Christmas Cuteness - One of the Things I Am Thankful For

 

   

 

 

It was a great visit to Swift Current for Christmas. I hadn't been there since Thanksgiving of 2014. Fiona was a delight and melted hearts each day. Only one run-in with Santa upset her. More on him, in a minute.

As is often the case, the paper and boxes were as exciting as the gifts. For awhile, anyway. It wasn't too long before we broke into the shopping cart full of groceries and bag full of other food that grandma and grandpa had bought her to go with her new kitchen. The tea set had to stay in the box, though. She wanted it out but with all the little pieces we wanted to make sure everything made it home. Sometimes, though, the best things are free. In the first photo of Fiona you can see a gift bag that she was just enthralled with and really enjoyed carrying it around, heading to the door and saying "buh-bye!" I guess she was going shopping for that last-minute gift before bed on Christmas Eve.

Santa did stop in for a visit, and she was fine to observe him and try to figure out who this man in red was. Grandpa picked her up to come over and say hello and that was little too much. She was definitely upset about that but I sure was glad to see Santa because he brought me three, 4 foot fluorescent light fixtures. We picked them up from his garage on Boxing Day.

The one thing that I have wanted with my recent ultraviolet light portraits has been more light. I have been pushing the image quality to the limits on my camera. It is a stellar machine but definitely aimed at studio work, not a pitch black garage with a cobbled together selection of ultraviolet light sources. Now I have plenty, and expect the next shoot to have the image quality I really want. That's not to say the first shoots did not have great images. I was really happy with everyone's work. But when I look at the full resolution images I know what is possible and now can see that it will be what I have come to expect.

Regarding hard work, anyone who believes being a model or artist is easy should really give it a try. Taking the time for makeup, enduring the tedious downtime between actual creating, the physical strength it takes to play a large instrument or hold that pose for "just one more shot" is not to be dismissed. A significant number of people have put in hard work for my benefit, and I recognize and appreciate it. Sometimes it was mutually beneficial, other times it was completely selfless and all for my benefit. The very brisk weather conditions I asked young Olivia and my assistant, Rae, to endure for a sunrise session is a prime example. Those photos will be coming, soon.

The hard work put into this toybox by Fiona's grandfather can be seen in the meticulousness and the details. That same grandfather has spent so much time coming up with and building solutions for me. Those solutions could be adaptations to make things easier for me to use or they could be custom tables and supports to hold up prop for a photo that's very important to me. A photo that I needed to make last year, following the most stressful time of my life. That photo and the related post may or may not be coming, soon. I have lots to say and it needs to be said, just right.

I recognize the generosity and hard work of Santa (Dennis) who, without hesitation, offered me as many of his spare light fixtures as I needed. They were designed to be mounted to the ceiling and when he knew what I was going to use them for, quickly offered enough cord to wire them up to be plugged into a typical household socket.

Countless people have assisted me on shoots and made many of the images you see possible. That self-portrait from last summer, took me four days to put together. Had Angie been here I bet you would've been three hours, tops. It was nice to accomplish it independently but it made me appreciate any and all help I have received over my entire life.

This is not a sob story. I am reasonably strong at administrative and organizational work. Bruce has been the one to do so much of the legwork for Help-Portrait the last few years, but I'm quite happy to be on top of communications, curating lists of volunteer information and doing whatever I am strongest at. That's the way it should be in any project, regardless of disability.

I know it's not about keeping score, but whenever I have the opportunity to help out in whatever way I am able to, I don't usually take long to make the time to help out, well. Often it's through education, experience or information, which I'm always happy to communicate as clearly as I am able so that the one I am helping can accomplish their objective, efficiently.

The number of times that my parents-in-law have looked after Fiona so that we can go out together, or Angie can go out with the girls, is so greatly appreciated. We have a very good daughter and she is very easy on us (though, it looks like she's getting her eyeteeth and is one hurting little girl who should have been sleeping almost 2 hours ago) but a little bit of time and space makes us appreciate her spunky personality and impromptu dance parties, all the more.

They may not look all that similar, but she has her cousin, Will's, energy and drive to entertain. With her giggles, exploration, dancing and general performing I think they will get along very well as they grow up together. He may have a pretty big head start on her, but I'm thinking there might be a few stories to come between these two.

For me, 2015 started with great difficulty. I know that a degree of faith, determination and hard fighting made a turnaround at the halfway point. From there the year has gotten better and better, and it continues in full momentum with me having the time and opportunities to do what I love. For others, it was an entirely difficult year, with significant loss, bad news and trials like I cannot imagine. I was not exaggerating when I said it started as the most stressful time in my life, but contrasted to so much of the personal anguish that some of the people I care about of had to face this past year, it pales.

For those who I refer to reading this, if my way to return the help you gave me is to be an ear to listen or simply a distraction, contact me. I can do that for you.

Merry Christmas! UPDATED

Guess who got to meet Santa today?

We will be home and around, I even have new work for Challenging Reality that will be posted soon, but I think it's that time of year to settle down, relax and find some peace in whatever will bring it. Be that nostalgic cartoons (Garfield and Rudolph -- peeking from behind Angie-- are my favorite oldies with Shrek the Halls being my modern favorite), favorite music (Boney M is where it's at!), favourite movies (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) or whatever tradition brings the warmth of memories old and not so old. Try to find time to enjoy them.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy, blessed new year to all of you!

Frosty Apples For Ma

My mom has wanted me to make a photo of frosty berries or apples for a long time. Finally all of the conditions came together for me to be able to make a few nice shots today when I got home from some business. The early morning fog made for the hoarfrost, the wind had not blown it away, yet, it was not too far into the winter that the apples were shriveled or ugly looking, and it was in a location that I could easily get to. Though, the excuse could be made that the teleconverter I have been coveting would have made an even stronger, closer photo than these. Angie supports the purchase but perhaps I will wait a little longer to see if it's the right idea. There have been more than a few instances lately where it would be great to have more reach and that seems to say to me that this purchase would be justified.

 

  Frosty Thunderchild Crabapples 2 by Jay Scott on 500px

First, I will complete a few more shoots, think about it a little bit longer and maybe save a little bit of money from Christmas to go with birthday money to make my decision. One of my doctors believes that it would be better for my neck than the 200-400mm f/4 alternative, and be better for my mental well-being if I had that extra technology at my disposal. Unfortunately, Dr. Branimir Gjetvaj is not a medical doctor but one of genetics and ecology and an acquaintance who also knows his way around a camera so a bit of the weight behind his purchase opinion is lost there since his background isn't so much concerned directly with my health. Today, though, I was told that because of the number of times I have recently wanted more reach, in addition to giving my disabled self every advantage I can, I would be wise to consider this. Of course, neither of these guys are the ones swiping the plastic for the purchase. :-)

 

  Frosty Thunderchild Crabapples 1 by Jay Scott on 500px

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.

Spring at Innovation Place

I was going to do my absolute best to get some shots of the spring fruit tree blooms this year. In the past it seemed like it was either rain, wind or other commitments that made me miss this beautiful time of year and perfect photo opportunities. It was the very next day that we had wind gusts up to 70 km an hour, combined with some rain, that made what you see here almost completely fallen to the ground or damaged to the point of withering.

 

  Innovation Place in Bloom by Jay Scott on 500px

The photo above scored me a lot of love on 500px. Like Angie said, even the skilled and discerning photographers that post, share and peruse work on the website appreciate a nice scenery photo. You won't see that much appreciation of a good food photo which took a lot more time to prepare, stylize, light and execute. These I just showed up at the right time of year, found a nice framing and made a few images.

Below you see the Saskatchewan Research Council and one of my favorite places to hang out with a coffee. The grounds are beautiful, the planters (not put out yet) are always full of the nicest succulents and there's always a nice fragrance in the air. The fountain provides the steady soothing sound of flowing water and there is plenty of sun or shade, whichever you prefer. This time, the group in the photo was enjoying the shade under the vibrant pink blossoms.

To the right, out of frame, is a nice patio with raised planters that are always full of some of the nicest flowers that bloom all summer long. You can find the photos I made over there in past years right here, here and here.

 

  Innovation Place - Saskatchewan Research Council - HDR by Jay Scott on 500px

I really wished I had more time to stay longer and keep shooting but I had another appointment to get to for the promotion of Challenging Reality. It was interesting to see newly injured individuals, remember some of the things I went through and to see firsthand which technologies I've shared were of most interest to them. It was very good to see their interest and to be affirmed that my work there is appreciative and helpful. The writing splint that I use was available to them but they were incorrectly instructed on how to fit it on their hands by their occupational therapists. I just don't see how it can be used any other way than it is supposed to be. That's why when I made a photo that I did not include my hand. The description I gave probably isn't even necessary. But, I helped accelerate the ability of two men to resume handwriting. Combine that with the photos you've seen here and it was a good day.

Christmas Greetings

Kiwi is guarding the gifts and wishing you a very happy, safe and peaceful Merry Christmas!

Back to the Zoo - 2

My last post spoke about the zoo but I had yet to get to animal photos in the previous post. Hopefully by the time you read this we are having a top-notch time in Vancouver and starting to get excited about the next leg of our trip down to Seattle.

I cannot help but wonder about how excited, and even anxious, I will be feeling when this post goes live. You see, if you haven't read on Twitter by now, we have been invited to stop in at Chase Jarvis' studio this coming Tuesday. I do not have a lot of things on my bucket list, and it's not for the wrong reasons, but one of the things on that list is to meet Chase Jarvis. There is a good possibility that he will not be there. The episode of Chase Jarvis Live that was scheduled to be on Wednesday was postponed. We were going to be part of that studio audience, which would've been cool. Just stopping in to see the studio is great with me. If he happens to be there, well, it will be even more amazing. To be part of a studio audience of 50 people would be great. To meet him one-on-one would be amazing.

Now, as much as I talk about him so highly, I know that without a strong crew behind him he could not do all that he does. Regardless of his presence, meeting that team will be great. Seeing in person where so many of the shows I watch online have been made will be excellent. Whenever I need the motivation to start shooting again or continue working on something that has been on the back burner it only takes a couple of his videos on YouTube or reading his blog to get me back in gear.

In my previous post I spoke about the attractiveness of being able to share a photo so quickly and easily through services like Instagram. It was Chase the first came up with the idea with his groundbreaking app, Best Camera, which had the features adopted by future apps, but before the social media integration had come as far as it has today. More than a few great ideas and trends have started in the back of his mind.

Creative Live, the free online educational tool for creatives, was founded by him and is steadily gaining momentum and maintaining quality instructors. Both of these apps have changed the industry. He was one of the first people to do extensive behind-the-scenes videos of how he worked. This and Creative Live brought much criticism from people who feel that he is giving away the secrets of the industry. Everyone is a photographer today and, as shown by so many people, hard work and uniqueness is what stands out over some collection of Gnostic trade secrets. That could be said for so many fields long before the digital age.

Maybe in years to come I will scratch Joe Mcnally and David Hobby off my bucket list, too.

Back to the zoo photos. This piece of shrub that had grown through the fence, before the shrub was trimmed way back, at first looked like a dead rodent hanging waiting to be snacked on. When I got closer I knew immediately what it was but the fact that it was hanging from the fence of the red fox enclosure made me initially think it was lunch.

New do. 'Nuff said.

This is your consolation photo. I'm afraid that the few day-old baby sheep that I was struggling to get a great shot of (the slope by this enclosure is absolutely terrible to stop on with a wheelchair to get a photo without rolling away) saw that his mama had left for the other side of the enclosure and he dutifully followed her. All I got was the cutest little blur of legs and baby fresh wool.

I'm still itching to have a photo session in this portion of the zoo. When those trees are in full bloom, probably about the time this is posted, they are just beautiful, smell amazing and are a fairytale setting for a round of photos.

It's not a smile, but it's not aggressive, either. I don't know what got the bears so excited but they were very energetic and entertaining when I first got there. The second photo is not one of boredom or sadness, but resting. Whatever they were up to it tired them out.

We may hit up the zoo in Seattle if time and weather cooperates. Until then, these photos should keep me in good shape until we are home and I can return to unwind from what will probably be two very busy and full weeks. No doubt I will have the full report for you in the days to come.

Until then, I ask that you continue to visit Challenging-Reality. Posts will be occurring there every Monday morning for many months to come and your support is appreciated. I appreciate the views but what I really need is you could take the 5 seconds it takes to share it on Facebook or Twitter or wherever else you partake in social media. Spread the word to your friends and feel free to leave a comment, drop me an e-mail or let me know how you think it could be better, easier to navigate or find what people are looking for or any other thoughts and feedback that would make it more worthy of the content I worked so hard on to be shared, so that it may help the individuals it is intended to help.

Thanks!

Back to the Zoo

After a few days of heavy exercise wheeling down by the river and around the forestry farm park, I took my next visit to have a much more leisurely pace and make sure that it was a photo-centric visit.

Knowing that I would not be taking my DSLR on our upcoming vacation I thought I would give smart phone photography greater attention. It should not be difficult to determine which photos were made with the phone and which ones were made with the DSLR, but I must say that I am very impressed with the image quality produced by my Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of the images produced by my Pentax K10D. As long as the amount and quality of light are respectable, and with a little tweak of the white balance and exposure compensation, that tiny little chip can record some very fine images.

It may have been a coincidence but the fact that it was a reduced cost day the day prior to my visit seemed a bit obvious to me. Not just by the peacefulness of a Zen garden interrupted by a paper coffee cup, but just other aspects of the park that made it feel like it had been visited by a number of non-regular patrons. I know it's not "my" park, but I care about the place and begin to wonder about the type of person that would intentionally placed it there instead of carrying the additional 10 yards to the garbage can. I would have been unable to reach it without damaging plants or the garden so I just made my ironic photo. People walking by seconds later politely asked me if I had forgotten my coffee. I let them know that I would never do that but it made for an interesting photo.

So many of the plants with small blooms were nearly in full force. I hope that by the time I am able to return to the park it is a nice mix of the smaller flowers and larger ones that will be coming into their prime.

The perfect example that the best camera is the one you have with you: I was just about to make a photo of this path with my phone, which over grows early in the season and is impassable for me by wheelchair. Just as I was about to make the photo I heard the rustling in the shrubs, the squirrel popped out onto the path paused while I made the photo and ran off across the garden into the shrubs on the other side.

I have had many people ask me why in the world am I not taking my DSLR on our vacation to Vancouver and Seattle. My response has been that the amount of distance we will travel on foot will mean energy spent. Carrying a case with an appropriate amount of equipment would consume additional energy. I do not have a "travel lens" as many people do. I have lenses for specific purposes and in order to get the full gamut of ranges you need all lenses. It means off quality but it also means maximum weight.

As well, so many of the photos that I would make would be snapshots. Snapshots can be made with a phone. It is when I am making a photo, with lighting and significant intention, that I insist on optimum quality. The biggest exception where I am convinced I will miss the DSLR is when we see massive things where an ultra-wide-angle lens would be the exact tool for the job.

In addition to the weight factor, it may end up being more of a source of worry or unwanted attention for us. Add to that the time I would want to take to make my photos just right would add up and prevent us from seeing as much as we could. Not that the whole vacation is going to be rushing to cram in as much as we possibly can, but I do not know when or if I will ever get back to Vancouver and Seattle. I do want to take in as much as we can while there.

I have always been very diligent about taking an ample amount of gear with me so that I am always prepared, should I need it. I'm pretty sure that there is only been a few times that I needed the extensive load I've taken with me, and I was glad to have it, but I am skilled enough that I would have been able to make a fine photo with what I had. Many of the mentors that I follow online have downsized significantly, lately. They still have their full setups for big jobs but for travel they have something smaller that allows them to be more discreet, make a photo much more quickly and save their energy by not calling 15 pounds of gear everywhere they go. Not that I have to mindlessly follow the herd, but their decisions have lightened my firm stance of carrying everything just in case. Perhaps this trip will further lighten it or solidify it further. The biggest thing, though, is that they are carrying smaller but very capable cameras.

My problem is that most of the smaller cameras I cannot handle and when you add up the cost of running a second system you start getting into the price range of Elinchrom Quadra Rangers which I confess to being curious about.

I believe that the convenience of my phone will be nice and, as much as a lot of people find it to be quicker to make a photo with, I find that adjusting my settings using a touchscreen takes five times as long as the dials and buttons on my DSLR which I can adjust my sleep. However, with this phone, as with the squirrel on the path photo above, I can get angles that I cannot get easily with my DSLR. The reason being that thanks to the Android operating system on the phone I can fire the camera with my voice. Of course there is an app for that in the iTunes store for you iPhone users, but it'll cost you; nothing new for anyone who pays the Apple tax. ;)

The image quality is just fine, the macro capability is impressive and I will bring along my usual flashlight and a reflector so that if I do want to take the time to create an intentional photo I will have a few tools to help it stand out from the average snapshot.

The final reason for me being comfortable taking only my phone is the ability to share so easily. As much as I do not care for the filters Instagram or similar photo sharing apps include, they do allow you to get your photos posted to multiple locations very quickly and easily. It took me a long time to get on board with Instagram, mainly because the camera on the iPod just didn't cut it and I didn't have any other tool that shared to Instagram at the time. Now that I have my phone Instagram is quickly becoming my favorite social media tool. You can find me on Instagram @jayscottphotography (link opens a new window to my gallery) or view the posts as they show up in my Twitter feed which can be viewed on the site near the bottom of the right-hand navigation bar.

Rudolph's Turtle Cookie

Rudolph's Turtle Cookie by Jay Scott

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Angie, Arleen and Karen spent a nice day baking together. These sugar cookies are the first of their efforts.

Christmas Sugar Cookies by Jay Scott

Their other work will be photographed and posted soon... then eaten. ;)

Christmas Decor for 2012

We don't go all out in decorating our house for Christmas but we have finally found a tree that we really like, that fits nicely in the corner without crowding our limited living room space, goes up easily, and still has plenty of room for all of our favorite ornaments. The half wall dividing our living room from our kitchen is seldom cluttered during regular months but becomes a lovely place to put out our favorite things in December.

Even though we were not sure where we would store it, I am really glad that we got our little light up Rudolph that you could see in the bottom left corner of the top photo. If I ever found an equivalent scale sized abominable snowman from the classic Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer movie I would buy it and make a place for it. The lamp that usually sits in the corner where our tree is was moved down the wall so that we still have light when we need it though I really enjoy having nothing on but the Christmas decorations at this time of year.


I always enjoy going through the boxes of decorations, most of which my parents gave me from their tree when I was young, finding new ones that I forgot we had and old ornaments almost as old as I am. I discovered a pair of new ones this year that were stuck to other ornaments and I realized that they were magnetic. Those two snowmen are now nicely stuck on the shaft of our living room lamp. Angie hung Mrs. Clause's clothesline tonight and I am happy to have a plush, dancing Christmas tree that I received as a gift 10 years ago, sitting on my desk. Thankfully there are no batteries in it because as much as it is a cute little ornament it is one of the most annoying when it is powered up. :-)

The last few years have not felt terribly Christmasy to me despite trying to get into the spirit. I did miss the Festival of Trees this year but have already watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation once, listened to two Boney M Christmas albums and have the Christmas cartoon playlist all ready to go. Mom and dad are planning on coming in two weekends which will stretch out the celebrations over a greater portion of the month and, best of all, I have a gift for Angie that was not on her list and I hope to really surprise her with.

I hope you all have a very pleasant Christmas season and that the following winter does not seem too long even if we are starting with 3 feet of snow on our deck.

Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo 2012 - 2

Our Thunderchild is just as nice, just that the lack of wind and perfect positioning made shooting this one at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm much easier on Wednesday morning and was easier to add context to.

Enjoy.

 
Forestry Farm Thunderchild Crab Apple - 2 by Jay Scott

Forestry Farm Thunderchild Crab Apple - 1 by Jay Scott

One of Our Yard's Nicer Features

It has been a few years since we landscaped our yard. Since then it has had its ups and downs. Mostly downs. Dead cedars, dead rose bushes, unremarkable double flowering plum, moth infested kohlrabi, mediocre tomatoes (except that one excellent crop of cherry tomatoes). Yes, the silvermounds grew like weeds along with the snapdragons and other beautiful annuals.

But one dead clematis was followed by a second one that thrived then suddenly rotted. We cut it back and it began to grow beautifully again, then rotted. The stick not yet removed by the workmen is all that remains.

This year it will be a vine of hops or Virginia Creeper or something very invasive to grow mightily beside our slowly recovering Linden tree.

One thing that has not let us down is our Thunderchild crab apple tree.

Thunderchild - 4 by Jay Scott

This year was exceptional. We made sure to get out and shoot them before three days of wind and rain claimed the nicest ones. I say we because without Angie's help and breaking the wind with a reflector there would be no in focus shots as the gusts brought in the moisture of the next few days.

Thunderchild - 2 by Jay Scott

It is a shame how briefly beautiful spring blooms such as these last. But I suppose that without them, and their getting out of the way, the fruit will not have time to grow, ripen and be ready for the next season of photos.

Thunderchild - 3 by Jay Scott

We both hope that the yard continues to grow in beauty and fullness. I'm anticipating a new variety of vine and some lilies this year. Always happy with Angie's choice of annuals and the opportunity to continue using this excellent new macro lens that is carrying its weight very well.

Thunderchild - 1 by Jay Scott