What a day at Algonquin Park

Got to the park at about 11:30am and within half an hour of getting there, saw my first of three moose.  Unfortunately, the first one was in deep brush so pretty much unseeable and unphotographable unless walking through a foot of water and about 30 metres full of brush.  The next 2 moose displayed amazingly well in clear fields along Highway 60 which runs the souther corridor of Algonquin Park.  Both got within 10 metres of the road stopping traffic along both sides.  Too tired to edit photos and videos tonight.  Editing will be done tomorrow along with uploading to various websites.

My eyes are really heavy so it's time for bed.

Tulip Festival - Ottawa, Ontario - May 14, 2016

Shot today before the rains came.  Tulip Festival held in Ottawa, Ontario - Canada every year since Canada help the Netherlands in the second world war.

Today was people hell.  Crowds upon crowds of families and people taking photos of the tulips with cell phones, point and shoots and actual DSLR's.  All of my photography was taken with the Canon EOS 6D and either a Canon EF f2.8 100MM L v2 macro or the Canon EF f2.8 70-200MM L v2 lens. The above was taken with the macro lens.

Currently just sitting at a Tim Horton's editing photos.  They will be up on my website later this weekend.

Shooting Editorial

I haven't been shooting many editorial shots for fear of them being rejected on sites like Shutterstock and Fotolia.  What if they're rejected or they don't sell?  Well, they haven't sold anywhere yet but they are being accepted.  Which is a good thing of course.  I'm not one for photographing people much just because there are so many photographers that do people photography.  I would rather shoot inanimate objects such as the kayaks above.  

Plus if I put the shots onto micro stocks like Shutterstock, Bigstockphoto or my own site and people find themselves in my shot which is for sale, they'll probably come after me for money or some other reason.  Could it just be paranoia?  I don't know.  I just know I hate having my picture taken.

Back to shooting editorial.  I've been shooting it for a while now but just haven't posted them to the micro stock sites and if I did they were rejected for some reason.  That all changed in the last month or so when practically every editorial shot has been accepted which is a feat in itself.  Now I wish they would just sell.  Considering they're on micro stock agencies, I'll probably sell them for pennies on the dollar.  But if people would just buy off of my site where I get a higher percentage of the sale, that would just be awesome.  I host my photos on FAA (Fine Art America) because it only costs $30 a year and you can upload as many photos as you want and they take care of all the printing, framing and shipping to your client.  Less administrative head ache for moi. 

Ottawa tired!

I've lived in Ottawa since 1983 when I was just 8 years old.  I took up photography seriously in 2008 or so.  Started taking classes in 2010 and finished in 2012.  It is now 2016 and I'm tired of photographing Ottawa and the surrounding areas.  I fee like I've done it all in this quaint town of a million plus people.  You have your typical tourist sites like Parliament Hill, the museums, galleries and such.  I've been to Parc Omega more times than I can count.

Don't get me wrong, I like living here in Canada's capital.  It's quiet, relatively cheap and there are jobs here.  I'm just tired.  Tired of the same.  Mind you, I'm not the kind to just pick up and move to a new place.  I have to have things figured out.  Need a job.  Need money to eat and put a head over my head.  I need a place where I can edit my photos and videos.

I've felt the need to move somewhere for the past several years.  I've come to realize that I've spent too much time here.  I'm still finding it hard to be alone after my divorce.  I see no future girlfriend in the near future.  I don't know if I'll get married again.  I'm scared to move to a new place.  But I'm more scared if I don't and things stay in the same place and do the same things.  I don't know if I can keep doing the same job for the next 20+ years.  A job I hardly enjoy.  A job that is just the means to an end.  I'm not overly happy doing the same thing day in day out seeing the same people, doing the same job.  

I love photography.  It's the only hobby/job that keeps me happy.  I don't think about anything else when I'm out photographing the surrounding world.  I think the only other person who would understand is a photographer.  Photography is something that lives in you.  It's more than a feeling.  It's more than a passion.  It's in my DNA.  Honestly it's what I love to do.  Just put me in a national park with a camera or two and I'd be happy as a kid in a candy store.

Mr. Grumpy

Today's blog is going to be short and sweet.  Warm temperatures.  Blue skies.  And finally photography after work.  

I went to Mud lake today which is located just off of the Ottawa river in Ottawa's west end.  I just needed some fresh air and clear my mind.  I always like going to Mud lake as there are plenty of varied wild life to watch and photograph from small birds to big birds, turtles, and small woodland animals to deer.

Since my longest lens is the Canon EF f2.8 L 70-200MM, I will be doing a lot of cropping of some of my photography since I got rid of the Sigma f5-6.3 150-500MM lens to get another Canon EOS 6D body.

On my way around the lake on the walking path I met a friend and fellow photographer.  He will remain nameless as he shoots on a competing camera line which will also remain nameless.  Now, I met my friend on a bridge which crosses some water.  From this vantage point you can shoot a lot of water fowl such as geese, ducks, musk rats, beaver and very friendly turtles who will gladly pose for you for a small fee.

I spent about two and a half hours shooting the sh*t just talking photography and various other topics.  For not being a people person that is pretty good.  As I am a solitary photographer meaning that I love going to do photography by myself most of the time so I can stop, think, take pictures as I please without any interruption.  I also like doing photography in small groups with other photographers.

Yes, this is a convoluted blog post as it's late on a Thursday night and I work early tomorrow morning.  Plus I wanted to do some astrophotography tomorrow night since I don't have to get up any time soon on Saturday and I could actually sleep in.  

By the way, have I mentioned recently that Canon rocks?

The 3rd Canon EOS 6D body and the moose

So I've been doing a lot of thinking the past couple of weeks with what I wanted to do with my photography and videography.  More specifically, what kind of photography and videography I wanted to do and what my current equipment was capable of.  Also in my thought process was what do I sell via the micro stock agencies I deal with.

Some time ago I bought a Sigma f5.0-6.3 150-500MM lens that I used to get various shots with for my wildlife photography.  I also use a Canon EF 70-200MM f2.8L II USM lens a lot as well.  I've been finding that the Canon 70-200MM far more often than any other lens just because of the build quality of said lens.  If you shoot on the Canon platform and do not use this lens because of the price, I suggest you start saving up to get this lens.  Simply the best lens out there.  Sharp, crystal clear and the colours are consistently amazing with no chromatic aberration at all or at least very, very little.  For my landscape photography I use the Canon EF 16-35MM II L USM lens along with the Canon EF L 24-70MM II USM lens.  For macro photography, I use the Canon f2.8 100MM L USM lens.  I also use the nifty fifty (Canon EF f1.8 STM).

I also shoot video for my stock agencies.  Currently I use the Canon Vixia HF R62 HD camcorder.  I had the Sony FDR AX33 4k HD camcorder.  Now, both shoot amazing video.  World class.  As much as I wanted to keep the Sony FDR AX33 4k HD camcorder, I could not sell 4k video at all.  1080p, plenty.   But of course not as many as I would like.  Sales are always good.

Today at lunch I went to my local camera shop that I always use to buy my equipment to sell some stuff and perhaps buy a new body.  A new body for me anyways.  A camera body that is.  So today at lunch I went and sold some equipment.  I sold the Sigma f5.0-6.3 150-500MM, the Sony FDR AX33 4k HD camcorder and the Sony RX100 Mark IV which by the way is an excellent pocket point and shoot camera which also shoots 4k video along with taking great pictures.  Plus it fits perfectly in the front jean pocket.

Depending on what I was going to get back for the equipment I was going to buy a cropped sensor body like the Canon EOS T6i or the Canon EOS 70D.  I was kind of hoping to get enough money back to get the Canon EOS 70D which is a steadier body with a few more features than the T6i.  Plus the T6i is an entry level camera.  Don't get me wrong, I think the Rebel series of cameras are great.  That's how I started in the photography business.  Actually I upgraded to the Canon EOS 350D from the Canon A95 which was a cool little point and shoot camera that, if I remember correctly required four double a batteries and shot at a maximum of 5MP.

Back on topic.  I had more than enough to buy the Canon EOS 70D body and battery grip.  But I was a bit short for the Canon EOS 6D.  I did a bit of budgeting for the next couple of weeks and figured, why not?  Spend less than $500 to get a full frame body.  My third Canon EOS 6D.  I got the Canon EOS 6D because I was so happy with the other two Canon EOS 6D cameras that I still use to this day to do my landscape and nature photography.

The only thing that bugs me about the Canon EOS 6D is the lack of focus points using only 11 and only 1 is cross type.  Otherwise it's an excellent camera body which works well in low light and other photographic situations.  So now I have three Canon EOS 6D bodies attached to Canon L series lenses except for the Macro and nifty fifty which are waiting for their own bodies.  Eventually I think I may get two mored bodies to finish off the set.  I also need to get a battery grip for the new addition to the Canon family as I find the body to be just a tad bit small for my hands.  The battery grip also helps when you're shooting vertical. I wonder if I can get Canon Canada to send me one for review.  Eh, Canon????