Mike Wood Photography

Not Phoning it in.

2012-01-18T23:26:00.000-05:00

This week is the "From Ruins to Renewal" photo exhibition featuring about 40 of my images to raise money for the restoration of the Red Antiquities Building,

It runs through Saturday at The Arts Project in London, Ontario. I will be there at the private reception on Thursday evening, and I hope if you are local to the London area you can swing by and check out the prints during the next few days. They are all for sale with proceeds going to the restoration of the Red Antiquities Building. The show runs through Saturday, January 21, 2012.

Arts Project Hours:
Tuesday - SaturdayNoon - 5:00 PM
phone: 519-642-2767
203 Dundas Street,London, Ontario
(between Richmond and Clarence)

Lastly, as you have probably seen, I am not blogging much at all on here anymore. I have shifted my primary online presence to Google Plus. Circle me there. Maybe you will be the 15000th person to do so! :)

Mike

9/11 at Ten

2011-09-11T08:48:00.000-04:00

An old firetruck from the second quarter of the 20th century. When I saw the helmet resting on the twin hoses I thought it would make a fitting image for today. 343 firefighters and paramedics ran in when everyone else was leaving.

Heroes never say they are heroes. They are just people doing their jobs. In this case, I beg to differ.

This and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Amy, Untitled, #3 and now Down Under.

2011-09-10T00:10:00.000-04:00

Opening later on today at the Latrobe Contemporary Gallery in Morwell, Victoria, Australia, there will be a two week group show titled “Dreaming Hazel Dooney” with participants having submitted works inspired by or based upon the persona of sometimes controversial Australian artist Hazel Dooney (Google + and Facebook and Tumblr).

Last winter, when I was asked to participate in the show by Hazel, I hesitated. This was partly because I wasn’t sure what to submit. The show was originally planned for the early Fall in Australia (early Spring here) and I didn’t have the means to shoot anything new by the submission deadline. As I mentioned in the artist statement I submitted for the show, I wanted to find an image that would embody elements of how she is perceived by the public generally, and by those who follow her work more closely online.

I felt that the nude - and occasionally erotic - strong female form evident in Hazel’s work, her go it alone against the art world attitude, immersion in her art, and occasional admitted personal vulnerability, combined as elements in this image of my model Amy that I settled on: A woman alone in an empty room. Nude and exposed on a bare floor. Curled in a fetal position and covered in her ink. But perhaps also peacefully asleep on a blank canvas and dreaming of her next major piece.

The show runs from September 10-22, 2011 at the Latrobe Contemporary Gallery at 209 Commercial Rd, Morwell, Victoria, Australia 3840. I can't get to the show - the first overseas exhibition I am participating in - but if you happen to be in the Adelaide area and fancy a trip out of town to Morwell, check it out for me. :)

This and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Feel free to +1 this if you are on Google +!)

Steampunk Lightsabers

2011-07-03T10:03:00.000-04:00

Went for a very long walk the other day. It involved some bush crashing and hill climbing: I wanted to get around the bend of a river when the hiking path was on the other side of the river. Luckily - or perhaps unluckily, there was no one with me to photograph. After coming out of mosquito, spiderweb and mud land, I came upon the tail end of a train that had stopped just after crossing a bridge. I had heard it for about half an hour it seemed, but wasn't sure exactly where it - or I was.

I had approached the train from the shadow side - which wouldn't have made for the best imagery. I made my way down the track for 7-8 rail cars to the back and found the train had stopped about 10 feet from the beginning of the bridge. Had it stopped with the last car on the bridge, it would have been too tough to go around safely and I wasn't going to climb on the train.

The far side had a lot of foliage growing quite near to the edge of the track bed and I knew I wouldn't get any distance shots so settled in on some close ups. Two cars were carrying empty steel frame supports of some sort. Most chained down properly. Others most definitely not with disconnected tie down chains.

These initial images of the screw threaded tension adjusters on the tie down chains reminded me of some sort of steampunk lightsabers.

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Happy 144th, Canada

2011-07-01T10:08:00.001-04:00

Crowsnest Mountain, June 1st, 2007

This was one of the first mountains I ever saw up close in person. I photographed the 2,785m Crowsnest Mountain from Hwy 3 up in the Crowsnest Pass about 5km West of Coleman, Alberta (near the BC-Alberta border).

Canada is an amazing place. All these tall mountains and glaciers. Vast prairies with disappearing grain elevators and endless vistas of golden wheat. The largest fresh water lakes in the world. And some generally friendly people - non more so than those 1/2 hour ahead of everyone in Newfoundland.

When I drove across the country four years ago, it was an awesome experience for me. An experience of a lifetime perhaps. I suggest anyone who has not explored outside of their neighbourhood to go look and see what is out there - no matter where you live. And if you are from Canada, well, you have lots to choose from.

Happy Canada Day. :)

This and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Pipes, bricks and trees

2011-06-23T11:29:00.000-04:00

These pipes are a gas. Though the gas fitter who did them didn't know a right angle from a donut apparently.

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Long Hair

2011-06-20T07:34:00.000-04:00

One additional image from when I shot Nadine last month. When we reviewed it, she really liked the way her long hair was whipping around so I thought I would post it. Look forward to photographing her again sometime soon.

This and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Katy and the Bridge, Pt Two

2011-06-12T11:19:00.000-04:00

Continuation of the previous post with Katy. These were in shade for the most part so I intentionally used more fill flash which made for a completely different vibe than the other images which were in direct sunlight. I didn't want them tacked on to the end of the last post and perhaps not given the exposure I think they deserve.

This sequence was more entertaining as there was a dad trying to fish while letting his small kids scramble out of view under the bridge and probably watch us. Ah poor parenting. I hope for another creative with Katy soon. Yes, Katy-chan, that is a hint.:)

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Katy and the Bridge, Pt One

2011-06-11T10:31:00.002-04:00

Katy and I have known eachother for a few years now and despite talking about getting together again for photos on a couple of occasions, and chatting frequently, we had not been able to do a creative for a while. The last time I photographed her was in 2008 which seems eons ago!

A couple of weeks ago she was nearby so we decided to meet up and here are the results. She is always a pleasure to shoot and is always always kawaii. Domo arigatou gozaimasu, Katy-chan!

Part 2 will be in the next post.

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

The Windy Day

2011-06-03T09:13:00.009-04:00

I had the opportunity to shoot with Nadine again a couple of weeks ago. The last time was a freezing cold day in the winter. This time turned out to be very windy. To the point that I struggled to maintain my balance at times and her hair was going everywhere and with brief momentary exceptions could not be controlled unless she turned her face into the wind: think a wind machine on max and no off switch. :)

Those who have posed for me in the past know I can be a bit of a perfectionist with hairs out of place and so on. So the old me wouldn't have even considered shooting this day let alone suggested doing it, and if I did, I would have got frustrated, and at the very least would have done it all in black and white... :) But I enjoyed the challenge and knew Nadine's long hair would be fun to shoot in the natural wind machine.

And as a bonus, I got to save a couple of tiny tiny fish that were flopping about in the shallow water in the above shot. Changing my ways a little saved lives. :)

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Jennifer

2011-05-22T11:16:00.001-04:00

I have not had at the same time both the opportunity and the means to photograph people too much in the past six to eight months. There were a couple of exceptions of course, such as Nadine in the depths of winter, but this weekend I was able to go and see Jen and photograph her with her family.

She is pretty much due early next month - and with babies you never know, so I was glad I was able to see Jen and shoot some photos before she had her baby. We spent a bit of time doing photos, and I had a great dinner before I headed out again. There were quite a few really nice family photos of Jen, Mike and the kids, but this was the first image I sent her: I wanted her to have at least one belly photo before she had the baby - just in case. :)

Mike

Oil's well that doesn't end well.

2011-05-21T09:12:00.001-04:00

So, last weekend after hanging out with a friend I was heading back and saw these neatly stacked Quaker State 5w30 oil containers and a vehicle battery by a curb in an area cleared for a new subdivision or something. Nice of the construction dudes to so conveniently leave them out in the open when there is no hope of a garbage pick up for months.

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints. Mike

The Fallen

2011-05-19T12:39:00.001-04:00

It may not do the job of a fence anymore, but the jumble of angles, the lack of uniformity, and the sense of abandon and decay does make for a better image.

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Like the hand of a giant

2011-05-16T18:53:00.000-04:00

I saw the remains of this tree which had been cut down very recently - presumably due to it being rotted out. From the road, it looked like a statue of a giant hand with the fingers broken off.

Looking closer at the stump, it was interesting that a splintered skyline had remained and someone had placed a curved section of bark on it link an airplane hangar.

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

A long time ago

2011-04-28T12:25:00.001-04:00

This was the only sort of lock you needed. A simple iron loop that would mate up with a farm gate latch. Now there are steel vaults, Kryptonite bike locks and remote car locks, razor wire and thumb print scanners on smartphones.

The march of technology has it's advantages, but it has certainly made life more complex.

These and most images from the past 2-3 years on my blog are available as prints.

Mike

Red Antiquities Building Interior Final Images

2011-04-26T11:45:00.001-04:00

Final part of my series of images of the century old Red Antiquities Building in London, Ontario.

Early last fall, I was able to go to London and was given access to shoot some interior and exterior images of the building 'as is' prior to the commencement of structural improvements and renovations. ( Part I with the interior images is here. and Part II with the exteriors is here.) These were shot the same day as the exterior images.

The website for the "Back From the Brink" project is located here and they are actively looking for donations and community involvement in the completion of this large undertaking.

All images are available as prints should anyone be interested.

Mike

A nifty fifty

2011-04-25T09:21:00.000-04:00

No. We are not talking my age. Not for a while yet anyhow. Someone has graciously loaned me for an extended period a Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II lens. Also known as a "nifty fifty." They are inexpensive- at least as wide open prime lenses go. Lots of plastic and quite small in size.

They are light weight. Actually feather light compared to my usual 24-105L that I shoot everything with (4.6 ounces vs 1.5 lbs!). Light to the point that I could forget I am actually carrying my camera with the shoulder strap. With the 24-105, the strap firmly sits on the shoulder. With this one, I found myself holding the strap like a rifle sling thinking it might slip off. A big plus is that it's lack of weight makes it really easy to shoot. And I imagine that an extended period of shooting would be a lot easier on my left arm and shoulder too.

One interesting point - which I read about but hadn't experienced, was the moving around. With a zoom, you can just rotate the lens barrel and re-frame the subject. With this it is: crouch down, think, lean back a bit, stand up, step back, crouch down, frame again. And repeat. Makes it sort of fun to shoot as it is a completely different process. Well, perhaps not too fun when the only good spot is squishy, wet and muddy and on top of a grave. :)

A side effect of that moving about was that after an hour, I only had 40-50 images. I don't machine gun photograph in a 'spray and pray' style of hoping something will turn out and edit down from 500 photos, but with this lens you shift and move around more instead of just happily clicking away. I picked about a dozen I liked - some of which were in this tiny rural cemetery which probably measured 15x20m or so and dated to the middle part of the 1800s.

I am really looking forward to trying some natural light f1.8 nudes with this lens.

Mike

Red Antiquities Building Exterior Details

2011-04-23T11:08:00.003-04:00

Part II of my images of the century old Red Antiquities Building in London, Ontario.

Early last fall, I was able to go to London and was given access to shoot some interior and exterior images of the building 'as is' prior to the commencement of structural improvements and renovations. ( Part I with the interior images is here. )

To follow on from the interior shots, I am putting up some exterior detail images. The building had been photographed by architectural students prior to the work beginning, so I felt shooting a series of non documentary style images would compliment their work nicely. These images have not been posted to this point.

All images are available as prints should anyone be interested.

The website for the "Back From the Brink" project is located here and they are actively looking for donations and community involvement in the completion of this large undertaking.

Mike

RIP Chris Hondros

2011-04-20T19:05:00.000-04:00

A second photographer, New York based Chris Hondros, dies from wounds sustained in the same attack that killed photojournalist Tim Hetherington earlier today. The deaths occurred while they were covering the fighting in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Chris Hondros was a senior staff photographer for Getty Images. He was 41.

Mike

RIP Tim Hetherington

2011-04-20T18:02:00.001-04:00

Photo credit: ©Tim Hetherington,

Tim Hetherington, the world renowned photojournalist and co-director of Oscar nominated Afghanistan war documentary ‘Restrepo’, was killed, and three other journalists wounded, today during a mortar attack in Misrata, Libya while covering the war.

Doctors in Misrata also confirmed the names of the three injured journalists to The Associated Press. Chris Hondros, a photographer for Getty Images, sustained serious injuries and was reported to be on a respirator at Hikma Hospital. Two other photographers, Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown, were being treated for shrapnel wounds.- Via the CTV News and other sources including twitter.

Tim Hetherington is seen here discussing the making of Restropo, Via Time's obituary on Hetherington:

Mike

Red Antiquities Building interior

2011-04-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

The century old Red Antiquities Building is in the process of being renovated and restored. Earlier this month it was even lifted off it's original foundations and moved into it's backyard to have new foundations poured and reinforced and also to level the building.

Early last fall, I was able to go to London and was given access to shoot some interior shots of the building as is prior to the renovations. They are all natural light shots, no flash or other fill light.

I wasn't able to travel to London to see the move happen, but I thought I would share the images I did back then as they have not been posted to this point. Another post will follow with the exterior images.

All images are available as prints should anyone be interested.

Mike

On the wrong side of a rusty sign

2011-04-13T18:29:00.000-04:00

In the summer, this sign isn't visible at all and it has no more words as to what it was cautioning against. I suspect I would have once been standing in a velociraptor paddock.

Mike

Somewhere, a Bootless Joe

2011-04-07T18:31:00.000-04:00

A lone hiking boot - apparently in good repair, in the middle of a wide expanse of back fill in an empty fenced in lot. Something foul was a foot. ;)

Mike

Soon this will be full of Love

2011-04-02T12:09:00.000-04:00

Or at the very least 40-love games. Photographed January, 2011.

Mike

End of Winter or End of Fall II

2011-03-29T11:45:00.003-04:00

Part two of the images photographed last fall of a pool cover with leaves on it. Part One is here. These looked different than the first group as the cover for this section of the pool was pushed deeper underwater and had no air bubbles on the surface. Curiously this was in the shallow end.

Leaves which had not managed to blow away, were resting on the submerged cover for the most part. The angle I shot them at was from the other side of the pool from Part One. More into the sun with a circular polarizer to reduce the water reflection and get some underwater detail.

This last shot, heavy on the black, happened because the sun had shifted enough while photographing that a small corner of the pool was no longer in direct sunlight and was now shaded by a building. There was something about the pair of leaves heading into the void that I liked.

Other than the black and white, contrast, etc., nothing else was done to any of these shots. That's why, in some case, the debris and dust flecks are visible on the surface of the water. I could have cleaned them up in post, but I thought leaving them in added something. It was a dirty pool after all.

Mike

End of winter or end of fall

2011-03-28T10:48:00.005-04:00

These are images of a pool cover in I photographed in November - on Remembrance Day in fact. At the time, I wasn't sure how I wanted to process them. So they sat for months. Over the winter, I would occasionally go back to them and try a couple of different techniques, not be satisfied and then leave them be again.

Given I had a cancellation for photos on Friday - I was going to shoot some nudes outside in the (hopefully) last snow of the winter, I started to tinker with these instead. I came up with a post processing that seemed to suit. I know they don't look too much like air bubbles in a pool cover, and that is the reason why I like them. Next post will have part 2 of the images.

Mike

Lake Ice III

2011-03-25T11:22:00.007-04:00

Last couple of images from the same day as the Lake Ice and Lake Ice II. The channel marker in the distance was the same one I shot Lizz at here and here a couple or three years ago. This time, it was completely covered in thick ice. With all the build up at the far end, it looked like it was the bow of a lake freighter plowing a furrow through heavy seas. To say that this was a slick surface to walk on would be an understatement. Shuffling across a hockey rink is one thing. Trying it on a wavy, warped, randomly sloping surface with a defined drop off is another.

In the foreground above, is the massive piece of ice visible in the first Lake Ice image. You can see how the wind and relentless wave and follow on ice pressure really pushed a couple of months worth of ice up and it into the corner made by the beach meeting the pier.

In the next two shots, I was standing on a similar thickness of ice close to the actual beach line. Probably about one and a half meters above the sand. If you could have seen the sand.

The thought of warm sand does have a bit of appeal right about now. :)

Mike

Lake Ice II

2011-03-24T11:07:00.000-04:00

A continuation of the last Lake Ice post with a different viewpoint on the ice. Instead of the sun being more or less camera left, the sun was at my back, or behind and a bit to the right. Given the subject matter and the angle of incidence, I thought a soft colour tone processing better suited these.

For example, in the above image, when I tried the same black and white conversion as in the previous post, the differences between the lighter milky colour in the foreground/distance and the greenish-blue of this channel opening were lost.

The colour made the thicker chunks of ice stand out like islands in an aerial shot of a frozen seascape. At least to me at any rate.

Mike

Lake Ice

2011-03-23T17:02:00.000-04:00

Back in January, when it was considerably colder than it is now, I shot some photos of lake ice. I never know what I am going to get year to year, and it can vary location to location. I had gone, for example, somewhere else the previous week and given the strength and angle of the sun in relation to the build up of ice, I came away only with a self portrait. :) I really didn't like the results. But here, I left with a few interesting images.

Only in a couple of instances was I far up and out onto the ice. By far I mean no more than 10-20m or so beyond the natural beach line. I stayed on the stuff that was really thick from where it had built up many multiple layers against the beach. That vertical piece in the first image, for example, was probably close to a meter thick. Now and then it did afford me a higher vantage point to photograph the ice farther out - which probably went out half a kilometer into the lake. I stayed well off that: I am all about keeping near frozen ice water out of my snow boots. ;)

It was fascinating to see how the ice, pushed by the wind, and influenced by the shallow sandbars below, had formed these little lagoons of flat smooth ice. They were completely surrounded by long stretches of broken up ice that had created their own little bays, inlets and small islands.

Mike

Sweet seats

2011-03-22T19:26:00.000-04:00

In retrospect, the landscapers realized that the benches were set up a little too close to the sugar refinery loading docks. On the other hand, the soccer players had lots of energy. :)

Mike

Creative Live Posing and Lighting workshop

2011-03-21T12:07:00.000-04:00

On the weekend I attended a three day photography workshop out of Seattle, WA. It was put on by the Creative Live folks. While it was a bit brain hurting sitting in front of a monitor for 7-8 hours a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it was perhaps the most awesome photographic learning experience I have had in an incredibly long period of time. The last time was, in fact, also another Creative Live workshop with Jeremy Cowart - a photographer out of LA and Nashville. It was that one that made me sit up and take notice of Creative Live and what they offer.

This weekend's workshop was put on by Bambi Cantrell, a successful San Francisco based portrait and wedding photographer with about 35 years in the business. I had not heard of her before signing up for the session, and wasn't sure what to expect out of it as I don't do weddings. But she had a lot of Southern charm - which was interesting to get used to at first. :) And, most importantly, she had so, so much excellent information to impart. At times it was an overload even for an info junkie like me. Everyone in the Seattle class and in the online chat room felt the same way. :)

Fantastic advice on how to deal with tough clients, clients who want to undercut your prices, or want to do it their way. Exceptional tips on posing people of all ages, posing groups, and why some angles and poses work better than others and why some don't work at all. And her advice on lighting... Without equal. She shot nearly everything in natural light and the results were brilliant. If you understand light and what it can do and can't do for you, that is The key. I knew this, but she really drove it home with hands on examples.

Made me regret not buying - back in the day when I could afford it, the 70-200 IS Canon white lens, or even a nifty fifty 50mm f 1.8. I know a lot more now than five or six years ago, and even more so after this weekend having seen wide open shooting demonstrated so effectively.

If you ever get to see one of these workshops, clear your schedule to do it. It will probably be worth your while. Entire workshops are also available for paid download in HD video. Which I would suggest if you can't retain everything as it goes along. :)

Mike

Soft Shadows on Snow

2011-03-20T11:25:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, in winter, diffused light going through wind blown branches causes softer shadows on snow that can be as appealing as sharp eyes on a model.

Mike

The last time for this season?

2011-03-19T09:11:00.002-04:00

I certainly hope so. Really had enough. More than enough.

Mike

Silky and Chaotic Water

2011-03-18T08:35:00.000-04:00

Once in a while, I have people look at me with glazed over eyes when I have tried to explain slow and fast shutter speeds, and why one might be better in some situations over the other. Well, the other day when I was shooting the tree skirts, I shot some fast moving flood water spilling over the top of an old dam that I think helps illustrate this.

The top shot was taken handheld at 1/20th of a second - which sounds fast, but really isn't. I had a tight grip on the camera and had my shoulder wedged into a railing so the shot would be steady - because at that slow speed even pressing the shutter release too hard will move the camera a bit. I don't shoot hand held long exposures much - models tend to move at just the right speed to not require it, so I called upon some of my rifle shooting/breathing skills to keep the camera steady.

You can see the water cascading over the edge of the dam and appearing really blurred. It looks smooth and silky, and yet the concrete of the dam in the centre is fairly sharp as it is the only stationary object.

In the second shot, I upped the shutter speed on the DSLR to capture a much smaller slice of time. In this case 1/1250th of a second. You can stop motion on most things at that speed: whether it's rushing water, a race car, or an airplane. You can go faster still, but you come up against a barrier of not allowing enough light in the camera to take a good photo as it is opening and closing the shutter too fast.

I had a circular polarizer filter on the lens to reduce the light to make the long exposure in the first shot possible - as keeping the camera shutter open long on a sunny day lets in way too much light. Since I wanted to keep the same angle in the two shots, I didn't remove it. Doing that restricted my setting an even faster speed as the shot would have been too dark. But you can certainly see the difference in the two. Everything is frozen. Silky smooth is now chaotic. Individual droplets are now visible.

Both images have their own appeal, but each have a completely different feel to them. I am partial to the long exposure though because it is something the eye doesn't get to see. :)

Mike

End of winter

2011-03-15T00:51:00.000-04:00

Along a rural winter fence, 2011

In the Northern Hemisphere, winter will end very soon. The clocks changed this past weekend, and it is still light at 19hrs. Signs of optimism.

It has been a hard winter for me personally, but all this fades into the background when watching earthquake news from Japan. As I write this, there are new radiation evacuation warnings around a nuclear power plant that has exploded two or three times - with potential meltdown concerns ranging somewhere between Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. More and more video is cropping up of horrendous tsunami surges of water erasing entire coastal towns and valleys, turning everything to match sticks mixed in with cars, trucks and boats. The death toll is rising dramatically and catastrophically.

The events of the weekend and into this week are really tough to comprehend. Superlatives are often bantered around in the news for much less significant stories - a disastrous bus crash, a catastrophic house fire... All of them and more are appropriate when describing quake ravaged Japan, but are somehow insufficient.

News will get worse before it will get better, and I can't do one thing to help out except think good thoughts their way. If you can help out, you really should.

Mike

Tree Skirts

2011-03-13T16:23:00.000-04:00

After a rapid snow melt and subsequent rain, a meandering river overflows its banks about 1m higher than it normally would be. The water floods out for more than 100-150 meters in a small ravine valley and stays for better part of a day. At night, the top freezes over. And then it snows.

Sometime during the night, the water recedes. As the water level drop, the ice on the flat surfaces separate from the ice around the trees. In the growing warmth of the morning sun, the remaining thin tree snow-ice begins to sag under it's own weight: The results are what I call tree skirts.

Most were brittle and crumbly to the touch. The thickest ones no more than a cm thick. You could easily poke a finger right through them. As I hiked around photographing on the bumpy icy surface for a couple of hours, I kept hearing the cracks and slumping sounds as more and more dropped onto the ground.

If I had visited the area in the afternoon, I don't think I would have noticed them for what they were and would have thought they were just interesting snow drifts at the bases of certain trees.

Mike

Playground covered in snow

2011-03-09T13:01:00.003-05:00

After a fresh snowfall in January: A children's playground in a wintery park. I was the only one there that morning. Mine were the only footprints. Something about being the first person to tread there combined with a blank canvas that makes for - despite the cold, a compelling opportunity to photograph.

Swing seats patiently covered in snow waiting for kids who were too small to sit in them last year and for faithful visitors to return.

I saw this wavy blue plastic triple slide one day when it was overcast and covered in snow. That time the snow was grey and a different texture. This time it was granular and coating the horizontal surfaces only.

I called this 'Snowlociraptor'. I am running out of titles I know, but I liked the image. In the global winter after that asteroid hit, I am sure it wasn't much different. The snowy dino's, not the bad titles. :)

Mike

Separating from chaos

2011-03-06T13:50:00.000-05:00

A simple pair of low wooden posts and a metal cable were all that stood between a parking lot and a park. Without it, in the fresh snow, there would have been no evident barrier between chaos and cosmos.

January 2011.

Mike

Go The Distance

2011-03-03T23:58:00.001-05:00

Earlier in the evening, I was reading some posts over on written inc, technology analyst Carmi Levy's blog. I left a comment on one post he did about obtaining autographs from some local baseball players where he lives and that got me to thinking.

Back in the 1990s, I was into collecting first edition hardbound books. I still have a good number of books in storage, and one that I prize the most is a 1982 1st edition of WP Kinsella's Shoeless Joe - which was adapted in the late 1980s into the film Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner.

During that time, I worked at Harbourfront in Toronto where they had an annual Authors Festival and a Reading Series that brought in a wide range of well known and lesser known authors. I knew Kinsella was going to be doing a signing after his reading, so I sought out a copy of Shoeless Joe at a rare and used book store on Queen West in Toronto. Field of Dreams had been was immensely successful a few years before, so this was not a cheap purchase. Lord knows I am whistling a different tune now, but at the time I felt it worthwhile to buy a copy for him to sign.

I lined up with everyone else to get it - and a copy of the book he was actually promoting, signed. I wasn't the only one to have more than one book, but I was the only one with a Shoeless Joe. I recall him being pleasantly surprised and saying he had not seen a first edition in quite a while.

Recently, I have been having a really hard time with, well lots of things, and it has been quite literally impossible to make ends meet. It seems like not just success is out of my grasp, but living as opposed to just existing is as well. I struggle with my perception of my self worth, with missed opportunities to photograph what I want how I want, and with how I can continue to do photography in any manner at all.

It's not in front of me, but I recall Kinsella inscribing the book to me 'Go the distance.' And I think that was something I needed to be reminded of today. I either keep plugging away at photography or I don't. Finish what I started or hang up my hat. But either way, pick one or the other and don't do it in a half measure. I can't not photograph, so I guess that gives me an answer. I just need to find a way to translate that into reality.

And go the distance.

Mike

The extra ones

2011-03-03T09:45:00.000-05:00

Jaclyn Feb 2010

My post shooting image selection process goes something like this.

Import into Lightroom with exif copyright info added and no initial post work applied. Overall images whittled down to a selection of keepers with the flagging feature. Then depending if it is for me alone or someone else, I will cut that initial selection in half. These will be the ones I really like and are unique enough to stand out. Sometimes I will use the Compare option to view two or three very similar ones side by side and grab the best one selecting them with a colour marker.

I might leave it a bit if there is no pressing time urgent need. I find it gives me a critical eye slightly distanced from the photo session - which I might have loved and that could be colouring my feelings about the photos. I will then pass through the newest subset again and pair down the choices with a star a rating system which will be result in a fraction of the original number. I really don't 'do' hundreds of pics only to have them all posted or displayed online -as I have mentioned before I am sure. Everyone and every shoot gets the same treatment.

But what to do with those left behind? Delete? Keep? Some choices are obvious and I will flag them as Rejected and delete them completely: people blinking, a car getting in a shot, and so on. But what about the others that are fine? Usually they sit and gather dust - figuratively anyhow. When I was backing up images a couple of weeks ago, I spent some time going through the images as the DVD laser did it's thing over and over.

There are many tens of thousands of images, such as the one above from my shoot this time last year with Jaclyn, which have remained pretty much sight unseen. And for the most part they probably will be. Sad in a way.

Mike

Nadine in a black dress

2011-02-28T09:08:00.008-05:00

At the beginning of the month, Nadine and I were talking about how long it had been since the last time we did any formal photos and tossed around a few ideas for a photo shoot. A few days after that, on what turned out to be a very cold but sunny day, I photographed her in a snowy area wearing a classic little black dress and boots.

It was at times bitterly cold, and the rest of the time just really cold out. Nadine was awesome and stuck it out for the 30-40 mins we were shooting and didn't look cold in one image.

The image above is probably one of my favourites of the shoot. Just something very relaxed, un-posed and Nadine about it.

I did have her wear her coat now and then as we wandered around between shots. I don't think it kept her much warmer, but I wasn't totally cruel.

Mike

A reminder about confidentiality

2011-02-25T02:16:00.000-05:00

After receiving emails/tweets/comments now and then in regards to the people I have photographed, I thought it warranted a little FAQ:

I hope you can understand that I respect the privacy of all my current, former and future clients/models. While I blog and post photos, I don't publicly discuss the confidential particulars of their photo shoots (be they completed ones, or whether I am doing/planning one or whether I am not) with people I am unfamiliar with, who are not directly involved in the creative process, or frankly, are strangers.

I will also not pass on any of their personal contact information without their OK.

Mike

I photograph because...

2011-02-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

Ambassador Sarah #9

I photograph because I like the idea of capturing someone’s essence that they themselves might have not known existed

Taken behind the old closed ‘Embassy’ bar and music venue in May 2009. Five days after this, the bar caught fire and was destroyed. Probably some of the last images taken outside there.

Flag Day

2011-02-15T12:53:00.000-05:00

The term Flag Day might be one more associated with our patriotic cousins South of the 49th parallel, but today is Flag Day here in Canada. Officially it is the National Flag of Canada Day, and it commemorates the day in 1965 when the current red and white Canadian flag was adopted.

So, Happy Flag Day. Go shoot a photo of one. They look great against a blue sky such as in this shot from 2009.

*Thanks to Lisa for the reminder :)

Mike

Rotten Tree

2011-02-13T09:35:00.023-05:00

On January 24th, I went for a hike. The snow wasn't as deep as it could have been, but it was fresh and very cold out. Exposed to the wind, it was enough to make your eyes water and my breath was fogging up the camera's eyepiece as I tried to shoot things.

It was pretty quiet aside from creaking trees, my boots crunching the snow, and the odd small forest critter that sounded like Sasquatch. The path I was taking stayed in a tree line and didn't offer much in the way to look at or any interesting vistas to photograph. While I had never been on the trail before, I knew it was roughly an oval, and there was no means of cutting across it to shorten it, so if I didn't go back at some point, I wouldn't return before it started to snow.

After about 30 mins of nothing interesting to see, I decided that after a further 300 hundred paces I would turn around. At that point, I stopped, looked up and down the trail and shrugged. I felt another hundred or so wouldn't hurt. Soon after, I rounded a bend and came out of the tree line into an area with a clear cut or fire burned slope. A bit of a ways up the slope I came across this tree. Or what was left of it. Completely rotten and dead. Perhaps 2m tall. No other tree looked like it. There were other dead trees in the area - standing and fallen, but none dry, crumbling or this colour. It really stood out in the landscape.

Had I initially given in to the cold and boredom, I would never have seen this tree. Seeing it made the trip worth while. The next time you feel you are not getting anywhere with something and want to give up, press on a bit farther. You never know what you might accomplish, or what you might miss out on.

Mike

Frost Fence in Rust

2011-02-10T14:01:00.000-05:00

A rusty orange chain link fence around an empty snow filled tennis court in mid winter. It could certainly use some paint, but I like it this way.

The 'Frost' in the title does not refer to the temperature, but the manufacturer: Frost Fence Inc. They have been producing wire fences in Canada since 1898. Growing up, I always knew this style, even if not made by them, as Frost fences, not chain link.

Mike

Former Mustang Andy Fantuz now a Chicago Bear

2011-02-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

© Mike Wood Photography

Andy Fantuz, former UWO Mustang, and WR for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is heading to the NFL to become a Chicago Bear (CBC story).

In 2005, his last season in the CIS, Fantuz led with 12 touchdown catches, tied for first with 44 receptions and was second in receiving yards. Fantuz also owns the CIS career records in receiving yards (4,123) and touchdown catches (41). That year, he won the Hec Crighton Trophy as Canadian university football's most outstanding player

I shot the above image at the University of Western Ontario Homecoming game, Oct 1, 2005. London, Ontario.

Mike

MV Santa Emma

2011-02-08T16:56:00.001-05:00

Earlier today I received an email from Capt John Scott, master of the Holland America Lines ship Noordam. It was in regards to the above photo of the MV Santa Emma which I shot in June 2005 while she was listing in the 'A Dock' of the the former ferry terminal to PEI at Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick.

He wanted to get permission to use the photo in a group relating to ships that served in the New Zealand and Australia trade routes. He let me know that my photo was likely the last available photo of her before she was towed away to be scrapped in India. According to Capt Scott, the Santa Emma never arrived in India, but sank close to the Azores on the way there. Which I think, environmental concerns aside, is in a way a more fitting end to a ship than being hacked up on mudflats in India by crews and children with little to no protection.

He let me know that the ship was originally built as the Maheno for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand Ltd. and many of the Oceania Shipping Forum members had sailed on her when she operated between NZ and Australia. According to what I read on the NZ ship index here, she was built in 1969 and was 4096 Gross Tons. And that:

Transport Canada detained her because of structural defects, faulty navigation and firefighting equipment, a deficient general alarm, loadline deficiencies and defective fuel tanks. Her crew left her a few days after she was detained and she remained laid up pending repairs. In December 2004 ownership was reported to have passed to Rikan Shipping of Liberia. She broke her mooring lines in high winds on 28th April 2005 at Cape Tormentine, Canada, and drifted aground between the former government ferry wharf and the breakwater at Cape Tormentine, about fifty metres further down the pier from her original position, with a fifteen degree starboard list...

Subsequent news on 29th April 2005 said that SANTA EMMA was a derelict Panamanian-registered cargo ship that had been docked in the Cape Tormentine “A-dock” since January 2004. She was aground between the dock and the breakwater, with a hole in her stern. Several thousand litres of fuel oil in her bunkers posed a pollution threat and were removed from the ship.

I took a look to see if I had any other images of the ship available that I had not posted. Sadly they would either be on my old dead hard drive (which I would still like to try and resurrect one day if I have the money) or on a CD in storage.

I found it interesting that the ship was built in New Zealand - which I didn't know when I photographed her, and my family has some maritime history in the area. Small world. :)

At one point a few years ago, I explored the idea of being a cruise ship photographer - I think it was with Princess - and didn't like the terms of what I had to do (such as buy my own camera out of my own salary etc) but it is something interesting to think about when there are a few feet of snow outside. :)

Mike

Ryn, in the window, part I

2011-02-06T09:19:00.000-05:00

My friend Ryn. Photographed at the end of last month on the day she moved out of her 1940s era apartment.

Mike

the complexity in design

2011-01-31T09:17:00.015-05:00

I think, perhaps, there are things around us that we take for granted. We don't see the detail in them as we hustle on by, or just use them as a tool or a means of getting from A to B.

This is a roughly Westward facing photo of the underneath of a century old rail trestle. I beams, and oxidized lattice girders from an era before powered flight, dusted with the weekend's fresh snow.

Someone drafted this bridge on large rolled out blueprints. Perhaps in Toronto. They designed iron framework to rest on concrete and stone bases. Each pair of support columns were built with hundreds of rivets, then they made another pair, then topped that section off with track bed and rails between them. Repeat that 20 or so times till the whole span is completed.

Only then can you see an artistic geometry revealed. A repetition of now rusty X's, V's and diamonds heading towards infinity. I wonder if the engineers and workers who built this structure ever took in it's symmetry, and appreciated it's form as well as it's function.

Sometimes being out of breath, and winded, after a long climb up a snowy embankment to shoot a particular perspective is worth it.

Mike

Replace Save with Invest

2011-01-23T14:51:00.000-05:00

Snow dune, #1

"I think photographers need to drop the “donate” or “help save me” vocabulary that sounds like it was lifted from the Red Cross home page, and adopt terms like patronage, participation and guarantee. Let’s be perfectly honest here. None of us – not myself, not Johnson, not Towell nor Ludwig – are desperate for food, shelter or medical care. We live privileged lives compared with most of humanity. The simple truth is that we want to tell stories, and we’d like the people who are most interested in our work to get involved financially."

New funding models, Part V – Crowdfunding, The Good, The Bad and The Awkward « tomas van houtryve | journal (via photographsonthebrain)

So true. I am down on my luck right now, but in a 1st world sense. Not in a Pakistan flood, Haitian quake sense. I would most certainly like more people to be interested in my photography and to collaborate and invest and be involved financially with my success. But I don't want a parachute dropped CARE package. Well. Only a small one.

Mike

Is it spring yet?

2011-01-20T13:21:00.001-05:00

Missy, August 2008.

The idea that the lake freezes over and make poor backdrops for shots of women in bikinis bothers me. Is it spring yet?

Mike

Winterized Equipment

2011-01-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

A grey overcast mid winter day sometimes calls for shooting with a moody high contrast black and white style in mind.

These images are of 1960s era Timberland and Ellicott water control gate lifting equipment on top of a small dam.

Mike

Looking up, you get a different perspective on things.

2011-01-14T09:46:00.002-05:00

Another forested area. Different trees. Looking up, you get a different perspective on things. Fairly warm looking mid-winter sun, blue sky and tall trees. It really wasn't warm though. My eyes were tearing up and my cheeks were numb about an hour into my walk. And I never seem to bring right footwear on these impulse walks. You can really clean shoes of road salt by walking in coarse snow to your ankles for a couple hours. :)

Aside from tweaking the levels a bit (highlight recovery on the trunks mainly, touch of vignetting, and really not much else), these uncropped tree shots are as the Raw was right out of the camera. Shallow depth of field and some movement in the uppermost branches gave it a soft blur which I really like.

Not much variation on camera settings in these shots. 1/80-1/100 sec, handheld, f6.3-f10, one stop up exposure (was doing that for snow shots), ISO 200, 24-93mm, Canon XSi.

Mike

Bench by Frozen Pond in Winter

2011-01-12T12:24:00.000-05:00

"Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?" — Amelia Earhart

Mike

Trees of a similar age

2011-01-10T17:57:00.000-05:00

Shot early last week in a momentary respite from all the snow. This area is now covered again. I presume this section is part of a planted forest. A lot of the trees are uniform in spacing and type and fairly clear of undergrowth.

As a kid I would have called an area like this 'BoyScout Woods' as I had done some tree planting as a Scout and remembered the uniformity of the planting.

Mike

Major Dick Winters has died

2011-01-10T10:09:00.002-05:00

It was announced today that Major Dick Winters, DSC, Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, US 101st Airborne, and the inspiration for the fantastic HBO series Band of Brothers, died January 2nd at the age of 92. Via Washington Post

Mike

Vivian Maier, the unknown street photographer

2011-01-05T09:39:00.002-05:00

Vivian Maier lived her life and no one knew of her fantastic photography. Upwards of 100,000 negatives of her street photography in Chicago were found in a storage unit. One third still undeveloped. No one knew who they were by. And they are spectacular. Up there with street photographers such as Gary Winogrand.

This video, by Chicago TV station WTTW showcases the story and some of her photos. Some of the photos are on display from this month through April at the Chicago Cultural Center.

If you are a photographer or an artist, you should give this a look.

Mike

The Keys to Success

2011-01-04T12:50:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the keys to success are hanging around, just out of reach. Like these two sets of keys I found hanging randomly yesterday in a wooded area. Judging by the rust on the spring clip and the rings, they had been there a long time. Waiting for someone to take hold of them and put them to use.

Mike

Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life

2011-01-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

Water Block, 2010

JK Rowling gave the commencement address at Harvard in June 2008. The most important lesson learned in life that she could give to the new graduates was the benefits of failure.

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life...

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Full text and video of her speech can be found here at The Harvard Magazine. I am listening to it as I write this and it's really worth checking out.

Mike

In 2011, I will...

2011-01-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

Many people make resolutions made of Unobtanium this time of year. Mine is simple: To be happy in 2011.

Mike

The Say Good Bye Time

2010-12-31T12:26:00.000-05:00

On Thursday afternoon, I had CBC radio on during the Tapestry time slot. It's not something I listen to on a regular basis as I would not characterize myself as being religious, but Mary Hynes happened to be interviewing Canadian artist and naturalist Robert Bateman as part of an episode called Art and Soul. Towards the end of the interview, he made a comment about how we are changing the world - and not for the better, and focused on shopping malls. It made me think back on all the places I have seen torn down for the sake of 'progress'. Such as the above little barn I photographed a couple of years ago that has now been flattened. Here is part of what he said:

I call that the instant pudding world... we have been busily destroying our natural heritage and human heritage with a vengeance since the 1950s. So I would say that if you love to say good bye, then you are living in the best time of the history of the planet, because this is 'say good-bye time'. And it is intensifying. But it's not being replaced with nothing, it's being replaced with instant pudding... It's sweet, smooth, slick, extremely convenient. You have nothing to do with the ingredients.... even if you read the labels you don't know what they are going to do with your system. And I am using this as a metaphor for subways, plazas and throughways, of course, which is what I call instant pudding. It's all manufactured by somebody somewhere else who doesn't know you. And I think it is a deadly thing that is spreading over the planet. And so things like shopping malls are spiffy and brand new and convenient and automated and heartless and not human at all.

So, as we say adieu to 2010 and roll into 2011, take time to reflect on the things that have become part of your past. And don't be so quick to replace the next thing in your present with 'instant pudding.'

Mike

Crossed Arms

2010-12-29T09:31:00.000-05:00

From a couple of years ago. Detail shots of Corey in the summer sometime after she had her piercings done. I went with her that day, and that was interesting to watch the process. She was a awesome dealing with it. She still is awesome too.

This one - above, I used in a Breast Cancer post and titled it 'Embraced', but I seem to be on a colour kick and wanted to post a few more of these in colour.

Mike

RebelHoliday

2010-12-25T08:36:00.001-05:00

Mike

No Future

2010-12-21T09:07:00.002-05:00

That pretty much sums it up, and goes nicely with yesterday's post on Kevin Smith's rant .

Mike

Chasing Dreams

2010-12-20T15:19:00.000-05:00

Writer/Producer/Director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Zack and Miri, Fanboys...) and @thatkevinsmith on Twitter, had an absolutely epic Twitter rant/monologue over about an hour this afternoon. To save on scrolling upwards in tiny chunks, and for my own readability later, I put it down in a more user friendly format. But either way, the media isn’t the message. His message on dreams, believing in yourself and making stuff happen was:

When you read a story about this deal happening or this film being announced, the wheels of whatever it is tend to turn v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

And that's fair: we ARE talking about millions of dollars being spent on some dopey, make-pretend bullshit. Point is, when you read the story about it online, that's our information-currency culture feeding on theoretical news. The ink's not dry on that deal yet. It's all ideas at this point - the absolute BEST state of being in the movie biz. Ideas cost NOTHING & require ZERO risk. And yet, oddly, the LEAST amount of time's usually spent in the idea stage before a small fortune is dumped on a whimsy that's still half-baked. Case in point: CopOut.

When I was brought in, there was talk of spending $70mil on a Will Ferrell/MarkyMark version of A COUPLE OF DICKS (the pre-COP title). Then WB didn't wanna pay the actors' full quotes, so off go they go to do the over-$70mil+ OTHER GUYS. WB then made WAY less expensive deals with Bruce & Tracy, I cut my salary by over 80%, and we were off to the races with what became a $32mil flick. Which is why, hate on it all you must, but (as per 2 high-level studio sources & 1 of our producers)#CopOut turned a profit already. It did what it was designed to do. All of that came from Jeff Robinov's idea stage. The idea that the movie could go on without Will & Mark resulted in #CopOut . And while some may harp about whether the flick was their cup of tea or not, the people who paid to have it made were content we all hadn't wasted money.

The idea stage of the process has always been a years-out kinda thing. I'll talk about a project that'll sometimes take years to happen. That's because the idea itself is WILLING the film into existence. RedState was like that: I first talked to @JoeUtichi about it in London, over three years back. I knew then that it wasn't gonna happen easily, so I "threw my hat over the wall", so to speak, and FORCED myself to make it happen. Over 3 years to get to the point where the cheapest movie I've ever made since CHASING AMY became more than just chatter; it became a reality. Sometimes, you gotta believe FOR everybody else - and sometimes, you do it by yourself for a long time.

Then, if you're lucky, someone like @TheJonGordon starts believing with you - first theoretically, then in practice. And two people believing is the start of a congregation. You build a congregation of believers and you try to build a cathedral. Sometimes, it's just a church. Sometimes, it's a chapel. Folks who don't build churches will try to tell you how you're doing it wrong, even as your steeple breaks the clouds. Don't listen.

But before all of that, you gotta start with the idea - and not just the idea for the story/movie/novel/installation/song/podcast/whatever. You gotta start with the idea that you can do this - something that's not normally done by everybody else. Since it's not second nature to take leaps of faith, you have to SMotivate yourself. Even invent language, if you have to. Embrace a reasonable amount of unreasonability.

But nobody else can believe in you if you don't believe in what you're doing. I've willed almost all of stuff I've done into existence, and if I can do that, ANYBODY can do that. So start your chatter: talk about what you're going to do. Don't pursue a role, LIVE that role. Like my sister told me, back when I confessed I wanted to be a filmmaker. "Then BE a filmmaker," she said. "That's what I'm saying: I wanna be."

And that's when she gave me the million dollar advice: "No - BE a filmmaker. You say you wanna be; just BE a filmmaker. Think every thought AS a filmmaker. Don't pine for it or pursue it; BE it. You ARE a filmmaker; you just haven't made a film yet." And it sounded artsy-fartsy as fuck, but it was CRAZY useful advice. A slacker hit the sheets that night, but the CLERKS-guy got out of bed the following morning. So plant the seeds early & take as much time as it requires to will your goals into existence. Keep a few going, you'll never get bored.

Expect moments of discouragement, but don't wallow in them. Remember that if an ass-hat like KevinSmith can succeed at something like film or life, then what the fuck is stopping YOU from doing the same. I was not 'to the manor born'. This shit was not manifest, nor was it ever offered.

And just remember that, when you read about some deal or project, sometimes, that's just some bluffy motherfucker trying to change his or her game by willing some shit into existence. Only guy I ever heard of who got an amazing life literally handed to him was Hal Jordan. Don't wait for a dying alien to give you a magic ring: just do it yourself, Slappy. We can't all be Superman, but we sure as shit can train hard, and with loads of practice, we can elevate our simple, non-Kryptonian selves to be the Batman. And who the fuck doesn't wanna be Batman?

Batman has an impeccable moral compass. He's clever & mysterious. And when fucktards get sassy, he punches them in the face. Plus, that car.

Ideas cost nothing yet have the potential to yield inexplicably long careers & happy lives. So go ahead: dream a l'il dream. #SMonologueOff

Mike

Soccer Field in Winter #2

2010-12-20T11:32:00.001-05:00

Same location as that in Soccer Field in Winter #1, but from a different angle. I thought a more Holga-like post worked here.

Mike

Soccer Field in Winter #1

2010-12-18T12:12:00.000-05:00

Trackless crisp white snow on the edge of a soccer field in winter.

Mike

Blake Edwards has died

2010-12-16T15:19:00.000-05:00

Blake Edwards (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Pink Panther, The Party, 10…) dies at 88. Obit at the Globe and Mail

He was a 10.

Mike

s'truth

2010-12-16T11:37:00.000-05:00

Not my words, but yep. It's the truth. Just need to find a way to keep doing it.

Mike

Walking through the very snowy woods

2010-12-15T12:43:00.000-05:00

When you are conned (OK not too much convincing...) into hiking for a couple of hours in a forested area after a major snow storm - and have to regularly trail blaze and bush crash through higher than knee deep snow, you had better get at least a couple of pics out of it. :)

This last one was at the end when we had made it back onto what resembled a trail. :)

Mike

The centre of a ball

2010-12-11T17:44:00.000-05:00

A ball is constantly changing, rolling, acting. This is human life. Human beings never stop acting. Whatever you are doing - sitting, sleeping, even standing still - you are still acting. Without action, you do not exist. It is just like a ball that is constantly going here and there, or standing still in according to circumstances. When a slope comes, the ball rolls down the hill. It acts, but even thought it appears to be moving, the centre is always still. We call this stillness samadhi (single pointed focus, as on the breath).

- Zen Master Dainin Katagiri, in Returning to Silence, comparing the meditative mind to the dynamic but still centre of a ball.

I was trying to think about that when my legs had fallen asleep so bad during zazen today that I couldn't even stand when I was done. I just rolled onto my side and laughed. I shook it out and eventually I could stand. Was pretty funny. I was told that laughing is extremely Zen. Especially at your self when things don't go as planned. So I guess meditation works. :)

Mike

Snow at night, long exposure delight?

2010-12-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

It was the first heavy snow today. I thought of a couple of things to shoot and finally settled on this. A long exposure. Over at Written Inc., Carmi's theme of the week is night images, so I thought I would combine the two and do one at night.

I borrowed the nearby pool that I shot Jaclyn in during the summer (here and here), and after a bit of experimenting, I ended up with an 85 second exposure on Bulb, triggered with remote, at f8.0, 24mm, manually focused before hand. To achieve the ghostly effect, I walked out and sat down after it had exposed for about 30 seconds, remained still, then quickly walked back out of the frame. This was my second take. Only light was from a weak street light.

The temp was -5C, wind chill -12C. Not overly cold, but cold enough that I was glad that I had those mittens that have finger holes to access camera controls. Touching the cold steel on the tripod was not pleasant. :)

Mike

Miss Shirey at the South Pole

2010-12-04T17:27:00.001-05:00

Some of you might have noticed recent tweets from me about Antarctica. Earlier today I saw a news post on this unlikely looking biofuel powered tri ski vehicle expedition reaching the South Pole yesterday. They didn't have any photos posted and so I started to look for tweeters down there who might have pics of it. I couldn't find any, but one person I did find is Katey Shirey, an American teacher from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington , Virginia. She is down there now participating in one of the summertime TREC education work visits to the polar regions. Her month long visit - which is nearly over, is to the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station and in particular the IceCube Neutrino telescope located there. She is tweeting and posting journal entries - primarily for her students, that include some really interesting images and several videos from around the pole.

I recall when I first got on the interwebs in the mid 90s, the South pole folks actually had a web page where you could find what the weather was like out there. Now you can just Google it. I even read in Wired I think at one point about the construction of the new station building, but I never really knew how big the newest Polar Station is till I saw these two videos she posted of her giving a walking tour of the station.

Oh and after watching her videos and seeing photos, the whole movie Whiteout with Kate Beckinsale seems so funny and riddled with inaccuracies. Which Katey pointed out at one point.

Mike

It's better to be

2010-11-30T10:46:00.001-05:00

Sarah, May 2009

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."—Marilyn Monroe

**500th post on my blog.

Mike

Spies like us

2010-11-28T22:31:00.000-05:00

I read some formerly SECRET/NOFORN stuff Wikileaked over the weekend. While there is some fascinating stuff in there, it's likely no different than any other foreign government traffic. It's just that the US had theirs made public.

In university, back in the pre interwebs days, I occasionally read a bit of formerly classified stuff in my international relations and strategic studies courses: historical and 20th century UK US CDN etc. diplomatic, intel, and military files and communications. This wikileaks stuff, while it looks bad, really isn't new or anything that France, Russia, Japan, etc wouldn't have in their cables and communications. In fact, I imagine Russian or Chinese stuff would be a lot more frightening.

In one well publicized leak this weekend, US State is suggesting spying at the UN. D'uh. Thats a no brainer. Everyone does that. Any government worth their salt wouldn't think twice about snooping on their friends and neighbours. The ones with any strategic ambitions - like anyone in the G7 - most certainly do. It just hasn't been readily proven like this.

I hope no one ends up being put in harm's way over the leaks.

Mike

Bridging the Gap Series #2

2010-11-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

This is, I think, an abandoned Pratt Pony Truss type bridge with what remains of a timber wooden deck - with large holes in places. Pratt Truss bridges are characterized by having a horizontal top chord - the beam on the top which allows for longer spans but tend to not be as rigid due to the lack of cross braces. This one had six vertical braces, and two sets of thin tensionable rod diagonal braces nearer each end. The Pony refers to the height of the bridge - any taller and it would be a Pratt Through Truss bridge - because you travel through it with the sides taller than you. I did not cross it. And to get from one side to another took a long detour. Photographed April 2009.

If anyone has a better description of the bridge type let me know. I wonder also what the eyelets - three on each top chord and one on each end post, were for. Perhaps there was more to this bridge originally.

Mike

Bridging the Gap Series #1

2010-11-27T19:18:00.001-05:00

Single span, metal riveted double-intersection Warren through truss type bridge. Shot in Southwestern Ontario, November, 2010.

The following three images are details of hand railings from the bridge. While they are seemingly original, Armco type car guardrails have been installed below them to protect the bridge from cars.

Mike

Water Survey of Canada marker

2010-11-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

On the abutment of an old bridge in Southwestern Ontario. About 5cm in diameter. Probably bronze and very coarse texture to it.

These markers are used to indicate that the Water Survey of Canada is, or at one point was, monitoring water flow on a river at this point. Usually I have seen them on bridges. I don't recall whether there was monitoring equipment at this location. Will have to look again in the spring.

Mike

Caught Between Two Tigers

2010-11-25T17:10:00.001-05:00

I was told the famous story about the man who falls. He is hanging above an abyss, clinging to a thin branch of a tree growing between the rocks. He may, with some effort, be able to pull himself up, but there is a ferocious tiger there, growling and showing its teeth. If he lets go, he'll fall into the claws of another tiger waiting below. And while he hangs there and worries, two mice come along. A white mouse and a black mouse and start nibbling through the branch, his only security. Anybody who 'studies' Zen will, at some time, get into a similar position. He is sure he has to do something, to give something up. He cannot refuse to do something because the position he happens to be in is disastrous. But whatever he does will not improve matters. And while he hesitates and worries, the mice of 'yes and 'no', 'this' and 'that', 'good' and 'bad' nibble away.

That is excerpted from Dutch detective novelist Janwillem van de Wetering's non fiction book "The Empty Mirror" about the time he spent in a Zen Buddhist Monastery in Kyoto Japan in the 1950s. At one point he told that story.

I guess that some of that rock and a hard place echos with me right now.

Photo is of my Meiji period bronze Buddha - modeled after the Great Buddha of Kamakura (Kamakura Daibutsu). Shot on a large tree stump on the edge of a farmer's field this afternoon.

Mike

Attitude is everything

2010-11-24T09:57:00.001-05:00

Mindy, Summer 2008

“Take charge of your attitude. Don't let someone else choose it for you.”

--Anon

Mike

Winning

2010-11-23T08:17:00.001-05:00

Nadine, August 2008

Winning is about heart, not just legs. It's got to be in the right place.

-- Lance Armstrong

Mike

I created a Tumblr

2010-11-22T16:15:00.015-05:00

I know I am behind the curve, but late last night - actually well into this morning, I created a Tumblr account: mikewoodphotography.tumblr.com. I am going to continue to use this blog, but will use the Tumblr page to upload my photography only - not all the other stuff :). I set it up to see if I can reach a slightly different audience than I do now. It's micro blogging, but not as micro as my Twitter account. Skinny blogging? :)

Setting up the page was very easy once I knew my way around the interface. I tried out several different themes, and settled on one that would allow me to replace background images, tweak fonts and so on.

A couple hours in, I had created an account, modified the background I use from my Twitter (it slid right in there nicely), had made a couple of posts, linked my Twitter, and lastly, installed Google Analytics . Might as well know if anyone is stopping by my Tumblr. I have had Sitemeter on here since I created the blog, and I am used to the interface and what it gives me for pageviews etc, but I am excited to see what G.A. can display. It looks rather tasty. And much deeper content. Just need some views to see what's what data wise.

Tumblr seems to be the current way of rapidly sharing content (re-blogging at the click of one button is fantastic), and quickly getting different eyeballs on my work. In the past couple months, I have gathered photographic inspiration from it, and some of my fav photographers and bloggers have Tumblr pages.

There will probably be some cross over in terms of content I post there that has already been on here, but I hope you can deal with that if you are checking out both. :)

If you have a tumblr, follow me.

Mike

At the moment the blitz attack happened

2010-11-22T10:02:00.004-05:00

Done just for fun, and shot after the sequence in the chair in July. Light was getting low so I had Lizzz jump and spin around as close to the same mark as possible and shot a few dozen frames handheld at longer exposures. This image is a combination of about 11 images. Layered in PS and then flattened. Colour, brightness, contrast tweaked in post in Lightroom.

Details: Canon XSi, 24-105L, 1/25-1/50 sec handheld exposures, 24mm, f4-f4.5, and a mix of ISO 800 and 1600. Only time flash was used was for the main image.

Mike

Flow chart on how to respond to blog commentary and critiques

2010-11-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

I think that this 2008 US AirForce blog assessment response strategy flow chart could be helpful to a lot of large organization when they consider responding or not to a blog that has said something about them. Divided into Assessment, Evaluation and Response, it would even be useful to other bloggers to refer to before they fly off the handle.

I found the above chart on the TechPresident site. And the original image - while it belongs to the US AirForce, was here on Flickr.

Mike

Go placidly amid the noise

2010-11-20T09:00:00.003-05:00

Corey, June 2010

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons."

- Max Ehrmann, from Desiderata.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Mike

Ryn, a portrait

2010-11-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

My artist friend Ryn from Designs by Ryn. Shot last week with only a few moments of daylight left as the early setting sun dipped behind the trees. I have known Ryn for almost two years, and this was the first time I have done a portrait of her. It wasn't through my lack of trying, but the key turned out to be an ambush request while out for a walk. It was worth the wait. :)

Mike

If you wish to be useful, never take a course that will silence you.

2010-11-18T08:47:00.013-05:00

Lizzz, Summer 2008.

I was reading the Cluetrain Manifesto and came across a commencement speech delivered by writer John Jay Chapman to the graduating class of Hobart College in 1900.

While some of the language is dated, something in this resonated with me. Excerpted below. Full text on Wikipedia.

When I was asked to make this address I wondered what I had to say to you boys who are graduating. And I think I have one thing to say. If you wish to be useful, never take a course that will silence you.

Refuse to learn anything that implies collusion, whether it be a clerkship or a curacy, a legal fee or a post in a university. Retain the power of speech no matter what other power you may lose. If you can take this course, and in so far as you take it, you will bless this country.

In so far as you depart from this course, you become dampers, mutes, and hooded executioners. As a practical matter, a mere failure to speak out upon occasions where no statement is asked or expect from you, and when the utterance of an uncalled for suspicion is odious, will often hold you to a concurrence in palpable iniquity....

Why, if you any of young gentleman have a mind to make himself heard a mile off, you must make a bonfire of your reputations, and a close enemy of most men who would wish you well.

I have seen ten years of young men who rush out into the world with their messages, and when they find how deaf the world is, they think they must save their strength and wait. They believe that after a while they will be able to get up on some little eminence from which they can make themselves heard.

"In a few years," reasons one of them, "I shall have gained a standing, and then I shall use my powers for good."

Next year comes and with it a strange discovery. The man has lost his horizon of thought, his ambition has evaporated; he has nothing to say.

I give you this one rule of conduct. Do what you will, but speak out always. Be shunned, be hated, be ridiculed, be scared, be in doubt, but don't be gagged. The time of trial is always. Now is the appointed time.

Don't let anyone handcuff you in your art or your life. If you wish to be useful, never take a course that will silence you.

Mike

Pitted Joy

2010-11-17T15:58:00.001-05:00

I went for a walk last week at a favourite location of mine, and came across this thin brass ornament attached at eye level to a little tree branch with a twist of corroded wire.

Certainly showing the signs of being out in the elements, it had probably been there since last year. While obvious to me, it had been missed, or perhaps left, by hundreds of hikers and birdwatchers.

Might make a nice Christmas card... posted it to my Redbubble.com (fixed link)

Mike

Deep tracks in damp sand

2010-11-17T09:05:00.001-05:00

Not having access to a tire track database - or is that a tire tread database? - I don't know what vehicle made these, but the crisp curved thorn-like impressions left in the sand are quite appealing.

Mike

What remains

2010-11-16T21:41:00.002-05:00

Before having a tete-a-tete with a giant road grader - after driving over it's pristine work on a virginal graveled/sanded rural side road, I came across these remains. I had just set off from a Y junction where I had pondered which way to go on my inadequate yet functional analog map (GPS would seriously be my friend in these situations) and decided on going right.

Twenty or so meters down the road, I spotted in a ditch what was left of a deer carcass. Half the rib cage and the neck. Picked clean. No head to be seen. I snapped a couple of photos of it, then realized a few meters away in the grass there was a front leg (if that's a shoulder blade). Also picked clean down to the knee.

Looking at it, I am not sure if this was a hunting kill or road kill. Everything else was taken - but that doesn't make sense really. Not likely anyone would take it apart there. And there are no apex predators around here that could polish off a deer. The remaining skin and fur on the leg has a defined cut edge to it. Not chewed. Maybe ripped if not cut? There was no smell at all - not much left to smell really. And no blood on the ground either. I looked around and couldn't find much more. Might have been just dumped there.

Growing up in a big city, I never came across this sort of thing. I never went hunting and never would. Perhaps had the head still been there, it might have been worse and more upsetting. As it was, it was both gross and fascinating seeing the paw - for all intensive purposes looking as if still alive, beside what was a very much a dead animal.

Mike

In Mud

2010-11-15T07:40:00.000-05:00

Shot back in August of 2009.

Amy accompanied me on a walk-about exploration of an area that I knew on occasion to be quite muddy. After some recent rain it had certainly met my expectations. I located a particularly large mud puddle which was about a foot deep and 20 x 8 feet in area. I figured her getting in it and getting very muddy would be a good plan for photos, and she indulged me. :)

It is certainly important beforehand to have a means to clean off, towels, bag for muddy undies and shirt, and a means of protecting car seats. Doing this on an impulse would be a bad idea. :) And this was one of those times where I didn't think it necessary to follow a model's lead and get in the water - like I have done with others on shoots. I was fine where I was. And so was my camera. :)

I had posted a couple of from this mud series in black and white before, but then for some reason stopped. Instead of heading out and enjoying nice weather last Friday, I spent some time going through older images images to post to my Redbubble.com for sale and came across these. I did some post work on them and voila.

Mike

Additional Trees on blue

2010-11-14T19:29:00.001-05:00

Spent part of the afternoon editing these - and others, on my pokey computer while watching RedBull's Sebastian Vettel become the youngest F1 world champion at the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.

While working on today's first one, above, I encountered an error that there was insufficient RAM available to complete it. I guess measuring 8544 x 5686 and being a 139MB single layer tiff (like the last one almost exactly), that wasn't surprising. :-/

These prints, and others, are available for purchase on my Redbubble.com page.

Mike

A tree on blue

2010-11-14T00:44:00.004-05:00

Went for a walk on Saturday. Pointed the camera up. After a bit more walking around, and later, a bit of editing, I had a 139MB tiff file at 8544x5696 pixels. A beast to save on my pokey machine and took forever to export as a smallish low dpi Jpeg. I like the result though :)

This is available as a print if anyone is interested

Mike

Even when your world is collapsing

2010-11-13T13:31:00.002-05:00

Take the time to look around.

The old Embassy Hotel on Dundas St., in London, Ontario. Photographed after the fire, during the early stages of demolition. May 17, 2010.

Mike

Rusted and trackless TD-14A

2010-11-13T00:36:00.001-05:00

An International Harvester TD-14A tractor, Serial Number 38704. It was abandoned long ago, and is now missing its engine and tracks. Shot April, 2009 just inside a tree line on the edge of a field near London, ON.

The TD-14A was a diesel engined crawler tractor (so it had tank tracks) built by the International Harvester company from 1949 to 1955. From what I Googled, the serial number puts it's build to 1954.

Rusted and looking like it exploded somehow, this is likely the air cleaner cap assembly on the TD-14A. The engine was removed, but I think from Googling that this image is where the air cleaner cap would have roughly been - front and to the left of the operator. My shot is looking at it from the left side of the tractor.

Close up of the left side drive sprocket on the same TD-14A. This is what would have driven the tracks on the tractor in the same way they would have on an armoured vehicle like a tank. This was also the only place where some of the original yellow body paint was still visible.

Mike

For the Fallen

2010-11-11T07:33:00.014-05:00

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

- From Laurence Binyon's poem "For the Fallen"

Mike

Carl Sagan 'A Glorious Dawn' feat. Stephen Hawking

2010-11-09T10:45:00.001-05:00

Today is the Second annual Carl Sagan Day apparently. So why not celebrate it with Carl auto tuned and featuring DJ Stephen Hawking. :)

Makes you wonder, when Carl Sagan and his team put together The Golden Record mounted on Voyager I and II, if he could have envisioned that video happening. :)

I almost met him when he did a lecture at U of T's Convocation Hall one evening in April 1985. After the lecture, he did a book signing and I made my way down from the upper tiers to get my copy of Cosmos signed - that I had brought along just for that purpose. When I was about a dozen people from the front of the line, he was told it was getting late and they had to end it. That was really disappointing to me, but it was awesome hearing him talk in person about the Drake Equation .

It would probably seem completely dated now, but I would love to see Cosmos on DVD.

*Video originally found on DC Debbie's Blog here.

Mike

The path lies before me

2010-11-07T15:36:00.003-05:00

Is this the path that lies before me? Or am I looking back from where I came?

Mike

Fall back, Spring forward, later.

2010-11-06T20:42:00.001-04:00

In most of North America, the clocks go back an hour tonight.

Tomorrow also happens to be Nadine's birthday. She wants to make sure everyone changes their clocks, microwaves, coffee makers, watches - and that confusing to set one in the car too - so she gets a 25 hour birthday. Don't let her down.

Happy Birthday Nadine. :)

Mike