Category Archives: Photography

New Camera Walkabout

I finally pulled the trigger on buying a dSLR the other day, a Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D and today I took it out for a brief spin around the yard. The objective was just to get comfortable with it, and just walk through the process of shooting and downloading using the new software. I shot on the fully Auto mode for now, just to see how it would perform, and I think it did very well. Conditions, mind you, were pretty favourable: nice even light, no harsh contrasts for the AI to get confused over…

New Camera Walkabout - Lynda
Before heading out for my little walkabout, I tried out the camera on my lovely wife Lynda, who did not let us down, and vice versa I think…

New Camera Walkabout - Muskoka Chairs
The Muskoka chairs I made last summer have survived their first winter. They have a diluted coat of spar varnish on them, so that helped.

New Camera Walkabout - Kitsch Island
Silver likes to cross over to Kitsch Island in pursuit of the Mallards that often drop in to hunt our few remaining goldfish.

New Camera Walkabout - Wooden Chairs
An earlier pair of outdoor chairs I made in 2009, now recovering from their second winter… nicely grey now… no varnish on these…

New Camera Walkabout - Flagstones
The moss is well established now between the flagstones of our front walk. Most of the heaving from the winter has settled down.

New Camera Walkabout - Boot planter
It’s a boot. It’s a planter. It’s a mashup.

New Camera Walkabout - Silver
♫ I always feel like… somebody’s watching me ♫

New Camera Walkabout - Rodent Damage
New Camera Walkabout  - More Rodent Damage
During this past winter, there was a presistent snow cover on the front lawn, from the blower and just in general. Some rodents, voles we think, tore up the lawn pretty good under there.

New Camera Walkabout - Patrick
Patrick the gnome has no legs. Every year he seems to be a little deeper in the ground. So it goes.

New Camera Walkabout - George
Our male Reeves Pheasant, named George. George Reeves. As pheasants go, he’s super, man.

New Camera Walkabout - Rockpile
Remnants of some project, I’m not even sure now, that we piled up here with an eye towards maybe using them to firm-up the banks of the pond, which tend to erode… The chairs are old, came with the house…. definitely not for sitting, they hold potted plants in summer…

Table for Two, Hold the Blizzard

Table for Two, Hold the Blizzard

Our loftily-designated “Florida Room” felt like a real oasis tonight as the winter storm rages outside. Cozy enough to enjoy our dinner and toast our good fortune and our warm home.

Snow and Flowers

As the blizzard howls outside and leaves its unique pox on our windows, the flora inside are oblivious… understandably, what with being plants and all…

Cat House Moon

Cat House Moon, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

I just received a request from the good folks at Fluttery Records (www.flutteryrecords.com – site not working at time of writing) to use my image Cat House Moon as the cover of a forthcoming release by indie band Phoenix and the Turtle. Their EP is called “Swallow Up The Moon”.

Fluttery Records described themselves as “a very small independent label”, “more like an artists-helping-artists collective”.

Which reminded me of our own Great Lakes Musician’s Collective, of which I was a member for a while. I guess you’d say I’m an alumnus these days, having hung up the “sticks and tricks” for a while.

Anyway, I said “sure”. So if everyone buys their record, I get… well, nothing… but still… it seemed like a good idea…

I get requests to use photos fairly often. Mostly nobody wants to pay. Mostly I say “no” in that case.

This felt more like a “yes” opportunity…

Fave This Photo or The Flower Gets It

Funniest photo I’ve seen on Flickr in quite some time, and the first of someone else’s photos that I’ve blogged here for posterity. Just a brilliant counterpoint to the endless idyllic flower pics on Flickr (a few of my own in there too !!) Very “National Lampoon”!! Instant fave, as we say on Flickr.
Fave This Photo or The Flower Gets It