night street-light snowfall

night street-light snowfall, originally uploaded by Wanderfull1.

night street
light
snowfall
ending anytime
soon?

"It's not a photo until you make a print." So I was told by a guy at a photo development shop. He has a point, though. For instance, this photo looks very different depending on the computer monitor. On my home laptop I can see the silhouette of the trees in the background very clearly. At work, you can't see the trees at all. Well, maybe the largest one. I haven't tried printing this yet, but I wonder what it would look like.

A long, long sleep

A long, long sleep, originally uploaded by Wanderfull1.

A long, long sleep, a famous sleep
That makes no show for dawn

- Emily Dickinson

HPR Snowblower 2011

HPR Snowblower 2011 - partiers & Bow
Originally uploaded by Wanderfull1

Party goers at the High Performance Rodeo Snowblower party, held in Olympic Plaza, Saturday, January 15, 2011.

The amazing Snowblower party in Olympic Plaza was a big crowd draw. I haven't seen the Plaza this full since the last Pride Parade. Along with DJs , there were fire spinners, flag spinners, hoop dancers, a couple snow angels on stilts, and lots of colorful partiers.

• High Performance Rodeo

HPR Midway 2011

HPR Midway 2011 - Sonic Doom - dancers 3
Originally uploaded by Wanderfull1

Last night, I attended the High Performance Rodeo Midway with a bunch of friends from the Start to Photograph Meetup group. This year marks HPRs 25th anniversary.

They're doing things a bit different with the Midway this year. There is a midway show every Friday and Saturday evening at the EPCOR Centre for Performing Arts.

The theme for the first Midway weekend was Sonic Doom. Through mostly electric noise, it was a tribute to the end of mankind. There were computer musician (people making noise with their laptops), an acid rock duo, and dancers.

The sideshows included a photo booth where you could get dressed up in costumes and have your photo taken for $4. There was also a Tarot card reader, tucked away in a corner, bits of sculpture and multimedia art.

Last year the Midway was one weekend, had more side-shows, and was jam-packed with things to photograph. Spreading it out to four weekends might be spreading it a bit thin. We'll see how the other weekends go.

• High Performance Rodeo

New Year's Hoping

A new year with new hopes. Photography pretty much consumes me. When I'm not taking photos I'm thinking about how I'll edit them or I'm taking photography courses or organizing photography outings.

Last December, I completed Mount Royal's Photography Level II course. It was a bit disappointing because the instructor pretty much repeated a lot of what he taught in Level I. The Photoshop lab time was only three classes, as well. So, I've decided to enroll in SAITs five week Photography Certificate Fast Track summer program. That is, if they ever allow me to register. I tried three times last week. The third time I was told that may it will be set up for registration by the end of next week. Here's hoping.

My hope is to somehow make some kind of living with my photography. Having three people bid for "Fluffy" at the Library silent auction was encouraging. So is the feedback I get from the Meetup Start to Photograph group I joined in November. They've made me a co-organizer. So far, the wicked cold winter weather is making outings a little tough. Tonight I've organized a trip to the High Performance Rodeo Midway. It's indoors. I also continue to contribute to the Calgary Public Library's Photo Club, its Flickr page, and its blog.

So, this year continues with more of what I did last year... photography!

Alien snowboarding wonderland

Alien snowboarding wonderland
Originally uploaded by Wanderfull1

Winter. Ya gotta have some fun with it. It seems to last so-o-o-o long.