TORONTO with Alex and Justine + Steve

A few days ago I talked to my friends Alex and Justine and we decided it would be fun to do a day trip to Toronto, visit the Royal Ontario Museum and take some photos while at it.

And so it was! We drove over, spent some two hours in the ROM, then got some photos of Alex and Justine on the way to the car, grabbed a coffee (of course) at Starbucks and shot some more photos!

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

I love taking pictures at sunset!

A random empty glass on a side-street near the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario

The inside of a church on Bloor street, Toronto

A panorama of a church on Bloor Street will follow too!

Then yesterday (Saturday) I spent a few hours with Steve downtown Kitchener. He came down from Toronto where he's working on his masters at U of T. We spent some time at Matter of Taste Caffe enjoying a cappuccino when dad calls my cell phone telling me to seek shelter because apparently a storm was up in Waterloo and about to hit Kitchener soon. I told him that we are indoors and hung up. No more than 10 seconds after I hung up, there was a loud sound, the sky turned black and the construction fence along King street was laying on the ground along with the bike tied to it. If we lived further south I would have thought this is a tornado, but luckily we don't =P

About an hour later we made our way back to Steve's place. On our way I shot some portraits of Steve at one of my favourite spots in Kitchener, by the old Electrohome factory on Shanley Street. Overcast lighting sure has a magic about it that makes it quite fun to edit photos.

The High Resolution Copy of an Artwork

I have written a blog entry on this before, here, where I explained how the people at google earth are making 14 giga pixel sized digital "copies" of famous artwork, see the video by clicking here, which very very much inspired me to try something similar, while not at the same size since my computer right now can not handle blending 300, 10 megapixel, images all at once.

I have talked to a friend of mine, Emily Shields, who I knew had some artwork that I could work with, and I managed to convince her to allow me to make such a "digital copy" of one of her oil paintings. Here's the result:

Notre Dame of Guelph 2009 "take 1"

So yesterday I took my friend Daniel to Guelph. The purpose was street photography and the visiting of the famous Our Lady Immaculate church, one of the more imposing buildings in the area.

Once again I went into a church with the name Notre Dame (our lady) and I was unable to use my tripod for photos. Last time (in Montreal) I had left my tripod at the hotel, this time I had it with me but not the device that mounts on the camera, so I couldn't attach the camera to the tripod

But once again i propped the camera down on the ground, put my kit lens on, set it to wide angle and propped it up with the lens cap. Et Voila.

I also got some really good portraits of Daniel, which are a welcomed addition to my portfolio as well.

Heffman Street and Woolwich street in Guelph, Ontario.

This one reminds me of some verses from the song Moment of Surrender from the U2 album: No line on the horizon:

I was speeding off the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down till the pain will stop

At the moment of surrender
A vision of a visibility
I did not notice the passers by
And they did not notice me

urban exploration + Barra Castle, Kitchener, ONTARIO

<sub>Urban Exploration - From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_exploration

Urban exploration (often shortened as urbex or UE) is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of urban areas or industrial facilities.[1] Urban exploration is also commonly referred to as infiltration, although some people consider infiltration to be more closely associated with the exploration of active or inhabited sites. It may also be referred to as "draining" (when exploring drains) "urban spelunking", "urban caving", or "building hacking".

Abandonments
Ventures into abandoned structures are perhaps the most common example of urban exploration. Abandoned sites are generally entered first by locals, and often sport large amounts of graffiti and other acts of vandalism. Explorers face various risks in abandoned structures including collapsing roofs and floors, broken glass, guard dogs, the presence of chemicals, other harmful substances, most notably asbestos, hostile squatters and sometimes motion detectors. Some explorers wear respirators to protect their airways.
--</sub>

Looking for an adventurous photoshooting experience, a friend of mine offered to take me on an Urban Exploration session with him. The target was the Barra Castle in downtown Kitchener. The over a century old building is declared a heritage landmark and can not be tore down for that reason, however this aspect of importance does not seem important enough for the city to apply the needed repairs to it. And since the owner does not have the required funds either, the building remains in its current state for another while. How sad. For those of you interested in perhaps visiting the place, keep in mind that the building is closed since it is deemed unsafe for inhabiting. The floors are moldy and being made of wood are likely to give you a very short trip from the top floor to the bottom one. I need not mention the old building dust which will likely give you a sore throat the following day (as I am having now) either. If you do decide to go in, please respect the building as it is a Kitchener landmark and it would be really cool if future generations get to see it as intact as possible. The building is located across the street (pretty much) from the Joseph Schneider haus museum on Queen Street, a little West from the intersection with Courtland Avenue.

Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=queen+street+and+courtland+avenue,+kitchener&daddr=43.445295,-80.493787&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=19&sll=43.445358,-80.493009&sspn=0.001054,0.002543&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=19
More info on the Barra Castle building in downtown Kitchener [The Record, newspaper]: http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/293668


Photographs from the Barra Castle, Kitchener, Ontario - January 2009:

The Red Livingroom - Barra Castle 2009.

My friend Eric - Barra Castle 2009 - striking a very photographer-like pose as he photographically documents a chandelier.

adventurous dreams + the future of energy[again]

It is that time again...
Every once in a while I feel a deep and unquenchable craving for an adventurous outing into the realm of the outdoors for the purpose of retrieving some primary material for my industrious activity of choice: photography. That material which I speak of is none other than raw pictures, ready to hatch their JPG or RAW shells and develop into saturated contrasty coloured works of art.

Alright alright, enough poeticness. I crave to go out photoshooting and I melancholically remember past photoshooting trips that I have been on in the past year and am trying to decide which location to re-visit, or whether to attempt something more bold and to discover some new locations. Available companionship for such an endeavour is also scarce these days *sigh* so the outlook seems kindof bleak at times. But I shall not lose hope, instead I will take the time to share some memories and ideas below.

Hilton Falls, Ontario.
An hour hike through a maze of trails takes you to the waterfall. Nothing earth shakingly mindblowingly breathtaking; but definitely a place worth the hike on a hot summer day. The lookout point offers firewood for those craving a barbecue, and the water is always fresh and cool, ideal for a refreshing sprinkle.

The green fields at the old garbage dump by the Hydro Trail in West Kitchener (end of University avenue).
The fields are green and photogenic (in summer) and the trail that leads through the woods is long, adventurous and filled with thirsty, dying to bite you, mosquitoes. If you are dying to give blood and the walk-in-clinic is already closed for the day, don't panic, just take a bike down there and you'll be guaranteed satisfied!

Westfield Heritage Village, Ontario.
A far hike, but only a moderately far drive from Kitchener. If you take Homer Watson Boulevard down and out of Kitchener and make a right turn on Blair Road at the roundabout just when you enter the city of Cambridge, then you're definitely taking the scenic route. Follow the road to downtown Cambridge, then down Main street to HWY8 and make a right turn on that heading East towards Dundas. Eventually there will be a road turning left (552 - Kirkwal St.), that will take you to Westfield. The place is full of a magic that can not be explained easily. Try watching the movie "The Village" and you'll want to visit this place for sure!

Elora Gorge in Elora town, Ontario.
In Elora, there is a stairway that leads down to the river. It is steep and it goes down deep, but the sightseeing is worth the trip (the trip back up that is when you return). Just look for the old mill and follow the river shore looking for the stairway down. The river is never too deep and if you know to keep your balance you can cross it and find your way down it. There are plenty of these little caves around to explore, plenty stony cliff-sides to climb and definitely many landscapes to photograph.

Webster's Falls, at Spencer Gorge, West Flamborough, Ontario.
Webster's falls is located on the Niagara escarpment, near Tew's Falls on the Bruce Trail. The hike is pleasant and filled with many lookout points. There is also a cliff of considerable size which can be reached by one who not necesarily is a great climber, but one who is not afraid to get a little earth on his/her pants. Great panorama opportunities there for sure.

Tew's Falls, by Webster's Falls at Spencer Gorge, West Flamborough, Ontario.
A nice height and walkable, yes even in winter, and yes it is indeed a miracle that I am still alive.

The Future of Energy[Again]

The original article is from the Official Google BLOG. I am posting this because I not only find the topic to be interesting and relevant to my own philosophy, but I believe it is a topic that affects all of us, since we all share the planet and its future.
Original link: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/back-to-energy-future.html

1/21/2009 03:36:00 PM
In 1979 President Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar hot water panels on the roof of the White House. Recently a Googler from our Washington D.C. office asked the question, "What ever happened to the Carter panels?" After a little digging, we were able to track down the original panels to Unity College, an environmental college in Maine, and bring one of them back to Washington D.C.

So what ever happened to the panels? It turns out that during President Reagan's administration the solar hot water panels were removed from the White House in 1986 and placed in storage. In 1992, Unity College located the panels and transferred them from a General Services Administration warehouse to their campus in Maine. After restoration,16 panels provided their cafeteria with hot water for the next 12 years. In cooperation with Unity College, Google was able to bring one of these panels down to our Washington DC office for display throughout the next year.

At the panels' dedication in 1979, Jimmy Carter stated:

"This dependence on foreign sources of oil is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000, this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people." (To watch video of the dedication, check out this trailer for a movie about the panels) here: http://www.roadnottaken.info/ .

As we welcome our new U.S. president to office this week, we wanted to share this piece of this history with you. Google is committed to a clean energy future and we hope that you will join us in supporting the creation and adoption of renewable energy technology — what could still be one of the greatest and most exciting adventures for all of us.

New BLOG + Looking back on 2008

Dear readers,

The moment has finally come that the new blog is out and going! Due to the fact that BLOGGER is allowing HTML/CSS editing on the blog page, I was able to implement my own taste and liking and thus this new blog interface was born. I was debating importing the old posts from the other blog http://stefansphoto.wordpress.com but I eventually decided that I should compile a "Best Of 2008" instead. This should give anybody who visits this blog a better overview over the past year and fit it all into one entry. So hang on tight for here it comes:

Best Of 2008

Engagements 2008:

Joe and Jenny's engagement, Summer 2008.
This was indeed one of the highlights of the summer of 2008. It was my second engagement shoot and I think one of the best I believe. I caught some very lovely lighting and discovered a spot that I think I will be using a lot from now on.

Joe and Jenny's engagement, Summer 2008.
Gotta love how their hearts visibly glow with the light of love.

Andrew and Kelsey's engagement photoshoot.
Andrew and Kelsey were my first engagement photo session. There are really very few things that help set the mood other than golden light.

Portraits 2008:

Alyssa's visit to Ontario, summer 2008.
This autumn was the first time my darling Alyssa came to visit Ontario. We had quite a fun time filled with many unforgettable adventures. Alyssa is indeed both an outstanding photographer and a wonderful model. Check out her photography and consider hiring her for a photo session if you live in the Vancouver area. http://alyssaschroeder.blogspot.com.

Photography 2008:

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal, Quebec.
The view was fantastic and I do not believe this picture does it justice at all. Having forgotten to take the tripod from the hotel room, I had to make use of the lens cap and a plastic filter box to prop the lens up to take this picture. Boy how I love improvisation...

The St. Joseph Oratorium in Motreal, Quebec.
This was truly an intense experience. It took me quite a while to find the location of this, a lot of asking random strangers in the street, some of whom did not speak English (which was a challange for me, not being an amazing French speaker). I must say the searing for it was quite enjoyable, adding up the subway and bus rides that it included. The building is HUGE! and located upon a tall hill. It is basically a church built upon another church, while underneath it, St. Joseph, the person who started the project, is buried.
The steps you see in the middle, the brighter ones are made of wood. The cement ones on their sides are for tourists to climb up, while the wooden ones are meant for pilgrims, who, it is said climb them on their knees, as a tribute.

Marie reine du monde Cathedral in Montreal, Quebec.
A truly impressive, massive building. Just the way I like cathedrals to be for photography. The building is in the shape of a cross, with the altar at the intersection of the cross's axes, and seats along all sides of the cross.

Right outside the cathedral (photograph above) was this homeless man (I assume by his clothing). I could not help photographing him (I love photographing homeless people, they always show a lot of personality in their facial expressions). Only after I looked at the picture on the computer I noticed how the man looked like he could have just come out of the stone carving behind him. Take a look!

I shot this at the docks in Montreal by the St Lawrence River. There were many ships there, mostly yachts and one or two freight ones. When I saw this man I thought to myself "wow he looks cool!" so i pulled out the Tamron 70-300mm and quickly shot a few shots of him. They weren't great so I decided to forget about it and leave him onto my memory. But then as it was time to embarque the little tour boat that I had a ticket for, I noticed that from the lower part of the dock, in this position he looked great. So once again, quickly before he had the chance to leave, I put the eye to the lens and off I was shooting. Was very glad I caught a glimpse of this most mysterious looking character. And I went onto the ship.

Only later, when I looked at this picture again did it occur to me, "could he be a sailor? ...leaning in most a poetical fashion over the railing, waiting for the ship that shall take him back home, to his beloved sea..." Who knows. But I most certainly love being blessed with the opportunity to capture such stories full of emotion.

The LANG building, downtown Kitchener, Ontario.
This building that has not been of much use to anyone for a long time will soon be rehabilitated into offices/ apartments and an artists' corner, which my sources say will feature an art gallery and caffes. I personally am quite looking forward to that. Also according to what happened to other old buildings in the city, the facade will remain, which I also find a good thing. Looking forward to when it's done.