Middle of the week and we are moving into the weekend

Well I did not get too far on the house this week.  I think some time off was in order or maybe it was just a little less desire to work on things.  I have been really doing whatever I want most of the evenings which is usually filled by walks with the dog and some general clean up of the house.  I can tell you that mostly it is me time and I am ok with that for now.

On the photography front I did not get to the project that I had hoped for and friday is a day off from work but it is filled with waiting for the city inspector and then costco for supplies for Sinclaire's bday party.  Big 20 this year so where did that all go.

Back to the camera what I am thinking about is long exposure stuff, but we are talking about 100 plus seconds of exposure, really long.  I picked up a second neutral density filter today it is a variable 1 to 8 stops.  I have a 10 stop filter so this will really let me do the long exposure shots during the day at any brightness.  I am looking forward to trying this out but not sure just when yet.

Along with those ambitions are the desire to simply get back to taking pictures.  It is funny how natural it becomes when I am shooting a lot, the adjustments flow and the photos are better so when i say getting out and shooting lots I would really like to be doing a lot more than I am now.

With the pictures out of the way I have house items still on the list, these are those small tasks that take up time. I again hope to work on these while I am waiting for the home inspection by the city they are coming to look at the furnaces that were installed.  Along with that I am sure they may look at the kitchen but that is not on the building permit so it is not really an open item.  Who knows what they will think.

I am also planning a bit of a weekend away for Traci and I, we need a weekend to go and relax, more so just a day than an overnight stay, we bought a national park pass this year so we intend to use this as it is the 150 year of Canada they give you 2 years worth of park pass for the price of 1 year.  So Banff and Waterton here we come for sure.  With that in mind mostly photos are on my mind maybe a bit of hiking.  When it is all said and done we will use the pass I am sure but we need to just get out of the kitchen so to speak.

I have been watching the ice on the pathways as biking is right around the corner for this year.  I need the exercise.  But I am not willing to ride just yet maybe in another week when he ice is reduced on on the pathways.  we will see.  if I do start next week it will be the second half of the week not the first.  Also it will be a very early start to the riding for me but I love not taking the train so we will see how it goes.

So lots to look forward too, maybe spring in the air.  Oh, the time change is also coming up, man I hate that time change in spring it hoses me up for a month.  But until the get rid of daylights savings I am stuck with it.

Until next time.  A straight out of camera shot from Feb 3rd.  Enjoy.

Nice to have.

Hello again.  I have returned from the land of working on the house to find myself with some free time.  Oddly it is valentines day and I am not spending it with my very special person.  She is however enjoying a short holiday with our daughter and her mother.  She has earned every minute of this so I do not begrudge her one second of it.  They are in New York City, having just arrived it sounds like it is cold and so on but they are troupers and will weather it out.  Nothing they are not prepared for.  That has however left me to my own devices, my son and I anyway are left on our own.  Bachelors for a week.  What to do you say what to do?  Well first off, clean the house.  Yes chores came first, I am truly a boring guy but I am thinking tomorrow is more my time and I am hoping to do something with it.  It is a holiday here so no working but to be honest I am sure I will be doing something very exciting, what that is we will see.

I want to move away from talking about remodelling and back to more what I have going on in my head.  So since it is Valentines Day, I am thinking about how awesome it is to have a person that just simply loves you.  I saw the Bloom County cartoon of opus and the mayfly.  I think of all the cartoons I enjoyed Bloom County was one of my favourites.  They political satire, they have all sorts of person demons to bemoan.  But the valentines day cartoon to me why Love is and always will be something we can not live without.  You can have food and water but I think love is also required.  So check it out on Facebook folks it is an amazing image of Opus and the mayfly.  It humbles me a bit as I think that my wife loves simplistically and wholly and that to me is amazing and truly something I never want to be without.

With Love out of the way I am turning my attention to time behind the lens again.  I have taken very few images lately, mostly due to finding the time to get out and take some.  In most cases this is just an excuse to stay home and catch a few extra winks.  I am really worn out right now.  But with all that said I am seeing some free time in my future, that means trying to come up with ideas for pictures.  I took some criticism for not taking more family pics.  To be honest most of our family is seldom around to take pictures.  This would require scheduling and some other tough calls to get it all setup.  But I am ok with what I photograph.  I like trying things out that involve less human and more objects.  Humans tend to be a bit less interesting to me to photograph, I could do it but it is something that is a little further down on the list if you get the drift.

Well what is next you say?  Aurora is always fun, I managed a quick trip out the other week but still need to post process the images.  Maybe some time on the computer tomorrow will give me a better idea what I have form that outing.  But I have found another item of interest.  Very long exposure.  VLE for short.  I watched a tutorial on this today, 100 to 200 seconds.  So how or what do photograph for that long?  Anything really.  I am thinking if I can find a situation where the light is not too bright I can try it out.  So stay tuned and if I get some time you may see some test shots.

Ok! The kitchen.  Well lights are all in.  Amazing what it does for the house.  I am hoping to do some other work this week in the evening.  I have some painting to do and baseboards.  But that may happen on Friday this week.  like all renos I am suffering a little burn out so taking a week off is maybe not the worst idea.

Well, Happy Valentines Day!  Love often!

This is a big one!

Hey after many weeks this week is one of the big ones in our effort to remodel.  We have reached a stage were the kitchen finally gets back together!  We have traveled through many challenges on this wondrous journey but to start to see a bigger and bright light at the end of the tunnel is something that I am very happy for.

Wednesday we get our glorious counter tops installed and then the wonderful sink and faucet.  This allows us to put the rest of the stuff back into the correct locations.  Then there is backsplash and hood fan to consider after that we are down to the small finishes.  Which I am thinking will simply be a lot easier to handle.

The very thought that this is slowly coming to a close is amazing to me.  We did so many things in our house.  The sweat equity they call it is all around me.  I know some of it may not be 100% professional but we did not stop trying to do our best job.

So when those counter tops arrive and get installed I will be sending out the pics to those that are curious.  As we cross another big milestone on the project at hand.

For now I am going to enjoy a little TV time it is well earned.