Even Batman Couldn’t Save The Falling Girl In Silver City

Posted on July 29, 2008 by Gabriel



Riding out the storm; July 16, 2008 — Photo by Me.

There’s a pivotal moment in the latest Batman movie, in fact it’s really the penultimate climax, where two boatloads of confused and panicked people have the option of either destroying the other group or being destroyed themselves.

One boat is made up of regular people, the other loaded down with men convicted of heinous crimes. Somehow, over a fifteen minute period, these two separate and unequal groups of people manage to come to the same altruistic decision to not guarantee their own safety.

However, considering what happened in the theatre lobby twenty minutes before the movie started I don’t think I’d be too cynical in saying this situation is, at best, unlikely… but really a whole lot of bullshit.

A tall, young girl stumbled through our concession line and seemed to trip over a wet-floor sign. She fell awkwardly, almost bouncing off the counter, and through another line until she slumped on the floor. She slowly pulled herself up using the counter for balance, then staggered a few steps and fell again.

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Posted in Canada, Entertainment, Movies | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Zombie Cat

Posted on July 13, 2008 by Gabriel

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The good news is the jaws of a house cat, even a Zombiefied one, are too weak and too small to adequately crush your skull, thereby denying it total access to your brain matter. The bad news is the common house cat doesn’t know that.

Technical Stuff: I turned the camera on. After that it was all a blur.

I was sitting on the porch waiting for something and the cat was circling me and unusually friendly, so I started following her with the camera. I took this shot while she was behind me… every shot I took where she thought I was looking came out like some Hello Kitty cartoon. The shots of her behind me… suddenly she’s looking for a kill-spot.

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Posted in Photography | 8 Comments

Slacker Bee

Posted on June 26, 2008 by Gabriel

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I guess sometimes even the Bee has to take a break. Working all day, gettin’ paid next to nothing, never getting their fair share of the honey, having to put up with getting hassled by the WASPs. Every once in a while a Bee just has to take a little bee time and sit back and tap a little grass.

Technical Stuff: I spent about thirty minutes in this little patch of blue flowers chasing honey bees… but those bastards won’t stay still long enough for my pocket digital to focus, so I got some great shots of a ladybug and this bumblebee. Yeah, I’m now taking photos of insects and flowers. Don’t worry though, I’m taking my lithium everyday.

This poor bastard of a bee is dying. I originally found him/her stumbling along the ground, so I tapped his/her ass and he/she walked up these stalks of grass. He/she flew away after a few moments. He/she hasn’t called back but I think he/she said something about a sick queen… nah, I didn’t tap its ass, I tapped ON its ass. Grow up.

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Posted in Animals, Entertainment, Favourites, From My Wall, Nature, Photography, Vankleek Hill Photos | 1 Comment

The End Of Days

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Gabriel

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It’s not everyday you get to see what the end of the world would look like. Although I always figured there’d be more competitive Irish dancers jigging their way in a colour coordinated, perfectly symmetrical high kicking plaid line into the horizon with smiles permanently fixed in their everlasting tribute to Satan.

Technical Stuff: I was using my pocket digital and set the exposure by aiming the camera straight up to focus. This was taken during “Magic Hour” while an early morning storm was clearing. Magic hour is actually the 30 minutes before sunset and the thirty minutes just after sunrise when there’s almost no glare from the sun, so its light is at its purest.

There are definitely no bunnies in those clouds. It’s not often cloud formations show the hand of God coming down to smite the wicked, but this one comes pretty close to having all the images of the Apocalypse… the crosses stretching into the horizon, the bent and broken light posts in the foreground, the broken landscape of dark old buildings… the Chevy driving towards the abyss.

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Posted in From My Wall, Photography, Sunrise Project, Vankleek Hill Photos | 1 Comment

How To Play Tourist In Ottawa And Find More Than The Colour Brown

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Gabriel

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It’s not hard being a tourist in Ottawa… unless you’re a student of 1970’s architecture or have a fetish with the colour brown there’s really only a few blocks you Have to see in Ottawa. This is the National War Memorial on the left, and the Chateau Laurier on the right.

Technical Stuff: This is with the pocket Digital and I’m on my knees… I generally have a satchel I carry with my notebook and mini-tripod in it, it also makes a great kneepad. If this was a Disney park there’d be a sign saying “Photo Opportunity Here”. Check out the lines in this photo… that’s on purpose. Her bag being chopped off… not so much.

I’ve seen Ottawa. For almost ten years I lived in Ottawa. So I was more interested in getting a shot of my sister than Ottawa… it still works as a tourism shot, but I definitely made her the focus. Everybody should play Tourist in their region… see a show, check out the sights, score some blow, have a nice dinner, stab a local, wear socks with your sandals and shout out things like “you were right, they’re almost like us.”

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Posted in Entertainment, Family, Photography, Special Events | Tagged | 1 Comment

Some Similarites Between Shooting Flowers And Punk Bands

Posted on June 16, 2008 by Gabriel

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My most common subject over the past year have been flowers from the local gardens, but several years ago I used to take photos of and for punk bands in Toronto. There are similarities… like both will pay you about the same amount, and soon after forming they’ll both break apart, wither and die. The biggest difference between the two is the amount of alcohol it takes to kill them.

Technical Stuff: With the three weirdly in focus buds surrounding the large flower the shot becomes something about timing… the shot would’ve been way cooler without the extra flower.

You shoot what you have access to and what you can see. I used to take photos of protests, demonstrations, concerts, air shows and now I take photos of flowers, babies and family… man, it’s a good thing I’ve got the lithium. Good times baby, good times.

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Posted in Entertainment, Nature, Photography, Vankleek Hill Photos | 2 Comments