Hold onto the star

Christmas blessings to all, and in the year to come.

What the Duck 100th

Aaron Johnson creator of What the Duck has posted his 100th strip today. Congrats to Aaron on a very funny daily diversion.
This is Episode one of an animated WTD.

Tatamagouche III : Spirit renewed

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but I am still carrying warm thoughts and memories from this year's event. I am looking forward to the next time in February.

This image was made on my way home, and for 5 minutes appeared the only sunlight during the entire weekend. I stopped and soaked up the light.

Tatamagouche II - images

Tata Wind

Tata Tree Suite I

Tata Tree Suite II

Tatamagouche I - Soul Food

I was in Tatamagouche this past weekend as part of a leadership team with Margot Metcalfe and Silver Frith for the Ways of Seeing, Photography for the Artist Within Us program. It was my 3rd time as a facilitator for this event and as always, I had a lot of fun. I also found my voice this year in particular, as both an artist and teacher strengthening. The weekend has left me brimming with both spiritual and creative nourishment.

Fernwood IV : Beach Jewel

One of the things I enjoy doing during beachwalks is collecting sea glass. In fact it's something my family enjoys doing. There are little jars, dishes and vases around the house containing our beach treasures. Clear, green and beer bottle brown are very common around here, blue is rare, so rare in fact that it is a bit of a family competition when it comes to finding it. Other colours red, pink, orange... are even more rare than blue. I found this piece at the beach in Fernwood, the light caught it in the sand and it looked like a jewel, so I picked it up and held it to the sun dancing on the water and made this image.

Fernwood III: Sand Suite

On one of my beachwalks I was drawn to the way light was playing on sand formations. In this series I explored it with a sense of motion.

Lightroom B4 Identity plate in Windows

This video was originally made for a beta version before version 1.0  Since Lightroom is now up version 2.3 This tip is quite outdated. Feel free to explore my blog.  :)  Thanks for visiting.

Pimp my Lightroom

This video was originally made for a beta version before version 1.0  Since Lightroom is now up version 2.3 This tip is quite outdated. Feel free to explore my blog.  :)  Thanks for visiting.

Fernwood II - Great Blue

Here is the next image taken in Fernwood a couple of weekends ago.

The Great Blue Heron would only let me get so close before I was too close. The Confederation Bridge is in the background.

Mediastorm 1976

You have to check this out. It is a blend of photojournalism and music video and is
edu-tainment at is best.

1976 journeys through the ghettos, farmlands and lifestyles of Cuba as scenes build and unfold blurring the distinction between the propaganda and the everyday reality of struggling to survive.

Be sure to check out the other featured works on mediastorm while you are there.

Fernwood, Part One

I spent a couple of days at my folks cottage in Fernwood, PEI to help out with some landscaping (shovelling and raking topsoil over septic field.) and for a little beach walking time.

Over the next couple of posts I will put up an image or two from what I feel was a very productive time creatively speaking. More moments in kairos.


This first image is a self portrait taken during low tide.

CD and DVD Longevity

I read an article in a trade magazine recently regarding the longevity of CD and DVD. Here are some of the recommendations it listed.

CD and DVD Storage Recommendations

Do you know how to properly store their CDs and DVDs? Do you? Following these simple tips can help prolong the life of data burned to these disks.

• Start with high quality media. Fuji CD-R for Photo, Kodak preservation cd/dvd or Delkin Archival Gold are 3 examples.
• When burning a disk, always let the CD or DVD burner verify that the data has been written to disk successfully. The extra few minutes at the time you burn the files will ease a lot of heartache when you try to access files on a disk that had a problem during the writing process, and wasn’t verified.
• Store disks vertically.
• Store disks in a protective case.
• Don’t use labels or tape on the media.
• Don’t write on the media, even with markers that say they’re safe for the purpose. Instead identify disks by writing on the center hub area, and using the paper insert that comes in a jewel case for fully listing what is on each disk.
• Disks should be stored at low temperature, low humidity, and in low light.
• Migrate to new technologies as they emerge.
• Keep redundant archives of important files.


Here is another article of interest.

Through the eyes of Children

I recently came across this site and was moved by the images and also how photography can be used a means of healing and understanding.

Through the Eyes of Children began as a photographic workshop in 2000, conceived by photographer, David Jiranek, and inspired by the founder of the Imbabazi Orphanage, Rosamond Carr - an American woman living in Rwanda for over 50 years. Using disposable cameras, the children originally took pictures for themselves and to share with others, exploring their community, and finding beauty as the country struggles to rebuild.

It also reminds me that though Rwanda is going through a healing process, the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan is at a serious level and the world cannot ignore it like it did during the genocide in Rwanda. Here is a website called Darfur Drawn; the Conflict in Darfur Through Children's Eyes.

Hummmmmmmmmmingbird

We have some beebaum blooming just outside of my home office window and the hummingbirds dart thought it grabbing sips of the nectar. I grabbed my camera and spent a few minutes watching and photographing this speedy little creature through the window.

Non Photography Day

Monday July 17th is nonphotography day a day for us photogs to put our cameras down and to stop and smell the roses, hug our kids and not see the world through a lens. From the website:

It is a day to think about how life exists, in essence and not appearance and to understand the inadequacy of the photograph in describing this essence, to bring awareness of the perils of living through the view finder or the display screen…

Rescued Robin Redux

After tucking Ben in for the night I looked out his window to the back yard and in the fading light I see mama robin feeding and teaching her 2 kids how to catch those yummy worms. Looks like the young one I "rescued" did find save haven until it could fly.


On another note there is another nest in the front yard with a mama snuggled inside keeping some eggs warm.

Robin rescue?

My next door neighbor was at the door yesterday afternoon to let me know that one of the baby robins fell out of the nest, was running around my backyard and was not able to fly. So I went out back and found this little one in the grass. So I took this image and then put the camera down and tried to gently pick it up and return it to the nest. After a running around the back yard like I was trying to catch a greased pig, I was able to gently scoop the baby up and reunite it with its sibling in the nest. I am a robin hero!....

Or not! The robin promptly hopped right back out of the nest and was attempting to fly but just could'nt get off the ground.

After a couple of minutes, it made its way through some bushes and I hav'nt see it since. Hopefully 'lil robin found a safe haven until it can fly.

White House Photo Op

Chicago Tribune Photog Pete Souza posted this real-time White House photo Op in the Oval Office with "dubya" and Aussie PM John Howard. Check out all 27 seconds of it here

Worlds largest pinhole camera

Check out the legacyphotoproject.com and click on the link for the worlds largest camera. Sometime this month a team of photographers are turning a former hanger on a decommisioned base into a giant pinhole camera. Be sure also to look at the galleries of images from the Legacy Project. Since 2002, they have been working on a long-term photographic study of a closed air base that is slated to be turned into a giant urban park in Southern California. PDN online has a story about it here.

mmmm..... worms!

Now that the doves have moved on I thought I would post a photo of mama robin coming in for a landing with a yummy worm for the 2 babies in her nest. Mama landed on the fence and when she saw that the coast was clear, she popped into the nest and the youngsters chowed down.

They grow up so fast...

It rained pretty heavily during the whole weekend and I was a little concerned that the nests might be affected in some way, well it appears that one of the squabs is gone. Did it fall out? Was it a cat's lunch? or was it ready leave home early? I'm not sure. All I know is that when I went to check, only one squab was perched near the nest.

Later on in the day I noticed the squab in the garden following a grownup learning how to find food. After that they roosted for a while on top of the neighbor's shed.

The nest is now empty and the squab born only last week has taken wing.

Dove update

I had a peek at the Dove's nest today and found that there are 2 squabs. They grow rather quickly don't they! Mama or Daddy showed up and fed them some pigeon milk

Cool fact: Mourning Doves feed their nestlings crop milk or "pigeon milk," which is secreted by the crop lining. This is an extremely nutritious food with more protein and fat than is found in either cow or human milk. Crop milk, which is regurgitated by both adults, is the exclusive food of hatchlings for three days, after which it is gradually replaced by a diet of seeds

A couple of minutes later, the parent flew off to find more food.

Nest Surprise

I was out in the backyard this evening and noticed mama robin was out of her nest, being curious, I reached out and stuck my camera over the nest to see how many eggs might be there. When I looked at my screen I was surprised to find they already hatched! Although of the three, one doesn't look like it made it. I moved out of the area and mama returned a minute later.

Squab has arrived.

Yesterday morning I checked on the nests and nothing new to report. After lunch however I checked the Dove's nest and papa was sitting tall and proud with a grey ball of feathers lying in front of him. How do I know it is dad? from my exhaustive Googling I found that the male takes the day shift and mama does the night shift. Want to know more? go here.

Nest updates

Not much new to report. In the backyard, the Dove and the Robin are sitting comfortably in their respective nests keeping those eggs warm, Should be some hatching going on soon! Also it appears there is another nest in the front yard, belonging to a robin as well. It's pretty well hidden so I can't report much on that one. My contributions to the nest building it appears, were completely ignored. I will try a different approach for next year, perhaps something a tad less colourful?

G'mornin' Dove

I mentioned in the last post that a Mourning Dove has taken residence in the trees in the back yard. I took a little walk around the area where I thought the nest was and couldn't see it, I took a couple steps forward and I was face to face with a little pair of black eyeballs looking right back at me. I googled for some info and on their nesting habits and if I am correct, there should be a couple of nestlings, also called squabs hatching later this week. Stay tuned!

Nest Project 1st update

The robins have started gathering nesting materials today and are building in the backyard. Also a Mourning Dove has started building a nest in the back yard but neither has shown any intrest in my contributions thus far. Perhaps they are waiting to build the nest before decorating?

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

Sunday is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, I made a crude pinhole out of the body cap from my digital SLR and played a little. This photo is the best result of my 1st attempt.

Here are couple of other pinhole resources, including the SPAMera! or you could even turn your bedroom into a camera obscura. If want to get really involved, there is software too.

Collaborative art project

Yesterday I cut various strips of fabric and spread them throughout my front and back yard in hope that Robins and other birds might use some of it in building their nests. I plan to observe and photograph them as they gather nesting material and build their nests. I've done my bit, now lets see if the robins want to collaborate...

Lorem Ipsum

Ever wonder what Lorem Ipsum means? is it just gibberish? or does it have a purpose? check out this site to find out all the history of the dummy text used in creating layouts. It even has a generator to make your own!

Amazing Portfolio

Check out Dave Werner's Portfolio a recent design graduate. It is an excellent example of the blurring of Graphic design, illustration, photography, video and interactive web media. Check it out!

Strobist, a must see camera flash resource

The strobist is a relatively new blog that covers the effective use of small camera strobes. Lots of resources covering technique, equipment and D.I.Y. accessories.

Go fly a kite!

Check out this site for some great aerial photos taken from a kite. Photographer Scott Haefner shows his work but also the gear used to acheive his results. Be sure to check out the 360 panoramas.

Lost Films, 20th century archeology

I came across this interesting site where the author obtains old cameras that still had film in them and then develops the film to see what treasures might be found. Check it out, you might find a picture of your great uncle... ya never know.

Moments in Kairos

I recently spoke about moments that I felt closest to God. One of these times for me is during walks at sunrise with my camera along the beaches of PEI National Park, the string of beaches seem endless and at sunrise it is not uncommon to be completely by myself on the beach. By myself, but not alone.

Madeleine L'Engle wrote in her book: Walking on Water, reflections in Faith and Art

Kairos. Real time. God’s time.
That time which breaks through chronos
with a shock of joy, that time we do not recognize while we are experiencing it,
but only afterwards, because kairos has nothing to do with chronological time.
In kairos we are completely unselfconscious, and yet paradoxically far more real
than we can ever be when we’re constantly checking our watches for chronological
time.
The saint in contemplation, lost to self in the mind of God is in
kairos. The artist at work is in kairos. The child at play, totally thrown
outside herself in the game, be it building a sand castle or making a daisy
chain, is in kairos. In kairos we become what we are called to be as human
beings, co-creators with God, touching on the wonder of creation.

Colour Scheme generator

This site has a neat colour scheme generator for making web pages, but also has other uses as well. You pick a colour and it gives you other colours to go with your choice. It gives many options such as contrast, monochromatic,pastel, dark pastel, contrast and pale. It even has a way of viewing them for different types colour blindness.

Repair a scratched CD/DVD

Here is a great tip to repair (at least long enough to copy the data) a scratched CD or DVD. Check the comments section on this link, there are a couple of other good ideas in there too.

Google in space

Google isn't out to dominate the world... it's too confining! check out Google mars and Google Moon . They show surface imagery and mark landing sites and more.

It's the Google maps for space travellers.

Snazzy flash web gallery stuff

Felix Turner at Airtight interactive has a couple of nifty Flash based web galleries one called Simpleviewer and the other Postcard viewer. Both galleries have various ways to plug into imaging software like Picasa, iPhoto and a very quick and cool little app called Porta. The postcard viewier now offers a script that is compatible with Photoshop CS2. Give'm a try!

Too cool! Lego Camera

I know, this is a digital photo blog but if you want to "kick it, old-school" you might as well have fun with Lego as well : Thoughts About Photography: 35mm Lego Camera

Now, I'm off to raid my son's box of lego!

ashes and snow

I came across this website ashes and snow and was blown away by both the images and the presentation. It's the work of Canadian photographer Gregory Colbert. Here is a link to an article about it on the Christian Science Monitor website.

Home Improvement

It's been over a month since my last post, sorry for that, but I have been a busy fellow lately (with lots of help). Our home has been undergoing an "extreme makeover". New flooring, windows, some paint and an air exchanger with HEPA filtration. All this is to make our home much healthier for the whole family. It took much research to find suitable materials due to my multiple chemical sensitivities, but it was worth it, I have had very few issues with most of the improvements so far. The carpets simply had to go, they were so old they caused me no problems in terms of off-gassing but were becoming a big problem with my wife and son who have asthma and allergies. We have gotten a lot done, but there is much more work to go.

This weekend we finally got the living room put back together and we are very pleased with the new look. Through all of this the orchid Nannette received on her 40th birthday last summer has been blooming. I have been wanting to photograph it since she got it but I never really got inspired until tonight when it was placed into it's new environment and the time seemed right to capture it's beauty. Perhaps it's a symbol of our home blossoming into a healthy, happy, habitat.


Orchid Blooms

Tip: Camera Raw setting subsets

I have a 'knockout' tip posted on my buddy Rob's blog using Camera raw subsets. Check it out here :
http://photoshop2.blogspot.com/2006/02/save-settings-subset-in-camera-raw.html also check out some of the other great stuff he has there.

Nifty add-on, reveal in Bridge

Check out this link from the Bridge Developers Blog to download a file (Win and Mac versions) that add a new "Reveal in Bridge" command to Windows Explorer's or Apple Finder's contextual menu. Nifty!
http://blogs.adobe.com/bridge/2006/01/reveal_in_bridg.html

Tip, Customize keyboard shortcuts

Is there a tool or function in Photoshop that you use frequently but doesnt have a keyboard shortcut or one that is hard to remember? In CS and CS2 there is a keyboard shortcut manager. Look under Edit/Keyboard Shortcuts ... you can add, change or remove shortcuts for Application Menus, Palette Menus and Tools.

For instance, the shortcut for Image/Adjustments/Curves is CTRL+M, you can reassign that shortcut to Layer/Adjustment Layer/Curves, so now the shortcut will give you a curve adjustment layer instead. A great timesaver.

If you are not already using adjustment layers for things like Curves, Levels, or Hue/Saturation, I recommend you do. An adjustment layer is non-destructive and you can double-click the adjustment layer and re-adjust your settings, also the opacity settings can be used to fade the affect. The other nice thing about the adjustment layer is that it automatically gives you a layer mask which you can paint in burning and dodging without permanently altering the image. The adjustment layer can be dragged and dropped onto another image requiring the same or similar adjustment. Another great timesaver!

Photo D.I.Y.

Here is a site that has a number of Do-it-yourself projects for photographers ranging from homemade flash diffusers, film scanners and a macro lens from a pringles can. http://www.photocritic.org/ great projects for the Hi-tech redneck.

I'm stumped

Here are a couple of images taken this past weekend at an orchard near my friend Rob's home in Fredericton.


applestump I


applestump II

Familial Ground

The other night, I was in Fredericton for an opening and artist talk at Gallery Connexion of "Familial Ground" by photographer Rafael Goldchain. It is a series of self portraits portraying the artist as his relatives, as he says: "detailed reenactments of ancestral figures, and can be understood as acts of naming linked to mourning and remembrance."

Familial Ground


The work can be viewed here http://zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/goldchain/index.html

or "live" at Gallery Connexion until March 10th http://www.galleryconnexion.ca
if in Frederciton, it's worth checking out.

Retreat in Mahonne Bay

Margot Metcalfe, Silver Frith & I are leading a week long photographic retreat in Mahonne Bay, Nova Scotia, Sept 17-22nd entitled; Perspective & Perception.

Explore your creative 'self' through the lens of a camera in this week long PHOTOGRAPHIC RETREAT. Celebrating life through fine art photography offers us two possibilities. The first is to connect with our creative 'self' in making the image; the second is to explore analytically the created image for the potential that it contains.

More information can be found here:
http://www.mahonnearts.com/metcalfe_photography.html


autumn suite I

The Coolest keyboard I've ever seen!

I never thought I would put a keyboard very high on my wish list, but this thing looks amazing! It's called the Optimus keyboard and it uses OLED technology to make every key a stand-alone display. It can be set up in many different configurations & languages. It also allows application specific key displays including photoshop shortcut keys, and game command keys. The website points to news on Feb 1st.