Brickworks 2013

A return trip to the Brickworks, which Evergreen has taken from an easy destination for beginning urban exploration photographers and turned it into a community and environmental showcase. Opened up and with electric lights replacing holes in the ceiling, not to mention legal access, photography has become a very different experience. I did use my little keychain flashlight once, just for old times' sake, but there was a time when I'd carry a minimum of three good flashlights before venturing inside. During the day.

All of these were taken with my GRDIV point-and-shoot. I was also carrying my V1 set, but never took it out of the bag.

Red on White

I've photographed my share of 'Danger' signs, but this is the first time I've seen anyone colour-coordinate the marker.

That's pretty awesome.

76 Grenville

The old building is being taken down before phase two of Women's College Hospital's redevelopment can be built. I was born here, so I was pleased to see that one of the companies involved in the project is my age.

I'm still trying to come to terms with the Ricoh GRD-IV. There's a whisper of hope that I might have The New GR in time for NYC6 later this month, but that won't help much if I'm not able to learn how to compose with a wide-angle lens and LCD screen. But at least the GR is already supported by DxO Optics, so that's one less thing to worry about when mine finally arrives.

Smokers

While only the middle two are doing something blatantly and objectively offensive – smoking next to a no-smoking sign while blocking a busy set of doors in the second, and blocking an emergency exit in the third – it's also true that cigarettes smoked on the street almost invariably end up as toxic litter.

Built and Abandoned

Continuing to work with the new little camera and its wide-angle lens.

Wide lenses are so much harder to use than long ones. A narrow field of view makes it easy to isolate a scene, choose backgrounds, and limit focus. Switching to the different requirements of depth and subject that a wide lens requires, and understanding how this scalpel of a camera concept can work differently from what I'm used to, it going to make for an interesting month.

No Smoking

Continuing to work with the new little camera and its wide-angle lens.

I've posted photos of this sign at least twice previously, as it's something that I use to learn how new cameras see. I have to confess that adjusting to a wide angle has been far more difficult than I expected, requiring fundamental changes in how I work and see. That's a good thing, but it means that I still have a lot of work to do before I can easily switch between working with wide and long perspectives.

White Tank

Continuing to work with the new little camera and its wide-angle lens.

Most wide-angle lenses for full-frame SLRs generally range between mediocre and good, with very few that are excellent. A fixed-lens camera makes for a different set of design compromises, which can lead to a different kind of photography. This kind of conceptual variety in my tools is important to me.

Wooden Skids

Continuing to work with the new little camera and its wide-angle lens.

It's a tough compromise. An SLR viewfinder makes it much easier to see the tilt and skew of the camera, which wide-angle lenses are incredibly susceptible to. But the telecentricity requirements for a wide-angle lens to clear the space needed for a mirror box makes them large and introduces design requirements that have nothing to do with making a good image.

Sakura

My favourite photo from the 2013 Cherry Blossom season at U of T's Robarts library.

Back Campus

The University of Toronto's 'Back Campus' field, with the Soldier's Tower prominent in the background. This grass is slated to be dug up, paved over with astroturf, and fenced off in celebration of the 2015 Pan Am / Pan Para Games. It will remain a restricted access artificial field hockey surface in perpetuity.

With construction expected to start in two months, this is likely to become an ongoing subject for me.

Super Speed 50

I don't often post blatant camera pr0n here, but for the Zeiss CP.2 Super Speed 50mm T1.5 cine lens I thought it would be worth making an exception. No, I don't own this lens, but there's something to be said for an eighteen-blade aperture.

People Reading

I'm a bad 'street' photographer, but I thought I should give it a try now that I have a P&S camera with a strong street-photography heritage.

And now, having tried it, I plan on stopping.