#463, Sid Smith #2

A companion image to one that I took about six weeks ago, which shows a wider view of Sidney Smith Hall.

What's really remarkable is the similarity between the two images. Everything about how they were taken is different: camera, film, and scanner; time of day and time of year; different tempos, one being a walk-by shooting and the other bound to a tripod; even the film formats and shapes aren't the same. Yet I like to think that there's an essential link beyond the subject that marks them clearly as the product of the same photographer.

But I probably flatter myself - unless the link is that others wouldn't have taken one photo, let alone two.

#709, Steel

I'm learning to embrace imperfection.

#814, Storage

A two-second exposure in an underground loading dock.

I'm still trying to decide if it's just a coincidence that most of my favourite recent photos have been in black and white.

#526, Lift

Another quick snap from the disposable camera. Eventually I'll get around to tagging all of the photos that I'm taking around this construction site, so that the full sequence can be sorted out from the other posts.

(1038) #595, concrete

Another from the construction site at Yonge and Gerrard, taken with my newest camera: a Fujifilm disposable that I bought last Saturday. I forgot to put a memory card back in the Panasonic, and really wanted some photos of Penny's booth at the Queen West show.

Someone suggested that I should carry a spare SD card in my wallet, which makes a lot of sense, but then I would have missed out on the fun of using the disposable. Its entertainment value was worth it, even if it's not something I ever do again.

#305, Flare

My final image from my trip to Markham two weeks ago; I was trying to see the flare characteristics of the f/4 85mm Zeiss tele-tessar lens. Not bad, as it turns out - the sun was just outside the frame lines, so the hood wasn't helping at all.

I really like the look of Ektar colour film with the Zeiss Ikon, but I'm increasingly thinking of using this B&W film (chromogenic XP2) for my honeymoon in New York City one month from now. I'll also have the GH1 for colour digital, so the Ikon won't be my primary camera, and keeping to one film will increase my chances of building a consistent portfolio.

Besides, the world needs more black and white photos of New York.

This is blog post number 799, figuratively speaking.

#307, Bikes

A cheap shot, perhaps, but I was trying to finish the roll.

(1037) #436, No Diving

I've been looking at a print of this for days, and still love it.

#440, Skyline Looking South

It can't be a skyline without the CN Tower, but this is the first time I've used that word in a title for a photo that wasn't taken from the Bathurst Street bridge.

Compare: 2004, 2005 summer and winter, 2009.

Shopping Carts

I went to Markham last week, and took photos of shopping carts.

At least I didn't make a special trip. And I did come home with something remarkable.

Both photos are with the Zeiss 50 Sonnar wide open, which has a very distinctive look.

Air Show 2010

I've divested all of the long-lens autofocus SLR gear that I've used to take my previous air show photos. I told myself that this year I just wouldn't try, and let the long weekend go by without spending hours waiting for planes to roar past.

Not so easy to do.

So instead I decided to work a little differently, and used my seriously underlensed rangefinder camera - and chose black and white film as well. Like the man said, if you can't join 'em, beat 'em - and with lower technology and capability came less pressure and more fun. Set the focus to infinity, the aperture to f/16 (seemed appropriate), and track the planes through that gloriously huge viewfinder as they turned past my apartment building. Sit on the balcony with a beverage and a book, or wander the pool deck on a chilly afternoon, and look up when I hear a plane. No problem.

It's not that I couldn't have taken these two photos - from a single pass - of the Snowbirds with an autofocus digital camera. It's that I never would have thought to try.

And I like the photos just as much the ones from 2009 and 2007, specifically because they're different.

Queen West - This Weekend

Penny will be at the Queen West Art Crawl this weekend: Saturday Sept. 18th and Sunday Sept. 19th, 11am - 6pm.

Coming westbound on Queen, go up the short flight of stairs and take the main path past the tennis courts. We'll be on the right-and side, at booth C78.

(1036) #288, A Pineapple-shaped lamp

It's been a busy week, without much time for photography.

Next week is going to be about the same.

#385, Great Gulf

One of the few local casualties of the American-inspired banking implosion, the south-east corner of Yonge and Bloor has been a vacant lot since the end of 2008. The exposed surface has changed the rainwater patterns and caused leaks in the city's busiest subway station immediately below. Hopefully the project's new owners will fix that when they put a building on top of this formerly-interesting corner.

#389, Tractor Beam

From the construction site at Yonge and Gerrard.

Yes, I know this is a bulldozer.

(1035) #145, End of Summer

The Labour Day long weekend is the traditional conclusion to summer, and the heavy jackets we've needed these past few days have just been a punctuation point.

#277, One or the Other

I do like the distinctive look of the Zeiss 50mm Sonnar - most lenses are somewhere in a continuum between sharp or soft, but wide open, the 1,5/50 is best described as gentle. Zeiss calls it 'rounded', which is also fairly evocative.

This will be much more natural for wedding photography than architectural work, but I'm still waiting for my 2/35, and there just wasn't enough room for the 4/85.

(I'm testing a new feature with my photo host for this post, so please excuse any technical difficulty.)