Some of you folks have been kind enough to drop by and wish me well, after my last, somewhat alarming posting. :) Thanks to all of you. My eyes were more or less back to normal within four or five days of that previous shot. If I never have snot coming out of my eyes again, I'll count it as a blessing... as should we all.
Social life's been pretty subdued lately. The usual suspects are either away, or were (like me), rather sick. A little over a week ago I was in Hamilton, visiting my parents for a belated birthday party for yours truly. I'm thirty-eight now. Ugh. While I was there, I took a few photos of the city, including some panoramas from the Mountain overlooking the downtown...
Photos of Hamilton's downtown taken from the park above the Jolley Cut — full colour with the Canon Rebel XT and infrared with the Canon G1
...as well as some shots of the Red Hill Valley Parkway, which is finally under construction. This ought to make life a lot easier for people on the Mountain, as well as bringing commercial traffic to and from the US with regard to the airport. My prediction is that a lot of light industry jobs and the attendant homes will spring up over the next ten years or so as a result...
The course of the Red Hill Valley Parkway as it comes down along Mud Street
Thursday the weather was warm enough at last for me to get out to the wilds again and enjoy a little hiking the way I like it. :)
And Friday morning showed some amazing skies, that I was quick to take advantage of...
High dynamic range infrared image of the skies over the Don Valley
This past weekend, I got together with P-Doug on Thursday night to go to a pub down on Eglinton, and then we went to see Joyeux Noel at Canada Square. It's one story of the unofficial Christmas truce of 1914, how it came about, the sorts of things that happened, and the aftermath. It's a phenomenal story, and it deserves a wide audience. Especially these days.
Sunday I went out with P-Doug and G to the hinterland west of Toronto. For once, I didn't buy anything or eat too much (I did eat a few things I shouldn't, but I managed to be moderate, so I don't feel too bad). I had the infrared G1 with me. All the shots I took were from the car, and since it was overcast, they were low light and relatively long exposures, so for most part, they're blurry. I got a handful of images I consider worthwhile, including this one of a crumbling farmhouse on Hwy 8...
The other shots I took that I liked were taken with the Nikon Coolpix 4300 I carry around in my fannypack now...
Click on the image to read the comments... some are a hoot
High dynamic range image of flowers outside the Crossroads Restaurant
...including this one from this morning...
HDR image of a fire engine at Finch and the 404; dramatic skies...
The reason I got the 4300, used, on eBay was because it takes auto-bracketed exposures (when it's behaving properly...), which aid greatly in the creation of high dynamic range images, which I've grown quite big on. The last two shots are HDR images, each composed of three shots with an EV range of -1 to +1. Several of the above shots are HDR shots, as a matter of fact; even the infrared one of the clouds is actually composed of a three-shot -2 to +2 spread.
That's the general stuff. I'll try to get into something a little more specific later on. :)
