13 Months Old and a Photo Walk

 

  One Month - 4 by Jay Scott on 500px

A lot has changed, hasn't it?

 

  13 Months - 2 by Jay Scott on 500px

Not just her above average height, but comprehension. Not that I had a great idea of a child's development, but she constantly surprises me with how much she understands. Just this morning I fed her breakfast and kept her entertained while Angie was out at an appointment. We had to make a few trades to get her to give me her bottle of milk when she was done. After she was done being very cooperative about letting me wipe her face and hands, I had to trade her a toy for the washcloth but she really seemed understand. I feel like she knows about my limitations and is okay with when I tell her something has to be the way it has to be. I also understand that she's far too young to have full control of her emotions. But I understand how a friend, also a quadriplegic, has done so well with her children and how they simply understand the way things have to be because of their mother's limitations.

Friends of ours, Joel and Lindsay, who I have always admired, demonstrated a great way to reason with their children to the extent of the child's ability to comprehend. I always wanted to be a parent like them because of their calm demeanor and the way that there kids responded calmly to talking. All this is prefaced by understanding that kids will be kids and if they are tired or hungry a lot of that negotiation will be ineffective. I reiterate that I'm constantly impressed by Fiona's ability to understand which toy or book we asked her to bring us or what we are asking of her.

 

  13 Months by Jay Scott on 500px

This past Saturday was the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk and it was a rainy day in Saskatoon. We were pretty impressed with how many people actually came out considering the rain. I wasn't going to miss it but I did do all of my shooting from inside the van. Those soft and greasy paths around the park and zoo would have been a nightmare for me and I'm confident I made the right decision.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 1 by Jay Scott on 500px

That meant it was time for some creative lighting, pulling my van up right under any interesting trees and digging deep into some macro shots to produce something interesting. All things considered, I think I did a pretty good job for shooting an hour and a half from my van in the rain.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 2 by Jay Scott on 500px

I don't know if it's my favorite, but a long exposure abstract was definitely an opportunity on a dark day like this to try to make something interesting and artsy.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 5 by Jay Scott on 500px

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 3 by Jay Scott on 500px

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 4 by Jay Scott on 500px

This was an accidental discovery. A misfire on my part made for a frame where I noticed the light for my flashes peak into the leaves, yet needing a nice shadow on others. It happened to just fall on the still-green leaves while the turned ones were in shadow.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 6 by Jay Scott on 500px

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 7 by Jay Scott on 500px

Afterwards we all headed over to Rock Creek & and Grill where we had a meal together and concluded our day. Things like this need to happen more often and I have tried this summer to increase the numbers. I will do so again next year and maybe a few prizes will bring out more people.

Now, I am working on wrapping up the accessible home tour from this summer. We may shoot one more home but I have only one shoot that process and that it to be delivered. After that will be something pretty big, pretty wild and pretty excited. It's coming together nicely and the best clues about it will be if you take a peek at my Instagram feed.

Who knows, maybe I will find a niche in our city and become known for something pretty cool, if I can execute it properly.

Oh, Autumn.

 

  Robin Smith Memorial Garden HDR by Jay Scott on 500px

You're so lovely. But today is our likely last day above 25 and one of the last days that our house will get warmer without help from our furnace. Enjoy the weather and the beauty while it's easy to get out and enjoy it without a 20 minute clothing application process. That said, I'm planning on trying to find more locations to safely shoot from my van this winter. Try to stay safely warm, but still make something interesting. One shot in particular, I have in mind. I'll let you know if it gets made.

 

  Robin Smith Memorial Garden Double Exposure by Jay Scott on 500px

Above I was trying to continue with the abstract by making a double exposure of the tree in the photo below and the path in the top photo. Like it? Hate it? Let me know.

 

  Robin Smith Memorial Garden in Full Autumn Beauty by Jay Scott on 500px

It was a very comfy day for Fiona's first-of-many trips to the Forestry Farm.

Still Waiting for Our Baby

 

  My Folks by Jay Scott on 500px

No baby, yet. We do have scheduled induction for this coming weekend or early next week so hopefully we won't get the call at some inconvenient time of day, but then, what would be convenient? At least this past Sunday we picked up the canvases I had on display at the mall and got a photo made of my parents-in-law. Now we just need to get Robin, and the boys, then one of Angie and I and probably one of Kiwi for the six frames I painstakingly painted to be hung in our child's room.

 

  Merv and Marilyn by Jay Scott on 500px

I thought about going to Innovation Place today to photograph the flowers that captivated me on Sunday when we made the above portrait, but my motivation was lacking and I decided to continue working on putting together some of the inserts for my new shelving unit. That's double satisfaction, right there. Organizing my disorganized mess of equipment and office clutter as well as building something with my hands. Even if it is just IKEA stuff, it still involves using a few tools and that great smell of fresh cut lumber.

I have one more photo that I'll share in a few days that scored me a lot of points on 500px and you might have already seen if you follow me on twitter. Sometimes it surprises me how popular simple snapshots with no lighting more than a reflector are popular. I'll share that with you in a few days.

First Photo Walk of 2014

It may have been indoors, at the thoroughly explored and photographed university, but it was good to get out and just make photos as they came and with no particular intention.

And I wasn't alone. It was the third organized gathering of the Help-Portrait Saskatoon crew. I organized  coffee together twice and decided this gathering should involve doing what we love most, second being talking photography.

Certainly not everyone made it out, but we've had better numbers than I first anticipated and we have become better friends which is great and can only serve to make next year's Help-Portrait go even better.

I've decided to try a bit more extensive processing, such as the second and third photos. I welcome your feedback.

I commented that I'd always felt weird whenever I'd wanted to set up a light and shoot this millstone, but in a group of other photographers, with their verbal support, I didn't feel as silly and I was pleased with the results.

Before coffee back at the Agriculture Building, I made a better portrait of the T-rex in Geology with Janet's help. Once we got the elevator unstuck (that one is always finicky) we returned to our starting point and shot the breeze.

I may be able to make the full album of everyone's shot on Facebook open to everyone, once it's put together. Check back later to see it. This link should take you to the album but it might be a few days to populate. Not eveyone's the keener I am. :P

Innovation Place Before Autumn - 3

Oh, how I wished I had seen the location from my first two photos below on the family photo shoot two Saturdays ago. It is right beside the Saskatchewan Research Council building's entrance. They are a reflective gold. The light bouncing off of them is beautifully warm and the imperfections in the glass make it look like light reflected off of water or maybe light under water.

I will post some photos from that session in a week or so and will point out those that were taken with the gold windows as a background.

I suppose the family photo session day was completely overcast so as much as those two girls sitting on the rocks pictured below would have been nice, without the direct sunlight the effect would not have existed.

One of the first crunchy leaves of the upcoming autumn season.

Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo 2012 - 5

You probably saw my synchronized swimming photo from a few weeks ago. It's hard to believe the Olympics are already over. Of course, the Paralympics have just begun. I only saw one race near the start of the games. I tried watching a bit more online but the feeds I watched on the net were either full of commercials, hiccup-y, blocked in Canada by the broadcaster, showing events from hours ago, conducting interviews full of ridiculous questions posed to athletes still catching their breath or not interested in it at the moment, or events overloaded with commentary at unnecessary times. I have nothing against the Olympics, but the broadcasters made it difficult to see what I wanted to see so my interest was pretty low this time around.

To resume the series from this year's visits to the zoo I have a few flowers. These are nothing special beyond getting the framing just right. I have a few more unique that I will share in the next little while. For now, please enjoy these huge peony blooms. I missed the pink ones from slightly earlier in the season. I noticed them as I was leaving one visit that happened to be just before our vacation. They were finished before my next visit.

The roses aren't as nice as most years, likely from the excess rain we have had, but this one was beautiful and only too about fifteen minutes of waiting until the sun moved to just the right spot to cast a ray through the leaves on the best bloom.

Author of Life

You may recall, from mid March to May 5, my repeated posts and tweets regarding an upcoming day of creation with our arts team at Ebenezer Baptist Church. It was on Saturday, May 5 that we gathered to work on a piece in our preferred medium with the theme: Author of Life.

The unveiling took place Sunday, May 27 in the morning before the services, but the complete show was that evening at Scott's concert. Due to sold pieces, exhibits elsewhere and class requirements not all of the pieces could remain on display.

Not all of the pieces in these two photos were from the Author of Life Theme.

In this first photo the bottom painting was Leah's from the day of working together. I believe Laurel's painting of the dancer's feet was as well.

 

Janet's photo or the colours reflecting over the water (top right) and my photo, "From Beginning to End" (top left) was from that day. A larger version is right below.

I respect Leah's creativity and Janet's interpretation of a photo turned into a painting. My approaches are simply more direct. I definitely feel more creative than I used to be, but still struggle to think of ideas to create that represent something else well. One way I've thought that painting has the advantage is that the artist can paint whatever they see in their mind. Perhaps that could be made into a photo, but often logistics and even physics get in the way of that. I still love photography and doubt I would have the passion and commitment to put in the hours to move beyond painting photos if I did try painting. A person can think if only to let the mind consider the possibilities.

Without further adieu, here is the result of waiting weeks for my duck quills, planning, painting the edges of the book silver (that and fences I can paint). After three hours of setup, four hours to let the candle burn down in the candle holder made by my grandfather and get the angle just right, you have the below result. Though the above photo does not represent the final look well, it was a 20x30 metallic print on a floatmount with a glossy laminate. The piece is for sale if you are interested and, as always, prints of any size are available.

Beginning to End by Jay Scott

Jenn and Jason

In about six weeks Jason and Jenn will have an addition to their family. A few weeks ago they asked me if I would be willing to make some maternity photos for them. It was my pleasure and a virtually pressure free opportunity to get some shots and try a few things I have wanted to try for some time when the opportunity presented itself.

Jenn and Jason - 1 by Jay Scott

It was completely amazing to me how quickly time flies when you are shooting. I expected to get to three or four buildings in the hour and a half we had. Nope, only the Ag building with a brief stop in the geology building.

Jason and Jenn - 2 by Jay Scott

I wanted a sharp silhouette but shooting through glass was the only option and it looked lousy so I tried to get a little artistic.

Jason and Jenn - 3 by Jay Scott

More from the university and from round two in our basement coming soon.