.:onvertigo:.

Appliances

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:55:45 +0000

This place was full of wonderful photo opportunities. I wish I would have had time to change my lens and compose something differently, but I had someone yelling in the background "get in the car christina, lets go!" Sometimes my friends just don't understand. I guess ice cream took precedent over photography at the dump.

My apologies if I didn't return any e-mails yesterday, I was pretty busy at work yesterday and last night I was busy tackling a mountain of laundry that had exploded throughout my apartment. I hope to get a chance to reply this afternoon.

the usual suspects....

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 11:39:26 +0000

chillin on the dock and the top of the boat house. missing is chet, bestain, and i. i took this from the canoe so there is a lot of camera shake. it's nice having such a good group of friends. i couldn't have asked for better. and no guys.... before you ask again, i haven't processed the rest of the photos, but i did start working on it last night.

do you know what's not nice... asinine e-mails. e-mails and comments so stupid, so ignorant, so childish, it almost makes me want to quit. i will spare you the details but this person obviously didn't read my post on friday. i will remind them...

"Blogging or photography should not be competitive; it's not about who has the most comments, or the most hits, or even the better photo. I would like to think it's more about sharing your thoughts, ideas and work with like-minded people." The fact that this person needs to validate themselves by how good their website is or how good of a photographer they are, or how much gear they have... well that is a sad affair, and i pity them.

Comments like this may have discouraged me for a week, but I feel quite confident that I am such a stubborn girl, I will only come back stronger and more determined.

Happy 666 Day

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 12:47:39 +0000

Blue Heron

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 11:49:08 +0000

We saw some wildlife this weekend, and not just dead ones at the side of the road. It rained hard all day Saturday, but it did stop for 20 minutes; just long enough to go for a quick boat ride and to take this. Regardless of the rain, we still had a blast. We went out in the boat, in the canoe, for a swim, I lazed around on the front porch for hours, reading my book and listening to the rain. We drank, played games, and marc bbq'd the best ribs ever. There was a lot of pork and pork by-products this weekend - it was PORK-tastic! Although I am happy to be back to my yogurt and granola, salad diet this week.

I was too tired to process this pic last night, so lets just pretend that the green isn't so contrasty, it's cropped a bit differently and I managed to capture the tip of it's toes in this shot. Shooting from a moving boat is a little tricky. I might attempt to redo this photo tonight.

My new shoes

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 12:48:20 +0000

You may hate them, but they are very me. They were also the only pair of blue size 6 sold in Ottawa and I love buying original things. I couldn't really afford them, and so far I have terrbile blisters and they make my feet sweat, and even though they will probably make my feet rot and fester, I will continue to wear them, because I love them. Wearing these around the office was a sure way to get noticed; the Director General loved them too. I will justify that purchase as a career move.

I also wanted to mention that I have seen a lot of good things going on with our little blog community this week. People writing tutorials, people leaving links recognizing good people and excellent work. Blogging or photography should not be competitive; it's not about who has the most comments, or the most hits, or even the better photo. I would like to think it's more about sharing your thoughts, ideas and work with like-minded people.

I received the kindest e-mail yesterday from a complete stranger who has been a frequent visitor to my site. I was so touched by this e-mail. It's a horrible ugly world we live in, but it's nice to know there are many good people out there. Take the time today to say something kind to someone. Not because you need something or feel obligated, but because you mean it. It will make their day, and probably yours too.

I am leaving for Bobcaygeon (yes, like the song) tonight with my usual suspects. Have a great weekend everyone!

Comments are closed for the weekend.

War Memorial, East Block and the Peace Tower

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:47:52 +0000

I am normally not a big fan of taking tourist shots, and I told myself I would never do it, but I am posting this photo today for the sole purpose of search engine optimization and search engine ranking. (that and I have nothing else to post) I monitor my webstats and traffic very closely, borderline obessive compulsively. In fact, part of my new job is to monitor visitor pattern analysis; geeky I know, but I love it. After many months of tracking my site, I have discovered that people find me by looking for Ottawa touristy images. It's not the top key search term. I am proud to say that I get a least a dozen hits a day from people searching for mud wrestling or messy wrestling. It's not the best image, but it does have some of my favourite comments. I wish more people would leave me comments like that.

yo mud wrestling is so fun. sometimes i just go in my backyard, take the hose and spray all of the soil and then i roll around in the mud because it is so fun to get covered in mud. Posted by: Dan on 03.05.06

please teach us how to run the mud wrestling in Indonesia. We like to join this game. Regards, Adi Patrianto Posted by: adi patrianto on 05.18.06

Other search terms include : Xavier Rudd, Supreme Court of Canda, Direnzo's, and I am happy to say that just last week, people started hitting my site, looking for "things to use when masterbating." I knew that day would soon come.

Meech Lake

Wed, 31 May 2006 12:13:04 +0000

I spend a lot of time here after work in the summers. Last night was the official start of my swimming season. I may not run, but I do swim like a fish. Unfortunately, the start of swimming season coincides with black fly season. Swarms and swarms of black flies. Our debate last night: what's worse - black flies vs. the mosquitoes. So far the black flies get my vote but I may change my mind when mosquito season officially starts.

One of these photos was accidently taken at iso 1600 and the other accidently processed in jpg. (i was very tired last night) Can you see the difference?

Exit 119

Tue, 30 May 2006 12:02:49 +0000

Taken from on top of the queensway wall.

There are 3 people and 3 photos that I must mention today. At approx 11:15pm last night, 2 people in Ottawa, from different locations, ran outside to see if they could grab some lightening photos. Only one came back victorious. He fails to mention on his own site, but what you should know, is that he had one chance to snap this photo before his battery died. Well done Andrew, lucky bastard. :)

Then there is Schmee, I am a big fan of all his work, but this photo is definately one of my favourites.

And Ruhh, one of my former students. Ruhh gets my prize for find of the week. His catfish head is totally something I would have taken a picture of. I would like to think I taught you well young grasshoppa, but I know I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Deep down I just hope that someone actually got something out of taking one of my classes. I doubt it though. Nice find Ruhh, I look forward to more stories.

National Capital Marathon

Mon, 29 May 2006 12:27:33 +0000

It was definately a weekend to stay in Ottawa with both the Glebe garage sale and the National Capital Marathon. I am very proud of my friends who ran this weekend. Marc finished the 10km in under 42 minutes placing 185th out of 7000. He was so fast I didn't even get a chance to see him. And Vinnie, well he finished, and I am proud of him too. Kudos to anyone who ran this weekend. Watching the race was quite inspiring, it almost made me want to run again. Almost.

You can see a few more photos of the marathon on flickr. Shooting sports photography was a challenge and a learning lesson for me. I also predict that you are going to see some great photos from Steve this week.

Glebe Garage Sale

Sat, 27 May 2006 21:25:22 +0000

How could you not possibly buy something from her.

Mel & B and a Log Skidder

Fri, 26 May 2006 11:51:58 +0000

Technically not the best photo but it captures B perfectly. A day with B usually consists of either crawling through a swamp, walking up the steepest side of the mountain, trailblazing through the forest, (because taking a trail would just be boring) or jumping out of an airplane. I mean all of these quite literally. You are almost always guaranteed that he will lead you to places like this and there will be mud. He won't be the guy getting stuck in the mud, but he will be there to help pull you out. Everybody needs a friend like B, someone who is brave enough to jump in the cold lake in the pouring rain. I have a few more photos of our off-roading excursion that I will get around to posting. None that are fantastic though. That just means B is going to have to take me off-roading again soon. Do you hear that B - you, me, some mud and a swamp.

You can see a few more photos of our May 24 cottage excursion here. I will eventually get around to posting more on flickr. Have a nice weekend!

Lily Pad

Thu, 25 May 2006 09:00:15 +0000

Hey B - (RE - yesterday's comment) the mud pics from the weekend will be posted tomorrow. i promise.

First day at the new job went very well. This is going to be a completely different role for me and I welcome it. Yesterday was the first time in over 6 years where I haven't had acess to photoshop, dreamweaver, msn, and many of your web sites. (but not all) I am in need of some positive changes in my life and my routine. It will be nice to cut out the distractions. I might change my mind about that in a week.

Cally

Wed, 24 May 2006 04:15:04 +0000

I realize posting 4 photos is a bit excessive, but I loved all of these and I couldn't pick just one. It's very rare that I love any of my photos. You can disagree, but these are some of my personal favourites.

Inspired by Daily Oliver. I have been following this site for awhile so it was nice see it nominated for the Photobloggies. I think that all of the sites that were nominated are amazing, I am just not sure if I agree with some of the winners.

Caterpillars

Tue, 23 May 2006 12:52:18 +0000

I saw these guys everywhere this weekend, and then I heard on the news last night that they have become an environmental hazard. I had a friend this weekend play art director - "take a photo of this, and this, and hey check this out, this is cool." This photo is a result. I wish I had composed it a bit differently but I still think it's pretty cool.

On an unrelated note, this is my last day at the National Library and Archives. I was going to dedicate a post today to my farewell, but that just required too much effort. I haven't exactly enjoyed my time there, but they did send me to photoshop school. Funny thing is - the day I gave my notice, was the exact same day I was going to be laid off. Sometimes I think I have horseshoes up my ass. Someone sent me the cubicle song last week and it just seemed so fitting. My anthem if you will. If you are stuck working in a cubicle all day, perhaps you can relate. Cubicle Song (1.9MB mp3)

That being said, some things are going to change around here. With my new position I am not sure if I will have as much time to dedicate to this blog. I will no longer be shooting downtown, and I am going to attempt to post in the evening. Now that I will no longer be coding and designing all day, perhaps I will be more inclined to fix my own site. It is long overdue. I also need to fix my spam problem. I will attempt opening up comments again today, but don't be surprised if I close them until I have time to install the MT plugin.

Cottage

Mon, 22 May 2006 14:17:21 +0000

Paul and Scruffy chillin on the dock.