Happy Holidays!

I haven't processed any of my Italian fotos yet, because I'm waiting for my photoshop lessons! However, here are some jpegs I colour corrected using iPhoto. This is from a little trip to our favourite pet store in the city: Menagerie. We used to get all our rats from the Menagerie. I love to watch and listen to the birds. This is a kind of pet store/zoo, as there are many animals here not for sale that have a home for life after being dumped. All the animals for sale are tank bred or not endangered. There are no puppies or kittens here either, but they have a great fish section and the chameleons are my favorites.

This odd group of silver people were on a street in Rome. I'm not sure what they were about.
I like the odd bits of colour in the photo; the red lining of the money box, the glasses on the person second from the right, the water bottle on the ledge behind them.

My fabulous trip to Italy is fast approaching. I have been looking at a lot of travel photos by some really freaking great photographers on G+ - many of them have travelled to Italy or are living there. They've been so much help and inspiration, but I am worried after seeing their work that I will never live up to it! I am sure that whatever photos I manage to take in Italy, I will love them, even if the rest of the world doesn't see them. But (hope against hope) maybe I will actually get some keepers.

Last night I attended a wine tasting event put on by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. These tastings are wonderful! They are held in interesting locations like the Art Gallery of Ontario, or the King Edward Hotel. Last night's was in the Acadian Room at the Simpsons Tower. Years ago I used to go there for lunch, when it was a fancy restaurant, and my mother worked upstairs in a Bay Street law firm. Now it is a functions room I suppose, but the chandeliers are still there. This tasting was Women in Wine - and all from Italy! Talk about timely! The women are representing many generations of wine makers. How wonderful that they are now running this business. They were all so gorgeous and stylish! I may have to re-think my packing plans.

I took along my little GF1 and then forgot to change my WB and also left it on manual focus. I guess with all the wine drinking that was going on, and the lighting (that's it, I'll blame the lighting) - I didn't notice. So I chalk up another one to experience. But here's one picture that at least gives you a feel for the room.

Breakfast at the office; a happy poached egg.

Practicing...
The ubiquitous flower close ups. I really like the detail in the first one.

 This one focussed on the flower centre. The polka dot fabric behind the flower is my umbrella. It was raining! Luckily I had an assistant to hold the umbrella over me while I shot.

 This one focusses on the petals.

This is in my old neighbourhood - Gerrard India Bazaar, or "little India" as everyone calls it. This was taken with a Lumix GF1, 20mm f1.7.

Today some horses came to town. Delegates from Mounted Units all over North America are here for a competition to find the best police horse! They paraded through the streets and stopped at City Hall for a photo op.

The credit for the first two photos goes to my daughter. I set up the camera and handed it to her as I was behind the wheel. She snapped the above photos and then miraculously a parking space opened up right behind that van! I ducked in, got out of the car and got the rest of the shots.

Piggy-back

Espresso

Crossed arms

Out for a walk.

The last day of the Canadian National Exhibition

The human cannonball

The moment of ejection

 Trajectory

 The CN tower peeks from between rides

During the race last night I practiced with the 50mm. It wasn't easy - as I was crewing, shooting, and being tossed around. However, I managed a few shots. The weather was generally overcast. For the most part these are uncropped but slightly enhanced.

The fabulous winch:

 The Plum Danish:

 The Quickstep:

 Our usual view of Quickstep - her stern:

 I like this shot. I tried to straighten it but then lost some of the composition so I left it as is:

 Lively is just taking down the spinnaker. I was moments too late:

I rented a Canon 50mm f1/4 lens to try out. At first I had some pretty dismal results. I ran back and forth (even into traffic!) to frame my shot and still nothing looked good. I threw out a lot of photos and many were because of focus issues. I don't seem to have a clue how to focus this lens - I've tried AF and MF and still have issues. I don't know if it's me or the lens. It does seem a bit "loose" especially at the end range.

Today I had to run to Leslieville to pick up something and took my camera along. Here are some shots I took of some pretty cool housing off a laneway. I also played with post production editing. I used the software that came with iPhoto and just played with the knobs till I thought they looked good. I had to shoot in the bright middle of the day.

 This looks to be a very tiny house!