropriately named "Ezybox Hotshoe" comes in 30 x 30, 60 x 60, and 75 x 75 cm sizes.  Above is me acting like a jackass in front of the 60 x 60.  

There is one thing about it that isn't quite so "Ezy" and that's folding the SOB up.  It folds flat all well and good, but when it comes time to crunching that bad boy into a circle?  For me, putting one hand on one pointy end and the other in the middle of the opposite edge, then twisting in opposite directions seemed to work best.  Don't know how it worked, but it did.  Kudos to the guy in Flickr who figured it out.  Of course, I only learned this after dicking around with the thing for an hour opening and closing it trying to nail down the routine.  I woke up later at around 10ish in the morning to a lot pain in my wrists likely from twisting the damn thing in so many directions.  Thankfully, the pain has subsided, but I digress.  

I picked up the kit, which contains a light stand, carrying handle (for portable you've-got-some-poor-bastard-to-hold-it-for-you situations). tilthead, and the necessary brackets... oh and a softbox too. I took a few really ad-hoc test shots with it, and already I'm in love with the light.  Can't wait to try it on someone besides myself.  Hopefully there will be some results soon.

And as a side note, this should hopefully conclude my tardiness/backlog of blog posts that I've neglected to cover until now.  Hopefully I'll be able to return to my ~24 hours or less timeframe of posting.  Thanks for tolerating my tardiness. :)  

Ugh... it's 5:45 AM, and Ekklesia's first game is at 2 PM today.  Fun times. 

More coming.

Day 147: Practice Thursday


(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~70mm, f/4, 1/800, ISO 500)

It's Practice Thursday!  T'was a rather light day, for Ekklesia's first game is on Saturday.  Well, light for most people - not Jordan, shown above sliding into third base.  Ironically, work would sideline him from Saturday's game.  When asked why he wasn't able to show up, he sarcastically replied (much to everyones amusement) "I signed up for CCSA for the practices, not games".  Simply awesome.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 112mm, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 200)

For the most part though, practice was somewhat uneventful.  Infield and outfield ran their respective drills.  Above is Jordan fielding a grounder hit to third, and below is Grace attempting to snag a hard-hit ball in between first and second.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 170mm, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 200)

More coming.

Day 146: Market Prospects

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/40, ISO 400)

Caught up with Elizabeth today.  We walked around downtown, through Toronto's Kensington Market - somewhere I haven't really been, despite my going to school downtown (I'm more of an east end person; blame the camera stores).

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/40, ISO 800)

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/25, ISO 800)

Kensington Market is home to a host of small and independant shops, largely catering to those in search of bargain prices.  A lot of the stuff is pretty unique, vintage, or downright odd like the top photo.  For me, Kensington doesn't do much, but I can see why Elly likes it a lot - she digs the retro stuff.  Something that did really amuse me though was the picture book we came across, telling a story of a ninja, cowboy, and a bear.  It is a book that needs no further explanation, the choice of its main characters being a winning combination no matter what the context. 

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/25, ISO 800)

Didn't snap as much as I probably should've, as I was thoroughly distracted in catching-up with Elly, whom I had not seen since I had run into her by accident a few months back.  As such, the above photo of her doesn't really do her justice.  It's just not sharp enough due to the slow shutter speeds, but the hat partially compensates... :~)  Seldom do I really care much about the 35mm f/1.8G DX not having VR, but this was one of those instances.

We closed the day out with some energy smoothies (wicked, but expensive!) and a lengthy delay on the subway. At least the train was ACed.

More coming.

Day 145: The Edits

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/3.5, 1/40, ISO 400)

Spent the day clearing the bulk of the editing that I had been lazy to get to.  Lightroom is my weapon of choice.  It's ease of use suits someone like me who isn't a super-heavy-duty Photoshopper.

My workflow for any significant shoot is pretty simple:
1. Import
2. Sift through the batch, assigning picks and rejecting duds.
3. Edit picks.
4. Sort through picks and pick the "selects" (aka the ones that usually show up on this blog).
5. Export picks.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

Day 144: Ultimate Monday

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~78mm, f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 1600)

It's another Ultimate Monday, brought to you by ISO 1600!  Well, at the last minute sort of.  This week's game was originally rescheduled for 7:00 PM at a park closer north, but scheduling SNAFUs meant that the default time of 9:30 PM at Cherry Beach was the real deal.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 145mm, f/2.8, 1/3200, ISO 200)

Grumbling aside, some folks took time to toss around whilst we were at the park anyway.  After a quick and small dinner, it was off to the waterfront.  It was the Victoria Day weekend, which meant that celebrations and fireworks were happening.  Cherry Beach was no different.  Sadly, the contingent at the beach must've failed to fire off any impressive fireworks or didn't fire them above the treeline, it was nosier than it was visually appealing.

(Nikon D60, 35mm DX, f/2, 1/250, ISO 800, +0.5 EV Post)

Really enjoyed shooting with two bodies at this particular game.  Above is a shot of Danielle (#10) making a grab in the endzone for the Quick Dumpers' first point, which was loudly celebrated after and yielded repeated calls of "Did you get that?!" to yours truly.  Thankfully, I did.  The other team was quite the challenge though, and they played well at everything - running, throwing, and making monster grabs (see first photo).There was one less game today, which meant that there were six teams playing instead of the usual eight, making room for some sidelines from which I happily opted to shoot from rather than the endzone.  All in all, another pretty good night.

By the time we left, the beats were still going, but the fireworks had long ceased.

Day 143: Flyin' High

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~86mm, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 200)

Sometimes the best shots are the ones you never really see.  Above is a heavily cropped photo from a volleyball practice that I shot on that particular Sunday.  He wasn't even the one I was focused on; I had cropped out my friend whom I had noticed was setting up the last few balls for his teammates, and this was just part of the burst that I fired off whilst focused on him.  

More details after the break.

Day 142: Kickin' Back

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/25, ISO 800)

Weather wasn't stellar, so I slept in and woke up at what's quickly becoming a regular time: 3 PM.  Kicked back, played some games, and that was about it.  Decided to take it easy since the next couple days were probably going to be a bit more exciting.

Day 141: Through The Years

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5.6, 1/60, ISO 400)

Visited a friend from my old High School who is due to graduate in June.  Just a simple lunch and catch-up chat was all.  She tried to hook me up with the music department with some photography work, but that has since fallen through (there may very well be a rant post about that coming soon).  

I didn't really stick around much at school, largely because I was informed only a few hours prior that there was an apparent Commerce Times meeting for anyone interested in doing work over the summer.  That too, was a bust, considering it was only myself and the Managing Editor who showed up.  Okay, not a total bust considering we had some good one-to-one chatting time.  

When I got home I stumbled upon my old student ID cards that I had kept on my desk.  As I flipped through all four of them I realized how little my image had changed.  Minus the minor adjustments to the hair, I still look... the same on the outside.  On the inside though, well... if you've been reading you probably know a fair amount of what's gone on during those four years.  Then I thought about how much I've changed since then, and I'm amazed at how basic my life was during High School.

As an example, taking transit felt really awkward for me back then - largely due to the fact that I didn't have to use it everyday at least twice a day.  All of the downtown core seemed foreign, with only a small handful of road names becoming recognizable.  Now, mention a major street corner and I've probably got an idea of at least what's on one of those roads if not more.  I remember that if I ever wanted anything material - games, school stuff, clothing - I would have to ask my parents to go with me to the mall (I lived a very sheltered life).  Now?  Pfft, my building is practically attached to one of the largest shopping centres in the Greater Toronto Area.  If I can't find it there or within walking distance of campus, I just hop on the nearest streetcar, subway train, or bus to get to where I need to go.

I often ponder as to how things would've been different had I gone to a University elsewhere besides Toronto.  Since most of the ones I would've considered going to in Ontario were in arguably smaller cities, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have as much in terms of 'street knowledge', nor of course would I have gotten into photography had it not been for Dave and Frosh Week.  I probably would've partied more or stayed out longer, but somehow I don't there would've been much more additional gain from the sudden onset of independance.  At least, not when I compare it to going to school here in Toronto.

Day 140: Practice Thursday

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~135mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 200)

Just as I will be referring to it as 'Ultimate Monday' over the next few weeks, so too will Thursday get that treatment.  A few shots from the field.  If you really read the brief shooting info that I put underneath every photo you may have realized that I've added a tilda (gasp).

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 105mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 400)

Usually when I shoot sports I'm a 'shoot first and ask questions later' kinda guy.  After all, there are instances where I am just lucky enough to get the shot.  To be honest, I'd rather have a slightly larger photo that I can crop down later anyway, compared to one that may be too tight or photographically amputate my subject.  As such, I often forego precise composition and white balance, since I shoot in RAW. Although in the case of the latter I've been getting less lazy about that now that I have a body with one-button access to it.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~130mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 400)

Not much else.  We went to this nice Korean place to eat after practice.  Great place, although I couldn't use Korean chopsticks to save my life; I'm not even stellar with regular ones.  Other than that, pretty standard practice.

More coming.

Day 139: Question and...

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/11, 10, ISO 100)

Not really an answer, but rather another question mark! 

Okay, that was pretty crummy but couldn't really find much of an explanation for why an hour's worth of light painting yielded only a question mark.  Well, long story short... I am clearly artistically challenged (well, except with a camera... although we're strething things there).  In any case, any longer and I would've boiled in my room (door closed, no AC).  So... at least I'm here to write this! :)

More coming.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Day 138: Cuts

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/8, 1/50, ISO 200)

A while back I wrote about how my regular barber decided to retire.  Well, after six weeks my hair grew back in force and I had to once again, get it cut.  My dad and I went to a place not too far from our house, run by a man who used to be an apprentice of my old barber.  I asked for the same cut as always, but got something slightly different.  He really cut off more from the front than usual, which means I don't have as much of an overhang. 

To be honest, I kind of like it.  It's a slightly different style.  I guess the picture doesn't really do it justice.  Oh well, sooner or later I'm sure one will come up eventually.

Day 137: Ultimate Monday

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 105mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 2000)

It's Ultimate Mondays!  Okay, that sounded a little corny and badass at the same time.  In any case, one of the few things I have going on a fairly regular basis is shooting Ultimate on Mondays, so expect to see that, well... every Monday! 

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 86mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 2000)

Tonight's game was down by the waterfront, at Cherry Beach in Toronto.  It's probably the closest I've been to a beach in quite a while... and I wasn't even on the beach!  Oh well.  It's the first time I've shot anything not candid-ish at night, so it was time to see how well the D90 held up to shooting sports at night.  The verdict?  Well, could use less noise but considering where I was last year with just a lowly D60, I probably would not have been able to pull it off were it not for that extra stop and a bit of ISO.  I'll take what I can get.

(Nikon D60, 35mm DX, f/2.5, 1/40, ISO 800)

Shot in Manual Exposure mode, rather than Aperture Priority.  Didn't want to rely on the camera throwing off my exposure every time I pointed my camera in a different direction.  I found a reasonable compromise by shooting wide open, at ISO 2000 and 1/250 which was somewhat fast enough to stop most of the action.  I dare not think much of trying to shoot softball under these conditions, in which I'd prefer to have a shutter speed that is at least four times faster.

 (Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 70mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 2000)

Had to shoot from the endzone, since there were four fields were directly adjacent to each other, with no sideline room.  A longer telephoto would've been nice to cover the far half of the field, alas I can't exactly afford a 300 f/2.8 or 400 f/2.8... although I'd like to have one (crossing fingers!).

 (Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 2000)

As for the game, it was interesting to watch, with lots of dives and jumping on both sides.  The Quick Dumpers also got their uniforms today (if you haven't noticed in the photos already), so it was nice to see the yellow jerseys running aruond on the field.  The logo is a dump truck hauling a brown substance... with flies around it.  Erm, you can draw the conclusion yourself... ;~)  

More coming.

Day 136: Sunny Sunday

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 78mm, f/4, 1/2000, ISO 160)

It was a softball-filled weekend, with Ekkleisa's second practice being rescheduled to the Sunday after being rained out the Thursday prior.  The weather thankfully was cooperative, and it was a mild-sunny day.  Shot in Aperture Priority again, this time at f/4 to give me some depth of field lee-way while still throwing the background reasonably out of focus.

Something else I did try composition-wise that I didn't do much last year was to try and get in closer to the players and fill the frame a little more, rather than cropping after the photo.  Worked pretty well for the most part.

Not much else to write about I suppose, as the team ran drills and batting practice for most of the afternoon.  Thus, I will let the photos do the work. 

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/4, 1/2000, ISO 200)

 (Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 160mm, f/4, 1/800, ISO 200)

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 200)

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 100mm, f/4, 1/1600, ISO 200)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Day 135: Balls Out

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 200)

More softball!  Yum.  Hung out with a new team on this particular day: BTBC Themelios, and new team equals new balls (as shown above)!  It's helmed by my friend Elijah, whom I met last year.  He was on one of the softball teams that I had shot for, on top of being a fellow Ryerson student.  This year, he's undertaking a task to start up a new junior team at his church.   

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 135mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 400)

Most of team is apparently relatively new but by the looks of it during the practice, I imagine they'll pull through this season.  Heck, they've still got plenty of time to prepare, with the start of the season (for Juniors) still over a month away.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 70mm, f/2.8, 1/4000, ISO 400)

Didn't take too many photos this time around.  Perhaps I was moderately distracted by the fact that my brain was processing fresh outdoor air for the first time in several days, or the fact that I didn't sleep well prior.  Eh, as mentioned earlier, plenty of time before the season starts... :~)

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 78mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 200)

More to come.

Day 134: Blinded

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/20, ISO 800)

A photo that I'd feel best describes the end of my 'blind' period.  During this time, I was sort of... well, milling around with perhaps too much time (and perhaps sleep) on my hands.  Too lazy to get off my lazy ass and go outside, I pondered if this was what the rest of my summer was slated to be, given the day-to-day mundaneness that ensued.  

There was a time when things looked bleak, and I wondered how much longer I could carry on with this project.  Thankfully things have picked up, as you'll see in the posts ahead.

Day 133: Clocked In

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.0, 1/13, ISO 800)

Despite being taken about 11 days ago, the context still applies.  I'm not sleeping properly.  Well, for most regular day-job folks (not that I have a job or anything).  Falling asleep at 5 AM and waking up at 3 PM in the afternoon isn't exactly my idea of a normal sleeping habbit.  On a quantitative scale, it's fine - I'm still getting way more sleep than I was during the regular school year, but... it is a little sad to wake up and realize that most of the day is over.  

Hopefully it's just a phase, as this happened around the same time as last year.  It hasn't been too bad since this photo has been taken, as shooting opportunities have picked up and a bit of a regular routine has kicked in.  As the softball season has yet to start, I presume my sleeping schedule will improve over the coming weeks.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Day 132: Blur

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/15, ISO 200)

Went for something a bit different.  It's really another shot of my keyboard (as if the world really needed more of those, along with my desk, right?), but with everything quite out of focus.  Dropped the white balance a bit to bring out the blue.  That's about it.  Does it work?  Well, you be the judge. 

One of these days, I'm going to give shaped bokeh another try.  I just need to get off my lazy ass first, as well as find something to blow out of focus, besides my keyboard.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Day 131: Hold It

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/25, ISO 640)

As mentioned in the previous post, I had some trouble during the Ultimate game and have had to rely on the AE-L/AF-L button to maintain focus on my subjects to ensure focus wouldn't go all whacky on me when someone ran across my frame.  So far it's worked alright, but ideally I'd rather have focus-hold buttons on the lens, where I can operate it with my free hand. 

I had only used them once, when I had a rental Nikon 70-200 VR I last year for a weekend.  It was more convenient than having to rely on the rear of the camera, but I do wish that it wasn't so far out.  So much so, that the focus ring sat in between the buttons and the zoom ring.  Alas, they either seem to have been too costly or not well received as they have disappeared in the new Nikon 70-200 VR II, much to my dislike.

There was an option on my cameras to set the button to AF-HOLD (as in, I only have to press the button and the camera would lock focus until I press the button again), or AF-ON (which would set the camera to autofocus only when pressed; rather than having to half-press the shutter release to do the same), but neither of these really felt more comfortable than just holding the damn thing to lock focus.  Since no focus-hold buttons are found any presently manufactured lens below a price point of $5,000 (Nikon's 200mm f/2 VR), I am stuck with the button given to me on the back.

It could be worse I guess.  I could be using a Canon.  Har har har!  Kidding!  I love you Canon folk too.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Day 130: Chilly

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 160mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 200)

Tardiness = Pictures.  I've been somewhat on hiatus the last week or two, so there will hopefully be a few posts trickling in soon.  More after the break.  

Monday, May 10, 2010

Day 129: The Ultimate Start

 (Nikon D60, 18-55 VR @ 24mm, f/4.2, 1/25, ISO 400, Pop-Up Flash)

Started packing a little early for tomorrow.  Got an Ultimate game tomorrow with a team (known as 'Quick Dumpers) that I shot for last year.  Great bunch of folks, and a few of them are also with one of the softball teams I'm shooting for.  Unlike last year though, I'm fortunate enough to have two bodies, rather than one - which means I won't have to be fumbling with changing lenses.  I plan on pairing the D90 with the my 70-200 (as shown) and the D60 with the 18-55 VR, possibly swapping it for the 35mm f/1.8 if necessary.  Other than that, I'm traveling rather light.  Umbrella in case bad weather strikes, some extra cards, remote, and my good ol' handy rocket blower.

More soon.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Day 128: All Smiles

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/50, ISO 800)

Quick snap (and post) of Katelyn as she came by to say an happy mother's day to her grandma.  More later today.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Day 127: Not Your Average WASD

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/10, ISO 800)

So when I'm not out of the house, I'm usually staring at my laptop.  Writing this blog, editing some photos, or just killing some time surfing photography forums, Facebook, local news... you get the drift.  Lately though I've started gaming a little bit.  As I'm stuck with laptops that have no chance in hell of handling any recent game well, I've gone a few years back.  Currently I'm playing through Serious Sam The First Encounter, a first person shooter released about a decade ago.  It's not a very complex game - just some good ol' fashioned shoot'em up fun.  For a game that's about a decade old, I'm incredibly impressed with the graphics and the sheer number of enemies that the game throws at you from time to time.

Like all shooters though, there is often one additional setup step that I need to take before playing: setting up custom controls.  It's a habit that began with my older brother many years back, and it's something that I've adopted ever since.  The largest change is moving down the directional keys to SZXC from WASD.  Other frequent changes involve moving 'Jump' to D and 'Use' to Space.  For the most part it's tolerable, but often a pain when using foreign computers or having others use my keyset.  I've never really tried to use defaults - I guess I'm just too comfortable with what I've got.  Just one of those lil' quirks.

More later today.

Day 126: Prelude to Summer

(Nikon D60, 18-55 VR @ 18mm, f/5.6, 1/25, ISO 400)

Long Thursday Out + Camera = Lots of Photos + Lengthy Post.  More after the break.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Day 125: Bureaucratic Intervention

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/20, ISO 640)

So much for school.  Apparently if I wished to be considered for my program's co-op option next year, I can't be taking second-year courses since apparently previous students have fast tracked and caused an administrative nightmare for the folks behind the desk.  Consequently, I have to drop all of my courses which means my summer just openned up... which is probably a good thing for you Mr/Ms. Reader.  Hopefully I'll have some time to go shoot something more interesting than my desk.

More soon!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Day 124: Basking in the Warmth

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/8, 1/60, ISO 400)

What a beautiful last few days we've been having here.  The weather has been absolutely fantastic during the day with warm temperatures and golden sunshine.  On top of that, most trees are now in full bloom - a welcome change with beautiful vibrant colours as opposed to the dull shades of gray that seemed to dominate winter time.  

Of course with the warmer season comes another season of its own: construction.  The road (Steeles Avenue for those familiar with the region) on which my bus goes through is pretty much under construction the entire way, with some portions with reduced lanes.  It's only troublesome during the day though, and I'm thankful that I don't have to take it during rush hour. 

In spite of all that, I for one welcome this most recent change in weather.  Forecasts say there's a cooldown coming up, but I don't mind.  Unless it snows (knock on wood).

More later today.