A Walk Down Memory Lane

Admittedly I have been doing a lot of video lately, both paid and practice, so my personal photography has taken a bit of back seat. I find it a little hard to do both at the same time, unless of course it’s a paid gig. The thing with video is that it’s a completely different way of thinking, at least for me. Well, I finally got outside and walked around, with no goal other than to photograph whatever caught my eye.

My camera of choice was my beloved Canon EOS R. Man, what a fantastic camera. I do not understand the initial hate that camera got. Especially for my professional work, the ability to quickly switch from photos to videos has been priceless. For this walk, I paired it with my favourite Canon lens, the 50mm 1.2. I am sucker for almost always shooting wide open so you can guess what aperture I’m using 90 percent of the time. That, and it renders beautifully. I can only imagine what the RF mount version looks like. But I digress.

Up until this past spring I worked around my Mazda dealership and used to always go for walks around the area on my lunch break. Seeing as how I have been fully home-based for the past 4 months, it had been a while since I did my route. So, after dropping off my car for a check up, I went off exploring. The first stop was the garden area right beside the police station. I had driven past it various times over the last few weeks and noticed how tall all the plants were so it was the perfect opportunity to go there and see how it looks.

It would have been nice to have a macro lens but I still managed to get some nice flower photos and other interesting shots as well. The grass was wet so my feet were kind of water logged after a while but it was worth it. From there I started to make my way through Lakehead University. Instead of the paved path I took the side dirt trail that runs along the river. I brought my ND filter with me just in case and I’m super happy I did as I got a couple long exposure photos of the stream.

Since I didn’t want to carry my coffee with me when I left the house, I made my way to the Starbucks in the University and treated myself to a flat white. Super tasty. I soon got the phone call that the car was ready, so I made my way back and that was that. It felt really good to be out walking again. I truly do find it therapeutic.

Off the beaten path with the Ricoh GRII

What can I say about the Ricoh GR II. It’s a beast of a camera. It may sit in the shelf for periods of time here and there, but every single time I start shooting with it again it is probably the most fun I have out all my cameras. That includes the infamous Fuji X100F and my newly acquired Nikon DF.

I’m always amazed at the sharpness and tonality that comes out of this small camera. For one of my walks around work recently I decided to pack the Ricoh. To be honest, my favourite focal length is probably 35mm, so shooting at 28mm forces me to see differently, but I’m always up for the challenge.

There aren’t of people out in the area I walk on my lunch break so I settle for still life, which is actually my favourite type of photography. The macro mode of the GRII is extremely fun to use, and I use it often. Getting in close to objects is something I do a lot of.

All the photos here were processed in Lightroom. Thanks for viewing!

Walking the East End with the Fuji XE-1 + 16mm 1.4

It was starting to get late last night when I got the urge to just get out and walk around and take some photos. Although it may not be generally known as the nicest part of town, I'm usually drawn to the East Side when taking photos. I guess I just love the atmosphere. The rain was slowly creeping in but luckily it held off long enough for me to really put the Fuji 16mm lens to the test. My camera of choice was a simple one, since it is currently the only once I can mount the lens to, the Fuji XE-1. For a while I was trying to sell it but I figured I would give pull it out of hibernation and start using it again. It may not be the fastest camera but over the past week of using it, it has taken some of my favourite photos of the year. 

So I set off into the East End with that combo and wandered around aimlessly, like I usually do. The first stop was the East End bridge to get a few expansive shots of the neighbourhood. The 16mm is probably becoming one of my favourite lenses, not only for landscapes, but just for general use. It is sharp all the way through, focuses extremely fast (even on the XE-1) and produces great tones. With a lens this wide, it's hard not to play with the angles a bit as you can see from the first image. 

After walking in and out of some of the streets I decided to drive on over to the long path that overlooks the Sleeping Giant. With the clouds rolling in and a hint of the sunset it made for some nice dramatic photos. All in all it was a fun walk around. It goes to show you that even if it is raining out, there are always opportunities to just get out there and create some good photos. Of course, make sure your camera is waterproof.

(The last image is of our dog Willow. I couldn't help but take a photo of her all curled up outside in the rain when I got home... such a hard life.)

All images shot with the XE-1 and 16mm 1.4. Enjoy!