Click this post's title to see all 46 photos at my Flickr site.
March 28, 2010
Earth Hour Unplugged 2010 (March 27 2010)
Yonge-Dundas Square hosted this year's Earth Hour Unplugged event, featuring musical guests Justin Nozuka, Jarvis Church and Chantal Kreviazuk.
Click this post's title to see all 46 photos at my Flickr site.
Click this post's title to see all 46 photos at my Flickr site.
March 18, 2010
Fun With Jane
If you’ve been following my Twitter account, you might have seen me tweeting about picking up “Jane.” Despite my well-known romantic ineptitude, it finally looked as if I was making headway on the road to losing my virginity before my death.
The key part of that last sentence is “looked as if.” If you thought I was picking up a woman and bringing her home for some extra-curricular activities, congratulations – you’ve been had.
Say hello to Jane, my new 35mm prime lens.
Jane isn’t too different from Nifty, my other prime lens. She offers the same maximum aperture (f/1.8) and other advantages which come with a fast prime lens. However, apart from the focal length, Jane brings a significant advantage to the table which Nifty lacks: she can autofocus on my D60.
Truth be told, Nicky’s inability to autofocus with Nifty has been a minor issue. I’ve enjoyed flexing my manual focusing muscles, even though this has been a challenge when photographing moving subjects. With the addition of Jane to my team, I should be able to photograph events like parades with more ease. By no means, however, does this mean that Nifty is being replaced; my plan is to use both lenses wherever possible.
As for this lens’ name, it comes from a Toronto bus route. Click that link and do the math, folks. :-)
The key part of that last sentence is “looked as if.” If you thought I was picking up a woman and bringing her home for some extra-curricular activities, congratulations – you’ve been had.
Say hello to Jane, my new 35mm prime lens.
Jane isn’t too different from Nifty, my other prime lens. She offers the same maximum aperture (f/1.8) and other advantages which come with a fast prime lens. However, apart from the focal length, Jane brings a significant advantage to the table which Nifty lacks: she can autofocus on my D60.
Truth be told, Nicky’s inability to autofocus with Nifty has been a minor issue. I’ve enjoyed flexing my manual focusing muscles, even though this has been a challenge when photographing moving subjects. With the addition of Jane to my team, I should be able to photograph events like parades with more ease. By no means, however, does this mean that Nifty is being replaced; my plan is to use both lenses wherever possible.
As for this lens’ name, it comes from a Toronto bus route. Click that link and do the math, folks. :-)
March 07, 2010
The Artist Project Toronto 2010 (March 6 2010)
Many artists showcased their works at this art fair.
Click this post's title to see all 17 photos at my Flickr site.
Click this post's title to see all 17 photos at my Flickr site.
March 05, 2010
France Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand is one of my favourite bands, so it follows that I'll be interested in almost anything that they're doing. Thanks to a tweet, I found out yesterday that they collaborated with French actress Marion Cotillard on a song for Dior: "The Eyes Of Mars."
It's my new favourite song for a few reasons:
I almost forgot...lip licking for the win!
It's my new favourite song for a few reasons:
- Ms. Cotillard's voice suits the song pretty well
- A few lyrical allusions to photography are made, particularly in the chorus
- Speaking of that chorus, it packs quite the punch (à la P!nk's "So What")
- It rocks
I almost forgot...lip licking for the win!
March 03, 2010
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
You may already know that I’m not a networker by nature. In fact, some situations make me want to curl up in a ball and die on the spot. For better or for worse, starting this blog has forced me to address this problem at photo shoots and other events.
Earlier this afternoon, I got another chance to network and connect with strangers and a few people I had previously met. I was invited to BNI Bay Street’s Visitors Day, where members invite guests to sit in on one of their weekly meetings. However, I didn’t just sit idly while business was conducted. In addition to bringing an unused box of Moo cards for potential connections, I prepared a thirty-second infomercial outlining my “business.” At its end, I planned to use the byline on the cards as the memory hook: “One man + two cameras = way too many photos.” Unsurprisingly, this is not what I did when my turn came up. While other guests were doing their infomercials, I started thinking of a more memorable ending line.
Sometime yesterday evening, I tweeted about how my previous entry was named after a song lyric (as opposed to a title). At about that time, Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” popped up in my mind as a title I could have used. Still, I left the entry as it was and went to sleep a bit later.
As my turn to speak came closer this afternoon, I determined that a variation of Ms. Benatar’s song title would be my memory hook. How could I spin it to fit my business, though?
“My name is Tsar Kasim* and I’ll hit you with your best shot.”
When there are two other photographers in the same room, you either come out swinging or go home.
*I said my real name, but I’m not going to reveal it here. :-)
Earlier this afternoon, I got another chance to network and connect with strangers and a few people I had previously met. I was invited to BNI Bay Street’s Visitors Day, where members invite guests to sit in on one of their weekly meetings. However, I didn’t just sit idly while business was conducted. In addition to bringing an unused box of Moo cards for potential connections, I prepared a thirty-second infomercial outlining my “business.” At its end, I planned to use the byline on the cards as the memory hook: “One man + two cameras = way too many photos.” Unsurprisingly, this is not what I did when my turn came up. While other guests were doing their infomercials, I started thinking of a more memorable ending line.
Sometime yesterday evening, I tweeted about how my previous entry was named after a song lyric (as opposed to a title). At about that time, Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” popped up in my mind as a title I could have used. Still, I left the entry as it was and went to sleep a bit later.
As my turn to speak came closer this afternoon, I determined that a variation of Ms. Benatar’s song title would be my memory hook. How could I spin it to fit my business, though?
“My name is Tsar Kasim* and I’ll hit you with your best shot.”
When there are two other photographers in the same room, you either come out swinging or go home.
*I said my real name, but I’m not going to reveal it here. :-)
March 02, 2010
You Only Get One Shot
As I’ve previously said, I enjoy shooting in manual mode. The satisfaction of shooting photographs without a safety net is indispensable. Having said that, certain situations require me to be more precise in adjusting my camera’s settings. Shooting strangers is a good example; they may not have the patience to pose multiple times while I tweak these settings to optimal values.
Consider Saturday night’s shoot at PFL 39. After the fights were over, I asked a few of the fighters to pose for photographs. I got a few good photos, but only after unfocused first attempts. In that regard, I must thank PFL Commissioner Stacey Case, Shady Godiva, Bobbi Pinn and TV Starr for their patience and understanding as I adjusted my focus for their second shots. I must also thank them (along with Dinah Mite) for letting me photograph them in the first place.
Furthermore, in the case of Case and Pinn, I forgot to turn on my flash for my first attempt at capturing them. On my second try, I got the shot I wanted, but it was a little bit dark when I reviewed it at home. Ergo, I tweaked the lighting a little bit in Photoshop Elements and ended up with this final product.
Overall, this was a challenging but ridiculously fun shoot. I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot another Pillow Fight League event, if only to photograph fighters I didn’t see on Saturday (like Olivia Neutron-Bomb).
Consider Saturday night’s shoot at PFL 39. After the fights were over, I asked a few of the fighters to pose for photographs. I got a few good photos, but only after unfocused first attempts. In that regard, I must thank PFL Commissioner Stacey Case, Shady Godiva, Bobbi Pinn and TV Starr for their patience and understanding as I adjusted my focus for their second shots. I must also thank them (along with Dinah Mite) for letting me photograph them in the first place.
Furthermore, in the case of Case and Pinn, I forgot to turn on my flash for my first attempt at capturing them. On my second try, I got the shot I wanted, but it was a little bit dark when I reviewed it at home. Ergo, I tweaked the lighting a little bit in Photoshop Elements and ended up with this final product.
Overall, this was a challenging but ridiculously fun shoot. I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot another Pillow Fight League event, if only to photograph fighters I didn’t see on Saturday (like Olivia Neutron-Bomb).
March 01, 2010
PFL 39: Big Money! (Feb 27 2010)
The Pillow Fight League made its debut appearance at The Garrison for its 39th event.
Click this post's title to see all 35 photos at my Flickr site.
Click this post's title to see all 35 photos at my Flickr site.
February 26, 2010
The Lines You Amend
Depending on the type of event I’m shooting, I’ll either move around for the sake of variety or stay in one place for the sake of courtesy. With a few exceptions, courtesy was my primary concern at yesterday’s Canada Reads event in the Toronto Reference Library’s Appel Salon. As a result, I didn’t move around too much; unfortunately, this approach can result in a monotonous set of photos.
I usually shoot photographs as close to a horizontal or vertical orientation as I can, especially when straight lines are involved. In other words, given the circumstances, I usually take photos like the one below. The lines aren’t perfectly straight, but that's not a big deal in this case.
As I said before, an album of similar photos would have been mundane, even with different people sitting in the chair. Fortunately, while Roland Pemberton (a.k.a. Cadence Weapon) was being interviewed by host Mary Ito, I got the notion to play with orientations. As a result, I started taking photos like this one.
In this example, thanks to my placement of Shakura S’Aida (the main subject), the lines lead your eyes directly to her body. Mind you, this would have been true if the lines were straight, but these slanted lines are more likely to grab your attention and “coerce” your vision. If I took this picture in a similar fashion to the previous one, it wouldn’t have been as interesting.
I enjoyed using this technique throughout the photo shoot, as you can see below in this photo of Mary Wiens.
Still moving onward and upward, learning as I go...
I usually shoot photographs as close to a horizontal or vertical orientation as I can, especially when straight lines are involved. In other words, given the circumstances, I usually take photos like the one below. The lines aren’t perfectly straight, but that's not a big deal in this case.
As I said before, an album of similar photos would have been mundane, even with different people sitting in the chair. Fortunately, while Roland Pemberton (a.k.a. Cadence Weapon) was being interviewed by host Mary Ito, I got the notion to play with orientations. As a result, I started taking photos like this one.
In this example, thanks to my placement of Shakura S’Aida (the main subject), the lines lead your eyes directly to her body. Mind you, this would have been true if the lines were straight, but these slanted lines are more likely to grab your attention and “coerce” your vision. If I took this picture in a similar fashion to the previous one, it wouldn’t have been as interesting.
I enjoyed using this technique throughout the photo shoot, as you can see below in this photo of Mary Wiens.
Still moving onward and upward, learning as I go...
February 25, 2010
Toronto Celebrates Canada Reads (Feb 25 2010)
Authors and literary enthusiasts alike took part in this celebration of Canada Reads at the Toronto Reference Library's Appel Salon.
Click this post's title to see all 36 photos at my Flickr site.
Click this post's title to see all 36 photos at my Flickr site.
I Go Blind
Yesterday evening’s shoot at Freedom Clothing Collective was, for the most part, business as usual. Despite my sudden loss of social skills (perhaps resulting from this entry), I managed to shoot some pretty good photographs. There was one moment, however, where I literally couldn’t shoot anything.
I’m in pretty good health overall; thankfully, this includes my eyes. However, they sometimes become very itchy and irritated to the point where I can’t keep them open for a few seconds. Worse, since I don’t know when to expect these sudden itch attacks, I can’t really prepare for them. These attacks are relatively infrequent, but their occurrences are unpleasant and potentially dangerous. I don’t have a driving license yet, but if one of these attacks happens while I’m driving, it could turn into a life-threatening situation.
That didn’t happen last night, but the experience was nonetheless agonizing. I was taking pictures of Mason Bach during Airheart’s performance when the eye irritation suddenly started. For about thirty seconds, my next shot was not the most important thing; I wanted this episode to end. When it did, I saw that the irritation caused my eyes to turn red. Thankfully, this was the last attack I dealt with for the night.
The resulting set of photos didn’t take a hit. Having said that, if I ever have the opportunity to photograph the shot of my life, I hope it’s not ruined by eye irritation.
I’m in pretty good health overall; thankfully, this includes my eyes. However, they sometimes become very itchy and irritated to the point where I can’t keep them open for a few seconds. Worse, since I don’t know when to expect these sudden itch attacks, I can’t really prepare for them. These attacks are relatively infrequent, but their occurrences are unpleasant and potentially dangerous. I don’t have a driving license yet, but if one of these attacks happens while I’m driving, it could turn into a life-threatening situation.
That didn’t happen last night, but the experience was nonetheless agonizing. I was taking pictures of Mason Bach during Airheart’s performance when the eye irritation suddenly started. For about thirty seconds, my next shot was not the most important thing; I wanted this episode to end. When it did, I saw that the irritation caused my eyes to turn red. Thankfully, this was the last attack I dealt with for the night.
The resulting set of photos didn’t take a hit. Having said that, if I ever have the opportunity to photograph the shot of my life, I hope it’s not ruined by eye irritation.
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