March 23, 2010

I get home from climbing, and this is what I see spread across the coffee table. And I'm sure I had the same reaction as you.....What the Hell?!?!

My g/f's best friend just got back from Greece, and was over tonight to share her tales of her trip and deliver gifts. She gave my g/f a deck of cards of the "Greek Lovers". Famous images from art and pottery.

Definitely not what I was expecting when I walked in the door. But it was still funny.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f7.1
1/3 sec.
500 ISO

March 22, 2010

Tonight we tried doing tofu for dinner....taste-wise, everything was great. It's true that you can make tofu taste like whatever your cooking with. My issue came with the texture. It's one of the few foods that actually made me gag. But I did learn that as long as I make sure it's mixed in with noodles or veggies when I take a bite, I don't notice it nearly as much. I can only compare it to chewing on an elastic band. I'd definitely try it again, I just need to get over that texture...a small feat that I think I can probably overcome with a bit of time.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5.3
1/5 sec.
500 ISO

March 21, 2010

All weekend, one of my enclosures has been empty. My white corn snake has been at the vet hospital all weekend. She's not doing well, not eating, and passing blood. We're pretty worried about her. Hopefully they can figure out what's going on and get her on the mend. I hate seeing an empty enclosure.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5
10/25 sec.
1600 ISO

March 20, 2010

It's new book day! My g/f and I went to Chapters to buy a gift card for a friends birthday, and while we were there we treated ourselves to a few books of our own. As you can see, our collection of books is already fairly extensive (trust me, what's shown here is only a small dent in the full collection). To be fair, about 90% of the books are hers. I have about 2 and a half shelves of books. She has an entire book case of about 300 books that she HASN'T read yet. And today she added 5 more to that shelf. I bought the 3 on the right.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5
1/3 sec.
800 ISO

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5
1/6 sec.
800 ISO

March 19, 2010

Mmmmm....smoothie....

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f8
1/3 sec.
1250 ISO

March 18, 2010

My brother has decided to try wall climbing, so he came with my and my buddy to the climbing gym tonight. He did really well, and is looking forward to getting into it with us. Can't wait for the weather to get a little nicer so we can get out to the mountains to climb.

This is my hand print, on his back, after I chalked up....almost looks like it belongs on the shirt, doesn't it?

Canon Powershot SD1200 IS
f2.8
1/60 sec.
200 ISO

March 17, 2010

Happy St. Paddys Day!

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f8
1/3 sec
1250 ISO

 
Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f8
1/40 sec
1250 ISO

March 16, 2010

These damn geese are taunting me!! However, I'm finally getting closer to them. Actually, this one was standing on the riverbank, and let me get fairly close. This one seemed pretty docile and posed nicely for me.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 55 - 22mm
f5.6
1/40 sec.
250 ISO

This one was closer to the path, and completely ignored people as they wandered by. Which is surprising, as typically when you get to close to Canadian Geese, they attack. I've been chased by them before.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 55 - 22mm
f8
1/40 sec.
250 ISO

 I wasn't the only one watching the geese today either. This bird flew down from his nest, built into a gap in the bridge, and perched nearby. Another one who seemed to have little fear of who or what was near. Although, he was a little more cautious than the giant geese, and eventually did fly away when a jogger passed a little to close.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 55 - 22mm
f9
1/25 sec.
250 ISO

March 15, 2010

It was almost 2 weeks ago that I saw the goose on the ice and had the wrong lens. Well, today I had the right lens, but didn't have the time to get down to the rivers edge to really get the shot I wanted. Lame! So these 2 managed to tease me yet again.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 55 - 200mm
f11
1/320 sec.
250 ISO

March 14, 2010

It's feeding day for the snakes. And yes, this is a bag full of dead mice (don't worry, they're frozen). I meet with a guy every 2 months or so, and can buy mice direct from him, instead of the pet stores. Best part, he's the guy that sells to the pet stores, so I know what I'm getting. And at a much better cost. In store, I can buy mice this size for about $1.15/ea. From him, I get them for $0.95/ea. Pretty cheap to feed my pets for 2 months!

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f4.2
1/10 sec.
500 ISO

March 13, 2010

My best friends 28th B-day, and I forget my camera....Instead I had to try and capture his conga line of shots with my cell phone. Not an easy task in a dark bar. Thankfully, photoshop makes things brighter. And before this night, I had never seen anyone do shots through a straw.


HTC Touch Pro cell phone

March 12, 2010

Son of a BITCH! Rushed morning, and a vehicle that is rarely actually parked behind us.

Canon Powershot SD1200
f2.8
1/60 sec
250 ISO

March 11, 2010

I hate forgetting my book at  home. It makes my lunch hours so boring. Granted, I do have full access to the internet, but sometimes I just want that hour to get away from the computer. I give myself other little projects to eat the time. This is the start of one of those projects. The completed project will be seen here soon.


Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f3.8
1/200 sec.
1250 ISO

March 10, 2010

It's really starting to warm up, meaning it's time to start using the grill again. Tonight is Steelhead Trout.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f3.8
10/25 sec.
1250 ISO

It may be dark out still, but I'm no stranger to grilling by flashlight.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
Nikon SB-600 Speedlight
f3.8
10/25 sec.
1250 ISO

March 9, 2010

Breakfast of Champions. Every morning. Large coffee and a muffin (today, it's chocolate chip). $2.00

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5
1/30sec.
800 ISO

March 8, 2010

So apparently, there's 1 more day in the hospital. I was really hoping she'd be coming home tonight, but they're keeping to see how she handles some new meds. They also took her room away, and moved her into another. She used to have a window looking out into the parking lot, past a nice full pine tree. Now she has this. Quite the upgrade, isn't it?

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f14
1/8 sec.
800 ISO

March 2, 2010 (late post)

Somehow I managed to skip my March 2nd posting. So here it is, a full week late:
My g/f is back in the hospital. They will be doing some more testing on her, so in the meantime, she's not allowed to eat or drink anything. After almost 10 hours, they finally let her have some ice chips. This is her only meal, for the entire day...I think hospitals are run by sadists.

HTC Touch Pro cell phone

March 7, 2010

Tonight is the last night that I will be sleeping alone. She comes home tomorrow. For the past 6 nights, I've had to climb into bed alone and try to sleep. Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f3.5
1/6 sec.
800 ISO

March 6, 2010

My g/f is out of the hospital on a day pass today, and we get to do whatever we want. After spending the whole day together, we went to her favourite restaurant for dinner. It's lobster fest at Red Lobster. It's not very often we get to have a meal like this, as it is rather expensive, but we were celebrating today, so it didn't matter what kind of a price tag went with it. I was just happy that we could get out together for a while.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f3.5
1/5 sec.
1000 ISO

March 5, 2010

A sign that it's getting warmer out, and the snow is melting. I can retire my lined, ankle high, waterproof winter hiking boots, and start wearing my chucks again. I much prefer wearing my chucks.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f4
1/3 sec.
800 ISO

March 4, 2010

Somebody gave my editor a travel roulette wheel, as a promotional gift. He passed it on to me and the other designer in my office. Neither one of us play roulette, but my g/f loves it! She is back in the hospital with some complications, so I figured this would give her something to keep her occupied while hanging out in her room. Between this and the deck of cards I brought her on Tuesday, she can start a small casino for the nursing staff and other patients.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5.3
1/160 sec.
1600 ISO

March 3, 2010

Even though I may have my camera with me every day now, that doesn't mean I've always got the right lenses. Crossing the bridge out of downtown, I saw a solitary goose standing on the ice. In my head I could picture exactly what I wanted, and how I wanted to frame my shot. Unfortunately, I needed my 200mm lens, but only had my 55 with me. This should teach me to start carrying more than just a minimum.


Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f13
1/160 sec.
250 ISO

March 1, 2010

One of the advantages of now carrying my camera with me everywhere is that I have it when I need it. In my upcoming magazine, I wanted to run a pretty specific photo alongside an article. Having my camera handy allowed me to take the photo I wanted, without having to waste hours looking for a stock version of it, that may not have been quite right.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5.3
1/6 sec.
800 ISO

February 28, 2010

GO CANADA! 1 month into doing my 365 Project, and the Canadian Men win the gold! Who could ask for a better shot to finish my first month, than that of the Canadian flag, hanging from our patio. The boys definitely earned that gold, and Canada definitely owned the top step of that podium.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f4
1/100 sec.
800 ISO

February 27, 2010

Yes, another snake picture. This is my male corn snake. Today I added a humid box to his terrarium. A plastic tote with moss and water, to create a warm, humid place for him to hide. Hopefully it'll help with his shedding, and will stay humid enough that I don't have to add new water every other day.


Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f4.2
1/8 sec.
1000 ISO

He's never had a humid box before, but he seems to like it. He spent most of the day in there, with only some of his tail outside. My other corn has one too, but she seems reluctant to use it. I will be getting one for the king snake as soon as I move her into a bigger enclosure.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 81 - 55mm
f4
1/50 sec.
1000 ISO

February 26, 2010

So technically it's now Saturday morning, but this is the end of my day, so I think it should still count for my Friday photo. One of my favourite movies was on the History Channel, and I got caught up watching it. Even tho I own it on DVD, and could have seen it without the commercials, I didn't care. American History X has a way of always pulling me in. Despite its graphic nature, and its shocking ending, I can't get enough of this movie. Ed Norton does a fantastic job and really sells the role. So worth staying up till 1:30am.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 18 - 55mm
f5
1/3 sec.
800 ISO