Life After Thesis

Gary Fong Lightsphere

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:38:32 +0000

There’s nothing like getting your hands on some new photography equipment!

A couple of months back I bought myself a Canon Speedlite 430EX II because of the notorious flash burst to focus bullshit that always pissed off the people I was photographing. After years of using the onboard, I found the switch to the external tricky, maybe even downright frustrating. The little diffusor I got did little help a little, but the whole set up just wasn’t what I wanted it to be.

Then at some point Jose stepped in and suggested I give his Gary Fong a try. The difference was night and day! It’s nice to get new photo equipment, but it’s even better when you try something new and it works beautifully! The nice thing about this model is that it does collapse down to a much smaller size, because it is quite the bulky item when assembled. This will make your time headed to and from the event that much more enjoyable.

If you’ve considered one of these then hopefully I could help you out, I would totally recommend this product!

42×12: The Cult of Fixed

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:00:49 +0000

Imagine to my surprise when I went out to the mailbox one day and found this amazing book waiting for me!

These guys had got in touch with me late last year asking for my permission to include a few photos in their then upcoming book project. Excited by the opportunity, but not really knowing what I was getting myself into, I quickly agreed and provided the files the guys needed.

The final product is a real stunner—beautifully produced, with amazing images of rides all over the world. I’m glad that someone finally filled the void with this book. And yes, one of my photos did make it in there as well! My first published photo!

A big shout out to Gary for reaching out and to Jay for letting me snap some pics of him riding.

www.42x12fixed.co.uk

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Terror Tone!

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:58:40 +0000

This past Friday saw Terror Tone’s, aka Luke D, first EP release and release party. Having known Luke through friends for many years, I was surprised at how good of a DJ he was when I started to see him spin at house parties. I was even more surprised when I realized he also produced music—quality music at that.

I think we all agree this was a fun night! Not really much to say, I’ll let the photos do the talking, other then Luke worked hard to get here and I want to congratulate him on getting to this point.

www.terror-tone.com

As for the photos, as usual I’m sending you to Flickr to see them!

Watercolour Explorations

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:13:31 +0000

It’s been quite a while now since I busted out my watercolour set and messed around in that medium. The past month I’ve been trying to do a small drawing every couple of days. With WHODUNIT coming up, along with a few other things, along with the people I’ve promised drawings (JON!), it was time to play around and start down a new path.

The two samples you see above are outlines in purple and blue Gelly Roll pens. For some reason a regular black outline just doesn’t excite me too much. To see all the explorations click here! I hope to have more work to share with you guys real soon.

New PF Flyers: Center Hi

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:27:08 +0000

I don’t know why I had such a hard time finding a new pair of shoes I liked all summer. Every time I went out looking I couldn’t find anything and always ended up buying something else. Then a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this brand I wasn’t familiar with. I peeked around the PF Flyer website and had my sights set on the Number 5 in black. Finding them in a local store also turned out to be difficult.

Suddenly the temperature in Toronto dropped and I had to reconsider. Maybe it was time to look at the high tops. So I went to the shop on Queen Street, tried on two different models and loved the look of these!

www.pfflyers.com

New Moleskine, it’s a Bad Thing :(

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:10:02 +0000

So a few weeks ago I was getting ready to go camping for the first time ever. Because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing or how to get prepared, I was making tons of notes on what to bring, including food. As with all my other notes and shit, this info ended up in my daily Moleskine planner. I took it with me to the grocery store, and left it somewhere. I was pissed at myself, but was also sure it would turn up.

The next day I went to see if it had shown up; nope. I tried again twice more in the following week. Nothing. That’s when I really got mad. Ideas, thoughts, websites, product info, some contact info, basically everything ended up in here. It’s nice to have everything in one convenient place. It also makes it easy to lose everything.

So ya I was really pissed (REALLY REALLY PISSED) but knew I had to move on. Unfortunately when I headed out to look for a replacement I could no longer find a replacement for the 2009 calender year. Instead I had to buy the 2010 one you see pictured above and change all the numbers by hand.

I don’t really know if there is any sort of lesson to be learned here. I guess don’t lose your Moleskine!

Bicycle Film Festival 2009 in Toronto

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:51:42 +0000

In 2008 the CMWC & Bike Film Festival both took part on back to back weekends in Toronto. While I highly doubt you’ll see me in Tokyo for this years CMWC, you can bet I’ll at the Bicycle Film Festival when it hits Toronto late next week.

It was a blast last year with a ton of awesome movies ranging from no-budget time lapse stuff to a documentary about Paris-Roubaix. Definitely something for any type of bike enthusiast.

If you’re not in Toronto, the Bicycle Film Festival travels to THIRTY-EIGHT OTHER CITIES! Brendt Barbur you’re one hell of a busy and dedicated guy — nice too!

Check out the trailer below, I love it! Couldn’t help but notice it was filmed on and around College Street in Toronto. Oh and is that Tobin on the gray GT? I think it is!

Bicycle Film Festival — Main Site

Bicycle Film Festival — Toronto Schedule
Toronto festival runs August 19-22, 2009.

Pages, I’m gonna miss you!

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:12:26 +0000

For as long as I went to OCAD, Pages Books & Magazines was right around the corner to chill at, get introduced to new artists, help me get my magazine fix, or expand my book collection. Located at the opposite corner of Queen & John from MuchMusic and just a few units down from a Starbucks, I just always happened to find myself there – sometimes intentionally, but mostly not so much so.

After a short stint away from the downtown Toronto area, I found myself back in my usual hideout spot, only to find some dreadful news. Pages Books & Magazines will be closing at the end of this month. As I said, finding myself there was almost a subconscious action. I’m really going to miss this place. I’m sure the creative community in Toronto will be just as crushed.

If you are in the area, hell even if you aren’t, stop in grab a book or two, and say some good-byes. There is also a sale going on so why not? The staff has always been amazing there. I’m truly going to miss this place.

Pages Books & Magazines
256 Queen St. West, Toronto, ON
416 598 1447
pagesbooks.ca

Crazy Weather Today!

admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:02:16 +0000

Not normally this bright at 9pm!

To sit here and tell you the weather around Toronto has been its usual self this summer would be a complete and utter lie. I personally don’t mind the cooler and wetter weather. I’d do anything to stay away from the humidity that has finally rolled in to greet us. There has been a number of times this summer where I’ve been sitting here, working or just surfing the net with the window open, when suddenly a intense wind just comes out of no where. I’m never surprised when a storm arrives right behind it.

I’d also be lying if I told you I’d seen such an intense storm in…who knows how long. There was an intense rain this morning, just as I was arriving home. But that cleared up and left shortly after. The sun showed up for a bit, and then after dinner it started to get really dark out. I knew the rain would come eventually, but I really wasn’t ready for what happened as the sun went down.

Again the storm was preceded by a crazy wind storm that had me running to close the windows around the house. My friend Scott aka DTS who lives North East of me informed me to brace for the big one. He had even lost power, fortunately I did not. I can’t tell you how intense this storm was, it really was something else. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it managed to step it up another notch. I’ve seen my street get kinda flooded before, but this was almost curb to curb water. And the wind just would not stop. I wanted to shoot out the door but I could only keep it open for a few minutes before the rug got soaked. That’s why these were shot through a window.

I’ve never attempted to shoot lightening before. It was so constant tonight that I was able to capture about 8 bolts fairly easily. These photos aren’t the greatest ever but it was really thrilling to download them and find some gems in the batch. Some really crisp lightening bolts, the fine detail of which you can’t even make out while viewing on the camera LCD.

Close up of the best shot I took this evening.

Villains & Co. Thift Tee

admin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:12:36 +0000

I just grabbed this off of a super cool guy named Jay in my town. Jay does 2 new shirts a month, this is one of the June designs. If you want your own you’re gonna have to act fast. I think I got the last medium.

To get your own, and see what else Jay has available check him out here: www.wearevillains.com. If I knew how to link you to their Facebook page I would. Look ‘em up if you’d like to be kept up to date.