Day 78 - Baby owl

I don't know why I loved this little owl, but I did.  He looks like a baby owl and all babies are just so cute.  Yes, I know it's not a real owl.  So, the one thing I don't like about this picture is that slight glare on the glass container behind the owl.  I tried to crop it out, but didn't like how mono-toned the picture became; the little bit of brown/red on the right makes like the picture as is.

Day 77 - My path

So, this a picture from an urban park.  I didn't love the light, but couldn't fix with my limited software. 

What I decided to do was make the image a little softer, darker and add a quote to it.  I used software that I'm unfamiliar with, so I didn't notice until now that the opacity of the shadow text is a little strange.  I'll have to figure out how to fix that for the next time.

Day 76 - Ultramarine feathers

This is a picture of a female mallard.  I love the ultramarine blue feathers with the white bands on the wings.  I always find it so striking and inevitably catches my eye!  This was one of many ducks I saw the day I took this, but this was the only one alone.  Thought it made for a nice picture.

Day 75 - More directing the eye

Trying to see how I can direct the viewer to the subject.  When I was taking this picture there were a group of girls to the right that kept walking into my shot when I was positioned a little differently.  I came closer to the tree, and realized that I could use it to direct the eye to the sculpture. 

Day 74 - Midway at night

From the CNE - looking at the midway at night.  I had envisioned this picture a little differently, but because I'm short I could not capture what I wanted.  This is not too bad, actually.  Took another picture I will share that was a long exposure of one of the rides.  Well, as long as my camera was capable of doing.

Day 73- 'Tis the season

I was at Chapter's, and the wedding section caught my eye.  I love the bags, and well, it is wedding season, so this is my tribute to it!

Day 72 - Sun Setting in 2.0 megapixels

Last night, I wanted to see if my phone camera would be a good alternative to carrying my camera, or at least I can use it when I don't have my camera on me.  This was the result of the setting sun.  I really dislike the quality of the phone pictures.... but it's better than not having the ability to take pics at all.

This picture is decent.  Not great, but decent. You can see that it's a little pixelated, but the rest of them are very pixelated.

Driving into the sun and trying to take a better picture.  This is a pretty good silhouette though!

And another camera bites the dust

Sigh.  What can I say?  I love my Canon PowerShot Pro 1, as you can probably tell from the number of pictures I've posted from it.  I bought the camera second hand in 2007 (release date April 2004, and discontinued in early 2006) and it served me well.  I noticed a couple days ago that it will not focus on anything.  Actually, it will say that it is focussing on something, but really it doesn't.  I know I can get it fixed, but, this will be the second time I have to get it fixed, and although it kills me to say it, it's really not worth it.

I'll still be posting photos I shot with my Pro1 for this project.  I really want to get a DSLR, but with finances tight, I will be relying on my Canon PowerShot SX120 IS from now on. Sigh.

Day 71 - Directing the eye

I was watching some of the workshops at creativeLive, which I have to say, have been really informative.  I don't get a chance to watch complete courses because of schedule, but what I do catch has been very helpful. 

One of the most recent courses, the instructor talked about using the something to lessen the distractions of the surroundings to help direct the eye to your subject.  So, this is what I was trying to do in this photo.  

Here is the unedited version.  I couldn't move much more in either direction without adding new distractions.  I did capture the Turkish lanterns I wanted to without too much distraction. 

I didn't love the composition, so I cropped the photo to make it a little better.  Not the best, but better.  AND, I very much dislike how grainy it looks!

Day 70 - Paper world

This was a cool display of the CNE made entirely out of paper.  I'm sure it took a lot of time to do.  It was pretty amazing, and intricate!

Day 69 - Moroccan lanterns

I love Moroccan lanterns... they are so colourful and happy!  

Day 68 - Light fixtures

Was at the CNE the other day and say these lamps that were beautiful and unique.  I loved the way they looked, and tried to take a picture of them.  The picture I took had a lot of negative space, with a lot of distractions in it.  I cropped this one a few ways, and just really love the square crop the best.

Day 67 - And now we're moving

This is the result of a (slightly) long exposure on a moving street car.  We were actually stopped for quite a while.  Just my luck that the moment I found my camera, from where it was buried in my bag, and set up my shot, we started moving again!

Day 66 - Struggling to survive

 My mother has a green thumb, and can nurse seemingly dead plants back to life.  I've seen it on so many occasions. So, I actually took this picture to show my mother what my friend's plant looks like at the moment. I liked the colours in it, so I'm using it here.  At first I was shocked I liked the picture, since there was blazing sun overhead, but upon closer look, I realize the plants were in a shade, so it was perfect light!

Day 65 - Enjoying the veiw

Was on the lake shore the other day, doing an activity with a friend, and happened along this couple who were just enjoying the view.  Couples like this make me happy; though I don't know their story, there is something inspiring about older couples.

Day 64 - Four o'clocks in the day

These flowers are called Four o'clocks, because they are only in bloom in the evening.  I simply adore these flowers because they area so colourful, and then look amazing when photographed in the dark!   As you can tell, it wasn't quite night when I took this photo, but I guess, it was close enough to evening, that these were starting to open. 

Day 63 - Bee, bee, bumble bee....

Was trying to take pictures of some flowers on a slightly windy day, and noticed this bee going from flower to flower.  Amazing work bees do, cross pollinating flowers.  Tried to take a picture of the bee working away, but the wind kept blowing the flowers every which way.  This photo is soft.  Not sure if I like it.

Day 62 - Doors to...

Taking this shot reminded me that I have to take time to set up my shot. When I was taking this shot, I essentially envisioned this shot, but this is only after I cropped the image.  I hadn't centred the photo properly, so I had more of the column on the left side.  Something I noticed I do in a lot of my photos that I don't take the time to look at. Something to work on...

Day 61 - Colour everywhere

Something about the bright orange cart and the green trees compelled me to take this picture.  I also love the little pops of fun colour from the umbrellas and bistro tables and chairs.  Learning that the city can be an interesting place to photograph. 

Day 60 - Water Feature wading pool

I was dropping off a payment, and stopped to enjoy the view of this City Square.  It was a hot day so there were kids and youth all playing in the water feature at the Square.  I'd always wanted to photograph the fountain on a slow exposure with someone going down the centre... this was as close as I got that day.  I couldn't do a slow exposure because of the lens and the amount of light at that time of day... maybe that is something I need to learn more about. I also couldn't do the shot straight on, as I had envisioned, because a family had planted themselves right on the spot I needed to be for a shot straight on.

Will try again some time.

Day 59 - Colourful building

It's amazing the things you notice when you are not in the driver's seat.  I was headed home and noticed the colours in this building and how nice it looked against the sky.  To be perfectly honest, I have noticed the colours in this building before, since we always called it the "colourful building on the corner" but I don't think I appreciated it.

I did have to crop this picture a bit, to take out a lamp post that I felt took away from the shot.  I do like it so much better without it.

Day 58 - Coming home

Not only do I have an obsession with the sky, I also marvel at planes.  They represent so much, from human ingenuity to lands yet unexplored.  Every time I look at the skies and see a plane, I can't help but wonder about the stories of the peoples it is transporting and the people awaiting their arrival, from the weary traveller returning home from a long journey to the business man routinely on business to the excited family members anticipating someone's arrival.

Day 57 - More clouds

Had some time to edit photos I took with my friend's DSLR.  Yes, it's another cloud shot.  This time it's because I loved the colour of the sky.  These are not my favourite clouds... though they are pretty.

Day 56 - Summer Salad

I was feeling bad that I cheated on Day 55 with posting a picture that was neither new nor newly edited, so I'm posting one really early for Day 56. I'd been craving this summer salad for some time, and finally had a chance to make it today, er, yesterday.  I loved the colours, so I had to take a picture.  Really happy with the way this picture turned out.

Day 55 - Boneapart takes a bath!

So, this is a cheat.  I have a ton of photos I could post for today, but I was at the laundry and remembered this "photo essay" I did for my sister about her stuffed dog, named Boneapart.  This was him was his adventure at the laundromat when he decided to take a bath. There is nothing new about this, but I wanted to share it anyway.

For the record, my sister is older than me, but loves this stuffed animal! Which is why I took these photos.... or maybe it was just me being silly.  I can't remember.  Not all the picture turned out that great, hence the collage I made with them.  Looking at it now, I see that they are not in any particular order, but that was courtesy of Picasa Collage.

Day 54 - Carousel

Was our celebrating with my family and friends and thought I'd take a picture of the carousel. I had to take this few times, and even still, I'm not happy with the results.  Between not having image stabilization, not being stable, and a camera that responds very s-l-o-w-l-y, this is the best I could do. So, no, I don't have my friend's DSLR any more!

Day 53 - Sunset colours

This is from last month.  Just thought it was an appropriate picture to post, since I'll be looking to the skies tonight to see if I can see a new moon!

Day 52 - Sun peaking through the clouds

This is the picture I took while I was coming home from an appointment and was stuck in traffic.  That day there was a torrential down pour;  I just made it home before the skies opened and submerged the city. Guess the sun was just fighting to be seen through the clouds -- kind of poetic.

Day 51 - Train going to sleep for the night...

This is from early July... or perhaps the end of June.  Found a functioning steam engine that you can ride, but not sure where it takes you.  The station/ride was closed for the day, and everything was literally fenced in.  So, this is from a fair distance from the train.  Looking at the train sitting there, with final bits of smoke escaping from the smokestack, it reminded me of Thomas the Tank Engine when they would return "home" every night.

Day 50 - Relaxing

This is from a few weeks ago.  I like the two sets of couples in the photo.  The one thing I wish I did was get the top of the tree on the left, and not have the lens flare on the picture.  I did crop this one, to take some of the grass out of the picture, so I most definitely could have had more of the tree in the shot.

Day 49 - Light is instrumental

I know cheesy pun of a title... but it is true!  Photography is all about capturing light, and this is what I wanted to do.  I still have not quite figured out how to tone down the direct light on an object, for an image like this.

Day 48 - The sunset

We've had some beautiful sunsets as of late, and each time I've seen them as I am driving home.  By the time I'm at a place where I can take a photo, the image I want to capture is gone, or the colours have dissipated into the dark of the night.  

This evening I was not driving, so I decided to take a picture of the colours in the sky.  This is the result of trying to take a picture when it's a bumpy ride, and having a split second to take a picture (we were veering away from the colours).

Day 47 - Red bugs

While out walking with my fried, I took this picture just so I could later ID these insects.  It turns out they are Red Milkweed Beetles, and I caught them mating. I just liked the red beetles against the green leaves.