MakingHappy

I HEART Photo II

An end-of-year, personal favourites list. Maybe I'll make it a tradition. I know it reads as narcissistic but it's a good way for me to look back on the photos I took this year.... with the exception of the negatives that remain unscanned.

The snowy sofa series. 1, 2, 3

Olympos Restaurant - I can't believe I ate there more than once. I wasn't super happy with the exposure but I still like it. Incidently, this was a great day of walking and picture-taking.

Discarded Neuroses - I no longer recall why I gave it this name. I put this one in the gallery show.

Bulbs - Another one from the gallery show.

Pigeons on a Wire - One of those overlooked photos that does something for me now.

Toronto Handicapped - Curtains, window.

1044A - The reflection in the window and the bright blue against the dark brown. The only thing that would have made it better in my mind is if there had been more symmetry of light between the left and right sides.

Passport - This made a potentially bad experience fun. I was really proud of myself for getting such a good exposure in dim light.

Road Flower

Golden - The photo makes up for the terrible "food". I'm really pleased with many of the photos taken on this trip. I still have some film to scan too. Also see 5444 Ferry Street

Cigs n' Papers - There are a few from our first trip to New York in May that stand out for me but as I say in the post, I love all the layers in this one when viewed at a large size. On a Break is another fave from that trip. You can see the start of the light leak problems with that particular film back has begun.

For a Friend Who Has Everything - At times this is my favourite picture, period.

Reminds Me of My Grandmother, Somehow - Still does. I love the crinkles of the curtain.

My Beautiful Laundrette - I was really, really pleased with this exposure. I am also proud of the angle and focus... looking through the glass doors like a porthole. This place was really amazing.

Pink Curtains - The fact that she turned to look at me as I was setting up the photo really makes this one for me, although I was very uneasy about it at first.

Seven Days - Gold curtain, crown-of-thorns.

Soft Coffee - This one begat a trend.

Milk and Honey - That's the name of the drink.

Polar Express - The sky, the colours, some people in silhouette, some people lit. Click forward from there for more CNE pics. There are a few in there that I really like (Dancing Hands), but this is supposed to be a "favourites list", not an "everything list". This list is already too long. If you've made it this far you win a prize.

Designer's Nightmare - I love using the Polaroid back with this camera.

William Eggleston - I 'met' (as much as you can meet someone you speak with for only a few brief minutes) William Eggleston and despite all my goofy star struck-ed-ness I managed to take this photo.

Southern Belle - It's the song I was listening to while scanning this photo.

Jay (lunch) - No photo there unfortunately. My brother asked me to take it down. He hates photos of himself. But damn, it was a good photo.

Examining - Our first few days in New York (Oct) were gorgeous but I was working non-stop so no photos. The rest of our trip was exceptionally grey and rainy. This image was a bit of luck. I just turned around and caught these three men in this configuration and was quick enough with the settings.

From the Back - I contemplated naming this one "Shadow of a Doubt."

Delicate - I may have a fancy camera now but the Great Wall will always have a special place in my heart. Why, just yesterday, I took three rolls with it.

Bacon & Eggs, Pancakes - Panoramic. I took lots of this building but I prefer this one because I stepped back to show context. Plus it had been raining. After a rain is a great photo time because textures are rich and there is a lot of potential in reflections.

Waiting Pigeon, Flying Pigeon - I took this picture earlier this week and it's already become a favourite. It was one of those moments when I knew the picture would be just what I wanted. Mind you I have experienced that feeling many times only to have it not work out. But it's nice when it does.

Waiting Pigeon, Flying Pigeon

Holly and Jolly

I took this one last year, I think. Regardless it is from one of my Holiday Display jaunts of which I have not done this year. I have been a cold weather wimp.

The picture was up on Spacing two days ago.

And speaking of Spacing, I love this post in their news section about the concept of macroscopes.

For the First Time Ever, I Feel Genuinely Holiday-ish

I designed cross stitch bookmark kits as holiday gifts for some of the crafty pals/commuters in my life this year. As a Holiday Treat I thought I'd make the pattern available as a freebee for anyone who wants to make their own bookmark.

Dudes: You are free to use this pattern to make your own bookmarks, but please do not sell finished projects or the pattern.

Note: My grid is exactly sized to a cross stitch bookmark/doily deal that has a very tight weave (18 count) but you can use any aida fabric and forego the doily action. Fabric with lower numbers (for example 14) are easier for beginners but I should say that I had not cross stitched since grade 4 prior to designing and stitching up this project and I did okay so don't feel intimidated. I'm sure some cross stitch whizzes out there would be horrified by the state of the back of my bookmark but whatever....

I used the most excellent pixel font Unibody for my design and the always wonderful Davin must be credited for his work plotting the squiggley shape after I had all but given up on making it happen.

--------------------------

I got good news yesterday, Wed. December 21, 2005.

BREAKFAST

The most beautiful wall.

Bacon & Eggs

Been a while since I posted one of these.

Snowy

I felt compelled to post a snowy photo of winter. This picture was taken in late 2003/early 2004. I have a few from this day that I used to think were boring but I like them now. Tastes change.

SO FRESH! SO GOOD!

I took this one a year ago and I don't think I have posted it but the memory fails. Today's post makes 771 and I gotta say that's a lot of days of pictures. I have plenty of new photos but I am currently pining for the 80mm lens so bear with me as I stroll down the remnants of memory lane. I also thought this one had a nice touch of holiday decor. And as previously stated, tacky holiday decor (and shiny things) is really the only thing I enjoy about this time of year... okay and leaveless trees. I am yet to get out on my yearly excursion to photograph the hi-rises in P-Dale. Time's a ticking.

- My pal Sarah has a new blog that is an extension of her book about Toronto's hidden gems.
- Looking forward to lunch. I've been using sushi at the Drake (they use real crab not the imitation fish + sugar crap) as a reward system for braving the cold and holiday lineups at the post office.

Air Punching

Good lord it's a person! Took this one on New Year's day last year. I thought it summed up today nicely.

Number 8 (With Rouching)

I like my pictures to have a slight yellow tint. This photo is from a very hot summer day. I abandoned these images too early because I took so many pictures over a short period of time. Sometimes when there are too many images to sort through I become disoriented and lose my perspective. The emotional aspect of all of this is what drives it for me, but it's also what makes sorting through the images tricky at times.

A few things:

- Missing my Kiev88. (Incidently above was taken with the Kiev) Well, not so much the camera as the 80mm lens. I miss 80mm. Back in May when we saw the Diane Arbus show I thought to myself, "Maybe I should try some new lenses." Now that I have I can say that it's been fun but can I have the 80mm back? The answer is not anytime soon as I am still paying for the new ones. And this is why I can't get rid of the Kiev even though I told myself when I bought the mega expensive camera that I would sell it.

- I stopped for a second yesterday and realised that my name feels completely mine again. Still waiting for it to be legally mine again but it won't be long now. Living with two names for a year has been a drag, especially since keeping the other one around has been like a chain around my ankle.

- Finally kicked the Elliott Smith. No new music addictions have surfaced as of yet.

- I've been working on a lot of crafts recently. Last night all of my dreams involved cross stitch. 1-2-3-4.

- I took Davin's Yashica Electro out for a spin yesterday but to be honest I didn't care for it. I'm just not into rectangles. There will be a lot of pictures of trees and dirty snow.

- I am so cyclical. I was just talking about this on Sunday and it turns out that I wrote about it a year ago.

- Taking THE HOLIDAYS in stride this year. Last year I was prepared to bury my head under the covers and wait for it to pass. This year there have been a few incidents that have bugged me enough to proclaim "Christmas is OVER!" but I'm still kickin it.

- I was just thinking about this too.

Little Bike

Plant-related holiday gifts you can make.

Yellow

When I was small, it was a favourite colour for a time.

Prayer Flags

Praying that the snow goes away, but thankful for the sun. It's that time of year when every post is about the weather and my loathing thereof.

I'm enjoying making holiday gifts. It would be extra fun if every recipient was a 12 year old girl, or had the taste of a 12 year old girl. It has allowed me to indulge in all kinds of ridiculousness.

Vaccuum

I took this one ages ago... possibly two springtimes ago. Or was it summer? All I know is that it was one of the GOOD seasons.

The Film or digital game.

NYC - Shoes

Coney Island: Left Behind

Dear God. Little Martha must be stopped. It really is better when I don't read from a script.

Slouchy Rascal

(Hometown VIII v. 2) This is actually Thorold but taken on the same day.

Frozen Halal Meat and Habits

(Hometown VII v. 2)

Thought I would switch gears for a bit and go back to the St. Catharines photos. I was missing some window pics. The exposure on this one isn't super but clearly very tricky with the dark interior and the super sun that was reflecting off the window. And as I have said before I was overwhelmed that day and find that most of my pictures are improperly exposed. I have two others of this storefront window but I like this one best because of the prominance of the hat.

Tangents

(Green Dragon VII)

World Aids Day

------------------------------------------

Above photo: Sitting next to this. I find this juxtaposition particularly odd. The spoons remind me of my aunt Noreen. She got into collecting spoons late in life. I liked to find her the fancy ones with the hole in front and a dangly bit in the centre.

------------------------------------------
One of the best parts of this process is the ability to go back at anytime and see what was on my mind a year ago to the day.