Super weekend in Kingston

Jule and I went back to school at Queens "Mini U" and got to hang with the parental units. Great fun! No biking, though.

You don't see this every day ... Smoke!

Morning commute - Smoke!

Forest fires near Montreal have the whole of eastern Ontario covered in a blanket of stinky smoke. It was hard to breath on the ride in.

After work commute - Storm coming

On the way home last night.

Hot !

Morning commute - near Parliament Hill

21C at 6am. Another hot one.

Morning commute - gonna be a hot one ...

Victoria Day & our 28th anniversary weekend

It was a sunny 34C with the humidex. The first poppy of the season greeted us. It was a day to take it easy. A day to sit in the shade and read about people's bike trips. To think about bike trips already made and those being planned. On a walk around the park out back, we noted even the ducklings were trying to beat the heat by seeking out any available shade. It was the next best thing to a swim in the pond. (or a Rolo ice cream pop!) :)

Morning commute - ride-by spider shot

Maman towering over Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica

Heading home - near the bridge

Morning commute - Centrepoint Park

The park behind our house in Nepean.

Post ride reward = Espresso + Fig Newton

Not every cyclist's cup of tea. :)

Morning commute - Lungbuster Hill

My 17km commute ends at the glass house on the top of this killer hill. Thankfully it's a short one!

Morning commute - Rideau canal locks @ Chateau Laurier & Bytown Museum

Morning commute - beginning of a beautiful day

Morning commute - just ducky

Mama, Papa and one of the aunts take the brood out for a swim. Unlike goslings, these guys really take to the water independently, zipping a meter or so with bursts of remarkable speed. Very entertaining.

Morning commute - bonus shot

 
I'm really pleased with this shot. The picture itself is nothing special, but the exposure was tricky. To get the background building properly exposed, the camera wanted to underexpose the flowers way too much. So I metered for the flowers and reduced the exposure by 1.67 f-stops to bring the building's exposure down, and then added unadjusted fill flash to bring the flowers back up. Had I reduced the fill flash by about .5 f-stops or so, you'd not notice the fill flash effect and it would've looked like a totally natural photo. :)

It's interesting that pixels work the same as silver halide crystals in high contract lighting situations. I guess photography is photography.

Morning commute - tulips

At the War Museum.

Morning commute - where am I?

Connecting with Ottawa River bike path, 5.1 km from home, at 20.7 kph. Only 12.4 km to go ...

Shopping trip

Jule got a new lime green yoga mat, but I wasn't allowed to get the pretty yellow Prospector. :)

Morning commute - string of pearls

A bit too cool blue. Didn't notice the WB was set for incandescent lighting. It's like the old days - shooting Type A film (Tungsten balanced emulsion, for indoor shooting) outdoors. Prints had a blue cast. And when we shot the daylight-balanced stuff indoors, all the shots were mellow yellow.

After work commute - Look who met me at the bridge! It's Jule!

Nice suprise. I like it when she rides out to meet me.

Morning commute - Confederation Bldg

Cool ride. Temp at 0C.

Low light shooting

Top: Jule, under flourescents. Handheld @ ISO 3200.
Middle: Night shot. Handheld @ ISO 3200.
Bottom: Homemade Iron Skillet Pizza. ISO 500.

Morning commute - 1st crop of the season

Morning commute - Centrepoint bunny