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.

If Every Autumn Were Like This...

Autumn has never been my favorite season. September always feels like Sunday afternoon before going back to school for the week. The urgency to complete tasks before the ground is covered with inhospitable snow always felt like the hurry to complete homework before the new school week began. A number of good things have happened in various Septembers of my life but so have a number of terrible things and, as much as I'm pretty good at forgetting the bad, some of these have not been erased with time's selective eraser.

This September, and even this October, has flown by because of our preoccupation and enthrallment with our daughter. However, we are very happy that it has been such a nice few months, most evenings being more comfortable temperature and insect-wise outside than they were in June or July, so that we could spend as much time outside with our little family than we expected based on previous year's autumns.

Most years our late-to-bud and late-to-shed linden tree freezes then drops its leaves. This year it has been nice enough for them to go through their entire change and fall naturally. I really enjoyed watching that process in addition to the nice weather. When it does have this opportunity to go through its cycle naturally it made for quite a lovely, steady, observation. Mixed with the other colors in the backyard neighborhood the pallet is quite gentle and pleasing.

I decided it needed to be photographed in some simple shots just to be recorded and shared. The last one was made on a slightly chilly evening by the light of our patio lights and rope lights. I observed the nice falloff of light while escorting our skitter-ish little dog for her evening outing. Those rustling leaves sure are a distraction and a little bit scary to her. You can't see me rolling my eyes, but they are.

No, I'm not looking forward to winter as the first flakes fall outside today, but you deal with it as we tough/stubborn Saskatchewanians do. Hopefully the winter tires on the van this year will make a difference, now if I could just get winter tires and a power drive on my chair we'd be getting somewhere. Or, better yet, people abiding by the bylaws and shoveling their sidewalks.

Doesn't matter, I've got a head full of ideas and things I want to do this winter that should keep me going until the first signs of melting.

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.

First Photo Walk of the Year

A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to go on a photo walk with a friend from Ebenezer. We decided on going to the University campus because it is weatherproof and also because I wanted to show her some of my favorite locations on campus for photo shoots so that she would have some more locations in her toolbox for her own shoots. Being relatively new to Saskatoon I thought it would be appropriate to show her some of my favorite nooks on the campus. Next time I think we will explore Innovation Place.

It seemed to be a day of plants and leaves for me. When we went on this walk nothing had started to bloom, yet, and even the trees were just barely starting to show signs of buds growing.

It is pretty ironic that my best photos of the day were all taken in locations that it did not matter what time of the year it was. However, it was nice to be able to comfortably travel from one location to the other outside without worrying about the cold, even if my favorite shots came from indoors.

What would a trip to the geology building be without a quick long exposure of the waterfall over the Koi pond? I really need to bring a tripod one of these times to get a crystal-clear photo of the still objects. That said, the Koi were posing beautifully for Brendyn and I was a little envious of her ability to lean over the water and get some nice photos of those beautiful fish.

Regardless of the weather or the photos it was just nice to spend some time talking shop and making photos with someone else who really loves photography.

I imagine the family photo session bookings will be coming soon and if you are interested please contact me sooner rather than later so we can make sure that we get you booked at your ideal time.

Approaching Winter

From our walk in the park with the dogs at Thanksgiving.

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.