Halloween Crow

Halloween Crow - #340/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

The kids have been very creative in decorating the house for Halloween, but trying to capture a decent shot of the lighting and the black crow turned out to be quite tricky. I ended up using the pop-in flash in conjunction with my external Speedlight to appropriately (spooky) light the crow from above and try to reduce the white light on the railing. Then it was a bit of a battle trying to keep the background clean of distractions (an overlooked detail with many photographs). I used in-camera Nikon D-Lighting to lighten the shadows a little which brought the eye a little more towards the crow (rather than the glow of the pumpkin lights) and it was nice for the cobweb on the wall too. I used a remote release on a 2 sec timer so I could trigger the shutter and position the flash over the subject. Not sure if the final result was worth all the effort, but it was fun trying.

Yemi

Yemi - stranger #76 and daily photo #339/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I had another busy day at work but managed to sit down and have a pint with a colleague late this afternoon at The Irish Embassy pub. I had forgotten my favourite soccer team (Arsenal) were playing a Champions League game today (although I had set the PVR in the morning), so was a little disappointed to walk into the pub and join the game at half time. I talked with my colleague about work for a while but I must say I was a little distracted by the game and shared some running commentary with his gentlemen also sitting at the bar watching the game. When my colleague left to catch his train, I introduced myself and dove into a quick and easy conversation about all things football. Yemi is also an Arsenal fan and we enjoyed the last 10 minutes of the game together and talked about getting together to watch an important match on Sunday.

Simple shot with my kit lens and pop up flash. Original shot included the TV in the background, but I wanted a slightly tighter crop. The Nikon in-camera trim function was a little too aggressive, but no worries, getting in close for people shots never disappoints !

Yemi is #76 in my 100 strangers project.

Leaving downtown to the colours

Leaving downtown to the colours - #338, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

As I leave downtown from my office at Yonge and Dundas I head underground to the Dundas subway station. I used the unusual red plastic surrounding the entrance to colour the downtown action and chose to blur it and focus on the detail of the fixtures and grating - leaving downtown to its colourful evening.

Raptors - Jarrett Jack on the offensive

Raptors - Jarrett Jack on the offensive - #337/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

snuck down to a better seat to grab some closer shots of the Raptor pre-season game versus Captain Canada, Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. It's quite challenging taking shots of pro sports, the first is getting the basics right and then shooting a lot to get the timing right with an action shot. I used manual setting, high iso (1250) and a custom white balance (5000K).

Cataract Falls

Cataract Falls - #336/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I've been planning on joining the Toronto Photo Walks group for one of their events for some time now, and finally managed to meet up with them as they explored the Cheltenham Badlands and the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. It was great to meet lots of fellow photographers and take the time to take lots of shots of some new landscape. Although fall colours are still stellar in the city and even around Cheltenham, just a few kilometres further North, the large majority of the trees had already lost their leaves. So when we found Cataract Falls (located in Forks of the Credit Provincial Park) late in the day, I didn't hesitate switching to black & white as I thought the site had lots of interesting contrast and texture. If you look closely, you can spot of our group taking a shot from the lower level. Actually I missed her the first time through and is a nice example of one of the benefits of black & white - the effect of out of place elements or colourful distractions can be minimized. I especially liked the late afternoon shadows of the trees on the water. Taking black & white shots in-camera is still a little hit and miss with the the lack of control and I experiment a little with the filter choices on my D80, it this case I used a yellow filter.

Laughers and posers

Laughers and posers - #335/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

We got together with old friends in the neighbourhood and kids helped me with my daily shot. I like that kids are usually very happy to help out and they often come up with their own ideas for a shot. We were working on a moody kind of alley shot, and while I had them pose for a more traditional group shot, there was a lot of joking going on and I snapped this one. Although depth-of-field was working again me, I really like the mood of the shot.

Gorillaz mixing it up

Gorillaz mixing it up - #334/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

The Gorillaz concert at The Air Canada Centre was everything I expected it to be - video and groove heavy, melodic at times, performing most of their hits with a large ensemble (25+ members, including rappers and hip hoppers, back up singers, Bobby Womack, Chicago horns, guest Arabic instrumentation, two drummers and a string section).

The large video screen (see other shots) was in constant use, playing full length accompanying videos at times and comic book stills and animation with a splash of culture and historic footage.

I took advantage of some of my newer Fuji point-and-shoot, including the 16x9 size setting; it's high ISO NR EXR capability and also using -2/3EV to reduce the highlights on the (white) performers. With the screen being a big attraction (and distraction) it was tricky to find a shot that showing the visual splendor with some wonderful stage performances. But the Gorillaz backdrop logo added a strikingly colourful backdrop to every shot of the stage so I chose this one as it has a mix of the hip hip flavour with the string section silhouetted, Mick Jones (ex Clash) on guitar and fronted by Damon.