Content-Rich Update

Technology is great when it works, isn't it? This post was long overdue a few days ago, and some of the excuses are good excuses, while others are pretty weak. The last delay though was technologically related. It always seems that when something is working just fine and I am satisfied with it, that's when something goes wrong and upgrading or replacing is necessitated. Maybe a new C drive and a bit more RAM is in order before this perfectly fine computer decides to bite it to the point that it needs replacing. But, I digress.

This is going to be one photo-intensive post and I won't waste your time with long-winded stories. Maybe just a sentence or two for each one.

 

  Family by Diefenbaker Centre by Jay Scott on 500px

The first photo in this post we are very grateful for as it was made by our good friend, Amanda and her great guy, Garrett, from over at Renditure Photography. I wanted to test out my latest investment and it performed exactly as I'd hoped. No more pushing my speed lights to the limit. I have a flash capable of some heavy hitting, when it is called for. We didn't quite make our hats look like cowboy hats, as an earlier photo of Fiona that many people were very fond of, but we thought it looked pretty good.

 

  Saskatoon 2015 Fireworks Festival by Jay Scott on 500px

Soon I will speak about some excellent work that I have been doing in collaboration with the Canadian Paraplegic Association and Saskatoon City Hospital Rehab Department. We've been working to create a database of accessible homes in and around Saskatoon. The purpose being to provide newly injured people a resource to help them decide how to best renovate or build their home following a spinal cord injury or similar disability. It also could be used for someone looking for good ideas to include in a future build. I know that I have seen a number of very affordable and reasonable options that I would like to incorporate into our existing house. A few of those have already been implemented, thanks to my dad's hard work.

During the process of this project, one of the condos that I photographed was overlooking the river from a seventh floor balcony. What an unbelievable view. The homeowner and former CPA employee/board member, offered me the opportunity to photograph the upcoming Potash Corp. Fireworks Festival. How could I say no?

 

  Saskatoon Before 2015 Fireworks Festival by Jay Scott on 500px

While I was up there I wanted to get a simple basic cityscape from a perspective I may not have the opportunity to get to very often.

A few weeks ago I led another accessible photo excursion at the University. We had a better turnout this time and, despite some unexpected heavy rain and a little bit of lightning and thunder, we had a good time, made a few photos, and enjoyed a coffee afterward.

A little bit of creative framing and you'd never know that Emma was dry and standing in a doorway. The way it was rumbling at that moment I thought we might just get a flash of lightning in the background. I must admit that it was very exhilarating to be making a nice portrait of someone I'm very comfortable photographing, while it was raining and lightly storming.

It was nice that Fiona's nap time worked out so that she and her mommy could join us. Even if we were inside, it was nice for them to get out on a bit of a rainy and windy day with me. She was in a great mood and the pictures are proof.

It's no Reptile World but our little Geology Building is certainly a fine place to go for a look at whenever animals they might have there and to listen to the relaxing trickle of some water. I think it would be nice if they had a designated area for people to sit and enjoy the atmosphere.

Finally, I took the time to make a photo I've had brewing in my mind for a little while, now. A fresh order of coffee arrived from Matchstick Coffee Roasters in Vancouver (just two days after I ordered it!) so I used the ample amount of beans to put together the photo I had envisioned.

 

  Raw Energy by Jay Scott on 500px

It has been awhile since I posted, but now that I found time there has certainly been a lot to share. With the summer seemingly coming to a close I'm in a bit of a hurry up and get it done mode for a few of the photos that I need to do outside. If the weather forecast holds I should have one more quite elaborate photo to share within the next week.

That photo does belong to Challenging Reality. I know there has not been much for updates there for some time but this one will be worth it. Moreover, I feel like as much as those pieces of technology are important, the accessible home photo database has the potential to help more people in a much larger way than what I've done to this point on Challenging Reality. As well, I have been selected to participate in a photovoice project the health region is putting on where chosen individuals photograph the barriers they face in the community because of an acquired injury. My injury may have been some time ago but these photos, and the conversations that will follow, will make it to some pretty big decision-makers. I hope that my efforts there and the quality of my photos will help them to understand the importance of proper and safe accessibility, and even the discrimination of inaccessibility. I may have to make a few trips down Broadway to prove a point. But that won't be until after my stop to photograph the very steep and dangerous curb cuts just outside City Hospital.

Finally, there is an organization by the name of Barrier Free Canada that that is working hard to have a Canadians with Disabilities Act legislated. Regardless of your political stripes, now is the time to be asking hard questions of candidates to see what they think about something like this and if they have any clue about how far behind Canada is on accessibility compared to the rest of the first world. I encourage you to check out their website and, if you believe this is something that Canadians with disabilities deserve, to participate.

Thanks!

Springtime Flora

It is my annual intention to make something nice out of the short lived bleeding-hearts in our front garden. Last year yielded some nice results and I believe that photo still holds up well to the other bleeding-hearts photos on 500px. Our early spring, combined with life's obstacles, meant I didn't get to photographing our bleeding-hearts until they were past their prime so I needed to de-emphasize their waning state. How to meet or beat last year's photo? Lasers!

 

  Heart Within a Heart by Jay Scott on 500px

Add to that my new self-made strip light from the bottom, my assistant adding a nice touch from the top (after I realized something more was needed from above) all while holding Fiona and I think I managed to create something unique.

One of the bigger struggles lately in me having time and space to make a photo is our busy and remarkably fast daughter. I don't dare leave anything set up on the floor because of her fast speed she could have a hold of it, and potentially drag something down on top of herself, before we could catch her. Nobody wants any equipment damaged and we definitely do not want her hurt. She has enough little bumps all by her own efforts as she learns her fine motor skills and balance.

Last Monday we joined my in-laws at Pike Lake for a potluck and wiener roast. It was a beautiful +32°C with added humidity. I was loving it, the rest were feeling the intensity of it. Before Robin and the boys could join us, there was plenty of time for relaxation but you know that's not something I am very good at so I set up and tried to capture the beauty of one of the more despised flowers you can find anywhere. Dandelions.

I have never really minded them. I know that an unhealthy lawn can be taken over by their pervasiveness but I like their smell, color and feel, even if they are weeds. I hope the below one-light macro shot brings a bit of appreciation to their delicate beauty.

 

  Simple Beauty by Jay Scott on 500px

And, what cove of lovely dappled light, tucked away in the corner of the camp site, would be complete without a photo of our cute and precious little Fiona? She had an amazing day until her tiredness and the heat caught up with her and we had to make a pretty quick drive home. We still had a good number of hours enjoying a bit of roughing it, and the sound and smell of the campfire sure were refreshing.

 

  Fine Afternoon at Pike Lake by Jay Scott on 500px

Oh, and for what it's worth, that was an outfit she was wearing. As much as she's good at getting a hold of things like dish towels and table cloths, this time it was when she arrived with. It suited the unplanned photo perfectly.

The Good Things and Our Precious Seven Month Old

 

  Proudest Grandparents by Jay Scott on 500px

Excuse me if I'm brief. I just completed a document that was 4400 words, 25,000 characters to take to the director of home care, to stand in my defense to have my care maintained as it is and as it has been for 13 years. Ridiculous, I know. Understandably policies change, methods and knowledge grow, but in this case it's unreasonable, they're trying to put me inside of a box which I do not fit and to accept what they are proposing would mean great illness for me. How do I know this for sure? Past experience and 17 years of intentionally educating myself about how I function now.

I may need to go further than this. At times a person just wants to roll over when they're being mistreated and deceived but there is a principle that must be stood on. I fear that should I just give in and either accept their proposed changes to my own detriment or go with private care which is not cheap, to say the least, that I would regret it the rest of my life. I have not spent the last few years delicately working on becoming more assertive and standing up for myself as a valuable person, to be kicked in the head like this.

The last thing I'll say about it is that I am absolutely dumbfounded how one little sheet of paper containing a long-standing policy, not reasonable given my circumstances, they've now decided to use, is what these people are standing behind against all of the proof, evidence and experience I am providing them with. It's completely irrational, unreasonable and unethical. As much as I derived a degree of satisfaction from hearing the waiver in their voices and seeing the tremble in their hands as they delivered the news that they knew was unjust, I suppose sleeping on a bed of over $150,000 annual salary would ease their guilt. They even disregarded a surgeon's orders. I wonder how that would look to the eyes of a higher authority.

So, negativity aside, spend your energy fighting, formulate your defense, choose who to approach next to hear reason, and focus on the good things like incredible parents, a beautiful seven-month old daughter, a pillar of support that is my wife, and an enthusiastic little dog who's always happy to give me a hug and make me smile. All of that is great but I am not unappreciative of the friends and other supporters who have lent me their offer to do what they can, if there is anything at all. Perhaps I will need to start a social media firestorm. If it comes to that I will be asking a favor that you share, whatever form that takes. But, for now, it's time to go grab a few minutes of shut eye while I can and try to focus on the good things.

I've done what I can do for now and that makes me calmer than anything.

Winter Photo Drive

Most of my favorite work is done in a controlled environment, with auxiliary lighting and highly preplanned. Sometimes, though, you just need to get out, photograph what you can see and enjoy the process along with the satisfaction of using the technology at your hands to create something nice.

Unfortunately, much like the arbour above, I don't get to see much at this time of year, with this much snow. Even the roads plowed at the forestry farm were a little bit deep if you got just slightly off the cleared portions. I did leave the plowed parts, in the interest of getting the best angle possible, and was very grateful that I had my winter tires on the van this year. They sure can chew through a lot of snow.

Speaking of snow, it was a nice day when I made these photos but there was something ominous in the forecast. After this little photo drive I met some friends for a meeting of the minds. It was at Moka Coffee Bar in Briarwood. Paul and I each parked in the handicapped spots in front of Shoppers Drug Mart, about a 75 meter wheel on cleared sidewalks to get to the shop. By the time we were done our meeting the snow was coming down heavy and the wind was blowing hard. The last 20 meters was blocked by deep snow banks thanks to a gap in the buildings and the wind whistling through. We plowed as far as we could, got stuck, but thankfully a nice little old lady, using a walker herself, was inside the drugstore, saw us struggling and sent the staff out to help.

Normally I'm not too concerned about getting too cold, being that close to my vehicle, but my thumb actually hurt for a few hours afterward because it got wet from pushing while we were stuck in that brisk wind for just a few minutes. I got pushed to the van and let my ramp down only to realize that it settled on yet another snow bank and, because of my wet rims, couldn't get up onto it. Once I was on my hill climbers would have made sure any progress I made was not lost. The one employee popped back out and got me onto the ramp. Otherwise I might've been a bit of a quad-sickle.

It was nice to just get out and photograph whatever I can find without too much forethought. I decided to do that again following week but, surprise, surprise, we got another huge dump of snow that started just hours after I was done shooting on my second winter photo drive.

Those photos will be coming soon. I hope spring is not too far behind because I'm feeling that ready-to-be-done feeling with this winter.

Five Months, Already

 

  Five Months by Jay Scott on 500px

Difficult to believe. Even more difficult to think I'd put together a three-light setup for her on this chilly day. Must pretend to enjoy winter a little bit. I'm sure she'll enjoy going for a ride in daddy's sleigh once she can sit up independently. It won't be long at the rate she's progressing.

2013 CPA Wheelchair Relay

Last Saturday was the Saskatchewan branch of the Canadian Paraplegic Association wheelchair relay. It is their major fundraising event that occurs once a year and occurs only because of the hard work of a lot of people. Delynne was the organizer again this year and she did an excellent job. She recruited top-notch volunteers, including a skilled photographer, had lots of prizes for everyone, great activities for the kids, information stations about wheelchair sports and adaptive videogame technology, a yoga demonstration by Heather Cuttai and some celebrity appearances for the initial relay.

Our very own Mayor Don Atchison was there to say a few words and participate in the initial relay. Since this is my site I will say that I always have to bite my tongue at these times. I'm afraid the City of Saskatoon just cannot be patting itself on the back about putting in a few curb cuts that are completely unusable in the winter and many in the summer, because of snow or the road pavement being higher than the low point of the curb cut which causes a very dangerous lip for the front wheels of a wheelchair. Meanwhile, new businesses are opening, freshly renovated, with inaccessible entrances or washrooms. Costco has a freshly redesigned parking lot with fewer usable disabled persons parking stalls and new strip malls have fewer sidewalk accesses and the ones they do have are often at the front of a parking spot so they are blocked by the vehicles of individuals who insist on pulling up to the curb until their wheels hit and their front spoiler rips off. Thank goodness that ramp is there so they don't damage that spoiler in those instances.

I suggested that they bring in a full zamboni just before the relay starts and dump it in the middle of the track to give our mayor a real feel of getting around by wheelchair, trying to plow through snow.

I suppose a lot of these complaints are part of the reason that I help out with this relay. It is my hope that the suggestions regarding accessibility that the CPA is able to provide businesses with will become laws. Until there is punishment for exclusionary decisions by businesses I don't believe we will have a properly accessible city.

Among our celebrity guests was Becky Richter who, since I first photographed her over four years ago when she was fairly new to wheelchair racing, has won plenty of medals and broken records.

Heather doing her yoga demonstration for us.

Heather's daughter rocking her face paint. She even had a leopardprint shirt on to match.

CTV's own Mike Ciona was our emcee for the fourth year and did his usual excellent job. Subway provided an excellent lunch for us and there were the many prizes provided by smaller businesses from around the city to give to people through draws, trivia competitions and other games.

Of course, there were the large corporate sponsors that are greatly appreciated and make this fundraiser the most beneficial to the longevity and effectiveness of the CPA.

I got a little heavy on the photos of Lawrence, but that guy can move! The sequence of six photos that I took of him making his passing maneuver above was a lot of fun to cycle between to watch him overtake the older gentleman who's reaching for him. Things like that make the day extra fun to participate in.

Some of the groups had the absolute best costumes this year. There were the biker women, as seen in the background of the last photo of Lawrence above, with their fishnet stockings, bicycle helmets and tank tops complete with knee-high stockings.

UPDATE: Angie suggested they may be roller derby players. I'm guessing she's right.

There was the team dressed country style with the fierce, but friendly, attitude to match.

And, of course, there were the Wheel Riders 1, Wheel Riders 2 and the Young Riders, all of whom were dressed in Saskatchewan Roughrider green apparel.

All in all it was a full and busy day with a lot of laughs and a lot of excitement. It's amazing how fast, with a little bit of training, a person can move in a wheelchair. It's also amusing at how someone who's not use to navigating in a wheelchair can come to a corner and push the chair the exact wrong direction that they intend. It was things like that that made for a few of the best laughs and best collisions.

Not an April Fool's Joke

I actually have something new! I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything. A lot of behind the scenes work, thought and effort has gone into pieces that I hope will become something I can share before too long. Amongst that work has also been a time of great impatience as the mountains of snow continued to grow instead of slowly recede as they should for this time of year.

Temperatures are still quite far below normal and look like they will stay that way for awhile. However, we should be thankful because these below normal temperatures mean that these mountains of snow will melt very slowly and hopefully prevent any significant flooding.

We returned from Swift Current today from our Easter celebration and getaway. It was a very good time with lots of good food and much good conversation. The men even managed to thoroughly defeat the women at a game of whist. They usually beat us so this time we are going to enjoy basking in the victory because next time they will probably show us how it is done, again.

After completing the photo for the above-mentioned work, I wanted to occupy some time on Saturday morning just photographing something for fun. I have always admired a miniature grain elevator that mom had purchased a number of years ago and came up with the idea to photograph it while looking between the stocks of some wheat in one of the decorations mom had downstairs.

Moonlit Saskatchewan Elevator 2 by Jay Scott

I was going for a post-sunset look with the appearance of a risen full moon with the twilight still showing itself on the side of the elevator.

Moonlit Elevator 1 by Jay Scott

The delicate work that occurred to put this wonderful wood carving together was simply something I want to photograph. Not unlike the handmade pen, this kind of handiwork really impresses me and deserves to be shown off.

I hope your spring is going well and that your basements are water free. I know that would make for a much more enjoyable spring for everyone.