Not a bad little camera...

I took a couple of photography courses while I was in journalism school, and I loved the magic behind it... breaking into the film canister in a pitch-black room and rolling the film onto the spool, sealing the roll into the steel canisters and pouring in the developing fluid, agitating it slowly while the chemicals worked their wonders... and then a whole new level of magic in the darkroom... projecting images onto seemingly plain ol' white paper, and then watching with fascination as images slowly appeared on the paper in the tray of developing fluid. Hours spent in the darkroom could be frustrating or fulfilling. But this slow process had a romantic feel to it. The magic of the darkroom always amazed me.

The transition from film to digital was in its infancy while I was in j-school. Our photography prof had the first digital camera I had ever seen, and it was amazing in its own rights. As students, we were equally amazed to see how this new technology worked; how our prof could take our photo, then show it to us instantaneously on the computer screen.

What is equally amazing is that I started journalism school less than a decade ago, and in that short time-span, digital cameras have completely revolutionized the world of photography. While I worked at the Taber Times, we started to make the transition to digital photos, and now newspapers rely almost completely on this format. Naysayers have been silenced as digital SLRs have improved in quality while decreasing in price. At first, digital cameras were severely limited in their capabilities... They simply couldn't take some of the photos possible with film, such as time-lapse or fast-action sports shots.

But in these few short years, they have come so far.

Throughout my time in journalism, I used almost exclusively my trusty ol' steel-bodied Pentax K1000 SLR. With it, I could do wonders. It was fully manual, which often meant much experimentation and much wasted film. But I loved the challenge. I remember spending hours in Calgary on top of the hill off of Memorial Drive, freezing on a cold night, but loving the experiment. I would set up my camera on a tripod, screw a plunger into the shutter release, and play with the magic of time-lapse photography, capturing images of the lights of downtown burned into the film, or the headlights of cars leaving trails as they drove by.

At the Taber Times, photography became a job, and along with that, it became a chore. I still enjoyed getting unique shots, but too often I had to go out in the evening or on a weekend to photograph some lame event in which I was not interested. It ruined photography for me. When I'd go home at Christmas, I was no longer interested in taking photos of family and scenery at the farm. I just wanted a break.

And so when I left journalism, I left photography along with it. I put it on a shelf, and thought that perhaps someday, when I was ready, I would pick it up again as a hobby.

Last summer, as I prepared for my West Coast Trail adventure, I knew the time had come. I certainly didn't want to go to this gorgeous destination without a camera. However, I didn't want to lug around my heavy old K1000 either.

And so it was time for me to venture into the world of digital photography. I knew I'd love to have a digital SLR, but that would have defeated the purpose... I needed something lighter. On the other hand, I didn't want to settle on a tiny little camera with low megapixels and severe limitations. I did my research, and ended up buying a Canon PowerShot A620 with 7.1 megapixels and a 2 gig card.

I got some beautiful pics of the WCT with my camera... so much so that people think the ones I've blown up and mounted on my walls are professional prints or paintings. I've been really happy with the quality, and slowly I'm discovering some of its capabilities. It may not be quite an SLR, but I'm amazed nonetheless at what it can do. Tonight I got playing around with its time-lapse features in order to photograph my tealight patio lanterns. I realized that I can do much of the same stuff with this little camera that I could with my old SLR. This first photo is just outside my condo door, pointing at the garage, with a 10-second shutter speed. The squiggly lines on either side are streetlights in the distance.



I thought it looked kinda cool, so I got playing, taking photos of other streetlights to see what kind of art I could come up with.









Some of the streaks of light look like dotted dashes. Obviously, this is a bit of a limitation of my digital camera that wouldn't occur with a film SLR. However, I am still impressed by the technology, and I love that photographic "experimentation" has become so affordable.

Perhaps it's a little sad to lose the romance of the magical darkroom, but I'm excited by the possibilities of digital photography, and I'm glad to have my hobby back in a more cost-efficient and convenient form.

Come on summer!

Admittedly, it was a little tough coming back to Lethbridge from the sunnier and greener pastures of the Shuswap and Okanagan. In the hopes of coaxing summer to arrive a little quicker, I bought these coloured-glass patio lanterns from IKEA yesterday, and bought the porcelain tealight holders from Superstore. They are now hanging from the roof of my deck in the anticipation of summer barbecue deck parties with friends.





They especially look cool from the park outside my condo... these photos don't do them justice, but from down here, they really show their colours and kinda look like real patio lanterns, but cooler, because they have candles.

Easter Break.....Finally!

Chryslyn & I headed west for the first half of my Easter break to visit Daron & Shauna and friends in Salmon Arm. Here we are in Kelowna, where we went on Easter Sunday to celebrate with Shauna's parents and brother Wade.











Monday we went for a short hike to Margaret Falls west of Salmon Arm. On the path, we had fun trying to take these jumping shots, where we are meant to be all captured mid-air through the magic of photography. Chryslyn & Shauna had a bit of a hard time freezing Daron, Wade & I mid-air at first, which led to much laughter.





But eventually they got 'er cased!









Chryslyn & Shauna pose in front of the raging Margaret Falls.

Watching what comes outta my mouth...

Sometimes in life we say funny things without meaning to say them. Sometimes we say these accidentally-funny things in front of a classroom of 14-year olds.

Today, afternoon class...

Tavis: (noticing a student not in his desk, but rather talking to someone at another desk) Jesse, go sit down.

Jesse: (ignores Tavis)

Tavis: (getting annoyed, as this student is rarely on task and often is wandering, distracting others) Jesse, sit down!

Jesse: (glancing slightly) Just a sec.

Tavis: (without thinking, blurting out loudly) No, Jesse. No more secs!

Hysterical laughter breaks out throughout the classroom, including on my part.

Who is the star of the show here?...

"Chwyswyn" and I headed up to the Hat on Friday to meet with Mom & Dad and the Anhorns to celebrate Dad's 65th birthday. Saturday was a gorgeous day... like summer. It was spent going for a walk by the coulees, taking LONG naps, playing in the park with Tate and Aspen, and enjoying the sunshine in the backyard. On the way back to Lethbridge, we stopped in Hays for a St. Patrick's Day dance. Although small and not well attended, it was fun to see some friends from my teaching days there.

Memories of childhood days...

My favourite childhood novel was recently made into a movie, so Chryslyn and I decided to check it out on Friday night, though I made her read the book first. The verdict? Well, they did an OK job, but once again, the movie is just never as good as the book. And Chryslyn noted that the soundtrack was terrible.

So save your $8.50 and take out the book from the library. It's still a great read. The imagination of the main characters reminds me of myself as a child growing up on my northeast Saskatchewan farm. Being the only son with two older sisters, I spent countless hours by myself making up games and scenarios, transforming the farmyard and surrounding areas into whatever my imagination desired.

Whitefish!

Our principal owns a condo halfway up the mountain at Whitefish and it's a Lakie school tradition to head down there each year. This year, seven of us went down for a weekend of skiing and good times.... mostly good times... Just watch out for Montana cougars. and bad Alberta drivers.

Tough Life Lessons

While blending a delicious yogurt and mixed berry smoothie, try not to drop a spoon into the blender. You may not harm the blender, but chances are you'll do significant damage to a previously very nice spoon, while also sending smoothie flying in all directions around the kitchen of your condo, possibly even hitting the ceiling.

Driving In and Out of Winter...

Sunday was cross-country skiing day with Chryslyn in beautiful (and conveniently close) Waterton. We set out from Lethbridge at 1 p.m., with gorgeous sunny weather. As we neared Waterton, we could see the looming, dreadful clouds hovering over the mountains in the distance.




The above pics were actually taken at the end of our day from our friend Mira's parents' house, just east of Mountainview (where we stopped for hot chocolate). The scene hadn't changed all day, although the weather got worse within Waterton, making for a bit of a harrowing drive down the mountain from Cameron Lake. Conditions got better almost as soon as we left the park, and the roads were perfectly clear again before we reached Cardston.




This is the back side of the hut at Cameron Lake. In the bottom left of the photo is the informational sign for summer visitors. As you can see, the snow on our ski trail had piled up well above the sign.


Can you see me perched on top of the hut?


There I am!


I helped Chryslyn make the leap on to the hut...


...and then tackled her down into the heaps of snow on the rooftop.


Our view of Cameron Lake ;-) The blizzard had started to pick up by this point.


It was still a beautiful ski, but it really started to snow heavy on the way back to the car.









The day was capped off with dinner at Subway in Cardston, a quick trespass to stand underneath a gigantic windmill in the semi-darkness, and a 2-hour hot tub soak under the stars once we arrived back in Lethbridge.

Does my bum look hot?

My buddy Kyle calls Valentine's Day "S.A.D." which stands for Single's Awareness Day. This year was special for me, however, as I got to celebrate with Chryslyn. Although she had a night class, we met up after for a jazz concert and dessert night at the U of L, followed by a dance with music by the funk disco band, Hippodrome (they were fantastic). Later, we exchanged gifts. Chryslyn bought me this pair of Silver jeans (which she had seen me try on previously, but I had said I couldn't justify spending the money on, even if they made my butt look great), and I gave her the white gold chain with the heart pendant pictured below. All in all, a great Valentine's.

On Royalty and Protocol...

OK, the movie poster may make it look like a bland film, but Chryslyn and I discovered the contrary on Saturday evening. This movie is rated 98% on rottentomatoes.com, and has a bunch of Oscar nominations. It's a fascinating film about the response of the royal family in the days following the death of Diana. Very interesting.

Other great movies we've seen lately... Little Miss Sunshine, The Departed, Apocalypto (and met one of the stars who lives in Lethbridge and happened to be in the theatre), Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men.

Bad movies we've seen lately.... Well, really, only one has been REALLY bad... Borat. Why the heck is this such a big hit? It was terrible. Seriously... Don't see it...