Night Photography in Port Arthur - Canon EOS R

I have been wanting to get out at night to take some street photos for quite some time. Finally, I got the chance to do so, and it was with my wife Anne, which made it 10x better. With rain forecast for later in the evening we headed to downtown Port Arthur and started our walk. The camera and lens I brought with me was my awesome Canon EOS R paired with the 35mm F2. I contemplated bringing the 50mm 1.2 but opted for the stabilized 35mm. I think it ended up being a good choice.

It was great having Anne come along with me, obviously because I love the company. But also, because I had a model! I didn’t know how many keepers I would come away with but it ended up being a fairly successful 45 minute adventure. By far, my favourite photo of the the walk was in the parkade. On one level, there were no cars and extremely dramatic lighting. I got Anne to look up and exposed for the light and I knew it was going to be epic even before reviewing the image.

We eventually left the parkade and continued walking around the downtown area. The EOS R performed great and I’m glad I brought the 35mm lens. I use the 50 the most and it was good switching it up a bit.

Once we were done our walk we headed to the local grocery store to get a few things. I, of course, documented that as well. Surprisingly, I came away with some good shots there too. Then again, I have shot a lot of photos of Anne in grocery stores over the years so ….

I’m already looking forward to our next walk at night. I think we might venture down to Fort William.

Everyday Happenings + Sony a6300

The more I shoot with the Sony a6300 the more I enjoy it, a lot. I only have two lenses (not including the horrible kit lens which has been collecting dust for a year now) - the Sigma 16mm 1.4 and Sony 35mm 1.8. They both have completely different characteristics but are equally enjoyable to shoot with. As I mentioned in my a previous post, wide angles are not my first choice but the Sigma lens is just special. I almost always get in close to my subjects and rarely have the aperture set above 2.0, at least for my personal stuff. The same goes for the Sony lens. That’s not to say that I don’t know how to use other apertures, especially for my professional work, but I tend to go more abstract for my personal stuff, unless I’m doing straight up street photography.

I am very much tempted to buy the Sigma 56mm 1.4 but I’m holding off some how. Seeing as how I have all primes for my full frame Nikons, it’s hard to justify the purchase. We will see. It’s just such a compact package. For the photos below, the first bunch up to the coffee cup were shot with the 35mm and the rest with the 16mm. I always process the RAW files in Lightroom. Sometimes if I am on the go I download from Lightroom on my phone and slightly tweak in the VSCO app on iOS. To be honest, I don’t really do much with the files other then give them a very minor film feel.

I find the white balance and exposure (I mainly shoot in aperture priority) are almost always spot on. I’d even go as far as saying it’s more consistent than my Fuji X100F, which is also immensely fun to shoot with. But nothing beats an extremely compact system with great primes. Nothing against my Nikons, specifically my Df, which is my all time favourite camera, and one that I still carry around with me for personal photography.

Sorry for the rambling post, I just wanted to share some recent photos. Hell, I’m not even sure if anyone reads these posts! If anything, it’s a visual diary for myself. Right? (…crickets…)

Silver Creek Cliff

Anne and I decided to go see Arcade Fire perform in St. Paul, Minnesota this past weekend. The concert was their best yet that I have been to, and I almost want to see them again in another city. In any case, each time we do the drive to Duluth or Minneapolis, I always want to stop along the way to take photos at various spots. The problem is that we are always pressed for time and either want to get to where we are going, or on the way home, get back before it gets dark.

Well, this time around, we had plenty of time on the way home so we decided to make at least one stop at a location I always wanted to explore. That location was Silver Creek Cliff. Anyone who has been to Duluth and back should instantly know the tunnel, and area I am talking about. Each time I have driven by in the past, I have seen the path on the side of the cliff. It was fantastic to actually finally do it. 

Another bonus was that the weather was absolutely perfect, at least in my mind. It was gloomy and grey. I guess I'm just a sucker for overcast and even lighting. I think it makes for great moody photos. I brought my Fuji XPro2 with me, paired with the original lens I bought when I first entered the Fuji system, the 35mm 1.4. I have bought and sold various Fuji lenses over the years and this one lens, I have kept throughout. There is just something about it. 

We parked the car in the lot, dressed up warm and headed off along the trail. The view even from the trail was beautiful, as you could see the wide expanse that is Lake Superior. Also, because of the weather, it had an almost painterly feeling to it. Along with some landscape shots, I got my wife Anne to pose for a few photos too. She's so photogenic that I could have easily spent an hour there photographing her. 

In the end we just did about a 10 minute walk up and down the trail. It was neat seeing the cliff up close and I always find it amazing how they were able to build right through it. 

Before we got back in to the car, I made Anne (safely) stand in the middle of the highway as I captured one final photo of the tunnel in the background. It was one of my favourites of the bunch. 

I also included a few photos at the end of the batch, one from our brief stop in Grand Marais of the lighthouse, and another of the lookout just before the border. Thanks for viewing!

An October Escape to Mine Centre

To be honest, I didn't really know what to call this post. Technically, Anne and I travelled to Mine Centre at the beginning of October because I had a wedding to photograph. But, seeing as how we were driving that far, we decided to make it a bit of a vacation as well, even though I had to work. I will be following this post up with another one in the next day or so showcasing all the wonderful images from Alexa and Shawn's wedding. In the meantime, I figured I would put up a few of the random photos of our adventures in between working.

On the way to Mine Centre, which is about 40 minutes outside of Fort Frances we only stopped once and that was at a rest stop. It was a quick break where we used the not too smelly washrooms and I inhaled a sandwich Anne made for me. 

Our next stop was where the wedding eventually took place and where Alexa and Shawn lived, Mine Centre. I don't think I actually told Alexa this but upon turning off the highway we drove right past the first road that led to their house. About 8 minutes later as we made our way down a progressively sketchier dirt road we realized we had gone to far. In the end, we found it ok. 

We were quickly greeted by Shawn's family and his mom drove with us to our cabin which was about 5 minutes away just off the highway. As soon as we saw it, we were both amazed at how beautiful it was. It was so nice out, so after we settled in, we hung out on the dock for a little bit, and then relaxed inside the cabin. 

It was then time to head out to Fort Frances for the the pre wedding dinner. While we were making our way to the venue we ran into some crazy fog. Luckily I had my camera with me so we drove further down the road and got some amazing photos in the fog, which changed on a dime. We moved pretty quick though and managed to even get some 'creepy' photos with Anne and her hair. 

I'll discuss all the details from the wedding day itself in my next post, but the next chance I got to take some personal photos was on the way home. I had noticed that there were a few areas on the highway just before Mine Centre that had some bare trees among the fall colours. I thought it would make a good photo so I made sure to stop on the highway and quickly snap a few.

And that was pretty much it. We drove home after that and still made it back in the early afternoon and proceeded to have a very busy day of even more photos.

I can't wait to post all the photos from the wedding!

Kakabeka Falls on a Warm Winter Day

Anne and I had been looking forward to today pretty all week because the weather was supposed to be very nice. Well, today came, and it was just as expected. So, after a nice big breakfast and some fresh air on the deck we headed off to Kakabeka Falls for a long overdue walk. Once we arrived, Anne made sure she was dressed appropriately and I made sure my camera was ready to go. I decided to go with the very light and portable combo of the X-T1 and 35mm. It ended up being the perfect choice.

It was quite snowy out there but luckily the paths, for the most part, were walkable. After crossing the bride and checking out the views from the other side of the Falls, we headed into the trail that runs through the forest. There was a bit more snow in there but it was nothing we couldn't handle. Actually, it was quite beautiful and peaceful. 

Of course, along the way, I got Anne to pose for me and I got some great photos of here. Then again, she is very photogenic so it doesn't take much. I was also able to get some good photos of the Falls from the lookouts along the way. 

Near the end of our walk I actually tried a few in camera double exposures. One of them turned out to be pretty interesting so I included it in these photos. We ended our little excursion to Kakabeka with a quick bite to eat the local lunch spot, The Metropolitan Moose. If you haven't been, they have really good food there, especially the sandwiches and quesadillas. 

Before we knew it, out bellies were full and we were driving home. Having such a beautiful day like today really made us miss spring and summer but hopefully they aren't too far around the corner. In the meantime, we will just have to wait for the nice day here and there to get out there and explore. 

Trip to Duluth

My birthday was in September but since my wife's cousin Cora and her husband Jay couldn't make it then, they decided to buy some some tickets to an MMA event in Duluth. So, this past weekend we made a weekend trip out of it. As always we stayed at Black Bear Casino which is about 10 minutes outside of Duluth. This is where the fights took place. Any time we get to go to Duluth I look forward to it very much. It means I get to take photos of a completely different city. As nice as Thunder Bay is, it's always nice to get out of here for a while and explore somewhere else. 

I knew at some point during the trip I had to go downtown to take some photos. The last few times we visited Duluth we didn't really get a chance to do so. This time around we made it happen on the Sunday. So, with my trusty Fuji X-T1 in hand and my 16mm lens attached, we set off for a brisk walk around the waterfront. It was on the Sunday before we were leaving so we only walked around for 45 minutes or so but it was enough time to get some good shots. In reality, I could easily spend 4 hours downtown exploring but we didn't exactly have the time to do so. 

It was amazing to finally walk the boardwalk out to the lighthouse. Surprisingly, we hand't done this before. It's so beautiful there with a lot of different things to photograph. From the view of the ships out on the water, to the view back towards the city, there is no shortage of interesting perspectives. With the X-T1 it's the perfect camera to just hold in one hand and pick out things that catch my eye. I'm not saying these shots couldn't have been taken with my big DSLR but it's a lot more fun with the X-T1. Plus, having the tillable screen on the back, I was able to get down low for a few shots that would have been much harder to get on my Nikon cameras. At least the ones I own currently. 

Of course, as usual, Anne was a great sport as I made sure to take plenty of photos of her. I didn't include them all here but she's always so fun to photograph. It's gotten to the point where I just say stop, and stand in a certain spot and she does it without even thinking. Mixed in with the photos of downtown are random photos from the rest of the weekend. I just love getting in close and picking out the finer details of objects that would otherwise be pretty boring. 

Thanks for viewing!

Honeymoon in Montreal

Anne and I decided to go to Montreal for our Honeymoon. We had been there once before, but only got to spend a couple days on our way to the East Coast. When we were trying to decide what a good destination would be for our Honeymoon, Montreal was always at the top of the list. So we went with it. We decided to just fly in, stay by the hotel and rent a car. That way we could pretty much do whatever we wanted. Seeing as how I don’t mind driving in the larger cities and Anne being an expert navigator, it was a match made in heaven.

Upon arriving at our hotel, we were amazed. It had to be one of the nicest hotels we had ever stayed at. We joked throughout the trip that we didn’t really even need to leave as it almost felt like a resort. Obviously we ended up exploring a lot of Montreal but it was always nice to come back to such a beautiful home base. 

The day we arrived we settled in, took a bit of a break, and then ended up going downtown for a bit. We found a great pub on the main stretch and quenched our thirst and hunger. Seeing as it was extremely hot and humid the whole time there, lets just say that any excuse to stop in for a drink somewhere was welcome. 

Our next day there revolved around the outlet mall just outside of Montreal. We must a couple turnoffs along the way but Anne made sure we got there. There was no way we weren’t going to make to the outlet mall that day. Once we arrived I was amazed how large it was. It was all outdoors and there were a ton of stores. One of Anne’s favourites was the Coach store. It was very cute watching her hum and haw about getting this purse she really wanted. In the end, before leaving, she ended up getting two things from there and was extremely happy. I imagine it was the equivalent of watching me in a camera store. 

We walked around there for a few hours, grabbed a bit to eat at the food court and did a bit more shopping after that. Then it was time to go back to our hotel. We ended up going down to Old Montreal that evening to search for a bite to eat. We got much then we bargained for. After eating we headed back to the main square and watched a really street performance. We were 2 of the first people there and Anne immediately gave the performer some change as he was setting up. He joked that he hadn’t even did anything yet but promised he would give us a good show. The funny part of the whole performance was that he didn’t really do all that much with fire, it was just a ploy to get people to come watch. By the end of it, there was a huge group of people and he put on one of the funniest and entertaining shows we have seen in a long long time. 

The next day was also full of a few surprises. We grabbed some breakfast again and another local diner and then we headed back down to Old Montreal. We wanted to make sure we saw it during the day. This time around I really had a chance to take a lot of photos. As you can see from the images below, Anne was once again my model of choice. How could anyone not want to photograph here. There was a lot of cool things to see down in Old Montreal. One of the highlights was the zip line they had going at the Pier. It was another scorching day so it was nice to walk around. Not sure what to do next we made the choice to go to the island across the water to explore. Once we got there, we decided to do a drive around first to see what there was. As we pulled into one of the parking areas, we paid the steep price of $25 for parking and then saw La Ronde in the distance. So.. instead of parking and walking around the island, we drove straight to the amusement park and spent the next 6 hours getting whipped around on rides. The first ride I took Anne on was the biggest and fasted rollercoaster at the park. She tends to get a bit nervous for the larger rides, so what better way to get those nerves out of the way then to do the scariest ride.

It was smooth sailing after that and we had a ton of fun. We ended the day with some food from the local ‘Saloon’. One of the things we found strange was that you could basically walk around with your beer in hand anywhere in the park. That’s Quebec for you I guess. We weren’t complaining. The last rides we went on, which didn’t make sense, were the water rides where we got completely soaked. In hindsight, we should have done them at the beginning but it all worked out. 

If my memory serves me correctly, once we got back to the hotel, this was the night we met some very interesting people at the bar. There was the pilot beside us that Anne befriended over the mutual love of wine. Supposedly he was flying out later the next day so his ‘consumption’ of wine was not out of the norm at all. Then there was the older couple beside us. They were so much fun and the fact that the husband would routinely get up, stand up beside us, and test out some of his comedic material was priceless. Almost as priceless as the way his wife would bury her head in her hands each time he did so. I laughed at all his jokes though and it certainly made for a memorable evening. I knew it was time to head back to our room when Anne and said pilot considered purchasing a bottle of wine. For fear of the passengers the next day and Anne potentially passing out, I grabbed her by the arm and took her back. 

After a good nights sleep we decided to head to the waterfront area just on the way to Montreal. We rented a bike and rode around the small little inlet and some of the town area. It was a really nice bike ride and I wish we could have done a bit more but we wanted to still do more that day. Plus, Anne was anxiously awaiting her call from the Lakehead Board to see if she got a full time position. Once we finished up there, we eventually decided to make our way to the water park north of Montreal. I was actually really looking forward to it. So we hopped on the highway and drove the 40 minutes it took to get there. Just after purchasing our tickets and entering the park, Anne got the ‘call’. She found out she got a full time position. Yay. That only made the rest of the day that much more relaxed and fun. Overall the water park was a lot of fun. I just wish we had more time there but it all worked out.

By the time we got back to our hotel we were wiped. But that didn’t stop us from treating ourselves to a nice dinner at the Keg. We took a cab there and back so I could have a couple drinks. The meal was fantastic and the biggest surprise of the night was me pretty much eating a whole cheesecake. Anne had a a few bites but otherwise it was all me. Very rare indeed for anyone that knows me. But if there is one weaknessI have it’s Keg cheesecake.

Our final day in Montreal was actually still pretty action packed. We checked out of the hotel and still headed to the gay district. We had accidentally ended up there briefly a previous night and it looked really cool so I wanted to head back during the day to take some photos. We walked that street and then eventually headed back to downtown Montreal. Anne attempted to do some shopping and then we eventually found a great Irish Pub for some food and drink. After that, it was time to head back. It was a bit rough with traffic heading back and I almost got side swiped by a transport on a merge but other then almost getting killed it was fun! 

We headed to the airport, dropped off the rental car and then made our way to our gate. We had time to kill so we walked the entire airport, checking to see what kind of places there were to eat. We ended up going to one of the restaurants closest to our gate. I got a $11 beer, but Anne declined to pay $13 for a small glass of wine. I can’t get over just how much they were charging for food and drinks. All the places were like that by the way. We finished off with a drink at other bar just across the way. The bartender there was just plain awesome. He told us a few stories and was super friendly. Plus, Anne was able finally have her glass of wine. 

The last stop was Toronto. We definitely like flying through Toronto because the Porter lounge is fantastic. Unfortunately we had a very fast layover so we didn’t really get a chance to enjoy it as much as we wanted to. And then we were back in Thunder Bay. The whole way thorough we upgraded each flight so we had the front seats and it was heaven. Lots of leg room and first off the plane could not be beat. All in all it was a great trip. Spending 5 days in Montreal with my beautiful wife Anne was something I will remember the rest of my life. I can’t wait until our next trip. Plus I was able to capture some great photos along the way. Although, probably more food photos then I would normally include. But that’s what happened when you spend a lot of your time eating and drinking!