c-train view 2

c-train view 2, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Aside from shooting performers, I love doing street photography for so many reasons. There's the adrenaline rush of trying to capture an un-posed, authentic moment without being spotted by my subject. There's the thinking of nothing but what I see around me that totally takes me outside of myself. There's the capturing a moment that may never be seen again. It's all cool.

Here are some amazing street photography web sites that were recently posted to the Downtown Calgary Flickr group discussion:

* The Living Breathing Street
* Street Photography for the Purist
* Bruce Gilden’s In-Your-Face Street Photography - an interview video of a really obnoxious "in your face" photographer.

Let's talk!

Untitled, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Con Slobodchikoff, a biologist who has been studying the American prairie dog since 1959, speculates that prairie dogs barking at each other across open fields are gossiping. Slobodchikoff was able to identify nine words used in non-random ways. That is to say, some words would appear at the beginning of conversational sentences, others in the middle, and still others at the end of sentences – similar to Mandarin Chinese where the word "ma" at the end of a sentence signifies a question. Anyone familiar with prairie dogs has seen them chirp and whistle danger warnings, but Slobodchikoff discovered that they also describe in detail the nature of that danger. When various researchers wandered near a prairie dog community, not only did the sentry bark the alarm call for a human intruder, their call also described who the intruder was based on the colors of the shirts they were wearing. Phoneme patterns allowed Slobodchikoff to identify the part of the alarm call that coded for the shirt color. He also discovered that the same barks occurred in various prairie dog communities throughout the United States, but with slight variances in dialect.

Blackfoot Crossing 2011 - Treaty 7 monument

Blackfoot Crossing 2011 - Treaty 7 monument, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Yesterday my friend and I did a road trip to the Blackfoot Crossing Heritage Museum, just east of Gleichen, AB. While you cannot take photos inside the museum, there were ample photo ops outside, including a memorial to the signing of Treaty 7 and the Crowfoot Cemetery. Interestingly, the Treaty 7 monument only has the names of government officials. The names of the tribal chiefs are not listed. My friend pointed out who erected the monument. Of course, the winner would only list their own team.

During the trip we saw new lakes formed from the massive amount of rain that hit us this June. Last I heard we've only had 6 dry days this month. The mosquitoes love it. At the crossing, my friend and I tried walking to the Bow River which flows just below the museum, but got only as far as a swamped playground where we were swarmed by over-sized, overzealous, bombadeering mosquitoes. On the way back to the museum I wondered if staff were laying bets on how close we'd actually get to the river.

Comic Expo 2011

Comic Expo 2011 - must eat..., a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

My job is the best when they pay me to do something I love... like taking photos of zombies and other costumers in front of the Calgary Public Library table at the Comic & Entertainment Expo, last Sunday.

Reader Rock Garden

Reader Rock Garden 7, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Today we had a break in a week's worth of rain. I spent it exploring the Reader Rock Garden with a nice bunch of people from the Calgary Flickrmeets. This was my favorite of my shots of the day. The sun was bright and I did my usual spot metering, then stopped down a bit until only the flowers and the leaves were visible. It kind of reminds me of a Japanese embroidery on black velvet. This was my first visit to the garden and I'm thinking it would be worth going back later in the summer and then in the fall to see what's growing. Links: City of Calgary - Reader Rock Garden More of my Reader Rock Garden photos on Flickr.

urban gopher 4

urban gopher 4, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

There is a colony of gophers living in the park next to the Workers Compensation Board building. They are a joy to watch (and photograph) at the end of the day.