Lumix DMC-FZ200

Lumix DMC-FZ200, a set on Flickr.

Almost made it to the end of the year without buying a new camera. Then Panasonic put out the Lumix DMC-FZ200 and it's like I'm learning photography all over again.

For 2013, I resolve to not spend a whole swack of money on new camera stuff and concentrate on being really good with what I have.

362/366... December 27/12

362/366... December 27/12, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Only four more days to go! Whoo - hoo!

356/366... December 21/12

356/366... December 21/12, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

The world did not end and I have enough Christmas shopping done to start wrapping. All in all, not a bad day.

301/366... October 27/12

301/366... October 27/12, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

There once was a famous photographer (I can't remember his name) who, in his later years, shot nothing but the tree in his yard. I'm wondering what I could do with the amazing tree in my yard.

Zombie Walk 2012 - rage issues

Zombie Walk 2012 - rage issues, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

I'm thinking maybe the zombie walk is on to something. Maybe we should collect all Calgary's road rage drivers and have them parade downtown, screaming and growling and basically getting rid of the anger. : ) Or we could have a Get Out the Rage Day. Of course, we'd need police on hand for the one's that lose control.

Calgary 2012 - Sweet City Lip Dub

Calgary 2012 - Sweet City Lip Dub, a set on Flickr.

* Sweet City 2012 Lip Dub
* Calgary Herald: "Gallery, video: Enthusiastic Calgary crowd records Sweet City Lip Dub"
* Jacquie Drew - Sweet City Lip Dub
* Sweet City Woman in 15 min or less ....Calgary 2012 video - candid camera...

Calgary 2012 - CBC Concert - The Dudes3

Calgary 2012 - CBC Concert - The Dudes3, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Saturday was totally insane, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world. In one day I lip dubbed with a couple hundred people," fell in lust with a country singer, and got caught in a mosh-pit. It was all part of Culture Calgary's Calgary 2012 celebrations.

The day started at City Hall where I and a few colleagues from work volunteered to lip dub to Calgary's theme song, the Stampeders' "Sweet City Woman." It was 5 1/2 hours of rehearsal, waiting, more rehearsal, waiting, filming, waiting, more filming, and the grand finale where we sort of got to see what we did (the setting sun was shining on the screens). And then went home with a t-shirt and a smile on my face.

Afterwards, I went to the free CBC concert. Now I should've done the responsible older person thing and gone home. Instead, I fell in lust with the lead singer to the northern Alberta country band, High Valley. I don't like country much, but these guys look like firefighters. Too gorgeous to be real, but there they were. The second act, Samantha Savage Smith had absolutely nothing savage about her and almost put me to sleep. Then came The Dudes.

A guy at work asked what kind of band The Dudes were. I knew they played rock and were very popular, and I confused them with another band I heard a while back, so I said they were a pop rock group. Man, was I so-o-o wrong. They're hard-core rock. More intelligent than heavy metal, but the grunge was there. Actually, I should've listened to the young woman who told the Asian fellow standing beside me with his four year old daughter that the dancing could get "weird" and that standing up front against the barrier might not be safe. Once the band got going the audience went wild and I was pretty much pinned to the barrier. Literally. Totally squished! Part of me is thinking staying was a really bad idea, but the photographer me was totally grooving on the front-man who loves cameras.

I'd do it all again!

274/366... September 30/12... the crowd

274/366... September 30/12... the crowd, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

While wandering on the bike path I came upon a young couple trying to fish. I stopped to watch them be ignored by a bottom feeder. Next thing I know a crowd started to form. Who'da thunk a bottom feeder fish could attract so much attention.

272/366... September 28/12... more filming

272/366... September 28/12... more filming, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Caught more filming action this afternoon, downtown on Stephen Avenue. After much brain-wracking and finally a browse through IMDB, I figured out that Will Sasso is the actor in the background getting his make-up done. According to IMDB they're filming "The Right Kind of Wrong."

Peace Day 2012... world of peace

Peace Day 2012... world of peace, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

This morning various groups got together to celebrate International Peace Day in Olympic Plaza.

I noticed that, aside from the Women in Black, the usual Calgary activists were not there. From what I could tell, the main players in today's activities were the University of Calgary Consortium for Peace, the Running Room, Circles of Rhythm drumming school, a craft table, a new age goods table, and a table with a giant screen connected to PeaceDay.tv. Which made me wonder if this event was activist lead or companies trying to be activists.

I always figured that a protest or demonstration was serious only when the Raging Grannies arrived.

More...

* Peace Day
* Calgary Peace Run

CPL - OBOC 2012 - Launch ... serenaded launch

CPL - OBOC 2012 - Launch ... serenaded launch, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

The Calgary Public Library launched it's One Book, One Calgary (OBOC) celebration with Cowtown Opera and Mayor Nenshi highlighting the event. I've just started reading this year's selection "The Book of Awesome" by Canadian blogger Neil Pasricha, and I gotta say I like the "don't worry, be happy" and "take time to smell the roses" themes that run throughout the book.

Mayor Nenshi and I seem to frequent the same events and I have a great collection of photos of him.  [I'm sure he thinks I'm some sort of paparazzi nuisance.] My favorite photograph, though, would have to be the one I took at this event. Just behind him is a sign with the word "Awesome" on it.  I call that photo "awesome mayor."

Untitled

Untitled, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

This fellow had his head in the garbage bin, talking and picking out bottles and cans. He looked up just as I snapped his photo. I was a little freaked by the look he gave me, so I settle for the one photo and walked away.

259/366...September 15/12... nuit blanche

259/366...September 15/12... nuit blanche, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Nuit Blance Calgary

Muslim protest.. September 15/12

Muslim protest.. September 15/12, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Calgary Muslims gathered in front of City Hall to denounce the violence in Libya, criticize the anit-Muslim film that caused the violence, and demonstrate against all hatred.

Led by Abraham Ayache, Chairman of the Muslim Council of Calgary, there were over 100 Muslim men, women and children in attendance. There were some tense moments when a few passersby decided to create a verbal disturbance. The police were called in, and they quickly moved three men away. Abraham praised the police for their assistance. The demonstration ended in prayer.

___________________________________________________________________

Update September 20/12:

A few days after posting my photos to Flickr I received an email from a member of the Muslim Council of Canada.  It read:

Hello

It was great meeting you at the protest and we truly appreciate your coverage of the function.

I went through the photos that you captured and they are wonderful, though I would kindly ask you to remove the photo of prayer while the shoes of worshipers are in the way. We always advice media to avoid scenes of this kind in which could be misunderstood by some people not knowing the ethics and etiquette of our prayer.

I appreciate your understanding and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if I could be of any assistance. Have a blessed day.

BTW, I like your shot of my photo with the troubling individual, it will be nice if you specify (right) to indicate that he was the provoking guy not me :-)

Ibrahim

After receiving Ibrahim's email, I chose not to pull the shoes photos.  Instead, I made a few extra explanatory notes to the photos in question, and added a link to a Muslim Q&A page that explains why shoes are removed during prayer.  My philosophy being: if no one is taught, how will they learn?

258/366... September 14/12... Bow face

258/366... September 14/12... Bow face, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

The piece by Juame Plensa is called Wonderland, and apparently according to CBC when it's finished you'll be able to walk inside it. The top of the head wasn't on yet, but I thought it looked really cool as is.

Untitled

Untitled, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Getting closer to the shot I've been striving for all summer. This was shot in the morning, on my way to work. The cool temperatures make for a crisper image, but I think I'll try the same shot again, only closer to sunset to eliminate the tree shadow on the path.

255/366... September 11/12... closed

255/366... September 11/12... closed, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Last night's 3rd floor fire closed the downtown Central Library today. The building will be open tomorrow, except for the 3rd floor. It will remain closed, probably for several weeks, while emergency crews continue an extensive clean-up of smoke damaged items.

Here's the Calgary Herald write up:

Fire Damages Unique Books, computers at Central Library - Calgary Herald

By Eva Ferguson, Calgary Herald September 11, 2012 9:06 PM

A third-floor bathroom fire at the downtown Central Library caused severe smoke damage to unique book collections and a high-tech computer lab.

Library staff say a significant portion of the 180,000 books in business, sciences and social sciences suffered significant damage, along with several computers, furniture and shelving.

All are expected to take several weeks to clean up. After being closed all day Tuesday, the Central Library branch will reopen Wednesday morning, except for the third floor, which is expected to be closed for several weeks.

“We’re going to have to take a lot of time to clean it out, to air everything out,” said library spokesman Grant Kaiser.

“But it’s very bad news for the library. It is an extensive amount of damage and the restoration will be expensive, a significant amount of money.”

Early Monday evening a woman entered the third-floor washroom of the library and deliberately set a fire.

Fire crews were able to quickly put out the blaze. But significant amounts of smoke set into the floor’s book collection, computers, carpeting and furniture.

Kaiser said the third-floor materials were especially important to the city’s library collection since the downtown branch holds a lot of “one-offs” or unique materials not available anywhere else in the city.

“We also hold a lot of our business directories there, for the downtown business community, that you can’t find anywhere else,” he added.

The Calgary Public Library has hired a professional restoration company to clean the books, the computers and the remainder of the third floor.

Kaiser expects the costs to tally well over $100,000.

eferguson@calgaryherald.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

253/366... September 9/12... i am a rock

253/366... September 9/12... i am a rock, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Sitting at the bus stop
I see a rock by my feet.
Snapped an image,
gave it an edit.
Then a passerby
kicked it away
and a second chance.

Pride Calgary 2012 - pridefull statue

Pride Calgary 2012 - pridefull statue, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Another big event this week was the Pride Calgary Parade. Again, I followed it from Olympic Plaza, down Stephen Avenue, to Shaw Millennium Park. Again, many awesome people were there to take photos of.

Pride is my favorite parade to photograph, because of it's "any love is good love" positive vibrations.

This year the parade Marshall was Carole Pope, of the '80s rock band Rough Trade. Premier Allison Redford was supposed to open the festivities, but was really late. I was there until almost 3:00 and didn't see her. According to CBC Radio One, participants considered her a non-event, with one saying her speech was just "baby kissing."

On the way home I decorated various statues with garlands I bought at the festival.

Saudi Arabian Festival 2012 - 21

Saudi Arabian Festival 2012 - 21, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

The first annual Saudi Arabian Festival, held in Olympic Plaza, September 8, 2012 saw dancers, fashion models, kids playing in the fountain, and lots of friendly volunteers eager to share the Saudi culture. I even picked up a free Quran.

239/366...August 26/12... not fat, poofy

239/366...August 26/12... not fat, poofy, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Spent the day putzing around in my "garden" and shooting whatever came in range. My photo ham paid me a visit again. The photo of the day was going to be either this guy or my cat sleeping.

230/366... August 17/12

230/366... August 17/12, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

An extreme crop of a photo taken 30 feet away with my Canon Powershot G10. Fixed the pixel decay with noise reduction and dry brush filter in Photoshop CS5.