Summer vacation is well on its way. This is the first week off I’ve had since I started at National Defense. I’m taking a brake from my brake on a count of the rain to post a couple of cottage pictures online.

The old man and I put a good weekends worth of elbow-grease into building our camp fire pit. The next week we christened the new fire pit with a shish kabob barbeque and a marshmallow roast.

Everybody needs a weekend getaway even this lazy guy.

So far so good, kayaking yesterday was fun but geocaching was a total bust. I think I’ll be going home with a sun burn by the end of this week. There is a lot more summer to go. With plenty of time for boating, hiking, pool and I hope to do a whole lot of photography.

There I am in total Vacation Mode

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This week we tried something a little different out on the trails. Instead of using high tech Global Positioning Satellites to tell us where we were going, we used a paper map and a compass. This was our first try at orienteering and a successful one at that. I enjoyed leaving the GPS at home for once and hiking with just a compass in hand.

Topographical 3D Rendered Map of the Trails we Took

This was the other team we were racing against. We tide ….

Along with that I took time to plant my third GeoCache “The Photographer’s GeoCache“.  This Cache has been placed here specially for all the photographers out there. I know there are lots of GeoCachers that have a GPS in one hand and a camera in the other every time they head out exploring the wilderness.

The Lion           &         The Unicorn

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Sunday is race day at the Shannonville Speedway. The main event is the Castrol Super Touring Series. I won’t even begin to tell you about the weather that day. I met up with friends Denis and Team Vitesse Pure. The team driver, Gilbert is riding in stile in his yellow Hyundai Tiburon Tuscany just like yours truly. Well his is a little more tuned than mine. A whole lot more than mine.

Fantastic place to take high speed photographs. I think I’ve stopped the action once or twice. Next time I head to the track with Denis it will be to see his sports bike.

It looks just like mine.

The first photo of the day was one of the best ones.

Not everybody crosses the finish line.

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Met up with the Ottawa Flickr group this week for an impromptu night time long-exposure photography tutorial. We went through a lot of technique just hanging out and taking some very nice photos.

It was nice to meet up with some people that are into the same hobbies that I am.

Still a little miffed that the day after I created I’m Flickr Pro account, Rogers canceled the promotion that they’ve been running for a decade now.

The long exposure photos require a lot more commitment per shot than the point and shot approach. Setting up and moving the tripod, manually focusing, taking high ISO test shots I only took 30 shots that whole night but I think the results speak for them selves.

The Dow’s Lake Pavilion at Sunset.

Now it Looks Like it’s Really Getting Late.

Got that Photo in One Shot. Ever Happy with it.

Clearly not Long Exposure but it Goes well with the Water Theme.

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Earlier in the year I posted photos from my first cave exploration experience. This time around we made it down a little deeper, actually a lot deeper.

Last weekend’s photography trip brought us 10 miles north of Buckingham to the middle of nowhere. No town, no road, nothing but a truck, a GPS and only the slightest idea what we where heading into. From about 200 feet atop the cavern wall to 200 feet underground we explored the mines.

We also revisited the abandoned hotel at MSM. This time I was geared-up for it. Cameras, flashlights, tripods, ready for anything.

My photography over the last month or so has started to take a more technical direction for the first time. I’ve been doing this for about a year now … well, actually it’s been exactly a year now and I feel I have quite a bit to show for it.

Explore the caves through the photo album of
~ ~ ~ The Abandon Mine ~ ~ ~

The inside of the cave shot in cinematic 1×2.3 format

This is the effect obtained using photo bracketing

Long-Exposure photo taken using light painting effect created with a flashlight

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It is my honor to present to you for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Danny and Danielle Delaney.

We had a sweet and simple ceremony which I was very happy to contribute to, by doing my part as the official photographer. I would have been disappointed if they decided to go thorough with the wedding onboard the cruse ship and I’d missed out on everything. The family has become a bit larger and I have two more cousins in the mix.

Take a Stroll Through the Wedding Night Photo Album.

I got the title for this blog post off of the Start Trek Klingon Wedding episode.

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The crew rolled-out to McDicks for a McGangBang Burger. That’s a double cheeseburger stuffed with a McChicken sandwich in between 2 patties. And you know what? It tastes just as good as it sounds.

Why did we do this? Because, THIS IS WHY YOURE FAT

Don’t worry I made sure to get a Diet Coke on the side, ya gots’ to watch what you eat now days.

We had a run in with the McManager who came and told us to put the camera away. I gave him a bit of lip while I finished taking my shot. It’s all kool, that just makes the story that much funnier.

Next week, Pizza burgers are going to make a comeback.

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I met some kool gammers and saw some first-rate works of art at the ‘WarHammer Game Summit – Winter Skirmish’. It’s really great to see something like this going down in the Ottawa area. These multi day events like Comi-Con and the fan fairs show up in TO but always pass right over the Capital.

Enlist Today! Join the U.N.S.C Space Marines!

While playing with the photos I put together this video slide show.

Damn, I love that song!

WarHammer 40K At Game Summit Winter Skirmish 2009 in Ottawa

I would have taken more photos with the macro but it’s hard to get in real close on a table while two guys are chucking dice at you. Next time around I’m bringing my tripod. Or even better, this is exactly the type of shoot that would give me a good excuse to buy a monopod.

I also took this opportunity to try playing with a new photo technique. And by new I mean very old. Stereoscopic photography looks like it could be fun and really impressive. Stereoscopy tricks your eyes into seeing 2D images in 3D by creating the illusion of depth perception. I gave my self a crash course online and if it turns out well I’ll be sure to have another Blog post up when I’m done.

The rest of the days Photos are all posted on my Picasa Web Album.
~ ~ ~WarHammer 40K Photo Album~ ~ ~

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This week’s geocache was one of the most exciting yet. We climbed into a small underground cave hidden in the woods near the Mackenzie King ruins. With all the snow around we had to use photos from the web site just to find the location where the cave SHOULD be. With photos in hand we were able to match up 3 big scar lines on the boulders around the entrance. Then facing a rock wall in front of us, once we knew we were at the right place we had to dig out the cave opening before we could crawl in, through 6 feet of snow and under 100 feet of rock.

This trip really took a lot more out of us then we thought it would. There were 2 other caches planned for that day that we couldn’t get to. After trekking through waist high snow with that cold winter chill in the air we were really feeling it by the time found and dug out a path way into the cave. Particularly when you add to that the unsettled feeling of being in a 4 foot high underground cavern for the first time in my life.

Digging Out the Cave Entrance

Wow. That was Totally Worth The Effort. This Place Would make a Sweet Fort.

Before heading underground, the excursion started with a photo shoot at the ruins on the Mackenzie King Estate. This first photo is one that I think really shows some real artistic form. Out of about a dozen similar shots, this was the best one. The slight leaning angle of the columns truly creates scale in this photo.

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One of my favorite stories from my time in the Caribbean was eating authentic native food that was cooked on burning hot stones mimicking the way the pirates had done it centuries ago.

On the first night, right after I landed in Belize I headed to an outdoors cabana café.

Now, the first piece of advice that every one of my friends gave me before I left was to make sure everything I ate was completely thoroughly cooked. So when a local chef placed a stone full of raw chicken in front of me I was more then a little apprehensive. It didn’t take long to figure out what was going on. After a couple of inquiries I was told how the Spanish pirates would throw flat rocks into the fires then use them to cook fish or other meats that were hunted down in the forests.

A Mayan Deity at the Temple of Xunantunich in Belize

I was able to try my own stone cooking this week. I marinated 16 pieces of Jerk chicken over night then invited friends and family over to savor the attempt. My mom was concerned that it would take far to long for the chicken to cook on that little rock but let me tell you it was hot. The food started searing the second it hit the grill and with the oil burning underneath we were able keep cooking em’up the whole way through dinner.

Aunt Sue & Uncle Wayne on our Caribbean Cook Night

The guest of honor relaxing, catching a grill side golden tan.

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