Time for a change

So, I bought this Jeep Wrangler last weekend.  I am really sick of paying rent to some conglomerate company who doesn’t give a shit about me.  I want to do the nomad life in Ottawa here and I want to go places.  Plus I want to pay off some debt and paying $1,300 a month for rent is just nuts.  Plus you have hydro and internet to pay as well.

I have my 2022 Apple iPad Pro which has cellular capabilities along with my Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.  I really want to start living the minimal lifestyle.  Just my cameras and my laptop and iPad.  

I’ll have to figure out where to park for the nights and if I’ll have to get hotel rooms for when it’s -40 degrees Celsius.  And of course where am I going to shower.  I’m figuring I’ll find a 24 hour gym with showers.  Actually go to the gym in the mornings before work.  Do a light work out and then shower.  

The next couple of months will be interesting for sure. I’ll be doing a lot more videos and posting them on my YouTube channel as well.

My favourite photo from the last 2 years

I can’t believe how time flies.  2 years ago, I was in Calgary, Alberta ready to come home.  Not knowing I was to be extended for another month on my contract for another month and I wouldn’t be in Ottawa until July 2017.  My girlfriend was going to fly out from Ottawa to Calgary and we were going to drive back to Ottawa together.  We were gonna go through the northern states and see some of the National Parks in Montana, Oregon, South Dakota etc. That didn’t happens as I got extended by a month.  Honestly I really miss Calgary and being in the mountains.  I remember getting a smile on my face every time I headed out to the Rockies from Calgary.  It was only about a 45 minute drive.

I took the gondola up the mountains when I was in Banff, Alberta one weekend.  I remember the wind was howling up at the peak of the mountains.  The light wasn’t good as well.  The sun was to my left casting a shadow over the centre mountain.  It had blown out the sky and clouds.  I didn’t think much of the shot at all.  Certainly not one of my favourites at the time.  I decided to turn it into a black and white and throw it up onto Shutterstock thinking it would be rejected.  If it was accepted, it would never be bought.  It would just get lost in the millions and millions of photos.  As it turns out, I sell it once every 2-3 days on average and it’s turned out to be one of my very photos.  I’ve been told by acquaintances that it’s their favourite photo of mine.  You can purchase it here here from my Shutterstock portfolio or here to hang on your wall.  I would really appreciate your support.

My girlfriend and I have pretty much decided that next spring, probably in April, that we will be moving to Alberta permanently as neither of us speak the French language and it’s virtually impossible for us to get permanent government jobs here in Ottawa, ON Canada.  With everything that’s going on with federal politics, and if the current guy in charge federally, we believe, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta will eventually separate from eastern Canada as the two are so different from each other.  But that’s another story.  

Junior Egret at Mud Lake

Today was a fantastic day in Ottawa.  We're having great weather on the weekends.  Sunny and warm.  I on occasion go to Mud lake in Ottawa to do some photography since there is a variation of birds at the lake from Owls to Great Blue Herons and egrets to chickadees, nuthatches and robins.   WIth the shallow waters this year, you can get to places that you couldn't before.  This junior egret has been hanging around for the past several weeks.  I've managed to get some really good photos and video of this amazing bird.  He is not skittish or shy around humans and will completely ignore you.  Which is good for us photographers.  :)

Shot some new video today.

Went on a walk today at lunch with my Canon Vixia HF R62 1080p 60fps camcorder.  Shot some video of stuff I never knew Ottawa had.  I kinda like discovering new stuff in my own city.  A lot of my stuff is getting approved on the various micro stock sites but some of it isn't.  Some is selling.  Some is not.  Just gotta keep shooting and uploading and hope for sales.

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.