Eighteen Percent Grey

Halo

2009-07-10T01:00:34Z

Halo
For anyone who's wondering, any close-ups and flora shots are photographed in the field.

I may try my hand at some set-up shots in the future as I can get real close with the 240mm on the Chamonix in particular. Just gotta account for that bellows factor! A great easy tool for compensating can be found in the QuickDisc. There's also a great tutorial on bellows factor on Youtube, care of J Brunner: Bellows factor with Bacon.

Retro #2

2009-07-09T10:52:42Z

Retro #2
Just to prove I can take in-focus photos, here's a closer (and sharper) view of the Winnebago from this post from the other day. ;)

Mount Pleasant

2009-07-08T00:59:56Z

Mount Pleasant

Emerge

2009-07-06T00:00:13Z

Emerge
I am so annoyed with my Epson R1800 printer at the moment. Replaced most of the inks, spent over $100. Clogged nozzles. Run cleaning cycle, and now my new inks are down to 70%. On top of that, my previously 50% full "photo black" ink is now empty. So that's like $30 worth of overpriced ink (works out to $1.33 per ML!) from one cleaning cycle. What a joke.

Of course, despite using a RIP and only printing with the "matte black" ink, the printer won't function if any single ink is marked as empty. This is moronic.

So the moral is, if you buy an Epson, make sure you buy an aftermarket continuous ink system or auto-reset chipped refillable carts.
Thankfully, being in Canada, Epson's bullying of chip-reset cart manufacturers with the DMCA doesn't apply. I know thats what I'm going to do next payday. At about $0.10 per ML its no wonder aftermarket pigment is so popular compared to Epson's extortion.

Severed

2009-07-03T00:37:20Z

Severed
Carl cut off the tip of his finger cutting some siding.

Retro

2009-07-01T13:15:18Z

Retro
Happy Canada Day! My submission for the Lensday Retro theme.

I finally nominated my site in the photoblog awards, so feel free to head on over and vote. Just click the massive, in-your-face, can't miss it button below. Getting lonely in there.

Feedback wise, I'm starting to feel like having a slide projector in my bedroom would be just as effective as a photoblog.

On the Trent

2009-06-30T00:00:52Z

On the Trent
I don't keep any kind of personal web presence beyond my photographs, so I've found Twitter to be a great substitute for a "real" weblog. The character limit is also very handy for keeping my logorrhea in check. Just follow @dayreiner.

Pua

2009-06-29T00:00:28Z

Pua
Joanne's Pua from her Hula demo the other week. Speaking of which, it was three years ago yesterday that we went on our first date. It's also Joanne's mother's birthday. Considering how bad I am with dates, this can either be incredibly handy or fraught with peril should I ever forget.

Was at a wedding this weekend at the Eglinton Grand -- the old theater made a great venue for the reception, and the whole "at the movies" theme was executed perfectly. Lots of fun, and congratulations Mark and Richelle! Union photography covered the event, they did a great job with their engagement photos so I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

A bit of Hawaii comes to St. James Town

2009-06-26T08:19:53Z

A bit of Hawaii comes to St. James Town
The dancers of Halau Hula O Kaleiu'iokalani performed beautifully at the St. James Town festival the other week. They were a real hit with the crowd.

Merry

2009-06-24T10:38:27Z

Merry
Going to be a hot one today! Thank goodness I got the air conditioner sorted in time -- looks like we might have a real summer (at least for a while) after all. As tempting as it is to complain about the heat, I'll take this over freezing rain and snow any day of the week.

I shot this one a while back but only got around to developing it the other day. I just realized this is likely my last ever shot on APX 100 in a Toy Camera. Only having a couple of rolls left, I'll be saving them for the 'Mat most likely.

Bloodgood

2009-06-23T12:00:00Z

Bloodgood
I'm not 100% sure these leaves are from a Japanese Maple. If someone can confirm or correct for me, please let me know in the comments.

Spent most of last night trying to get my shiny new 22" air conditioner in to a 21.5" window. Success at last, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Sorry Joanne. ;) Fun times!

Warsh

2009-06-22T00:00:34Z

Warsh
For some reason a lot of the locals up around Norham / Warkworth pronounce words like "Wash" as "Warsh", interesting minor variant in the local accent. Shot one of my last remaining rolls of Agfa APX 100 at my sister's this weekend. RIP Agfa. I'm starting to get comfortable with Fuji Acros 100 though, its a nice replacement and stands in hotrod quite nicely for easy scans.

So I buckled on Friday and joined Twitter. If you're already on there, head on over and follow me.

p.s. RIP Kodachrome, too. Although I don't shoot much chrome, Kodachrome (along with Panatomic X) will always have a special spot in my heart. It was my dad's film, and the first film I ever used -- in my Minolta Hi-Matic 7s, when I was about 10.

Gravity is Optional #2

2009-06-19T12:00:48Z

Gravity is Optional #2
I recently started listening to the Inside Analog Photo podcast. Catching up on the various episodes, there are some great interviews with some amazing photographers. If you do any darkroom work, the Steve Anchell (author of the Darkroom Cookbook) interview is a lot of fun -- very plain-spoken guy, I like his style. ;)

Even if you don't shoot film, its still a great listen. Follow the link above to check it out, or if you have iTunes you can subscribe directly here.

Gravity is Optional

2009-06-18T08:57:40Z

Gravity is Optional
This tree bud was caught by a single silk thread left by a tent caterpillar in our campsite at Emily Provincial Park.

Rough

2009-06-17T00:00:15Z

Rough
I missed my timer and forgot about my film in the tank. This 4x5 macro of some bark ended up souped for almost four hours! The developer was completely exhausted, its just a good thing I was using such a dilute concentration. Looking at the negative, I'm amazed I was able to get any kind of scan out of it at all.

Dylan

2009-06-16T09:17:31Z

Dylan
4x5 of a vandalized tree in Emily Provincial Park.

Pegged

2009-06-15T00:00:29Z

Pegged
4x5 of the clothes pegs at my sister's house. I love the way they get bunched together on the line when its not in use.

Jump (Pareidolia)

2009-06-12T07:50:53Z

Jump (Pareidolia)
I actually shot this 90 degrees from its current rotation -- I changed up the orientation after noticing just how much these flowers remind me of a person jumping for joy. This is an example of a peculiar kink in human perception known as pareidolia. It's the basis of the Rorschach ink-blot test, and also the reason why so many people seem to see Jesus or Elvis on their morning toast or a face on Mars. Interesting stuff -- there's even audio pareidolia, which can be even more amusing.

Anyhow, if you're in Toronto and going to be downtown on Saturday, make sure to stop by the St. James Town festival this weekend and check out some Hawaiian Hula care of the students at Halau Hula O Kaleiu'iokalani.

Someone is missing

2009-06-11T01:59:21Z

Someone is missing

On Merton Street

2009-06-10T00:00:01Z

On Merton Street

Cat Grass

2009-06-09T00:00:39Z

Cat Grass
Heh, I got a kick out of this quick article over at the Onion. She'd probably stick with it if she only had some Rodinal.

Marshall

2009-06-08T00:06:09Z

Marshall
Back from camping and a great birthday weekend. Took lots of snaps around the park. I went hiking with my Chamonix and got six (hopefully decent) 4x5s. Hope to develop them in the next couple of days. Six might not sound like much, but in digital terms, that's like 400 photographs you know. ;)

(The harsh vignetting on the sides of this shot is due to stand development with a plastic reel. Metal reels are the way to go for this technique...)

Merton Street Sky

2009-06-05T01:22:50Z

Merton Street Sky
Just finished some late-night, last-minute, film-holder loading. Heading up to Emily Provincial Park tomorrow to get in some camping with Joanne for my birthday.

I've been interviewed by Michael over at PetaPixel. No permalink yet as the interview is about to go up, but I may already be camping by the time it does. At any rate, go check it out -- and if its not there, check out the rest of the site while you're at it. Some great tips and tutorials already there to soak up in the mean time.

Update: The interview is up, you can check it out here.

Where's Waldo

2009-06-04T00:22:31Z

Where's Waldo
Going camping this weekend for my birthday. Going to be great to hit up some wilderness with the ol' 4x5.

Vroom II

2009-06-03T00:00:20Z

Vroom II

Car and Bike

2009-06-01T00:00:26Z

Car and Bike

Vroom

2009-05-29T01:11:47Z

Vroom
This was a fast car, once upon a time.

The vignetting is due to stand development in a plastic reel. I've since learned to stick with metal reels for this kinda thing.

Two 4 Tuesday: Fast/Slow

Serene

2009-05-27T00:00:37Z

Serene
Flowers in Cabbagetown. I shot these in someone's garden on the way back from dinner the other night with Joanne -- the lighting was just right as the sun was coming down to isolate the flowers with only minimal burning in post. Of course being able to shoot wide open at f1.4 also helped.. ;)

My first submission over at who do you love, for the flowers theme.

No Poop Zone

2009-05-26T00:00:18Z

No Poop Zone
A private fixture in a very public area.

I got a kick out of the abandoned toilet sitting right by the strange "No Poop Zone" sign. I suppose that makes this an illegal toilet. One of those "WTF?" moments, and my submission for the Two4Tuesday "Public - Private" theme.

Camera Shy

2009-05-24T12:40:27Z

Camera Shy
Joanne is so camera-shy I have to be pretty stealth when trying to get a portait of her... My entry for this week's Shutterday theme "Your life would suck without whom?".

One Play One Quarter

2009-05-22T00:00:43Z

One Play One Quarter
Last pinball shot for now, also my entry for this week's "Letters" theme over at Unique Exposures.

Everyone read this -- Slow Photography in an Instantaneous Age. Great article, c/o Kathleen via Facebook.

High Score

2009-05-21T00:00:45Z

High Score
Part of a a misspent youth. My submission for the "childhood" theme at the Thursday Challenge.

Second of three shots of the "Bobby Orr Power Play" pinball machine at the 80/20 Solutions offices.

Bobby Orr

2009-05-20T00:00:25Z

Bobby Orr
You know you're working at a startup when there's a pinball machine in the office.

I wonder if the fact that it doesn't actually work says anything. ;)

Trent Stereo and TV

2009-05-18T12:36:09Z

Trent Stereo and TV
Campbellford Ontario has some wonderful alleyways to explore despite being a small town.

Just kicking back and enjoying the long weekend today.

Multibloom

2009-05-15T01:24:09Z

Multibloom
Finally starting to see some nice weather and the trees in front of my office are blooming. Shot this on my way in to the office this morning.

Termites

2009-05-14T00:00:09Z

Termites
I've still got another six rolls of Panatomic X in my freezer. The stuff all expired in 1989, but it still works great and scans like a dream.

Someone once told me these were edible

2009-05-12T09:48:43Z

Someone once told me these were edible

Gate

2009-05-11T00:00:01Z

Gate
I'm pretty much souping everything in Rodinal 1:100 nowadays, stand developed for an hour. The results have been great for scaning, and no need to mess about with stop bath or being super precise...

This is from one of my earlier stand developed rolls, before I realized that stand development and plastic reels don't mix -- hence the dark vignetting on the sides.

Tow #2

2009-05-08T00:05:15Z

Tow #2
So I scanned some Lucky CHD 100 film today that I shot in my Holga. Damn if that stuff isn't the curliest emulsion ever! Not very scanner friendly, especially so with the carrier on my v700!

Tow #1

2009-05-07T11:28:55Z

Tow #1
If you haven't noticed, a lot of my recent square shots have some pretty bad vignetting on the sides. While the effect has been pretty cool for some images, its an annoyance caused by my more recent penchant for stand developing my film. I made the mistake of using a plastic reel on a couple of rolls, which causes uneven development around the edges.