Loser Curling

New Loser Curling photos posted.

I got some sweet ass motion blurrs with these shots. The subject has a fair amount of sharpness and detail, while the background has an intense blurr. Check out the full size pictures to see what I'm talking about.

I used my wide angle lens for most of these shots. For a few of the later shots I added a polarizer filter. It's still hard to tell how much the filter helps.

Never Forgive Action @ Gypsy Co-op

If you love the hip and/or hop, don't miss the next Never Forgive Action! There is no night in Toronto with better old skool hip hip....

...and fine ladies. but i've got a girlfriend, so you check out the fine ladies, and I'll check out the hippen and the hoppin.

...and ghost djs! OMG!

this post needs to end. now.

for a more coherent review of Never Forgive Action @ Gypsy Co-op: blogTO: Never Forgive Action @ Gypsy Co-op

Toronto Kickball Fundraiser

The Toronto Kickball Fundraiser was an amazing success! Not only did the party kick some serious ass, but we raised over $400!!! Ryan, Michelle, Alex and everyone else involved in throwing the party did an amazing job!

Girlfriend Material started off the night with their first and last show ever, due to a fitting name change to Shitt Hottt. That's right, count the T's, 5! They're that eff'n hottt!

Boyfriend Material came on second and rocked out hard! Alex was give'n'er on the mic!

Beth in Battle Mode had a great sound and an awesome stage (basement) presence! I see big things for this band...

The Code Name Laurentians were amazing as always. You rock Royal!

Wide Angle @ Eaton Centre

Back in late January I went on my first urban adventure with my new Tiffen Wide Angle 0.75x lens.

I took this opportunity to finally get some pictures of Michael Snow's "Flight Stop".

It was difficult to get well exposed shots without over-exposing the skylights. John recommended using HDR, but that would have required a tripod, lots of time, and actually knowing how to produce HDR images (one day soon I'll learn).

I'm pretty satisfied with my photoshop edits now. I was able to brighten the images without maxing out the high-ends or losing too much detail.

I'll probably go back to the Eaton Centre soon and give it another go with a tripod and my circular polarizer filter. I'm very curious to see if this helps produce a higher dynamic range.

Oh yeah, I also got some fun pictures of the high rise attached to the Eaton Centre, and I really like the picture of the water fountain taken from a level above.

Code Name Laurentians @ The Bagel & Sneaky Dee's

If you love the Code Name Laurentians (and why wouldn't you), jump on over to flickr and check out two new photos sets from their shows at The Bagel and Sneaky Dee's.

The set from The Bagel was a long time in coming, as the show was from back on November 17th. This was the first time I saw Royal and the gang, and I instantly fell in love with their sound. The Bagel on the other hand is frick'n puny and left no room for rocking out, but the beer was $2.50 a bottle, so I'll let it slide...

The set from Sneaky Dee's was taken on January 14th. This was the best turn out I've seen to a Code Name's show, and Sneaky Dee's is a fabulous venue for both rocking out and photography. It wasn't the best performance I've seen from the Code Names, but quite enjoyable none-the-less.

Oh yeah, and I got some fun pics of a disco-ball type light at The Bagel... ewwh, trippy.

Kickball Bowling @ Bathurst Bowlerama

The Toronto Kickball Crew met up Sunday for some off-season shenanigans at Bathurst Bowlerama for some wicked bowling fun.

Yumi edged out Alain and myself with a 10th frame spare-strike combo to secure her victory with scores of 114, 113 and 112 (yeah, we suck).

Jenna, Graeme and John got a slew of style points with their unconventional 360s and granny style bowling.

I'm not sure who organized the group shot, but the matching of bowling balls to shirt colours was a brilliant idea! Once again, the kickball kids make for amazing subjects.

This was one of my first outings with my new Tiffen x0.75 wide-angle lens. I've been really happy with the results so far. The lens produces crisp shots, with minimal barrel distortion, and allows lots of room for cropping.

I was less impressed with my new polarizer filter as it reduced the light intake far too much and required a shutter speed far too slow for such high motion photography. I should have tried combining the filter with a flash. Oh well, live and learn.

UPDATE:

I added a few more pics:
- more bus pics
- the pics john took of me... i do have good form. thanks for noticing andrew.
- pics of graeme's crazy 360 moves