Chippewa Park with the Canon EOS R

I woke up this morning, looked out the window, and saw fog. Lots and lots of fog. I then proceeded to get dressed and washed up as fast as I could and catch it before it went away. I really wish I got up earlier but what can you do. As a photographer, I don’t think I’m alone in saying that foggy weather is among the best types of days to get out and explore. So I grabbed my somewhat new Canon EOS R and 85mm 1.8 along with a little Manfrotto tripod and nifty 50 lens and set off for the day.

I have actually been meaning to do a review of the Canon R but I just haven’t had time to do so. I already have at least 5 or 6 blog posts in queue prior to today, so hopefully I can catch up on those soon. Regardless, I’ll just say that it is such an extremely fun camera to use. Not just for personal photography like you see here, but also professional work which I will be sharing in the coming weeks.

The challenge with foggy days is actually deciding where to go, and rather quickly. Fog can go away at any moment so I didn’t know how much time I had. My first destination was obviously Starbucks to get some nourishment and coffee. Then it was off to Kam Park, which will follow this post. The second stop was Chippewa Park. I was just going there to see how the lake looked and maybe walk out to the boardwalk and some of the trails. I was so happy to see that all the rides were set up, although not functioning yet. That included the merry go round which is still looking for community support to keep going.

I spent about 20 minutes just walking around the very small amusement park capturing some of the details . The Canon R and it’s lovely flipout screen are just so perfect to use. I was able to get angles that I just simply couldn’t get before. My Nikon D750 has one, but it’s a bit slow and only goes up and down. Luckily, it was still extremely foggy there so the lighting was absolutely perfect.

For the entire day I actually used the 85mm lens which is one of my all time favourites. It’s relatively compact and beautifully separates the background. Unless doing landscapes, I’m always between 1.8 and 2.2 aperture. Once I was done in the amusement park, I headed down towards the lake and along the trail that goes out to the lookout point. At the end of the path there are a bunch of rocks which I have walked out onto many times. Well, today, I slipped and fell through two rocks and banged up my shin. It all happened an instant and what amazed me was that I held my camera high up above me and only managed to slightly bang it on the rock. I was embarrassed that I fell but proud that I managed to save the camera!

As I stumbled back down the path in quite a bit of pain I continued to take photos as the pain slightly went away. If anyone was listening to me they would have laughed. In between swear words and audible grunts, I was still commenting on compositions as I photographed.

As I saw the fog dissipating, I made my way towards the cabins and managed to capture a few more photos. It was such a fun and spontaneous day and I’m glad I was able to take some photos in my favourite type of weather. Thanks for stopping by!

To the Marina and Beyond

I managed to actually get out yesterday morning and take some photos for myself. It had been a long time since I have had the chance to do so and it felt really good. My camera of choice was actually the Nikon D700. It's a camera I purchased recently as a backup and one that I owned before. It's an 'older' camera and has long since been replaced but to be honest, it is still one of my favourite cameras to date, which is why I ended up buying it again for photography.

My first destination was the Marina. I wasn't sure how much longer all the boats would be docked down there so I wanted to make sure I got some shots while they are all still there. There was hardly anyone walking around in the morning, even though it was relatively nice out. So, there weren't too many opportunities for people shots. Instead I focused more on scenes and a bit of randomness. 

I wasn't really looking anything in specific to capture, just whatever caught me eye. Perhaps I should try choosing a theme or a subject one of these days for a further challenge, but the point of this particular walk was to just get out finally and see what I could find. 

Even though the D700 isn't the lightest camera, I still find it out comfortable to hold and I'm still amazed at the colours and tones it produces, even though it's only 12 megapixels. Thanks for viewing!

Algoma Street Walk

It was one of those days that I just didn't want to sit behind my computer and stare at a screen, so I figured I would get and enjoy some of the nice weather, and take some photos in the process. This time around, I took my Nikon D750 paired with the 35mm 1.8. I always go on about the tones and colours that come out of my Fuji cameras, but the Nikon is right there as well, and if anything, the colours are just as good. For the longest time I would always just carry around the 50mm lens but I think the 35mm on the Nikon is my new favourite. It's a nice balance and it has amazing close focusing abilities. I'm able to blur out the background easily and the bokeh produced is actually quite pleasing.

So, now that I chose my camera and lens I had to decide where to go. I almost convinced myself to head over to East End but I decided to just stick in the area and wander the back lanes and roads. As I have mentioned in many previous posts, I am always on the lookout for old and worn in objects. For some reason, when I walk around, I am drawn that subject matter. I am so used to photographing beautiful things, like weddings and portraits, that I need to balance that out. :)

I mainly stuck to a 10 block radius and just wandered around aimlessly. If I so something in the distance, I just walked towards it, and that led me into a different direction. I always make sure to look for different angles, or things to shoot through too. Whether it's textures, colours or just over all composition, I'm always trying to 'create' a photo each time I press the shutter. 

Thanks again for viewing!