Category: Ottawa

Posts about Canada’s capital city, and the experience of living there

The Rebel XS and the 20D

Heron in Dow's Lake, Ottawa

Unfortunately, my year-old Canon Rebel XS suffered some kind of failure on Saturday: constantly reading ‘busy’ in the heads-up display and being unable to take photos. Henry’s is sending it back to Canon for repair, and estimate it will be away 4-6 weeks. Quite kindly, when they heard that I was planning to take photos for the Fill the Hill event, they lent me a 20D for the weekend.

The 20D is an older camera positioned at a higher level than the Rebel XS. It is larger and sturdier, and feels more substantial. It also feels more balanced with heavy lenses like my 70-200. Two things I really like about it are the shutter release sound (which seems a lot more pleasing and professional than the Rebel XS) and the intangible sense that this camera is always eager to take photos. Pressing the shutter feels like allowing it to follow through with a restrained urge. Part of that feeling may come from the absurdly fast burst shooting speed.

I do have some complaints about the 20D. Some of the controls are very confusing. For instance, the on-off switch has three positions. In one ‘on’ mode, you can use the rear control wheel for exposure correction, once you have half-depressed the shutter button. Nobody would ever guess that, and I spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out how to undo the -1/3 correction I accidentally applied (I eventually got it back to 0 by switching from 1/3 stop increments to 1/2 stop). The screen is much smaller and less useful than the one on the Rebel XS, so it isn’t really all that useful for reviewing images in the field. Also, the processor is slower, meaning that photos take longer to download.

All told, I now have a better understanding of why people buy Canon’s $1000ish cameras, when their features are mostly the same as those in their $500ish cameras. The 20D certainly looks and feels more professional than the Rebel XS. That being said, I think I will stick with my plan of saving up and eventually buying a dSLR in the much more costly category of those with full-frame sensors.

P.S. With my Rebel XS away, it may be tough to produce nice photos of the day for the next month or so. I went out and took a heap of fall photos today, to try to see me through the dry spell. If I do end up going to a family reunion in Vermont in November, I will probably rent a dSLR (and maybe the 24-70 f/2.8L lens) for the duration.

P.P.S. One other lesson from all this is that megapixels really don’t matter. Which has more, the Rebel XS or the 20D? I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter in the slightest.

[Update: 14 November 2009] The Rebel XS came back from Canon with a new flaw introduced.

[Update: 14 June 2010] Recently, the electrical system on the Rebel XS failed again. Rather than get a replacement under the Henry’s service plan, I got credit towards a 5D Mark II.

Fill the Hill – October 24th

Various environmental groups are supporting a major event on Parliament Hill next Saturday, October 24th. The event begins at noon, with a big photo stunt happening at 2:00pm. 3,559 such events are scheduled around the world, in 161 different countries. Groups involved in this non-partisan event include Oxfam Canada, the Canadian Federation of Students, 350.org, and KYOTOplus.

With the Copenhagen climate change negotiations less than 70 days away, this is a good opportunity to demonstrate that you are concerned about the issue, and hope that Canadian politicians will do more to address it. So far, Canada’s record is very poor. Our emissions are way above where we pledged to be through the Kyoto Protocol. Furthermore, while we do have climate targets for 2020 and 2050, we do not yet have a viable plan for meeting them. Changing that will require showing Canadian politicians that citizens aren’t satisfied with the meagre efforts put forward so far.

Beyond attending the event itself, if anyone wants to help with postering and general awareness raising, they can contact me and I will put them in touch with some of the organizers.

[Update: 18 October 2009] A postcard for the event is available.

[Update: 19 October 2009] Here are some posters in English and French.

[Update: 26 September 2009] I have put my photos and videos from the event online.

Keep your flash in your pants

Colourful metal dots

The other day, I attended some live music at the Umi Cafe on Somerset. Throughout the multi-hour performance, there was a cadre of amateur photographers – some with point and shoot cameras, some with dSLRs – happily snapping away. Almost without exception, every shot was accompanied by a bright white flash. There are two major reasons why photographers should avoid this pattern of behaviour.

Firstly, it produces ugly and unnatural pictures. Using a flash is akin to looking at a scene with a bright white miner’s lamp on your head. This is problematic for several reasons: (a) it lights close things much more than far ones, leading to blinding white foreground objects and black backgrounds; (b) it throws very harsh shadows, leaving a person’s nose looking like a mountain on the moon; (c) the light from the flash is a different colour from incandescent or fluorescent lighting, making the scene look oddly discordant in colour.

Secondly, it really annoys people. While the ‘stadium full of flashes’ effect is a Hollywood cliché, the actual impact of using lots of flashes – especially in a small and intimate environment – is to impose your weird lighting preferences on an entire room full of people, many times a night. Flashes are distracting and rude, and should only be deployed when really necessary.

There are easy ways to avoid using the flash. First and foremost, don’t use your camera in full auto mode. With no guidance, it will usually decide that the pop-up flash is the safest way to get a usable photo. With just a bit of thinking, you can usually do better.

The first way is to increase the ISO setting on your camera. This basically makes it more sensitive to light. While doing so will make your pictures grainier, they will look a lot more natural than ‘headlamp effect’ flash shots. If you don’t know how to do this, check your manual or search online. With most point and shoot cameras, and all dSLRs, it is a fairly simple procedure. Many cameras even have a dedicated button for it. On a point and shoot camera, try cranking it up to 400 or so. On a dSLR, don’t feel shy about using 1600 ISO, or even faster. Here is an example of a high ISO photo taken with a cheap P&S camera. A flash photo of the same scene would have been infinitely worse.

The second way is to brace your camera somehow. If you have a two-second timer, this can be easily achived. Just frame the shot, with the camera sitting on the edge of a table, wall, or solid object. Then, press the shutter and then leave the camera still to take a photo. Anything moving will probably show some motion blur, but you are once again likely to produce a nicer and more natural image than you would with a flash. Tripods are also an excellent idea, and there are tiny little tabletop ones that can be easily carried around and used with a point and shoot camera. I used the combination of a $180 Canon P&S camera and a $5 tripod to take these photos: Montreal, Ottawa, Morocco, Paris, Istanbul. A great trick for churches and other buildings with interesting ceilings is to put your camera flat on the ground with a timer set, press the shutter, and step back. I used that trick to take these: Oxford, Istanbul.

People think about photographs as something you ‘take’ by pointing a camera at something and pressing the shutter. In fact, it makes more sense to think about photos as something you ‘make’ using a combination of light, gear, and intelligence. By putting some thought and effort into things, you can produce more natural photos in intimate settings, without temporarily blinding and annoying everyone around you.

Andrea on the Vinyl Cafe

My talented friend Andrea Simms-Karp will be on the CBC’s Vinyl Cafe with Stuat Maclean in the next few days:

  • Saturday September 12th – 9am – CBC Radio 2
  • Sunday September 13th – noon – CBC Radio 1
  • Tuesday September 15th – 11pm – CBC Radio 1

I was present at the taping, and I know that the segment will be great fun. Please consider tuning in.

[Update: 1:50pm] The dates above, which were initially wrong, have been corrected.

[Update: 11 September 2009] The Sunday showtime has been corrected.

[Update: 12 September 2009] An mp3 of the show is now available online: VC: September 12th, 2009 “Centennial Mug” with Andrea Simms-Karp.

Photo show opening party

Astronaut Love Triangle introduction

Last night’s photo show launch was well attended and great fun. My thanks again to the ever-talented Andrea Simms-Karp as well as the highly comic and deservedly infamous Astronaut Love Triangle (with introductory note above). Their repertoire included songs about cyberstalking, the side effects of the modern pharmacological rainbow, and the tenacity of the large American automobile, in the face of environmental concerns. At least one audience member seemed to be merrily recording video, so the performance has the potential to end up online somewhere.

Thanks again to everyone who attended and participated.

My photos will be on the walls at Raw Sugar (692 Somerset) for the duration of the month, with the 12×16″ prints going for $60 and the 12×18″ prints going for $70.

As of last night, we also have a winner for the print-for-comments contest. He will be receiving a copy of this image of the ceiling of Exeter College Chapel, should he so desire.

[Update: 6 September 2009] Zoom has also written about the vernissage. The Astronaut Love Triangle blog also gives it a mention.

[Update: 7 September 2009] The Elgin Street Muse also wrote about the opening.

[Update: 11 September 2009] The opening was also covered on tales from a grouch.

[Update: 23 September 2009] Until the end of the show, all the prints are on sale for $50.

[Update: 1 October 2009] Some videos of the Astronaut Love Triangle performance are now online: Avatar Love and Side Effects. They can also be seen directly on Vimeo: AL, SE.

Win a print for commenting

As regular readers will already know, next month I have a photography exhibition at Raw Sugar Cafe (692 Somerset, Ottawa). Some kind of an event corresponding to the opening of the show will be arranged, with details to be published here when known.

As a means of encouraging discussion, the following will be in effect for the time between now and the start of the show: anyone who posts a comment on any of my posts will be entered into a draw for a mounted photographic print of mine which I will select. Each comment will have an equal chance of winning, so people who post more will have better odds.

I will have the print delivered for free (though not necessarily immediately) to anyone in Ottawa, Toronto, or Montreal. Those farther afield would be required to reimburse me for the shipping.

Incidentally, if anyone wants a print of any of my photos, they are welcome to contact me. I am sure we could work something out.

Continue reading “Win a print for commenting”

Job progression

Chaudiere Bridge girders

Contrary to the circulating rumours, I am actually alive and well. For the next two years, I will be participating in a development program. Last week was the hectic orientation, and I started at my first placement (of four) on Monday. Naturally, I am still waiting for the paperwork required to turn on my computer, or go to the bathroom unescorted.

Aside from reading up on tax policy, the last couple of days have given me a chance to catch up on issues of The Economist . One tidbit from the August 8th issue amused me:

“Bill Clinton held a surprise meeting in Pyongyang with North Korea’s Kim Jong Il. During the visit the reclusive North Korean dictator pardoned two jailed female American journalists, who had been sentenced to hard labour. They returned to America with the unreclusive Mr. Clinton.”

Unreclusive, indeed.

As for all matters climate change and energy related, I will get back on top of that soon, though probably not posting with the same regularity and dedication that characterized the last two years. After all, I have a photographic exhibition to roll out. Also, I am thinking about joining some sort of environmental organization, so as to keep involved with that side of things while career wanderings take me elsewhere.

Photo exhibition planning

In September, I will be displaying some of my photography at the Raw Sugar Cafe, on Somerset Street. With September 1st just six weeks away (and I will be unusually busy in the interim), I should start thinking about a theme. In total, it would be plausible to display anywhere between nine and 18 medium-to-large prints, with one horizontal level in the first case, and two in the latter. Including a few rather large prints among the moderately-sized ones would be an option, as well.

The first major consideration is choosing photos that strangers will want and appreciate. Portraits of people who I know are unlikely to fit the bill, unless perhaps they are very clearly artistic in conception. Basically, they need to be the kind of thing a stranger would be likely to want on the wall in their home or office.

A second consideration is image quality. Producing 8″ x 10″ or larger prints that are good enough to sell requires either files that came from my new digital SLR (purchased in November 2008), or shots taken under good conditions with previous point and shoot cameras. In particular, high-ISO, low-light shots may not be of acceptable quality.

One possible theme would be photos from various cities, from Paris to Ottawa to Istanbul to Vancouver. Conversely, I could probably come up with a suitable number of decent nature photos. Relatively abstract photos would be another possibility, such as close-up shots of objects and architectural details.

The exhibition will be divided between two walls: one shorter and suited to about four prints per horizontal level. The longer one would probably be best with five. As such, it would be possible to make the two walls contrast with one another: for instance, with colour prints on the longer wall and monochrome ones on the shorter wall.

Do readers have any theme suggestions? Alternatively, do they have any photos they particularly like and think would be suitable? My photo.net page includes more than 500 of my better photos, though it isn’t especially well updated with recent ones. More links are on the ‘my photos’ section of this site.

[Update: 31 August 2009] The exhibition opening party / music gig has been mentioned on the blog of the Astronaut Love Triangle.

[Update: 9:02pm] The event is also mentioned on David Scrimshaw’s blog.

[Update: 1 September 2009] Hella Stella has also drawn some attention to the event.

[Update: 10:57am] Zoom also has the story.

[Update: 11:01am] Incidentally, the photo exhibition is now fully planned. More information on the photos chosen is here. There is also a contest where you can win a mounted print for commenting.