Posts Under Photography Category
Sparklers = love
Because holidays also = love.
And spending time with friends and family = love.
Fireworks = love.
Long weekends = love.
You get the idea ;)
This long weekend was no exception.
It started and ended with sparklers.
On Canada Day (which was a Friday this year) one of my best friend’s had a pool party/BBQ/fireworks in her backyard, so The Boy & I travelled to Cambridge for the festivities.
She went all-out with Canada themed decorations (thanks to Dollarama – LOVE that store, seriously).
And of course, I baked (and brought!) stereotypically themed ‘Canadian’ cupcakes.
Moose, beavers, and red-and-white “eh?”‘s – very fitting for Canada Day, don’t you think? (more on those later)
They were a huge hit – her 8 year old son really liked the fondant top on the “eh?” ones. I have to admit, that surprised me a little, since fondant is an, uh, ‘acquired’ taste. I only like it in small amounts – I roll it VERY thin when covering cupcakes! It really shouldn’t have surprised me though, as I recall The Boy’s 4-year-old niece ALSO really liked fondant last summer when I used it on his birthday cake.
I guess kids like fondant!
Even my friend’s dogs loved the Canada Day Cupcakes – well, the look and smell of them at least; since they had chocolate – no tasting for you, puppies!
It was really hard to resist feeding that cute face. A nacho or two may have been “dropped”.
Of course, there were the obligatory fireworks (that’s a short video I shot on my iPhone) and playing with sparklers. I didn’t have my T2i with me, so the photos of fireworks and sparklers really don’t look like anything other than blobs of light. Unfortunately, there’s not much to be done with an iPhone4 when it comes to fireworks – but any other camera and you’re pretty much good to go.
Anyway, after experimenting with sparklers and long exposures on the fly (and on the beach!) last weekend during The Boy’s birthday party, it really made me want to try again – with a remote and tripod, this time.
So we did, a few days AFTER Canada Day – that’s where the top photo came from. The boy tried his hand at a few – he got his name pretty fast, and then progressed to trying words not appropriate for this blog.
Silly boys.
I also wrote my name. It took a few tries, and truth be told, watching The Boy successfully write his name. I needed to slow down – there was no need to rush, since we were using the bulb setting this time around (and not a timed setting)… yet I kept trying to write fast, as if I needed to beat a CLICK.
There were a few failed attempts at writing the word “Celebrate” (you try crossing a “T” with a sparkler!) and MANY failed attempts of me writing my name wrong before I finally nailed it, so we ran out of sparklers before trying anything else.
Sad, but what can you do?
Everything was closed by that point.
I’ll be trying some more light painting in the not-too-distant future, I’m sure.
“She was told, if she folded 1,000 paper cranes the gods would grant her wish, she wished to get well, … She ended up folding 644 cranes before she died.” –Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
I read this book when I was a little girl – I think maybe in grade two or three. I remember learning how to fold paper cranes, and we tied them to string and they dangled from the ceiling in the classroom and opened the windows – they blew in the breeze like they were flying away somewhere.
They say cranes live to be 1,000 years – and if you fold one crane for each year of their life your wish would be granted. The “she” in the story is a young girl who has leukemia after Hiroshima. She begins to fold paper cranes; and at first, she folds them to wish for life. But soon, she begins to wish for world peace and happiness after realizing everyone has hardships.
While she died before completing the cranes, her classmates and friends finished them for her.
It’s a story that sticks with you. And when I stumbled across the “1,000 Cranes for Japan” photography project, I knew I had to take part.
“I think it would be a beautiful show of support and love for Japan if flickr was flooded with paper cranes.”
There’s almost 900 photos in the group so far – so they’ll be reaching 1,000 any day now.
Other Crane Projects
Students Rebuild is collecting 100,000 paper cranes, and once they get them, they plan to weave them into an art installation. Even better, the Bezos Family Foundation has agreed to donate $2 for each crane they receive (up to a maximum of $200,000) to Architecture for Humanity’s reconstruction efforts in Japan.
The Miya Company is collecting photographs of 1,000 cranes to make a wish for continued strength, peace, and eternal hope for those in Japan. For each crane of the 1,000 they’re collecting, Miya Company will donate $5 to Save the Children for Japan’s relief and recovery.
If you want to make your own crane for one of these projects, I found a really great explanation with photos.
The 40-foot tall tree in Trinity Square
I recently heard about the Toronto Christmas Market in the Distillery District, which is taking place from December 3 – 12. The market is the City’s first ever European-style Christmas Market, lining the streets of the Distillery with wooden booths selling local crafts, baked goods, and Christmas ornaments. Christmas Markets originated in Germany in the early 1400’s, and are held in the weeks leading up to Christmas in various cities worldwide: and Toronto can now be added to that list.
Being a big fan of the Distillery District – and of really tasty hot chocolate* and good gingerbread – I braved Wednesday night’s frosty, windy weather to check it out. I arrived around 4 in the afternoon – and I wasn’t even sure the market existed at first, as there were not too many people in sight as I neared the area. As happy hour approached however, more people trickled in, choirs took to the stage singing carols, and teenagers dressed as elves jumped around cheering, clapping, and giving directions and information to those who required it.
The market is aiming to become Toronto’s newest holiday tradition – and this year, it received a $75,000 grant from the provincial government (through Celebrate Ontario) to help fund the event, and hopefully, make it a success.
The Christmas Market is family-friendly earlier in the day: kids will be delighted by the ferris wheel overlooking the Distillery, the bright lights, crafts, music, and Gingerbread play house. As night draws near, the breweries and restaurants open heated patios and beer gardens with roaring fires, serving beer and mulled wine as they entice the older, after-work crowd to come by. If it’s cold out, there’s also hot rum based drink options available. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention – the ferris wheel runs until the Market closes at 11, so all the kids-at-heart** visiting can ride it as well.
*shout-out to Soma, I had their Classic Dark (always great!) and the boy tried the Mayan (it’s good, but not really chocolate-y)
**old but needs an excuse for squealing like a schoolgirl and pointing at a ferris wheel
More photos on my flickr account:
The crowd at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
The boy and I took a somewhat impromptu trip to Washington, DC on Halloween weekend to attend Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and Stephan Colbert’s March to Keep Fear Alive. Although we couldn’t see much from where we were (we moved locations about 5 times, and finally gave up to sit and drink some water), and it was hard to hear at times, it was an overall great experience.
Me at the Rally
We met some people from all over America who were in attendance (and a few Canadians, as well) – who were all there for the same reason. They wanted to see some semblance of sanity restored to American politics. “Just because we don’t agree politically doesn’t mean we have to hate each other, or disrespect each other,” I overheard one man say.
And, from a Canadian perspective – I agree. Some of my closest friends don’t share the same political ideologies as I – hell, my own boyfriend and I are placed on opposite ends of the political spectrum – but that doesn’t mean we yell, or hate, or disrespect each other (well, except maybe in a heated debate on occasion ;). So why should America settle for a system where radical activists – on both sides – take things too far?
“I can’t control what people think this was. I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.” -Jon Stewart
You can view Stewart’s (rather passionate!) final speech at the rally on YouTube.
One American asked us why we, as Canadians, were there (besides the obvious reason that, come on, it’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert! ;). Whether we like to admit it or not, American politics play a huge part in our lives… both as Canadians, and on an international scale. It’s hard to be a leader in global economics, policy, and culture and NOT have your politics seep over into other parts of the world. So yes, even though I am Canadian – and even though I did largely attend the rally for fun, and because I have a huge crush on Colbert (shh, don’t tell the boy!), I also do care a lot (perhaps more than I should!) about American politics.
And, a little more on the light hearted side: Buzzfeed has the 100 Best Signs at the Rally (my personal favourite, although I didn’t see it there, is #7… my nerdiness is seeping out! ;)
You can check out my photos (as posted on Flickr) below.
(Oh, and PS: Our Mountie & Moose Halloween costumes were a TOTAL hit :)
My Dad and I went to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum‘s FlyFest 2009 on Father’s Day, which took place at the Hamilton International Airport. Originally, we were going to go on the Saturday, but thunderstorms and heavy rain meant the planes would be grounded. I opted to stay home (rain + recovering from a cold = bad news bears). My sister and Dad still went – and although no planes were flying, they got to board a number of aircraft, including one of my favourites – the Lancaster.
The Lancaster went up while we were there on Saturday – and promptly came back down, meeting two fire trucks on the runway. Much to my disappointment, it never went up again. According to the MC, “The pilot saw something he didn’t like”. According to a Lancaster Ground Crew member I was chatting with in the food line, that “something” was a serious problem with the hydraulics. Hopefully they get it fixed before the next airshow it’s due to be at!
PHOTOS BY LAUREN SOUCH
