West Coast Wimp

I am a self-proclaimed, adapted, West Coast Wimp. When I first moved to the coast I would "wow" my friends with tales of 6 foot-high snow banks, downhill skiing in -35 degree celsius weather, walking to school (uphill both ways, of course) while my eyelashes frosted together and a frozen snot mustache grew on my upper lip.
Well now - how the mighty have fallen! I went back to my Rocky Mountain hometown for a visit last weekend and I am appalled that there is still several feet of snow on the ground in some places, and that it was actually snowing on the first day of spring!
"Why the heck is it still winter here??"
Of course, my friends and family who live there simply laughed at me and replied "You have been away too long... this IS spring!"
*Le sigh* and a grand realization - I am officially a West Coast Wimp.
You guys be the judge... is this not ludicrous for mid-March?
All photos taken with my Pentax K1000

As a comparison, here is a photo I took yesterday (just 1 day after my trip to the Kootneys) with my Digital Canon EOS Rebel XS here on the mild West Coast.
Je t'adore Vancouver.

WAW #4 - Detail

This week's Weekly Assignment Wednesday was to take a photo of "detail". It is probably a good thing that I was away for a good chunk of this week and didn't have the digital camera with me because up-close, detailed photos are my favourite kind to take... I would have ended up with 100's to choose from!
I think my fondness for close-ups is partially due to the fact that when I got into photography, I was using my Olympus PenF film camera which only has a 38mm lens on it (no zoom). I got used to getting in really close to capture interesting photos - it is really tough to get an interesting distant shot on it. Of course once I started using my Pentax K1000 which has a 45-125mm zoom lens on it, I had to completely reevaluate how I took photos. As a side note, I played a little with Jeffrey's Pentax lens yesterday which is a 28-80mm lens with a macro zoom function. I really liked it and I think between our 2 Pentax lenses, we have a wide range of possibilities.
The digital Canon Rebel XS has a 18-55mm zoom lens on it, and of course, being digital, it also has all sorts of gadgets and settings to help get a good close-up shot. I am finding that since I learned how to use the manual zoom on this camera, I like it a whole lot more!

Next week's assignment: Self Portrait (hmmm... shouldn't be too hard. Just need to find a way to make it interesting/unique).

WAW #3 - Storyboard

The third Weekly Assignment Wednesday was to create a story board that tells a story (with a beginning, middle and end) in 3 frames. I cheated and used 4... I just needed that one extra frame. Thank you to my wonderful friend Mandy for indulging me and allowing me to capture my true "Sunday Coffee" story.
Photos taken with my Canon EOS Rebel XS, story board created using photofiltre software.

Next week's assignment - Detail

WAW #2 - 10 minutes from home

Our Weekly Assignment this week was to walk, bike or drive 10 minutes from our home and take a photo (or two)... not 9 minutes, not 11 minutes, but 10 minutes.
I live in a gorgeous neighborhood and therefore the majority of the pictures that I take are within 10 minutes of my house. Jeffrey & I are always out on photo adventures snapping shots in our 'hood. So, last Sunday, when we decided to ride our bikes over to the east side to meet up with some friends for brunch, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to complete our assignment. On bikes we would be further from home than by foot, so we would be out of our comfort zone, and it would make things a bit more challenging.
Well, if it was a challenge we wanted... it was a challenge we got!! When the alarm on my phone went, we were on possibly the ugliest corner in all of Vancouver. And no, it wasn't Main & Hastings... there are tons of interesting things to take photos of there! This corner was nothing but boring, ugly condos and construction on the outside of VCC... not even any interesting urban decay, or nature, or graffiti... just blahs-ville!
So, this is what I ended up with...

All photos for Weekly Assignment Wednesdays are taken with my EOS digital Canon Rebel XS (to help me become a better photographer and be versatile in my medium)

Weekly Assignment Wednesdays - Still Life

My colleague and good friend Michelle recently received a new d-SLR as a gift. In order to learn more and become a better photographer, she has taken on the challenge of a new photography assignment every Wednesday. She has invited a few of us along for the ride - invitations to the flickr group are still open if any of you are interested. 
So every Wednesday (or as I finish my assignment) I will post my best attempts at getting better at digital photography. (Though it should be noted that I miss my film already)


Weekly assignment #1 - Still life
Much harder than it seems and motivation in and of itself to invest in a swivel flash that gives a more flattering and natural light. I am not 100% happy with all of these as I think the lighting is a bit cold... I have heard that a swivel flash can help to fix this. Though I think I am also just so used to film with it's natural warm glow.
Next week's assignment "10 minutes from home"!
All photos taken with my digital Canon Rebel XS.

My new d-SLR

Wait! What?? Did she say d-SLR, as in digital SLR?! *Gasp!* But I thought she was a film lover! This blog is supposed to be about Old Technologies! Has she gone to the dark side forever?

No, no, no.. fret not my film loving friends, I still adore my film cameras and plan to continue my love affair with them. But I have always wanted a good digital camera for all that practical stuff, like family dinners, Christmas morning with my little nieces, birthday parties with my friends. The kind of stuff that I don't want to miss out on because I am too busy fussing with shutter speed and aperture settings. When I want to capture a moment in a picture, but I don't want to let the moment slip by without enjoying it in the present. This is what I love about a digital. My new digital is a Canon Rebel XS that has a ton of choices in terms of settings in that it can be fully manual or fully automatic so it is extremely versatile for whatever I need. For just an anytime quick shot or a more complex artistic shot. (Thanks Mom & Dad for the birthday present!)

An added bonus to my new digital camera is the increased learning curve about general photography stuff (like depth of field, aperture, etc.) because I have instant feedback and can compare pictures with different settings immediately. As a beginner photographer, this has been wonderful for learning quickly.

So I will mostly stick to film photos being posted here, but may include some digitals if I get any really great shots. I find in general, very little is gained from exclusivity... so why not apply this rule to my blog as well?

Looks like I am going to need a bigger bag for all my cameras this holiday!!

My first experimental shots from the Vancouver Christmas Market this past weekend.