What is Ghoul For You...

Ghoulish tho it may be, I love cemeteries. Always have, always will.
My love for them started at an early age when I would hear whispers of this mythical place being bandied about at family gathering, but in such delicate and hushed tones that you would have thought that the very mentioning of the name out loud would bring the wrath of the great God's themselves.
What was in this place? Why did people go there? Why did we put our people there? More importantly, why did we leave them there?
As I got older some of these questions got answered, and some just gave me new questions.
You never forget your first funeral. Mine was, of course, for some woman I didn't even know, being as young as I was. It was back in Jamaica, in the country, not far from my Grandmother's house. I remember the rain, the somber mood of everybody here, and in particular, I remember the absence of beauty.
Why did we put our loved ones in such an ugly place, and leave them there no less?! If we really cared about them shouldn't we put them somewhere more aesthetically pleasing to the eye?! I'm sure that if they had the strength they would crawl up out of their graves and walk themselves to a more pleasing plot, never bothering to give us a final look on their way there.
After seeing this muddy well of a hole I wouldn't blame them.
It was only later on in life that I fond out that cemeteries can be some of the most beautiful places to visit imaginable. My first foray into the world of the dead aside, I've learned that burying people can be very expensive but when they can afford it people tend to take great and loving care of their dearly departed. They display such emblems at their grave sites as large angels, tiny cherubs, scrolls, Jesus Christ, in his many manifestations, and crosses a plenty.

Recently, I got the opportunity to pay a return visit to the Mount Royal/Cote Des Neiges Cemetery by way of an outing with my photo group, The United Photographer's of Montreal. As was usual for me I was running late, so I had to wander around by myself and hopefully meet up with my group later on that day.
Five minutes in and I was immediately immersed in my comfort zone. Lost amongst the marble and stone I was helpless to find my way out of the mazes of ancient Mausoleums and garish shrines. Everywhere I looked, either up or down, I was spotted by some monument to a loved one or other that was eying me with as equal an intensity as I them.

I wondered if it was my imagination that I thought they looked angry with me.
Did they not want me there? Did they think me an intrusion into their final peaceful lives? Were they wondering if, even now, could they not avoid the bothersome noises of the living?
While in the midst of my shooting a grand ode to someone's father, as my own response to these questions, I quietly said an apology and gently tiptoed my way to the next grave.
But, not before I got the shot, of course.
I was deeply in my element. I ventured farther in the cemetery, or as far as my almost spent battery would allow, shooting many of the same scenes over and over again from just about every angle. But for an almost empty second battery I never got bored and I never had a reason to stop.
I also never did get to meet up with my group.

United We Stand

Earlier this year I joined a photography group called The United Photographer's Of Montreal. I came across them on the meetup.com website and haven't regretted it since. One of the things that drew me to them was that they were very active. From the very beginning they have always had an activity on their calendar for the members to take part in. Such as a photography workshop for beginners which, as my own skills with my camera were somewhat waning at the time, I was only too happy to join. We've also been to the Botanical Gardens for the Butterfly exhibit, and Jean Talon Market, an outing I am sad to say that I didn't get to take part in because of scheduling differences.
Photography groups are a great way to meet new people and to keep in touch with your craft, I would highly recommend them to anyone. But, if you should want to join a photography group or club there are a few things that I would suggest that you do first.
Number one: Research
Find a group that you like and is well suited to you. If you're not interested in going out on a lot of outings but would rather sit around and discuss the topic of photography then find a group that is less excursion orientated. But, if you do want to take part in outings where you can practice your photography skills then, that is the group you should be looking for.
Number Two: Look for variety
If you don't see any diversity in the types of discussions or the kinds of outings that the group displays on their sites then maybe that is not the group for you. Having said that, if the monotony of the group does not sway you from joining them then by all means write to the head of the group and ask them if they have any new topics or excursions on their upcoming schedule.
Number Three: Check the usual and unusual hideouts
When looking for a group check out your local camera shop. They may have some fliers laying on the counters for some local clubs. Listen to word of mouth. And if that doesn't work then give Meetup.com or other websites like it a try. You could also search Kajiji, or Craig's list for a local group, even to go so far as to post an ad yourself stating that you are looking to join a local photo group.
If all else fails, take the initiative and start a group or club of your own.
If you are having trouble getting in touch with your inner photographer, or just reaching the depths of your creativity, then taking part in a photo group or club could be just what you need to get you shooting again.

Workshop III

It's workshop time!
Something you need to know about me is that I really love this time of year. This will be my third go at this and, will you believe, I still get nervous? I know, I should be an old hand at this by now but, I'm sorry to say, I'm still a slave to my fears.

Once again, the meeting place of choice was the spot in front of Beaver Lake and the replica Swiss Chalet on Mount Royal Park. Also, again, the first part of the workshop was dedicated to theory, and the last part to going out and doing some actual shooting to practice some of what they learned.
This year my audience wasn't as big as my last group but, they were just as amazing.

Connor and Genevieve were so open and so creative, that during my workshop they were the ones, who suggested we venture into uncharted workshop territory of the Cote Des Neiges Cemetery to spend the last half of our workshop.
Who was I to argue?
We had a really good time, despite the weather. Beautiful a day as it was, the sun shining very brightly above us, the clouds carelessly roving across the sky, it darn near froze our fingers off.
Ahh, the perils of creating art...
In the end we took shelter in the cafe in the Chalet. With hot drinks in our system and the blood rushing back into our fingers we laughed and rejoiced at the day we had.

Sign here, please...

Adjacent to St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter stands a very historic building in New Orleans, one, important to the history of Louisianna. It's called The Cabildo, and it's where the actual purchase agreement of the state of Louisianna was signed.
Sadly, I don't have a full shot of this building.
But I do have a partial one.

The area in front of this important edifice, whose architecture proudly displays it's Spanish heritage, contains a myriad of street life congregating in one state of rest or another: from stoic clowns leaning on the iron gate of the park, to exuberant musicians joyfully playing the tools of their trade, from exhausted tourists, jumbled sweatily together upon a wooden bench, to easily approachable, cart wielding, hot dog vendors.
All of which belies the weight of the course altering history that took place inside at one time.
Despite all of the activity it's still a great place to take a few shots, providing you don't mind a lot of strangers constantly wandering in and out of your shot.
Originally, I shot this scene in color but, I found that it took on a whole new feel in black and white. A cross between old and new, now and then, like one period of time overlapping another.
To be honest, I think it looks better this way..two periods of time duking it out in one photo.
Yet, even now, I'm not sure who's winning, ..

One of the few places I visited on my first day in New Orleans was the St.Louis Cathedral in the middle of Jackson Square in the French Quarter. This church is a very important in terms of U.S. religious history: The site it sits on has never been without a church since 1817, making it is the oldest religious site in the United states.

It's a very beautiful cathedral, moderately ornate on the outside and exquisitely grandiose on the inside. I had the great fortune of attending a very moving Christmas Mass there and, I have to say that, the entire place reminded me so closely of the interior of Mary Queen of the World Cathedral here, in Montreal. It had soaringly, high ceilings, dark wooden pews, a sculpted pulpit, and a choir loft at the back of the church, a feature I didn't see until I was walking out of the church long after the mass was over.

They sounded amazing, that choir did. Like actual angels from on high.

Sadly, I have no pictures of the interior of St. Louis because I had forgotten my camera back at my hotel. But, this turned out to be a good thing, as this gave me the only opportunity to actually see and regard my surroundings as a true tourist. Not taking any pictures, just walking around and looking... at everything around me and taking it all in.
It was a very beautiful night, complete with fog cover and, a full moon.
Just the right touch to end my magical evening.

Pennies From Heaven

Every time I stay at a hotel I rush to see what the bathroom looks like, and
the Westin on Canal place in New Orleans was no different.
First up, it was small. Which didn't bother me.
I had just enough room in there to do what I needed to do, toilet, bath/shower, and space for towels.

It was more than enough to keep me satisfied.
Yet, despite the tiny space it somehow felt quite roomy.

Besides, I did have an outer area with a large mirror and sink that gave me ample room to move around in.
Cudos to the architect who designed this place. They definitely earned their money!
I really liked my temporary bathroom! I was very comfortable being in there, which is very important to me when reserving a hotel. But, out of everything in there the shower was the nicest treat: it had dual shower heads.

That's right, you heard me: dual shower heads.
And, God did they feel goooood...!
It was like bathing beneath some tropical waterfall, the cascading droplets falling all over you, caressing you from top to bottom. With each flow the water wrapped itself around you like the safest of all security blankets.
Some nights I didn't even want to get out of the shower...

Free Bird

Okay, this is getting out of hand..
For the umpteenth time, I'm so sorry for the long wait between post. I just got so busy with other things over the last few months.
Such as, my personal feat of miraculous proportions that I committed last December.
Well, miraculous, to me, anyway.
Last December I did something that I've always wanted to do but never got around to doing, either for one unimportant reason or another:
I took a vacation for ten days- alone.
Yeah, I know, like I said, this isn't a big deal to any of you but, to me it was a huge deal. Throughout my life I have ever only traveled with either family or friends. For whatever reason I thought it an overwhelming task to do such a thing alone. Definitely too big to tackle for one little old person, like myself..
Truth be known, I was basically scared to death that I would end up in some God forsaken place, like that river in Deliverance, hurriedly floating down it to my own squealing doom.
But, I should have had more confidence in myself (my constant Achilles heel). I did alright. I ended up exactly where I wanted to go (barring the frantic episode in Toronto's Pierson airport where I waited for almost twenty minutes in the WRONG area, almost missing my flight. If I can help it I will NEVER connect from there again..)

After months of research, my destination was New Orleans, Louisiana. The Big Easy, the birthplace of Jazz and last residence of VooDoo. The home of Jambalaya and Gumbo, Po-boy sandwiches and heavily powdered Beignets.
The city that Drew helped rebuild. The very soul of the Who Dat Nation.

The trip was a panacea for me. I needed that trip like people need air to breath and food to eat. It saved me on so many levels. It was just the medicine I needed to help me tap into that creative part of me that needed finding, that center that had been lost for longer than I cared to recognize or wanted to acknowledge.
There is something to be said about traveling by oneself. The peace that you achieve or come in contact with is like no other that you have ever experienced. It is akin to being truly in touch with oneself. To focus on that very part of you that you've been sadly neglecting.
Alright, enough pontificating..
Photographically, I made a serious misjudgement when packing my photo gear for New Orleans. Whereas I though that I was carrying too much equipment- the previous weeks I had ordered a set of Polarizing filters, macro filters, and UV and Fluorescent filters on Amazon for both my 17-85mm and my 50mm lenses- it turns out that I wasn't carrying enough gear at all. Mainly, flash cards.

With me were one 8gig card, and...one two gig card...come to think of it.. that wasn't bloody nearly enough!!! What the Hell was I thinking...?!!
Needless to say, this left me in quite the bind when I finally got down there. In the end I ended up buying two 4gig cards, two 16gig cards, and one 32gig card- almost all of them, barring the 32gig card, filled to capacity. It's cost me a small fortune to get these images off of my flash cards and onto some other peripheral. The two 16gig cards, alone, were put on five DVDs and cost me almost 60$. I dread to think what the 32gig card will cost me. In my Hasty comfort I forgot to take into account the fact that I was shooting in both Raw and jpeg, a combination which takes up quite a bit of space on one card.

As always, my first pictures of any vacation are of the clouds outside of my airplane seat window.
I am always fascinated by how they look each time that I travel. They never look the same way twice...
Normally, I shoot the same way everyone else shoots with their camera: by looking through the viewfinder. But, as the seats of an airplane are unusually confining, this time I tried shooting without looking through my view finder, to try to 'see' what I could see, so to speak.
I love shooting like this. It's like shooting with an invisible friend who is showing you their point of view, what they see through your camera. And, sadly, more often than naught, their point of view is somewhat more interesting than your own...(trust me, this is not something I want getting out...)
My next images are of my hotel room. I stayed at the Westin on Canal Place about a block from the French Quarter. It was such a beautiful place to stay. They have something called a 'heavenly' bed, and never has a bed been so rightly monikered. It was the most comfortable bed I'd ever slept on. It was like sleeping on, well... clouds.
The view from my 26th floor room was quite amazing. I had two very large windows that, each, gave me an individually grand view of the city.

On the right hand side I had an expansive view of New Orleans and the French Quarter, including, right in the middle, St. Louis Cathedral, the sight of which has never been without a church since 1817. You can see Decatur Street, one of the main arteries of the quarter branching into a 'v' and continuing to veer off on it's own well past the Jax Brewery and on past Cafe Du Monde.
Out the other window I had the most amazing view of the Mississippi River, and how extremely busy it was. Not a day went by when I didn't see something traversing that brackish waterway. It carried all manner if vessels: cruise ships, oil tankers, barges, tugboats, ferry's...you name it, it was carried by the water of 'Ole Mis'.
On the banks of the Mississippi sits the Natchez, an original paddle wheel steam boat. It takes tourists on tours up and down the Mississippi throughout the day.

For now, this is just the beginning of the images I took in New Orleans. Trust me, I went on a shooting spree the likes of which any self respecting serial sniper would be dead jealous of- no pun intended.
We shall continue this later, I promise.

Hello again!
I know that I've been away for a while but, I'm back now.
In that time I discovered an amazing store in Montreal that has the coolest
retro items ever! It's called Kitsch'n Swell (http://www.kitschnswell.ca) and it sits on the upper level of St. Laurent street. Inside I found all manner of things I recognized and used to own, from collapsible hairdryers to macrame flower pot holders, from Flintstone lunch boxes to bowling shirts. It was in this mess that I found the most stunning thermos I had seen in a long time! Mixed in among it's brothers and sisters it called out to me, beckoning me to take it home. I was only too happy to obliged!
It was tall with a metallic lining and a cap that converted into a drinking cup- more importantly, it was red with a black diamond motif. The official retro logo.
Even though, I couldn't wait to get it home and shoot it, it still took me a couple more weeks to actually set up the shot. In the end I think the images came out pretty nicely. I only wish that I had more room in my apartment to experiment with different locations and lighting.

Michael Revisited

Earlier I had mentioned that I wanted to work on a project of shooting the back of the head of my friend and, sometime assistant, Michael. I actually have some images that I shot of him a few summers ago. We were just walking around downtown, hanging out and shooting some images- me more than him.
Anyhow, these are some of the images that I shot that day...

New Direction...

On March 6th of this year I repeated an activity that gave me great artistic pleasure.
For only the second time in my life I hosted a one day workshop on photography.
It was the most creatively excited I'd been in a long time and I have both,
my class to thank as well as my friend Nell, without whom I would not have gotten this opportunity.
The first time I hosted this class my class list contained only four students, two of whom did not show up on the appointed Saturday for reasons I, now, cannot remember.
I ended up with two students who, in my opinion, I rushed through the basics of photography at a very nervous speed. I tried to make up for this by taking them outside to do some practical photography work but that soon became a moot point when it suddenly started to rain, thereby cutting our class very short.
Too bad, too, by the time we made it outside it had become quite dark and gloomy, making the clouds look a tad dramatic. It was such a lovely day. We could have done great things with that day. But, It wasn't all a total loss. I still got to shoot off a couple of really interesting shots.
My next foray into the realm of instructor was a bit more successful.
For this time around I opted to be a bit more specific in my course description.
This time I specified that I would be focusing on landscapes and nature photography.
I also mentioned that I would take them to Mount Royal Park- never mind that it was the beginning of March and that there would be snow all over the ground...
In preparing for my workshop I had an unexpected run of bad luck concerning my computer. From pretty much the beginning of February both it and my external hard drive broke down and needed to be repaired.
If that wasn't enough, I got seriously ill in the middle of the month, and was laid up for the next two weeks. The result: I had four nights to do research for the handout, get it typed out, then get it printed and stapled by that upcoming Saturday.
Did I mention that I don't have access to a printer at my house..?

My class list this time around rose from four students to ten, seven of whom showed up.
We had a really good day that Saturday. It was sunny for most of the day. Not exactly the best shooting conditions but, we made the most of it.



I made a mental note, though, that if I were to get the opportunity to do this again(and, I may in May)I would change the start time of the class from 10am- 2pm, to 1pm- 5pm, in the hopes that the lighting conditions will be of better use.



We met in front of the main Chalet in front of Beaver Lake then moved on inside to the the many rows of benches which contained storage space for the skaters ice skates. this is where we sat while I pass out my four page hand outs and commenced the class.
By ten o'clock, the mountain was beginning to get crowded. It seemed that everybody and their dogs were out that day. We walked along the main path that passed the ice rink and the lake, and continued on towards the top of the lookout. By twelve o'clock, most of the ice that had been solid in the morning were now nothing but puddles, and despite the threat of pneumonia from ice, cold, soaking wet feet we soldiered on till two and had an amazing day!
There are many reasons why I thoroughly enjoy instructing these photo workshops. One of which being the thrill of sharing my knowledge of photography, limited though it may be, with others and helping them to possibly love it as much as I do.
I hope to never stop learning how to do this better.

Now the year begins...

I got it! I finally got a photo project!
I've decided to do it on my friend, and periodic assistant, Michael, I am constantly taking his photo.
God! For so long I was in this deep funk about not having a photo project to do and, here, in one phone call I had it all come together!
It's funny how things work.. everything in it's own time, I guess...