Computers bring the world inside

I've been trying to show my granddaughters how computers can bring the world inside. I've told them about the City Daily Photo group and how I've learned so much about St. Louis in the States, Antigua in Guatemala, Mumbai in India and the list goes on: England, Bulgaria, Italy . . . Posters may have noticed that I have shared some of the work found here on my personal FB page. My friends and relatives need to see something positive at this time in their lives.

My oldest nephew took a bus up a narrow mountain road to Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes. I showed him how I used Google Street Views to wander the ruins: Machu Picchu.

So, last night my youngest granddaughter took me on a tour, a tour of her iPad apps. We were able to visit interactive fantasy lands and she was delighted. She also liked the idea of the picture of her working on her iPad and so she cooperated in making the posted image. She stayed focused, kept playing but kept rather still. Why? Because of the slow shutter speed, she'd tell you.

Soft window light and lots of it best for food pictures

 

I see food pictures posted in Facebook and Twitter now and then. All too often these pictures are terrible. They most certainly do not make one want to sample the dish. The big mistake is light. The photographer uses room lights to illuminate the dish, like fluorescents or LEDs, or they blast a strobe straight at the plate. 

For good, sometimes great, pictures of food simply use window light. You want soft window light and not harsh, full on sunlight. And it is nice if the ceiling in the room is a good, clean white. It is the white ceiling that is reflected in the cutlery. 

The middle of the day is best. The light is stronger. Put off your shoot to evening and you may well not have adequate light. It most cases I prefer a small aperture to that I can use a small f/stop like f/11 or f/16. But, if necessary, one can work with shallow depth of field as long as the colour is accurately mouthwatering.

I used this technique to shoot food shots for many publications. I never had a photo rejected.

And what food is shown? This is the lunch my wife served her neighbourhood lady friends who stopped by to help her make Christmas cookies. All the ladies wore masks and staked out their own corner of the kitchen in which to work. It was a Covid-19 aware day.

I remember when air was free

When I was a boy air for one's tires was free and available at almost every gas station. Not today. Today air is at least a buck, if it is available at all. Out on the highway, the four-lane roadway linking London to Toronto and the rest of the province, one can pay for air with a credit card or debit card if one doesn't have a loonie and two quarters handy. That's right, air is a buck and a half at the rest-stop beside the freeway.

A loonie is the name Canadians have given their one dollar coin. The coin carries the raised image of a loon on one side, hence the nickname. There's another thing that has changed. When I was boy we had dollar bills. But bills were expensive and they wore out quickly. 

The one dollar coins costs more initially but they last forever. But time is still hard on money, coin or bill, it loses value over time. For this reason, among others, the metal coins are being superseded by plastic: credit cards and debit cards.

Snow plus warmish day equals fog: advection fog

It snowed the other day. The ground was still deep in snow early this morning. But come mid-day, a warm breeze from the south began melting the snow and soon thick fog covered the ground.

This is called Advection Fog: It forms when a warm, moist wind from the south encounters snow covered ground. This contact between warm air and cold, moist ground causes the air to become cool, saturated with moisture and fog is formed.

Is this Vietnamese folk art

 

If you want an amazing bronze or marble sculpture then Asia is the area to look. Craft shops throughout Southeast Asia crank out replicas of famous Western sculptures in big and small sizes and everything in between.

That said, these ceramic pieces in the window of an area body shop operated by a couple who once lived in Vietnam bear no resemblance to much art found in the West. There is rolly-polly buddha feel to these ceramic cat pieces.

Are these art? I'm sure a lot of folk would argue these cats are not art. I'm not so sure. There is a clear aesthetic at work here. But, one thing that I think we can all agree on is that these cats are visually fun.

Why immigrants are good

It has been years since my body man and his wife lived in Vietnam. It was the country of his birth. But, Canada got lucky and the oh-so-talented Vietnamese gentleman took his wife and moved to Canada. Here, he and his wife have run a small but successful body shop and outside the business they have raised a son and a daughter.

The other day my wife got struck exiting a parking lot. The accident wasn't her fault but in Ontario we have a no-fault approach to accident repair. The accident was credited to the other driver; he will see his insurance rates climb. But the repairs for the damage are being covered by each of our insurance companies. Each insurance company covers their own client. That's where the no-fault comes into play.

So, our car goes into the body shop for a time-out where it gets to hob knob with other cars in for repairs, such as this bright, red muscle car being given a second crack at life. I'm in awe of body shop craftsman. I kept the car of my youth, a Morgan Plus Four, for forty-five years thanks to fine body shop experts and talented mechanics. These people give a whole extra dimension to the concept of "to recycle."

Second snowfall of season

Today the second snowfall of the season hit London. Kids were out with sleds, other children were busy making snowmen and housebound pets were out frolicking in the cold, white magic.