Wow end of January already here, was only a few weeks ago, we were all fighting holiday traffic.
A quick self-portrait done in the office with the Canon 5D, 50mm f1.4 1/640 ISO400
And quick blast through Aperture 3.0 and a preset called Simply Silver .
Suddenly February is here, today is a spring day here in London,ON a balmy +8c.
Its been up and down, one day rain , the next a snow storm then rain, throw in a day like today and your not sure how to dress till you look outside.
Great example is this pic from Jan 3rdth at 9am ish , out the top of the office.
And then 4 hours later , like nothing ever happened !
Been a quiet month though, passed quick.
Did manage to get out for some pics and pick up some new business photo wise.
First up was The Wrecks playing at Sunny's in St Thomas,ON. Great band, great players.
The Lead Guitar Player, was suffering miserably through a need for some tooth surgery , but still managed to get up and wail away the night.
Brought up memories of seeing Rick 'Flash' Dion playing the hotels and bars of Timmins,ON so many moons ago, nailing every solo.
Have to admit I enjoy taking pics of the bands playing in London and area, though gets a little tiring when your dealing with my usual lack of sleep issues and then going out at 10pm on a Friday night after relaxing for a few hours at home. OK am sounding old but....
Attended the London Wine and Food Show, as a guest of Lotus Thai Restaurant, St Thomas,ON.
Take a few pics of their booth and of course sample some food.
Small statue outside their booth .
The ladies of course made sure i was well fed while i was there.
Recommend their restaurant to anyone.
Interesting though was i showed up early, before opening and simply walked in , camera swinging.
No one stopped me, asked for my pass or who I was with, even security said 'hello'
hhhmmmm gonna have to try that some day at the John Labat Centre and see if I can get in through the back door for pics.
Lots of food and wine of course, and some nice displays, like this fruit arrangement from Edible Arrangements here in London, actually not to far from the office.
And some Creme Brule from Aroma , a Mediterranean restaurant here in London at Richmond and Piccadilly. If your looking for a taste of Spain, it is the place to go.
For the price I recommend them, as the average plate was around same as The Keg, but honestly a whole lot better. Feels and tastes like someone actually cooked your meal, the heart and soul of the Chef is in the food.
Latest fun is through a posting in Flickr and hooking up with a website called www.airbnb.com.
Basically a Bed and Breakfast online service, with everything from a room for $20 a night to a Hong Kong apartment for rent at $2000/night. So i am now the local London rep for any requests to take pics of client places, be it a room , shared or whole apartment.
My first assignment was a place in London available for rent by the night, great old house close to downtown. Really nice couple own this.
The idea is to get natural light pictures (if possible) and get the basics of the room , so people have a sense of what they will see when they get there.
You also highlight cool or interesting features of the room or place, as points of interest. There are some limitations, must be very hi rez pics and only in landscape view like you see here.
An actual paying photo shoot, and my first real one.
So that got me thinking about my own vacation plans.
If you remember from last year, I was getting all set for a whirlwind trip of Japan. Had bought my ticket and then 3 days later , earthquake tried to sink Japan into the ocean forever.
Well that credit has been sitting with our warm hearted friends (I say that very very sarcastically) at Air Canada waiting to be used and about to expire.
So what do I do with it ?
Cant transfer it, cant split it, and must fly from Canadian soil.
So the options are wide open, could go just about anywhere and decided to return to Barcelona, Spain.
As much fun as it was the last time (September) really we crammed a lot of city into 3 days and actually missed out on a quite a bit. So this will be a week in Barcelona, really take my time, act like a real tourist and see everything, especially what we missed out on in Sept.
Instead of trying to Priceline some Holiday Inn, I used the Airbnb site and looked at a complete apartment for a week. The advantages being, no housekeeping barging in each morning to fluff your pillows, an actual kitchen to be able to have some real food, specially when it comes to breakfast. Being able to get up and enjoy a coffee and food without leaving the room and not paying 20euro is a great option. Also mean can have goodies on hand for travel snacks and night time.
After searching around and a few emails, found an apartment in The Gothic area , blocks from the beach and harbor.
View Larger Map
As we know from the last voyage most things are in walking distance, and even then the metro is fantastic there and pretty cheap. Getting around the city is least of the issues when there.
Here is a view of the actual apartment living room, with windows open to the street below.
These are from the Airbnb website
That wall and window would be great for some pics - will try some self portraits there.
will have time and got space to pull back the furniture and redecorate haha
And bedroom shot
we will find out how much photoshopping was done , once inside haha.
Kind of like a bachelor apartment, with a small efficiency kitchen.
Oh ya the place has wifi so no 8euro a day trying to get internet in the hotel.
Now just have to figure out the best time to go and get it booked before end of March, when my ticket expires.
Noticed something on the door of the Terrain a few weeks ago and made a point of taking a picture.
These stones were from a walk on the beach in Port Stanley in 2010. I need to remember to take one out and add it to my small collection in the house.
If you don't know, when I go places, if I remember , I pick up a stone , bring it home, wash it and then mark the place and date on it, and add to the collection.
Took this tonight, so you can see what they look like.
I can read a stone and remember the place, who was there, why I was there.
Much better than any souvenir that you can buy on the street, and will outlast any picture I have taken.
Few more photo ops coming up this weekend, possibly a new band to take pics of, and another photoshoot for Shisiedo at The Bay, Masonville Mall, London,ON.
Travel plans being put together for the new year also but nothing really set yet.
Later......
A quick self-portrait done in the office with the Canon 5D, 50mm f1.4 1/640 ISO400
And quick blast through Aperture 3.0 and a preset called Simply Silver .
Suddenly February is here, today is a spring day here in London,ON a balmy +8c.
Its been up and down, one day rain , the next a snow storm then rain, throw in a day like today and your not sure how to dress till you look outside.
Great example is this pic from Jan 3rdth at 9am ish , out the top of the office.
And then 4 hours later , like nothing ever happened !
Been a quiet month though, passed quick.
Did manage to get out for some pics and pick up some new business photo wise.
First up was The Wrecks playing at Sunny's in St Thomas,ON. Great band, great players.
The Lead Guitar Player, was suffering miserably through a need for some tooth surgery , but still managed to get up and wail away the night.
Brought up memories of seeing Rick 'Flash' Dion playing the hotels and bars of Timmins,ON so many moons ago, nailing every solo.
Have to admit I enjoy taking pics of the bands playing in London and area, though gets a little tiring when your dealing with my usual lack of sleep issues and then going out at 10pm on a Friday night after relaxing for a few hours at home. OK am sounding old but....
Attended the London Wine and Food Show, as a guest of Lotus Thai Restaurant, St Thomas,ON.
Take a few pics of their booth and of course sample some food.
Small statue outside their booth .
The ladies of course made sure i was well fed while i was there.
Recommend their restaurant to anyone.
Interesting though was i showed up early, before opening and simply walked in , camera swinging.
No one stopped me, asked for my pass or who I was with, even security said 'hello'
hhhmmmm gonna have to try that some day at the John Labat Centre and see if I can get in through the back door for pics.
Lots of food and wine of course, and some nice displays, like this fruit arrangement from Edible Arrangements here in London, actually not to far from the office.
And some Creme Brule from Aroma , a Mediterranean restaurant here in London at Richmond and Piccadilly. If your looking for a taste of Spain, it is the place to go.
Latest fun is through a posting in Flickr and hooking up with a website called www.airbnb.com.
Basically a Bed and Breakfast online service, with everything from a room for $20 a night to a Hong Kong apartment for rent at $2000/night. So i am now the local London rep for any requests to take pics of client places, be it a room , shared or whole apartment.
My first assignment was a place in London available for rent by the night, great old house close to downtown. Really nice couple own this.
The idea is to get natural light pictures (if possible) and get the basics of the room , so people have a sense of what they will see when they get there.
You also highlight cool or interesting features of the room or place, as points of interest. There are some limitations, must be very hi rez pics and only in landscape view like you see here.
An actual paying photo shoot, and my first real one.
So that got me thinking about my own vacation plans.
If you remember from last year, I was getting all set for a whirlwind trip of Japan. Had bought my ticket and then 3 days later , earthquake tried to sink Japan into the ocean forever.
Well that credit has been sitting with our warm hearted friends (I say that very very sarcastically) at Air Canada waiting to be used and about to expire.
So what do I do with it ?
Cant transfer it, cant split it, and must fly from Canadian soil.
So the options are wide open, could go just about anywhere and decided to return to Barcelona, Spain.
As much fun as it was the last time (September) really we crammed a lot of city into 3 days and actually missed out on a quite a bit. So this will be a week in Barcelona, really take my time, act like a real tourist and see everything, especially what we missed out on in Sept.
Instead of trying to Priceline some Holiday Inn, I used the Airbnb site and looked at a complete apartment for a week. The advantages being, no housekeeping barging in each morning to fluff your pillows, an actual kitchen to be able to have some real food, specially when it comes to breakfast. Being able to get up and enjoy a coffee and food without leaving the room and not paying 20euro is a great option. Also mean can have goodies on hand for travel snacks and night time.
After searching around and a few emails, found an apartment in The Gothic area , blocks from the beach and harbor.
View Larger Map
As we know from the last voyage most things are in walking distance, and even then the metro is fantastic there and pretty cheap. Getting around the city is least of the issues when there.
Here is a view of the actual apartment living room, with windows open to the street below.
These are from the Airbnb website
will have time and got space to pull back the furniture and redecorate haha
And bedroom shot
we will find out how much photoshopping was done , once inside haha.
Kind of like a bachelor apartment, with a small efficiency kitchen.
Oh ya the place has wifi so no 8euro a day trying to get internet in the hotel.
Now just have to figure out the best time to go and get it booked before end of March, when my ticket expires.
Noticed something on the door of the Terrain a few weeks ago and made a point of taking a picture.
These stones were from a walk on the beach in Port Stanley in 2010. I need to remember to take one out and add it to my small collection in the house.
If you don't know, when I go places, if I remember , I pick up a stone , bring it home, wash it and then mark the place and date on it, and add to the collection.
Took this tonight, so you can see what they look like.
I can read a stone and remember the place, who was there, why I was there.
Much better than any souvenir that you can buy on the street, and will outlast any picture I have taken.
Few more photo ops coming up this weekend, possibly a new band to take pics of, and another photoshoot for Shisiedo at The Bay, Masonville Mall, London,ON.
Travel plans being put together for the new year also but nothing really set yet.
Later......
