WAW #14 - Action

So I have been super bad about keeping up on my Weekly Assignment Wednesdays... I even went so far as to skip completely weeks #12 & #13! Though I might come back to them eventually (the assignments were "The Rule of Thirds" and "Breaking the Rule of Thirds"). I have just been so busy with the end of the school year, wrapping up this term of my graduate program, and planning this wedding/honeymoon! I have honestly felt like my life is a giant to-do list and the thought of taking on anything else, just stressed me out! But enough whining and excuses, it is time for me to play catch up!

The completion of assignment #14 - to capture action or movement, actually happened by sheer accident. I brought along my Canon DSLR to a gathering of friends to play with and to capture some memories. Well, when I looked back through them, I realized that I had managed to take a few interesting action shots... it just might not be the type of action most people would think of when they hear that word. ;)

My friend Michelle's dog Friday - Fluff in motion!

Jeffrey & our friend Sarah rocking out - Dance Party Action!

~M

Inspiration

This year I decided to take my passion for photography into the classroom and share it with my students. We have been working on a photography unit in art this term and the results have been exciting and inspiring. I have been so impressed with how quickly they picked up the concepts of photo composition and how much creativity they have brought to it. I especially love that it has allowed some students who might not be strong in fine motor skills (i.e. drawing, painting, etc) to really succeed. (It's one of the reasons I love photography for myself... it allows me to be the artist I always wanted to be).

Today we went out for the afternoon, armed with our digital cameras and two of my film babies - my Pentax K1000 and my Olympus Pen F. As the kids were buzzing about taking photos on the digitals, I would pull them aside in small groups and show them how to work the film cameras and they got to take a few shots themselves. We didn't quite get through everyone, so I haven't been able to see the results yet, but I can hardly wait!
Their excitement and joy for photography inspired me to get back on the blog and post some of my favourite photos from my last roll taken on my Pentax (from April and May! Shame on me for being such a procrastinator!).

~ M

Spring Sprung?

pentax k1000 - "blossoms"

I'm not sure how I got this shot.  I must have had the aperture all the way down, and i'm pretty sure I was using my macro lens too.  We're going to put this on a 30"x 20" canvas with a print-shop here in Vancouver.  I pretty much gave them the original digital photo with a little color brightening, so hopefully the resolution is good enough to transfer well to the bigger size.

pentax k1000 "sitsit"

This was from one of our recent "spring" days.

- jroy

Just Right Juxtaposition

My Olympus Pen F is a half-frame film camera. Basically, when I take a picture, the frame is half the size of a regular frame, and when I advance the film, it advances only half a frame. So for every frame, I get two shots (on a 24 roll of film, I will get 48 shots). Since I get my film pictures developed and put directly onto cd, I usually just crop each frame so that I get the individual shots.
On the last roll however, I had several frame pairings that I really liked side by side (as-is). Another reason why I love film and the little surprises that come along with it.

Daffodils

Finch's

Fountain

Walking Statues

Flying Rocking Horse

Peeling

That last one is my absolute favourite.

~ M

Walk this way

Remember these calf statues that used to be positioned near the City Hall stop along the Canada Line? Well, they have been replaced by giant human legs. I have to admit, I kind of like them, they remind me of a Beatles video circa Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The photos are a little over exposed (the last shot more than a little), but I like the surreal quality it gives them.
Photos taken with Olympus Pen F film camera
~ M

Happy Victoria Day

Happy holiday Monday (really is there anything better than a Monday off?). Put away the to-do list, go out, run free, play, savour life like a child full of first experiences. That's an order.

"Les grandes personnes ne comprennent jamais rien toutes seules, et c'est fatigant, pour les enfants, de toujours et toujours leur donner des explications."

"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

~  Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Le Petit Prince

Did anyone else notice that I was actually brave enough to take a photo of a stranger? I am so determined to try out some street photography. I just need to get quicker on the focus.
Taken with Pentax K1000, fuji superia ISO 200 film. 
~ M

WAW #10 & #11 People & Patterns

Like a very bad student, I have been falling behind on my Weekly Assignments. It isn't mandatory to actually complete all the assignments (my friend Michelle is the one organizing this whole thing and keeping us all on track... but she's little, I think maybe I could take her), but I am still determined to complete them all. Namely because I will feel vastly inferior to the very talented and very dedicated Michelle whom I admire so much if I don't... but also because I know that if I start to let myself slip, it will be the end (I'm an all-or-nothing kind of gal in that way). So I am pushing through with the knowledge that I will be very satisfied with myself and all the things that I have learned if I do.

I cheated a little on Weekly Assignment #10 - "People" (shhh... don't tell) because the assignment was given just after I had been visiting my family and I had spent a whole weekend snapping pictures of them. Every time I visit my nieces I am focused on trying to take better pictures of people, so it is like I was doing the assignment before it was even given. So, I think this counts.
I posted a bunch of pictures of my nieces playing with bubbles here. Here are a few more to count as my "people shots".

Capturing just one look can tell an entire story!

Kids with food on their faces are universally adorable!

I just want to eat her up!

For Weekly Assignment #11 - "Patterns", I had the pleasure of exploring with Michelle at the Burnaby Village Museum while we were there with some of our students for a History Fair (I know, sounds super rad right?). It was a wonderful day where the kids learned lots about our Canadian History (not an easy feat when we are so bombarded by U.S. media and literature all the time), and we got the chance to explore and take pictures.
I learned 2 very important things about myself and my digital camera:
#1 - I really suck at manually focusing my digital camera. #2 - My digital photos are super BORING! I took over 100 pictures that day, by the time I weeded out all the blurry, out of focus or poorly lit ones, I had about 50. Out of those 50, I'd say maybe 25 have any real interest to them. But hey, it's all about the learning right?
Here are a few that actually turned out and that met the criteria for "pattern pictures".

Pretty Patterns

Repetitive Patterns

All WAW photos taken with Digital-SLR Canon Rebel XS
~ M