Tuesday, January 22, 2008


Another little remnant of Japantown. I wonder who the Morimotos were.

Speaking of things Japanese... O.K., it's a tenuous connection but, well, it's there. Really. I'm a bad person to take up an exercise plan. Why, you ask? Because I'm a big believer in rewarding virtuous behaviour (especially my own) and I ran 7-ish km tonight, before dinner, which meant that when I got home I just wasn't really in the mood to cook. Solution? You betcha - head out to the local sushi joint for some ohitashi, beef (sorry vegetarian pals) teriyaki and, of course, sake. I love running!

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Saturday, January 12, 2008


I think I've mentioned this before - Vancouver's got the world's most colourful "bad" end of town. Things may be falling apart, no one's got any money, but - wow! - somebody's got access to paint.

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Tuesday, December 04, 2007


At last I've gotten a Poverty Wizard set-up for my flashes. "Poverty Wizards", for those of you who might be mystified by the appellation, are cheap radio triggers that let you trigger off-camera flashes. The "real" things are called "PocketWizards". I think the name comes from the way they suck every dime available out of your pocket. My Poverty Wizard set-up, allowing me to trigger two Vivitar flashes - a 285HV and a 283 - cost me all of $60.00 (rounding). To accomplish the same goal with PocketWizards would have cost me just under - are you ready? - $900.00. U.S.! Excuse me? Yes, they're more reliable and have a greater range, but, um, 15x more reliability? 15x more range?

The sad thing about having this new technology at my disposal is having to learn to use it. Want to know something? Those folks who get paid big bucks for their photographic skills are worth every penny. Setting up effective, pleasing (flattering, in the case of portraits) lighting ain't easy! It's not impossible, but, it's going to take work. Darn.

Hit the "Strobist" link if you're interested in this kind of thing.

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007


Have I mentioned how much I like my nifty new Tokina 12-24mm lens? I do! I like it a lot!

Add PTLens, from ePaperPress, and you're sailing.

And, nope, neither of these folks is sending me any money for praising their products. I just like what they do.

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