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June, 2008

  1. Perfection And Sunday Mornings Don’t Mix

    June 30, 2008 by Gail

    umbrella twirling

    Yesterday’s lesson in umbrella-twirling motion blur:

    I asked the lovely Erin to pose with her umbrella and twirl it so I could get the motion blur. I was trying to get the shutter speed down low enough for the blur and aperture high enough to expose her face properly, but I hadn’t manually set my ISO (it maxes out at 3200) which resulted in a whitewash… until Aubrey mentioned it. Also, I hadn’t stopped down far enough. So there you go, that’s why I like to shoot with other people — especially on a Sunday morning, when I’m operating on 54% brain power.

    The other thing I would’ve done is moved her forward a bit to have only the brick wall in the background. If I were truly a perfectionist I would have directed her properly to lock the focus or used a tripod. I would also clone out that piece of wood in the corner. Thank goodness I’m not a perfectionist (when photowalking), I’d be terribly annoying and nobody would want to go shooting with me.

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  2. PhotoSmorgasbord

    June 29, 2008 by Gail

    reflection of pride

    Another post on the fly…

    My 2GB memory card saw some major action today: cows, pigs, turkeys, snails, ponds, flowers, a cemetery, scantily clad bodies, a helicopter, wings, crowd, a pug-beagle dog, transvestites, and all manner of things in between. Between last night and today (shooting from 9am to about 7pm), I took about half the number of photos I average in a month!

    Picture above: the TD float guys putting on sunscreen before their turn in the annual Pride Parade. Reflection in Aubrey‘s sunglasses has a bit of my arm and Jose as well.

    I got a little sunburnt today.

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  3. Wedding Season

    June 29, 2008 by Gail

    Front Street @ Church

    I shot an engagement session on Saturday night, and while I was waiting for my couple to arrive, I observed another photo shoot going on right in front of me — a wedding that probably took place at St. James’ Cathedral.

    Wedding season is in full summer swing!

    The engagement session went really well, I think. I got to practice my directing skills, photography skills, and creativity with people I’d never met before, and the couple were playful and loving in front of the camera. All in all, everyone went home happy at 2am…

    … and in a few hours I’m going to wake up early and shoot some more! (I don’t get out of bed this early on a weekend for anything but my biggest hobbies.) This time with a photographer I’d met while taking photos at the International Day of Dance.

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  4. Cheerio, Ruth!

    June 28, 2008 by Gail

    Cheerio, Ruth!

    It’s probably a good day to leave Toronto — all this humidity turned into summer downpour!

    I saw Ruth, from Ireland, off at the train station this morning. I hosted Ruth for two days, and she’s making her way west to Vancouver and all around the U.S. by rail. She’s a lovely girl, I hope to see her in Ireland sometime! She’s also a fan of rail travel, and has inspired me to dig through my archives of Cuba and resurrect the videoclips of my journey on the Hershey Train from Matanzas to Havana — which I have never posted. If you’re a rail traveller, too, watch this space.

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  5. Football At The Farm

    June 27, 2008 by Gail

    football at the farm

    Now that Germany’s in the final on Sunday against Spain, I can only imagine the mania that’s been building since I left on Monday.

    Last Friday, the night before the wedding, there was a barbecue for all the guests who’d arrived at the farm in Wolterdingen. Of course, someone found a way to get a TV signal and beam the Croatia/Turkey match onto a wall. [View Larger]

    I’m sure if there were German astronauts in space this weekend, they’d figure out a way to watch the game!

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  6. Cubana At The Batcave

    June 27, 2008 by Gail

    Natalia

    A bunch of people are flying to Cuba so we had a bit of a Cuban-themed evening at the Batcave for them to get a taste of the country beforehand. We watched “Buena Vista Social Club”, drank sangria that I’d been marinating in the afternoon, and ate tapas that Maria whipped up in her kitchen. I don’t have any photos of the food or drink, but I did take some post-sangria shots of Jan (below) and Natalia (above). The one of Jan was a white balance accident (I forgot to change the setting), but I like how it looks.

    Jan

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  7. Norway’s Incredible Sky

    June 26, 2008 by Gail

    near Oslo

    near Oslo

    I am slowly, ever so slowly, sorting through my photos of this most recent trip. I also have photos to sort through from Chicago (June 6-8), and NY/NJ/PA (May 29 – Jun 2). Also, for those with the password, my upcoming trip details can be found in the Where page. If I didn’t have this website, I’d be asking myself, “Where did June go??” But I do know, because it’s all here!

    Here’s how the Norway album is looking thus far: [Full-screen Flickr slideshow] or click on the slideshow below to view the thumbnails.

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  8. Matt’s World Dance (2008)

    June 25, 2008 by Gail


    Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

    14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands. About Matt.

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  9. The Hay Hotel

    June 24, 2008 by Gail

    heuhotel ("Hay Hotel")

    I had some interesting accommodation on this trip, including a little cabin in Norway and sleeping on a bed of hay in a stable in Germany (“heuhotel”). I’m still picking out bits of hay from my stuff!

    All up, it was:

    • 3 nights on 2 couches (Oslo, Hamburg)
    • 2 mattresses on 2 floors (Oslo)
    • 3 bunk beds (Norway: Harmar, Akkerhaugen, Flam)
    • 2 nights on hay in a sleeping bag (German farm near Wolterdingen)
    • 1 night in a leather airline seat (Air Transat, Toronto-Hamburg)
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  10. George Carlin On Death

    June 24, 2008 by Gail

    RIP George Carlin
    May 12, 1967 – June 22, 2008

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