Tuesday 10 December 2019

2018 FE Happy Holidays





Made last Christmas for Fort Erie Race Track to wish Happy Holidays to their social media followers.  There where slightly different versions made to fit different platforms but,  this is basic 16:9 HD version.

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Tuesday 3 December 2019

McFarlin House Heritage Christmas (2017)




For the last few years EpicDi  & I have spent a December day in Niagara-On-The-Lake Taking Photos and Shooting video footage.
We start with the 'NOTL Santa Claus Parade' then move over to Fort George for their 'Garrison Christmas' and finish up with The Heritage at McFarland House.

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Tuesday 26 November 2019

Garrison Christmas (2017)




For the last few years EpicDi  & I have spent a December day in Niagara-On-The-Lake Taking Photos and Shooting video footage.
We start with the 'NOTL Santa Claus Parade' then move over to Fort George for their 'Garrison Christmas' and finish up with The Heritage at McFarland House.

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Tuesday 19 November 2019

NOTL Santa Claus Parade (2017)



For the last few years EpicDi  & I have spent a December day in Niagara-On-The-Lake Taking Photos and Shooting video footage.
We start with the 'NOTL Santa Claus Parade' then move over to Fort George for their 'Garrison Christmas' and finish up with The Heritage at McFarland House.


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Saturday 16 November 2019

Christmas Still Life - Mostly Decorations


  'Christmas Still Life' Photo Series


This post is about a series of photos featuring Chrsitmas decortions, How I shot them and some of what I learned while doing it.

It's one of the few times I though the process of setting up a full shoot with lights & backdrop etc.  for items from around the house.

This series started last February 1st, as I was putting away my Christmas decorations.  I was late putting them away and part of me wasn't too enthusiastic even then. As I was getting out the boxes and taking things down it occurred to me  "this stuff would make good photos to post next year around Christmas".

So, I decided to get some photos as I put away the last of the Christmas decoration.  Initially the plan was to snap a quick shot of a few items and put everything in a green totes. It soon turned into a a case of "If somethings worth doing it's worth doing right".

Before I knew it I had a backdrop, key light, a few fill lights, and a host of modifyers along with all the gear to get them in position all set up & ready to go. Along with that where a couple of prime lenses, a set of macro tubes along with camra & tripod. To complete the arrangement there was a pile of decorations on one side & a group of boxes on the other to put away the decorations after they'd been shot.




Still life & studio lighting are things I don't get to do too often. So, I was excited to get started and get more experience with type of shoot.  I started with the brand new set of macro rings that Santa had dropped off at Chrsitmas.  After a few test shots the macro tubes went back in the box and became a project for another day. I wasn't getting what I wanted/expected and I realized needed to do a bit of research to get what I wanted from from them.



At this point I realized a few things  simultaneously 1) it's 11 pm  2) I have to work in the morning 3) I have a a bunch of stuff set up that has to come down before I go to bed (I'm in a pretty tight space)   4) I'm about to teardown thsi setup with out getting and good shots and haven't put away a single Christmas decoration.

It became clear that when I restarted this process tomorrow it wouldn't be as quick or as easy as I first thought. As it  turned out that it would last another three evenings, but it did end with all of the decorations put away for next Christmas and a few hundred images on my hard drive, also awaiting next Chrsitmas.







Over the 3 evenings I learned a lot and jsut as important I got some practice.  It's one thing to know how things should be done.  It's something else to be able to set things up quickly and in the right order with out having to take two steps back before taking one forward.  recreating almost the same setup 4 nights in a row went a long way towards my aquiring that ability. I'm still not a professional light tech, not by a long shot.   But, I have felt better about  doing a basic light setup since then.


What Else Did I Learn?

I learned a little bit about ligthing faces.


How to accentuate things by hiding other things in shadow. Leaving empty space (AKA negative space) and using techniques in post to further change or enhance the viewers perception.


How hard it is to fill in all the shadows and how unneccisarry/boring it can be when you finally achieve it.  Some times shadows are your friend (see above)  and sometimes they're not (below -left)

I was repeatedly reminded once again that "good enogh" rarely is and that if you say "I'll fix it in post" while shooting you usually curse yourself in post & rarely end up with what you where hoping for. As an example, use tripod or some other camera support system. Camera support systems aren't just to get more gear out on the floor. They really can give you more options and better results.
When when "sharp focus" and "blurry mess" are seperated by fractions of a centimetre hand held might not be the best option. It can create some happy accidents, but mostly,  it creates stuff that 's frustrating in post & often wholely unusable.


I'll save the joys and advantages of Hand Held photography (of which there are many) for another post.




I'll wrap up todays post with a link to my FLICKR ALBUM where the photos from this shoot are being posted from November 15 right into the New Year.


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Saturday 12 October 2019

The Rambling Man Podcast - Episode #4 "Bits & Pieces"

The Rambling Man Podcast

Episode #4 "Bits & Pieces"



Today I'm rambling about Bits & Pieces from Birds to Work.




Link to Current episode page:https://soundcloud.com/rumimume/the-rambling-man-episode-4-bits-pieces

Rambling Man RSS: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:266405552/sounds.rss


Released under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) un-ported license


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Tuesday 1 October 2019

Fall Festival Promo Video

Fall Festival Promo Video






A short video for social media to promote the Fall Festival at Fort Erie Race Track.
Made with footage shot at last years event and then worked into a quick video for this years version of the event.


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The Rambling Man Podcast - Episode #? "Title"

The Rambling Man Podcast

Episode #3


This is the Rambling Man Posdcast.

Rambling in the sense of a guy that Talks & Talks as well as Rambling in the sense that the show is sometime recorded when out out rambling around and wandering through life.

Today I'm rambling about the start of fall & some of things Ilike about fall.

https://soundcloud.com/rumimume/rambling-man-episode-3




Link to Current episode page: https://soundcloud.com/rumimume/rambling-man-episode-3

Rambling Man RSS: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:266405552/sounds.rss


Released under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) un-ported license


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Friday 27 September 2019

Fall Pics for a Fall Day

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rumimume/
Pic-of-The-day

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rumimume/48750201348/in/dateposted/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rumimume/48757525667/in/dateposted/https://www.flickr.com/photos/rumimume/48798092828/in/dateposted/


Fall is here & I am seeing Autumn scenes everywhere.


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Wednesday 18 September 2019

The Rambling Man Podcast - Episode #2 "Wandering The Backroads"


The Rambling Man Podcast

Episode #2 "Wandering The Backroads"



My new podcast is called "The Rambling Man".
Rambling in the sense of a guy that Talks & Talks as well as Rambling in the sense that the show is sometime recorded when out out rambling around and wandering through life.
Today I'm rambling about wandering the back roads as the season turns to fall.


Link to Current episode page: Episode #2 "Wandering The Backroads"

Rambling Man RSS: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:266405552/sounds.rss


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Thursday 12 September 2019

Two for One promotional Videos





Two video promotions made for special events at Fort Erie Race Track.



I should have posted these a while back but, life gets busy and now its' a 2 for 1 post.

Both of these where made to increase interest in special events at the track and both where constructed with footage  I shot at last years version of the event. 

At this point I already have footage in the can from this years events to use for next years promo's.  That's what we call "a winter project". We are still racing twice a week and still have special events to work on but, when the season ends in mid October then we begin looking at next year and preparing all the pieces needed to make it happen.


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Wednesday 28 August 2019

The Dog Days.






Have I mentioned I'm doing a Podcast ?
Well I am.  It's part of the Dog Days of podcasting,  which is a group of people that challenege themselves to make a podcast everyday during August.
I heard about the Dog Days when it was mentioned on one of the podcasts that I regularly listen too.
I though "that's a cool odea, I should try that"  and then didn't.  Not that year or the next. Finally this year as it was approaching I was determined to give it a try.

I thought about a few different titles and formats and went back and for , then decided on the title "My Commute" using the idea of talking about commuting while, commuting as a loose framework to really talk about what every I want.  But, it's usually connected to what I'm doing.or what's going on. Each day's cover art is also a photo I've taken.  Often taken on the parkway &  usually on the same day of the recording.

The Dog Days Of Podcasting Challenge ends at the end of the week. Most of the participants will wrap up their Dog Dags shows and some will go back to  their "regularly scheduled podcasts".
I don't have a regular show to go back to or continue with, but I don't really want to stop doing shows.

So, what I'm hoping to do is transition from the dog days into a new podcast. Sort of transform this show into something I can do once a week through the fall and winter and see how I feel about it in the spring.

That about all I can say for now about the new show is that it will have a new name, probably have  a weekly(ish) schedule and is likely to be at least a little longer than the 5 minutes long.

There's still lots to figure out & try out before I commit to any of the defeatist.
The immediate plan is the keep doing "My Commute" Daily into the first week of September (maybe a bit longer)  while I figure out what the new show will be like.

If your interested in the "My Commute"  Podcast there are links below.   It's a first attempt and ti's all on location at the side of the road & river.
So,  it's pretty rough.
But,  I think it's become almost tolerable.
RSS Feed
If not, at least it's short.




https://soundcloud.com/rumimume
Show Page on SoundCloud






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Tuesday 6 August 2019

Eric Conlon (#1) "Live from LiveStock"




Livestock is a great music festival highlighting local Niagara talent.
Livestock has gotten bigger, better and more fun year after year.


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Saturday 3 August 2019

Prince of Wales Stakes - Save The Date (2019)



A Quick Save-The-Date video for the Prince of Wales Stakes, The second Jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown. 

Featuring footage from the 2018 race and the voice of the legendary Frank Salive.


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Saturday 27 July 2019

10 000 buddhas Temple Niagara Falls (2018) - Part Two


Dragons, Monks, Buddhas & Elephants.
 More Pictures from Last summer's visit to the 10 000 buddhas Temple in Niagara Falls.


There where lots of these metal things where dotted around the grounds. To me it seems like it might be a stylized brazier, caldron, incense burner combination.  Different ones had different designs and components. Some had pieces that looked more like pots,  some had sections that where closer to a type of charcoal burner etc.

none seemed to be used for anything,  they looked more symbolic than practical.



Along one wall was a row of stone statues which I thought could be monks.  Each one was different and might of represented different virtues or possibly attachments.I could imagine a meaning for some of them but I can't imagine what these two represent.





 Here are two shots from a tall pagoda type tower covered on all sides with images of what I assume is the Buddha.

 Next up is a very large statue of what appears to be  a mother with two children. I assume she is a type of mother figure and I particularly like the child pulling at her robes. she might be an idealized or representative mother figure, but, the kids doesn't care. The kid just wants her attention, which is kind of endearing.  Who ever designed this has spent time with real kids, which is also reassuring. She was flanked on both sides by a brightly coloured, 2 level gallery with rows of statues
 
The final feature in this blog is a statue of a woman in the lotus position on the back of an elephant.
I believe this was fiberglass, but I can't remember for sure.  

 There where lots of other things and I have lots of other photos from the temple grounds. There's a few more below, but if you want to see the whole set check them out on Flickr.



All in all, I had a pretty good morning at the temple. It's been almost a year and I feel like it's almost time to make another trip to the temple, especially since it's just down the road. Maybe this time, I should do video.  The key would be finding a them or a "through line"  to tie the footage together and make it more like a story and less like a random bunch of footage.  We'll see how it goes.


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