Demolition Derby

Today we went to the Brampton Fall Festival where we saw various animals, antiques and crafts. The highlight of the day for many festival goers was the Demolition Derby. People waited in the stands for two hours prior to the start of the derby to secure good seats. There were prizes given for Best Decorated Car, Winner of the Figure 8 races and of course, Winner of the Demolition Derby.

Demolition Derby is a motorsport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehicle into one another. The last driver whose vehicle is still operational is awarded the victory.

Mags

Birds On A Wire

I was out on an assignment this evening trying to capture a photo of the front of a building (as per the daily shoot assignment). I decided to capture the municipal Hydro building as I really love the architecture and think it looks beautiful especially at night. While clicking away, I was distracted by a commotion across the street. I looked up into the dusk sky to see THOUSANDS of birds flying around in a large group. There were so many that it literally looked like a black cloud floating across the sky. Upon closer observation, I noticed the telephone wires and lamp posts were covered with birds as well. Feeling like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, I attempted to capture this phenomenon. It was difficult to capture clear photos of the birds as they were very unpredictable and and would take off in a flash. I wanted to post this photo as it was one of my favourites. I loved the dark silhouettes of the birds against the sky.

Oh, and the photo of the building front I was supposed to capture? Check it out here:http://magneticmags365.tumblr.com/. It's titled "Night Lights"

Mags.

Juxtapose...

My sincere apologies for such a lame-assed picture today. I've been awake since 3 a.m. and have been suffering with a mild bout of insomnia over the past few nights. I was lazy in my photography today and for that I feel bad. Feeling tired and a little grumpy at having to return to work after a long (but crappy-weathered) weekend, I was greeted by a beautiful sunrise as I left my house this morning. In fact, the beautiful colours seemed to lure me into a better mood. I took a few shots of the sunrise as I was driving into work. This one seemed to work the best as I was stopped at a red light. I really like how the beauty of nature found in the sunrise and the bird sitting on the light post in the back juxtaposes the ugliness found in the man-made technology of the traffic light, telephone poles and electrical wires.

Mags.

Larger Than Life

Today's challenge was to make a bright, cheery photo outdoors.

This was a challenge since it was a craptacular overcast and drizzly day. I headed to the local community park to take photos of the bright, over-sized flowers and butterflies found in the water park area. Thankfully, the park was deserted and I was able to snap away without having parents think I'm some creeper takin' photos of their kids (sidenote: Does anyone else encounter this? How do you get around this? It seems to be a touchy subject and I'm not sure how to deal with it other than avoiding these areas.......but I digress). I loved how the bright orange colour in the flower and butterfly really stand out against the dull grey sky......I had a hard time choosing a photo and I decided to post some of the other contenders on my blog: http://magneticmags365.tumblr.com/ .

Mags.

Seasonal Suffering......

I'm a mess! I'm drugged up, feeling woozy, have a scratchy palette, watery eyes, runny nose and am itching all over! Not the vision of beauty that most of you may think I am! Yes folks....it's that time of year....ALLERGIES! From now until the first hardy frost I'll be a snotty mess. Some days are not as bad as others; however, if it's humid, breezy and the pollen is flyin' you know it's not a good day. While the main culprit is ragweed, other weeds can trigger reactions. I was in a farmer's field / weed field this evening trying to capture a weather shot. I ended up focusing on my archenemy: a weed field and ended up really liking this gnarly beast. After quite a few shots, I could feel the allergy symptoms kicking in--uncontrollable sneezing, , scratching my leg until it bled and my eyes closing up. I knew it was time to call it a day.......

Mags.

I Ain't Afraid Of No Ghost........

Today's challenge was to make a photograph with a shallow depth of field.

Taken from my garden, I focused in on a cluster of the red trumpet-like blooms found on my Ghost Weigela. Apparently I'm not the only one drawn to this plant. It appears that the fly perched on the bloom isn't afraid of a little "ghost" as well. 

A cool weigela with dark red flowers in spring and remarkable foliage that magically starts green then turns to a ghostly, iridescent butter yellow as the summer progresses. They provide seasons of colour and are a good rebloomer.

It’s a great impulse plant that easily adds season long color to any garden, container or landscape.

Mags.

The "Signs" of Summer

Today's challenge was to make a photograph that features a sign of some sort today. 

Ahhhhhh....Summertime! Lazy days spent at the beach, long weekends at the cottage and endless road construction.....the sure signs of summer! Seems like everywhere you drive, some road is being torn up, repaired or expanded leaving many commuters hot under the collar at the long delays. This shot was taken near my house. This street used to be a two lane road surrounded by heavily wooded areas and farmlands. Sadly, traffic has increased considerably since we've lived here due to the expanding residential area. This road can no longer handle the amount of traffic flowing here, thus, the city has decided it was time to expand it to a 4 lane road. Trees were cut down, older homes have been abandoned and torn down to make way for the new road. Construction is slated to be completed by Fall 2010.

Mags.

Life Is A Highway

Today's challenge was to make a photo using a wide focal length.

This is a shot of the newly added section of Highway 410 (colloquial "Four Ten"). I'm standing safely on an overpass looking down as the rush hour traffic starts winding down.

Mags.

Desperate

Today's challenge was to make a photograph that uses the rule of thirds composition in a very obvious way. 

But what is "the rules of thirds"? The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and design. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Those in favour of using the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would.

Desperate, and with dusk almost turning to darkness, I started to snap away at anything in hopes I had a half decent shot to post for today. Not sure if this shot accurately captures this rule, but I was really drawn to the colours in the sky and liked how the sunset reflected off of the house across the street from me.

Mags.

Danger In The Park............

Today's theme was to visit a park--- national, amusement, playground --- and make a photo of something that catches your eye.

As a kid, my elders always told me to exercise caution while playing in the park..."Don't walk away with strangers", "Don't take candy or talk to strangers" "Don't take your shoes off....there could be hidden needles, glass, razors or other sharp objects that could hurt you". Bet they never figured an alligator would be buried in the sand waiting to attack unsuspecting children and chomp their little toes off.......

Mags.

Fire Plug

Today's assignment was to rotate the camera a bit and make a slightly off-angle photograph, making sure the angle emphasizes the subject.

According to Wikipedia, the concept of fire plugs (or fire hydrants as we know them to be) dates to at least the 1600's . This is a time when firefighters responding to a call would have to dig down to the wooden water mains to quickly bore a hole to secure water to fight fires. The water would fill the hole creating a temporary well, and be transported from the well to the fire via bucket brigades, or later, via hand pumped fire engines. The holes were then plugged with stoppers, normally redwood, which overtime came to be known as Fire Plugs. The location of the plug would be recorded or marked so that they could be reused in future fires.

Mags.

Reflections

After some late afternoon showers threatened the possibility of an evening photo shoot, I was glad when they passed through quickly. I made my way over to the Brampton Soccer Centre in hopes to capture some interesting shots of the unusual architecture that forms this building. I captured this shot as the sun setting was reflecting on the glass.

The Brampton Soccer Centre is a community soccer facility that opened in June 2007. Located on the southwest corner of Dixie Road and Sandalwood Parkway, this landmark building was created at a cost of $26.9 million dollars. The initial concept for the building was to have it host Ice Hockey, Basketball / Volleyball and Soccer. Feedback from the community resulted in a change of plans, thus rendering the inside of the building as a soccer only facility.

Mags.

Chinguacousy Park Fire/Life Centre

Tonight I tagged along with my friend Scribe as she zipped around to a few local landmarks around the city that we live in. Once of our stops was to the infamous Chinguacousy Park which, as seen through the lens of a camera, can be quite beautiful. Dusk was fast approaching so we needed to be quick. I snapped a few shots of this "house" with this week's architectural theme in mind.

Located near one of the park's entrances, the Fire/Life Safety Education Centre is a hands-on learning facility for training children about fire hazards in and around the home.  Upstairs, Stephanie’s Place models an average home with kitchen, living room, bedroom and bath. Children have the opportunity to find hazards and learn where to go when fire strikes and locate safe escape routes out of the house.

 

Vowing to come back, I've marked out a few other spots to photograph in and around the park. Stay tuned....

 

Mags.

I spy with my little eye something that is.........BLUE

Today's challenge was to take a photo of something blue. I went for a short walk this evening to see if I could capture something exciting. Sadly, this was the best I could do. These metal blue benches are found throughout the city I live in. these particular two are located in a community park right around the corner from my house. I shot many photographs of the benches at various heights and angles and ended up with this photo.as my chosen shot of the day.

Mags.

A Refreshing View on a Stinking Hot Summer Day

With the humidity, it was over 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degress Fahrenheit) today. You can understand why I was feeling lethargic and not really motivated to create an exciting masterpiece today. I picked up my P&S and decided to stick my nose out the door to see what was close by. I took some shots of this flower from my neighbour's side garden. I croped the photo to give it a little added interest. Hoping tomorrow will be a better day for pics.......

Mags.

Posted Signs

Today's daily assignment was to find a sign in front of a vista that tells a story.

It was a pretty hot day today so I didn't feel like venturing too far from home. I took a walk in the neighbourhood and came across this pond. In order to get this shot, I had to venture through an obstacle course of animal poo, wild weeds and angry wasps. I often wonder what other photographers have to go through in order to get "THE SHOT" they are looking for?

Mags.

Perpetual Construction

Construction seems to be perpetual: streets, sidewalks, buildings. Farm land and rolling fields seem to be disappearing quickly and are being replaced with overpopulated subdivisions, monstrous shopping malls and busy highways. With nothing much to do on Canada Day, I took a drive about 10 minutes away from my home into the neighbouring city of Caledon. This picture represents a pretty good indication of how perpetual construction is starting to happen in this quiet community. You can see farm fields in the background that are soon to be replaced with (overpriced) large homes. This scaffolding structure dominated the landscape and tells of things to come for this area.

Mags.

Hidden In Suburbia

After not having a lot of photo opportunities yesterday, I was dying to get out today and shoot pics with some new toys I recently picked up. I wasn't motivated by anything around me so I took a trip to Loafers Lake for a walk around. It's sad that I've never experienced this little gem of a park hidden in the suburban city I live in. Although the weather was hot, hazy and humid, we spent a good hour and a half walking the trails and I managed to capture some great shots. It was hard to decide which one to use. This conservation area was quite green in colour and I've vowed to return in the fall when the leaves are changing colour. This shot was captured in a marshy section of the lake. I was getting eaten by mosquitos (which I'm sure I'll pay for dearly later); however, thought it was a good shot with the reflection of the trees from the other side of the lake.

Mags.