A new year

Hi all,

The past year has been a great experience for me, and I hope you guys enjoyed the ride (and by you guys, I mean all three of you that read this - Hi Ma!) I've learned a lot about photography and have got a lot of really great positive feedback from you all. So first off, thank you all for your support and comments through the last year.

I've been thinking a lot about what to do next - whether I wanted to do another Project 52, Project 365 (one shot a day), or pack it in entirely. While some weeks resulted in some great shots, many of which adorn my walls (see below), some weeks were more about finding something interesting to photograph so I didn't fall behind. Both have been useful and helped me develop my skills (pun intended); the former from an artistic perspective where I had a chance to actually plan and take a shot, the latter from a more esoteric view, where I had to "see beauty in the boring, normal, little things." Yes, that sounds cheesy. No, I don't care.

So. I'm going to continue taking photographs. If I've learned one thing over the last year, it's that I really love taking pictures and capturing the moment. I'm going to continuing uploading my new shots here on the blog, as well as on the facebook page (link here) and hopefully you guys will stick around to see what I come up with. While this will result in fewer shots, I think they'll be better quality and so the trade off is worth it.

So again, thank you all for your support. It's been a great ride, and I'm glad to have had you guys with me. I'm going to leave you with a selection of my favourite shots in the past year, as well as this quote from Pulp Fiction:

Vincent: "I think we oughta leave now."
Jules: "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Week 1: Taken at my friend Becky and Kyle's wedding, back in December 2009.

From Project 52

Week 6: Fireworks launched from Alexandria Bridge to celebrate Winterlude. This shot was taken from the Museum of Civilization.

From Project 52

Week 8: Adorable little baby Brayden, who decided that me taking photos of him was less interesting than being asleep.

From Project 52

Week 21: One of my favourite shots was a random one taken of the fountain outside the American Embassy in Ottawa. I was walking around with a friend, and this just caught my eye.

From Project 52

Week 30: This shot was taken in Toronto outside a friend's garden.

From Project 52

Week 43: Lemoine Point Conservation Area is a great place for those who just want to get away from everything. One of the highlights of Kingston is being able to drive for 20 minutes in any direction and you'll hit a conservation area. Drive an hour north and you're in a provincial park. I particularly like the water at Lemoine Point, and this was a beautiful day to go for a hike.

From Project 52

Week 52: December 26th, 2010

So this picture was shot and edited on my trusty iPhone. Using the built in iPhone camera and the Photoshop Express app, I tweaked the saturation/contrast levels, and then added the vignetting. It's incredible to think that the iPhone is several times more powerful than the first computer I owned - an ancient Acorn Electron with a tape drive. Yes, tape drive. That isn't a typo.

Anyhow. I wanted to do this entire blog post from my iPhone, but couldn't figure out how to/forgot/got distracted by Angry Birds (mostly the latter) and so this is a *little* late.

I'll have my final post up by the end of the week.

From Project 52

Week 51: December 18th, 2010

Gather round children, I have a story for you.

So the week before Christmas is my birthday. I usually don't do anything - people are either out of town or doing last minute Christmas shopping, and so I always say I'll celebrate in January. The new year starts, we get busy with classes and school, and I end up forgetting about it. The most I'll do is dinner with some friends.

Well, this year a friend of mine took it upon herself to make sure we had cake on my birthday.

The day before, we all were out for dinner for a friend who had successfully passed her PhD thesis proposal (Yay MJ!). After dinner, the waiter walks over carrying a cake, and they all start singing happy birthday (they were all in on the devious plan).

I had no idea it was for me. So I did what anyone would have: I joined in singing happy birthday, thinking it was for someone else.

So I'm belting out happy birthday along with everyone, wondering whose birthday is today and why everyone is looking at me like I'm an idiot. Then the dude puts the cake down in front of me. Then the lightbulb went off.

Yeah. I'm smart like that :)

Thanks again to Mariane for the cake, and to everyone who made my birthday weekend so much fun :)

From Project 52

Week 50: December 12th, 2010

So we're closing in on the end of the year. And, as mentioned in a previous post, that means the combination of schoolwork kicking into high gear as well as Christmas approaching. Well, the Christmas season now starts November 1st (thank you Halloween, the final bastion protecting us from Christmas sales in August), but until Starbucks and Second cup start their Christmas drinks, it really isn't Christmas.

So this shot is of the Candy Cane Hot Chocolate offered by Second Cup. It's a great drink, but the people at Second Cup put a ridiculous amount of whipped cream on top.

For those interested, that drink is 490 calories, 23 g of fat, and 52 g of sugar (about 1.5 times a can of coke). But man oh man does it taste delicious (message to my obesity research peeps: don't judge me).

From Project 52

Week 49: Sunday, December 4th, 2010

So I uploaded this photo a few days ago to Picasa, thinking that I'd write the blog post later, and then I forgot about it when I got buried in work. On the plus side, my stats assignments are done! Wahay!

So this pic is of my guitar I've had since I was ... 14? I've had it for a while, but having one for a long time doesn't make you any good unfortunately. I used to play back in the day, but that fell by the wayside once I started undergrad and grad school.

From Project 52

Week 48: Sunday, November 28th, 2010

So I'm a little behind on blogging at the moment. End of semester madness this year is two presentations, 5 stats assignments and a writeup for my seminar course all due next week (and a paaaatridge in a pear tree...). As a result, I haven't had much time for photography and blogging. However, I am hoping to have this weeks' pic up by tomorrow night.

I enjoy cooking, and this week's shot is from dinner the other night - six bell peppers thrown into a stir fry.

Technical deets: ISO640, 1/30 s, f/4.5 @ 30mm

From Project 52

Week 47: Sunday, November 21st, 2010

This weeks shot was taken at the Montreal Metro. I love the Metro - reminds me a lot of the Tube in London and how awesome a system it is for moving people around. My hometown of Ottawa has had plans to build one for a while (and they did! It goes from South Keys to Bayview! Which helps ... students of Carleton U who live in South Keys?) Hopefully the new Mayor manages to get the project started. While there are many benefits of a good public transport system, I'll let more knowledgeable people than me talk about those (fellow student and friend of the blog Travis has a great post up here, while fellow Epidemiologist Megan makes a great point here). Personally, I just enjoy riding the train :)

From Project 52

Week 46: Sunday, November 14th, 2010

Alright. Last post for the night. Most of you who know me know I have a ridiculous sweet tooth. So November 1st is like Christmas for me, as that is the day when all the Halloween candy goes 60% off, and you can pick up a 50 pack of Smarties for peanuts.

As the t-shirt says: I have candy.

From Project 52

Week 45: Sunday, November 7th, 2010

So this shot was up on Facebook a few weeks ago, but I figured I'd put it up here too. I was working in my office one day, and my iPhone died. But I wanted to listen to music. So I plugged it in, but then I couldn't see what I was listening to. So I fabricated an iPhone/iPod stand out of binder clips and elastic bands to support my iPhone so I can see what I'm listening to while I charge it. For those who want to replicate it, you can use this guide.

From Project 52

Week 44: Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Hi everyone,

So I've been MIA lately (a term apparently I've been using with alarming regularity - thanks SN). So tonight I'm going to try and get myself back up to speed - I've been taking pictures, just haven't had a chance to get them up here.

So the first of three posts. This one was taken from Fort Henry, overlooking the Royal Military College in Kingston, the only Military College in Canada (I believe - army dudes can correct me if I'm wrong on this one). I like the reflection of the RMC in the water here, and really liked the lighting in this shot.

Technical deets: Canon XSi, ISO 1600, 1/10s, 50mm, f/1.8

From Project 52

Week 43: Sunday, October 24th, 2010

So last week the weather was absolutely beautiful here (a stark contrast to this weekend, where is has been miserable all day today). To try and capture the fall colors, I went out to Lemoine Point, a conservation area just east of Kingston.

So this week's shot is of an Inuksuk, a stone sculpture usually built by people who live in the north of Canada and across the Arctic circle. My non-Canadian readers might recognize this as the logo from the Vancouver Olympics. For more about them, check out the Wikipedia entry here. Following the Olympics, they've really exploded in popularity, and just behind this one to the right, there are three more people had made there.

I took a ton of pictures on my hike, and you can check them all out in the Lemoine Point album on my Picasa page.

From Project 52

Week 42: Sunday, October 17th, 2010

This week's shot is from the Sleepless Goat. The Goat is a workers co-op based in Kingston that is a staple for almost all the grad students here, and provides a welcome change from Starbucks and other major coffee chains. They have a number of interesting menu items, including vegan options, and some of the most delicious desserts I've ever had (with the exception of Oh So Good in Ottawa). They also have a great selection of teas for those who don't like coffee.

Anyhow. The Goat has a great vibe to it, and a lot of funny little things that make it worth going back to. This picture is from their display of cinnamon buns on Saturday night.

Disclaimer: I am not being reimbursed from the Goat for this endorsement. But if someone were to give me a free cookie next time I'm there, that'd be cool.

From Project 52

Week 41: Monday, October 11th, 2010

So this week's post is from our family Thanksgiving dinner. Rather than have a whole turkey, we decided to go with salmon instead.

So I made BBQ'd lemon and herb salmon, together with tandoori salmon, as well as making fries and a Mexican four bean salad as sides. So I mixed European, Spanish and Indian cuisine together into one awesome meal. I'm like Martha Stewart without the jail time. Or Jamie Oliver without the accent. Or, as strong an accent.

Anyhow. The tandoori salmon won hands down as Most Delicious Meal of the evening. And here is a picture of it (taken using my iPhone).

From Project 52

Week 40: Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

So this week's post is another sunset one (previous sunset post was in Week 22). We've had some crazy weather lately, and one of the side effects is some beautiful sunsets ... when we're not being drenched with a freak torrential downpour.

This shot was taken on the way to dinner with a friend of mine. They say the best camera is the one you have with you, and this was taken with my iPhone 4 with HDR on (which basically means it takes three shots and merges them so you don't end up with really dark patches in your photos).

Anyhow. Hope you like it! :)

From Project 52

Week 39: Sushi!

So I didn't actually have sushi this week. I was out and saw this little guy at a store we were at. He just seemed so happy!

From Project 52

Week 38: Sunday, September 19th, 2010

So the second post for today. I went for a walk around Kingston, and ended up having iced tea with some friends downtown. I really liked the colors in this shot - although I can't say I recommend the cranberry apple iced tea from the Tea Room.

From Project 52

Week 37: Sunday, September 19th, 2010

So a double post today. I love to cook, and potlucks give me a great chance to experiment with new dishes on unsuspecting groups of people ... I mean ... um ... create delicious dishes that I have made several times before and know how they're going to turn out! :)

I digress. So this week's shot was a Mexican bean salad I made for a potluck. The main ingredients are black beans, red kidney beans and white kidney beans, as well as bell peppers, sweetcorn and red onions. The real kicker is the dressing though - so delicious!! For those interested in recreating it, you can find the recipe here

Just fyi - I substituted Tabasco for hot pepper sauce, and regular vinegar for red wine vinegar. I also added in some garam masala for kicks.

From Project 52

Week 37: Upcoming!

So the good news is that I have a shot done for this week. The bad news is that I don't have internet at home, and my new work computer is locked down so I can't upload from here either. Hopefully I'll have internet by Friday, so there'll be two new shots up this week! (Weeks 37 and 38!)

Week 36: Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Another candle shot, similar to Weeks 31 and 10.

From Project 52

Week 35: Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

So I'm currently in between places - I'm moving to Kingston to start my PhD this September, so I'm splitting my time between Ottawa and there while I move down all my stuff.

This week's shot is pretty self-explanatory and will be familiar to anyone who has ever moved in a small car. I don't know how my parents do it, but every time I think I've filled up my car to capacity, they manage to fit in a bookshelf, or a chair, or a suitcase, or they move something and out pops an elephant wearing a top hat. It's nothing short of a miracle.

From Project 52