Lazy Sunday Afternoon, originally uploaded by jezza323.
This is what happens on a lazy Sunday afternoon, with nothing to do. Watching Breaking Bad and playing with the camera!
This was taken with the Sigma 30mm f1.4 using an aperture of f2.0. A simple conversion to black & white in Lightroom was all that was required.
Excuse the socks, it was a bit chilly in my apartment.
Spiderman in Sneakers, originally uploaded by jezza323.
A nice little night street festival on Yonge St in the Fall is Nuit Blanche. I loaded up with the Sigma 30mm f1.4 (for the dark) and went walking.
This guy was prancing around in lycra down at Yonge-Dundas Square so I had to catch him in action. It was very busy! And quite chilly, first cool night of the season really (it warmed up again after that night though). You can see all the people down the street in this shot.
Nuit Blanche, originally uploaded by jezza323.
Summer time in Toronto is also time for The EX. The EX is the annual exhibition, filled with rides, games, shows, and truely horrible (but tasty) foods.
Some of the food highlights include deep fried Mars Bars, deep fried Cola, deep fried butter and a Krispy Kreme Bacon Burger (Krispy Kremes for buns). I wanted to try out the deep fried Cola but couldnt find it, same went for the Krispy Kreme burger, although I doubt I would have been able to bring myself to order it anyway! I did try some deep fried Mars Bar though, was good!
Ferris Wheel, originally uploaded by jezza323.
Got It
I finally managed to get myself down to the nearby subway and get some photos of the remaining wall paintings there. I also had a little venture up an alley way nearby and got some graffiti shots as well. The angle on the Wolf annoys me a little, but it at least shows how striking the painting is. That light pole is very frustrating!
This post is very picture heavy, but worth it to see some of the great art on display in the area. I was armed with my usual gear for an outing on the bike, the K200D and Sigma 30mm f1.4. I had to bump the contrast quite a lot on these shots to get the colours to really pop.
Down the Alley
Down beside a construction site is an alley giving access to the rear of some of the shops which line Bloor St West. I only went to the first building in and took some photos of the great graf art. I will explore further down the alley in the future though.
Buick Electra 225 – Front, originally uploaded by jezza323.
Lesuirely Ride
Yesterday morning I decided to go for a leisurely bicycle ride around the neighbourhood. On the way I stopped off and took some more photos of the street art behind the shops along Bloor St West (pictures to come!). After that I went to visit a Yard Sale. There was a huge amount of dark room equipment for sale, but unfortunately I am lacking storage space just at the moment. Perhaps another time.
Nice Car!
On my way home from the Yard Sale I happened to pass this great old Buick. I made a quick stop and took a few photos of it. I took a couple from the front at different apertures, and a couple from the back with different orientations. Choosing the best shot from the front was easy! However I could not decide which of the photos from the rear I preferred. As I was writing this post I finally chose the portrait orientation shot. You can see the other option here on flickr.
Buick Electra 225 – Back Portrait, originally uploaded by jezza323.
Shot and Processing
I was carrying my Pentax K200D with the Sigma 30mm f1.4 mounted whilst riding. All 3 shots are single exposures, with little processing in Lightroom 3. Just a bump in contrast, fill light and a slight crop for each (straighten for the rear, and centering for the front). I would have liked to get the Buick badge on the front a little more in focus, perhaps a smaller aperture would have got it just right, but I think its good enough that it still works.
Quick Stop
Here is a shot I took this morning on my way to work. Just a quick one I had to get because it made me giggle a little (yes I giggle…)
Patience or not
Obviously someone had some fun with this fire hydrant. I made sure to shoot with a large (wide) aperture for this shot to isolate the subject from the background. I used my Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens @ f2.0 to give a fairly narrow Depth of Field but keep the subject in focus. The road behind was quite busy, so I waited for a break in traffic and snapped a couple of shots off.
Post Processing
For post processing I used Lightroom to straighten it up a little bit (I am going to blame the slope I was standing on) and bump the contrast a little bit to help the colours and subject pop.
High Park Graffitti, originally uploaded by jezza323.
Here is some great street art (and some tags) on a wall at the local subway station’s carpark. There are a whole series of Canadian animals painted on the wall, including a wolf, blue jay, snowy owl and this great bear. I have been meaning to take some photos of the animals for a while, but had not managed to get myself down there. You are able to see the art from the train just before you come into the station. Last weekend I finally got my bike ready to ride, and got on it!
I loaded up my great Crumpler bag with my Pentax K200D and my Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens, and rode down to the carpark. Once there I was disappointed to find a light pole positioned right in the middle of the wolf painting, and some cars parked in the way of others. I will definitely return to photograph those.
My Bicycle, originally uploaded by jezza323.
An Old Raleigh
This is the bike I bought through Craigslist not long after I arrived in Toronto. It is an old Raleigh Grand Prix, with 27″ wheels and very cool original pale blue paint. I went for a ride around last weekend and took plenty of shots. I decided to get some shots of the bike while I had it with me.
Finding Interest
This shot was a little over exposed and not very interesting off the camera. Some playing around in Lightroom with a fairly heavy crop, some use of the Old Polar preset and a bit of a vignette produced this image, certainly worth posting.
The final shot which I will blog from my Saturday morning walk in downtown. I was finished up, so I headed down to the subway to go home.
Packing Up
As I sat there removing the Tair-11a from my Pentax K200D body, and the tricky M42 adapter ring, I noticed this man reading quietly next to me. Looking down the platform I decided it would be worth getting a shot of the train pulling into the station.
Preparation
I popped the Sigma 30mm lens on, dialed in a slowish, but not too slow exposure and waited for the train to arrive. Fortunately my subject remained seated and reading until the train came to a complete stop, so I was able to get the shot I was looking for. I actually fired off 4 quick shots (I often do this if shooting a slower shutter speed, as 1 of them is bound to be sharp enough). It is a kind of cliche shot but I enjoy it.
Processing
All editing was done in Lightroom. I cropped the image to a 16:9 ratio (I do enjoy 16:9), adjusted the levels a tiny bit, made it black and white, then increased the contrast quite heavily.
