26 - Sun bathed market

A trip to the market is a perfect setting for some pictures. I'm finding out that many times,when I think the picture isn't good on my camera screen, it actually quite nice! I have to stop thinking that having all the settings right will give me the effect I want. Must experiment more and stop judging my pictures too quickly!

25 - Vintage Dali

I went to see a show on the 25th, and well, it was just so AMAZING! But, since I was sure no pictures were allowed (which was the case) I did not bring my camera. BIG mistake. There was an exposition just outside the hall and I will go back this week to take the picture I would have taken then. Sort of a cheat, but I'm ok with it. :)

Here we are:

 I so love Dali. Playing with the white balance here, I chose this setting that gave it a very old photography look. But, the composition is someone else's creative eye. Such an amazing picture.

24 - 2nd Homework

So this is the 2nd homework I had to do for my photography class, playing with White balance.

This first picture of my cupboard, is with the White balance set to automatic. It's weird how the different grains turned out. The buckwheat is not grey/blue!

This second picture is with the White balance set manually. It's much better but the grains still come out in some blues that are just not there. Strange!

23 - Last minute (a bit late) pictures

 So I finished work at 10 pm, got home and just wanted to unwind. Had a beer, watch some TV when the man asks me: "Did you take your picture today?" Dammit!

So technically, it was late, but in my defense, my monster crew and I were watching some good tv.

Cookie Jr, Sully and Cookie Sr. were enthralled by one of our favorite shows.

Cause, you know, it's Jus' Science!

22 - Bleeding star

This is my first try at being somewhat artistic. I'm very happy with it.

This is taken on a balcony door in our bedroom, I drew the star in the condensation on the window. The red drape to the right adds, at least in my mind, some sense of movement. The white light at the top is from my flash and the red light is from a store across the street.

I used a high contrast filter on this picture and set it at ISO-3200, f/5.6 and 1/6 sec.

21 - Cookie's pimp ride

Oh yeah, Cookie monster got himself a pimp ride. Come's with his own giant cookie too!

Actually, this is the giant air filter the insurance company left us to take care of the smoke smell.

Not much to say about the picture itself. I'm learning to play more with the White balance, which is helping a lot!

20 - Death of a family market

 Oh getting woken up at 4 am cause there is fire right next to your building is a hell of awake-up call. But on the other hand, it is a once in a lifetime photo opportuniy.

12 people lost their homes and the family market, that had been open since 1967, was destroyed. Hopefully, they'll open again, but it is doubtful.

I'm happy with the overall effect of this picture. I like the bright light illuminating the sign and the yellow light that backdrops the smoke.

19 - Slow snow

Again, lots of fun experimenting. It was such a beautiful night!!!

18 - Early mornings

Waking up at 6 am does have its advantages. Great way to start the day!

17 - Flaming Mohawk

This is a vanilla candle and I found the wick really cool. After some 50 pictures, this Praying mantis wick finally gave me its best look, Mohawk baby!

This actually took me an hour to get. Thanks to my bro's tripod! Thanks bro!

16 - These are some of my favorite things

 Some pictures I printed for my office.

In order, top left to bottom right:

1. Me at Yellowstone canyon
2. Zion National Park - The Narrows
3. Cookie presents: Glacier!
4. Beargrass Mountains, Montana
5. Black Bear in Yellowstone, Wyoming
6. The Surreal White House
7. Laupahoehoe, Big Island, Hawaii

15 - Lonely(ish) walk

This was cool. I was coming back from class, I was testing out some of the things we saw in my photography class, playing with aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

It turned out great on my LCD screen on the camera. Buuuut, when I uploaded it to my computer... Pouah, pouah, pouahhhhhh. Not so much. So, I played with it a bit and this is what it looked like on my LCD screen.

Here is the original picture:

14 - January 14th, 2013

This was a quick snap coming out of a kinesiology treatment.

Having a little bit of that tree sneaking in at the top wasn't planned, but I'm happy it's there.

Not much thought in this one, but I enjoy it. I just came out of the building, thought, woah, this is pretty, and click.

Sweet!

13 - Cupcake mosaic

A lovely mosaic of vegan chocolate cupcakes with almond butter cream frosting (that is far from vegan!). 

This was fun to play with. I tried different backgrounds, white balances and general positioning of the cupcakes and lens.


I would have much preferred this picture if I hadn't had that gap to the right (where the light is reflected). I find that reflection attracts the eye away from all the cupcake galore. Details details that I will eventually train my eye to see!

The best part of this project is that it was edible. Delish!

12 - My first cheat!

This is my first cheat of my 365 challenge. Argh, I completely forgot to take a picture yesterday. I'm pretty annoyed with myself, to be honest, more than I thought I would be. I knew it would happen sometime where I would not take a pic in a day, but I thought I'd be more "Whatever". Well, I'm not. I really want to do this everyday and I'm actually happy I'm reacting this way.

Anyhoo, here is a pic I took at the sushi restaurant. I really like it. The off center Buddha, the lantern in the corner, the shading... I took it super quick and didn't even look at it until I was home.

Very happy with it but would have been happier if it had been taken yesterday!

11 - January 11th, 2013

Taking pictures at night, in the city is tough. This one is post-processed as well, I'm discovering this software that was including with the camera, Silkypix, and this is one of the more processed one. Lots of changes, that I can't even begin to pretend to explain. It's more of a "click here", revert, Oh, what does this do?, that's cool, no clue what that is but lets play with it...

I start my class on Monday, so hopefully, I'll be able to explain a bit more what I do when I do it. :)

All kinds of things that aren't how I'd like them, but I still enjoy this picture!

10 - Yuuuuuummy!

Yuuuuuuummy! I think my trips to sushi places will be all that more entertaining. Presentation is so key in these restaurants, they make for some super colorful, delicious and appetizing pictures! I was pretty hungry so I didn't play with too many settings, just used the pre-set Food setting.

Came out great, just a bit of post-processing to get the colors to pop some more.

9 - Janury 9th, 2013

My first try at sports pictures. I've got some serious work to do! It's as hard as I imagined. I feel like this is the first of MANY posts on Ultimate!

I can't say I'm very happy with this result, but I guess it can only get better!

8 - Despair

My experiments continue! 

This picture was tremendously post-processed. But I am rather happy with it, it conveys the emotion I was looking for. I can't wait to learn more on post-processing to really ind the right settings to express the feeling I want my pictures to create in people. 

Here I was going for a feeling of despair. The fact that it is bright all around him, but the lighting inside his "bubble" is dark, I thought that expressed a little bit of that. Of course, his positioning adds to that.

It's nice to have a model at home who is encouraging of my experiments! :)

7 - Rink of Colour

A great little park near my house, Molson Park. It's a skating rink with a great gazebo in the middle. What's particularly cool about this rink is that it weaves through the park, in between trees and such, so it's more than just an oval. 

En bref, a great setting to test out some different settings, aperture, shutter and ISO, although kind of cold. 

But thanks to a yummy hot chocolate break at a cafe across the street, I was able to stay a good 45 minutes outside testing.

Very happy with the result. This is, out of 82 pictures, the best untouched picture.

Here is the best Remastered rink, although the only one I did actually retouch for now. But it was the most promising, I think, as it was too bright but the overall "experience" was the coolest.

And to top it all off, I was coming back from registering for a 30 hours beginner photography class! I start next Monday. Wouh!

6 - January 6th, 2013

Homemade quesadillas... Yummy!

I thought photographing food would be one of the easiest things to do. I was wrong!

But, at east, this photo does make the food look good and it was really awesome! 

Kale, corn, black beans, red peppers, red onions, zucchinis and sweet potatoes! Yuuuuuuummmm!  

5 - January 5th, 2012

Death of a Christmas tree. 

These were the last moments of our Christmas. For the past 4 years, my Man buys a stellar bouquet for Christmas and we put all our gifts underneath. 

I'm more or less happy, I'm finding out that lighting is really tricky! Without the flash, it was way too dark.

I was working with manual focus, so I guessed that when in manual, I have to adjust the aperture and such. 

Baby steps as they say! 

** I reworked the picture just a wee bit in the included software. More learning ahead!!

4 - January 4th, 2013

First time with the camera at a restaurant/bar. I had to crop out another pretty lady on the right, as she was completely blurred. 

With the cropping, I'm quite happy with how this picture came out. 

I've got lots to learn that is for sure. The setting was amazing and I can't wait to be able to make the most of it! 

Happy birthday Suzie Q! :) 

 

3 - January 3rd, 2013

My first snow... and first internet search to find out what the best settings are for a particular scenario. 

I feel like my google searches will be mostly about settings from now on. 

Happy with my first, they say it only gets better. ;)

2 - January 2nd, 2013

Thomas Jefferson Monument, on a beautiful sunny day. DC is b-u-tee-full!

1 - January 1st, 2013

This guy was hilarious. He ran and took a few poses for me. Way to start the New Year in DC!

A brand spanking new blog!

It started here. GStar creative blog - Guest! 

Inspiration. The realization that I really enjoyed creating and wanted to have a project too. 

And so, this is the start of my own 365 project. Having received a serious camera, Pentax K30, from my Man on Christmas (Merci mon chéri!), it seemed like the Stars aligned. 

A 365 photo project, one photo a day, starting on January 1st 2013 to December 31st 2013. Wish me luck!

And so, I dedicate this blog to you, GStar! Thank you for being you and I'll be sure to wrack your brain when I'll be lacking inspiration. 

Annnnnd, as a added tribute, I'll be having a recurring theme... Stars of course! 

Here's to a year filled with inspiration, creativity and Stars!  

Much love.