Natalie came round today to show me what she’d learned at a recent lighting lesson with a local photographer. We set up the lights. Main was fairly low, bounced into umbrella with the light set horizontal and positioned to the side of the subject. Fill light was also horizontal, bounced into an umbrella but set as high as possible and placed in the centre behind the camera. Fill light should be set about 1 stop less than the main. I think the lights were set to output a bit too much power. Note to self: Dial down a notch next time. Flash meter was reading f11 at 1/125 and ISO 120. I was aiming for f5.6-6.3 at 1/125 and ISO 100 as ideal. With the overhead room light switched off and just working with ambient and modelling lights, the Mk3 had no trouble focusing. Looking at the preview, noticed a grey rectangle on the lower left of the display. Switched cards and it still appeared so switched over to using the Mk2. Focusing the mk2 was much more difficult in the same light. Shot some pics of Tyra, Ivan and Natalie’s dog Sparky. Many mediocre shots. A couple of nice ones but there were some hot spots because of the lights being set to too high a power. Practice makes perfect 🙂
Went out to agility practice afterwards and on to Mexi’s in Carleton Place. Ready to sleep it off now.
A Lazy Day
A lazy day which starts with a trip to the gym 🙂
Get up, watched Eastenders, went to the Post Office, came back, ate French Onion Soup and went to the gym for 2pm.
Tip: Don’t eat French Onion Soup before going to the gym. It makes you thirsty!
Had to make a trip to Canadian Tire on the way home to return boots I’d bought for Paul the day before. He came back from Walmart this morning with some new boots! Battled my way through the traffic to visit the sports equipment store to look for a replacement Xmas present. Settled on a Polar Heart monitor and a balancing ball thingy. Didn’t think there’s be much chance of him coming home with either of those two items.
Brushed the dogs and did nails. Boris is leaving bits of himself all over the floor. He’s the worst. Tyra comes a close second. She was looking pretty scruffy. Looking a lot better now.
Christmas shopping
I had a few items to pick up at lunchtime today. One of them being a laminated print from Costco. Horrors! The parking lot was insane! I’m glad I only had to go to the photodesk to pickup and not do any shopping in that place. The thought of the long lines of people at the checkout with their trolleys piled high with “stuff” made me shudder.
Next stop Canadian Tire. I wanted to find a pair of winter boots for Paul. Not a great selection, but I fond a pair which promised warmth down to -40C. That’ll do, I thought. Picked up 3 toblerones on the way to the cash. Then came the lunchtime treat. Poutine from Glen’s Chip van. He makes the best chips in the area. Mmmm.
Chips eaten, I then went to the shoe shop to ask about replacing a zip in my almost-new winter boots. Some one, not mentioning any names but it begins with a “P”, had left the door to the shoe cupboard open allowing Ivan to sneak off with one of them. Couldn’t resist calling in the “things” store next door to browse the kitchen items. Didn’t buy anything for myself, but would love one of those gaggia coffee machines..
Published!
So Indy has her photo in the Ottawa Citizen today. This one. Looks good in print! Already had one e-mail from a friend who was obviously up and reading the paper before I was. A work colleague spotted it too and was asking me about Belgian Shepherds.
It’s the works Christmas outing today. A lunchtime trip to the comedy club downtown. Haven’t been to one of these places before. Apparently the comedians can be good or absolutely terrible. You never know what you’re going to get.
Had some good news yesterday. I’ve been approved to judge up to advanced level for AAC. My first judging assignments will be at Dreamfields. Starters on May 3rd and Advanced on May 30th. Heard that Peter passed too. Curious to find out how the others from our group did.
Shoegazing
Don’t believe it. It’s snowing again! When will it ever stop! Sky is full and it’s really grey. Think I’ll be leaving work early this afternoon. Went out for a curry at lunchtime with Paul and a couple of his colleagues (ex colleagues he used to work with until November). Can’t really concentrate now, ready for hibernation, I think. You can see I’m bored…
More Snow
It’s snowing again. Though they just call it “flurries”. Still pretty cold. Cold enough for me to want to go and buy some new boots. I’m looking out of my office window at the roads below, thinking about whether I want to venture out at all. Actually, I will have to go out at some point. The dogs need food and I have to go to the pet shop. Better do it now before the flurries turn to “real” snow.
The day after the storm
Sunny but cold. The agility equipment is almost buried. The jumps with the top bar at 26″ show how deep the snow is. The upside – the wind isn’t as fierce. It’s still cold at around -12C but the sun is shining. Makes all the difference!
The snow storm
So we had a big snowstorm here in Ottawa. A couple of foot of snow fell during the day. This is the view from out of the front door. Pretty grey looking!
The dogs had lots of fun playing in the snow, but us humans didn’t have as much fun as it was not only cold and snowing, but WINDY!