I Heart Architecture ~ Mono Monday

"Romanesque"

(1/40 sec.@ F/9, ISO 250, 18mm fl)

Busy finishing up last minute projects this week so that I can take a mini-vacay from work next week and devote all my time to some random rambling about my fair city and beyond - without an agenda, and just the Nikon.

So this week I'll just be posting some images I've had set aside for just such an occasion... and although this first post will look vaguely familiar, it's a much wider view of "The Beckoning" done last month. I needed a shot to show the extent of the details around this massive entryway! It was that simple. This is just one impressive door folks. If you're ever on the University of Toronto campus near Queens Park, you need to locate this door and see it in all its glory with your own eyes!

Back to work I go... thanks for the ramble! Have a good one!

Reminder to Do Better ~ Exploration Thursday

"Legislative Halls"

(1/25 sec.@ F/3.5, ISO 640, 18mm fl, indoor low lighting, Ontario Legislative Building)

A quick post of a quick edit. Will be using this shot as a personal reminder to revisit Queen's Park in Toronto soon, since the day I took this I was forced to handhold a camera balanced on a railing to get a halfway decent exposure in such low light. Tripods were not allowed the day I was visiting due to the volume of people traveling through on tours. But return I will. Why? For a better shot of the rich and historical interior of the Legislative Building. It's quite stunning. And this photo really doesn't even begin to do it justice. It's alright, but it's not the best I can do... am I allowed to say that?

You've had this experience I'm sure. If only you had the right gear with you, if only you had a camera with better ISO quality above 300, if only there was better light, if only the security staff would send everyone but you home so you could get "the money shot" sans tourists. But the reality is, not every location or subject that takes our breath away is an ideal photo op. And I'm the first to cringe when a vision I have for a image can't be pulled off without better preparation or a return visit... or two... er, three...

But I always make a point of returning, a little more prepared, a little more aware... dare I say even a little wiser (wiser? more wise? do we have an English major in the audience?) This is the joy of photography for me. I don't have to sign up for workshops (although if I had the money, there's an African safari shoot with photographer David DuChemin next year I'd be signed up for quicker than you can say "Bob's yer uncle!"), I don't have to go to school, I don't have to disappear for years to follow a photo guru to the corners of the world... I can make myself learn. I can look at this picture and if I use my noggin, I can see that I need to find a way next time to lower my ISO, use a faster lens instead, aim for visiting on a sunnier day with the glass ceilings letting in more light. That's just the tip of the ol' ice burg.

If you're struggling with getting better shots and don't know where to begin, look at what you have taken. Common, really LOOK. What's missing, what would work better, what didn't you have? And look at everyone elses work online and in books. Compare them to yours. Then decide to learn what it will take for you to get it next time. I'm a huge fan of libraries... photography books you can devour at no cost. And then... you pick up your gear, and you get back out there.

I may not always post a winning shot, but if I let that be the criteria for being a photographer I'd never take another image. And that's not an option for me... now where's my own gear? I need to take some photos, and learn a few more things. I need to explore. It is after all, Exploration Thursday.

Have a great long weekend Canada! And to our American friends as well! While you enjoy it, pull your cameras out and have fun learning what not to do! Thanks for the ramble gang!

Inside Looking Out ~ Exploration Thursday!

"Where Politics Meets Art"

Do we see a theme this week? Lot's of stone, walls, windows, doors... I'm going out on a limb and hoping you're not too tired of the Doors Open TO series I've been working on. If you are, relief will be on the way in the form of trusty ol' Floral Friday tomorrow. But in the meantime, here's one more B&W I was wanting to post.

This is a view of the Ontario Legislative Building that you may not normally see when at Queens Park. Or you may see it but only give it a passing glance. I did. Then I got to the end of the hall and went back. This is where two slightly different parts of the building's architecture come together in the rear of the property. And if you look carefully you'll see this was taken looking out one of the windows in the hall right along the side of the building that stretches out in a U shape from inside.

Quality-wise it's not the cleanest shot. The windows facing this more remote part of the building were a wee bit dusty... and you can see it where the image softens along the edges where the light was starting to reflect off it. But I like the shot none the less. It's simply an interesting perspective. I suppose because I rarely get to shoot these buildings from anything but street level that this seemed like a nice opportunity. So there it is. And in a platinum B&W in PSPx2.

Shooting inside looking out seemed ideal for Thursday's post where I try to mix things up a little somehow. Next Thursday I'll have a new guest on the blog and I'm looking forward to picking their brain a wee bit and exploring photography through their eyes! But in the meantime, I'll try to have some new subject matter for you all next week. Pinky swear.

Have a great day gang, and thanks for the ramble! If you get a chance, please click on the voting button on the right hand side of my blog and let's see if I can't get to the Circle of Moms Top 25 photo blog list! I only just signed into Circle of Moms, a great online community for moms who blog and more, and I'd appreciate your vote as one of your favorite blog sites! Thanks so much to all of you who have already taken 5 minutes out of your busy days to do so! Have a good one folks!

Begging To Be Photographed ~ Mono Monday!

"The Beckoning"

(1/30 sec.@ F/9, ISO 250, 18mm fl, Exp.Comp+1.7, shade)

I do believe this may be my favorite shot of the year so far. And I wouldn't have even gotten it if not for some prompting from someone else. Friends and fans suggest locations to me all the time. Something they think would be worthy of a photograph. And sometimes they're right, and other times it doesn't work out. But my own brother has a great sense of design, and when he can't stop raving about a location that's a pretty strong indication that I need to explore it further. And he would not stop talking about this door.

He didn't just talk about it, he phoned about it, he texted about it, and I'm sure if they still had carrier pigeon, he would have used that to drive home his point. Under no circumstances while in Toronto for Doors Open was I to miss the University of Toronto campus... and this door!

I gotta buy that boy dinner.

This is the massive and ornate entry way to the Arts Centre on Kings College Circle. I will return and shoot this building repeatedly, I can tell you that right now! There's so much architectural detail, and that's putting it lightly. The entry way boasts very detailed and ornate designs from the Romanesque period, arches inset into more arches, and finally a solid and heavy wooden door surrounded by gates on a brass or copper track set into the stone steps. It has been saved as a National Historic Site, and the entire property is regal and powerful looking. I knew though once I located it, that just the door itself was beautiful enough to be photographed. So I worked around other folks posing for cameras in front of the massive entrance, and took the time to decide how to compose around the other obstacles and the close street proximity as well. I got low, I half straddled a railing that runs up the center of the steps approaching this shot (classy looking I'm sure) and centered this puppy as levelly as I could when the crowds dispersed.

Voila.

I knew this would be B&W. I do have a color version up in my galleries on my website, but the monochromatic version is the winner hands down. It allows all the detail and texture and patterns to take over. I converted the raw file into a platinum B&W in Corel, I find anything with stone looks stellar in this effx option in PSPx2 or x3. I applied some curves to it to make the dark areas more rich and the lighter areas brighter. Then modest highpass sharpening. And there it is. Like I said, I believe this may be my favorite of the year so far. I knew I had to share it with all of you.

Thanks to my brother who's keen eye spotted this gem, and for convincing me to seek it out. When I spotted the massive entrance across the field at the center of Kings College Circle, it immediately beckoned to me. I understand his insistence fully. In fact, I'm hooked on the whole campus.

Thanks for the ramble and the unveiling of this image I'm so excited about. Have a super day folks!  

Queens Park ~ Wide Angle Wednesday

"Light From On High"

(1/25 sec.@ F/3.5, ISO 640, 18mm fl, low light diffused, handheld)

Another post from the Doors Open TO Event. This is the Victorian style lightwell that shines down on the east wing of the Ontario Legislative Building at Queens Park. It was beautiful. It was regal. It was the only light source that made it possible to photograph the cavernous space full of tourists and photographers on Sunday. I'll say this for the rest of my life... interiors are very tricky.

Tripods were not allowed, and I cringed as I took each shot because with the surging crowds of visitors I had no chance to balance the camera on something like my kit bag or a railing to use a lower ISO and slower shutter speed, and no offence Nikon, but unless you're using a more expensive body, Nikon's higher ISO's (starting at 250) become very noisy/grainy. And the more I have to fix that in PSP, the less detailed it becomes. And that's working in Raw. Guess I'll see how she prints.

Knowing that my high ISO was going to cost me, I chose subjects that were fairly architectural with nice perspectives and interesting light. And in areas where I could lean against a pillar or railing for a few seconds to steady my shots since I had to be tripod-less. And I'm sure there's tons of similar shots being posted to flickr and such right this second, but I still needed to try my own approach to this anyways. If you don't shoot, you don't learn, and you don't improve. And trust me, I still have so much to improve!

Thanks for the ramble today folks! Hope you're all improving your craft too!

Have a super day gang! See you all tomorrow!