Montreal protest thru the eyes of a citizen photojournalist

Here are some shots from the past 100 days of student protest in Montreal.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry

Lakefield Qc Cemetery

A gloomy post but headstones make for great black and white photography. These were taken with my Minolta X570, a red filter, lens hood and Fuji Neopan SS 100 ISO film. The Church and cemetery are located in Lakefield Quebec in the County of Gore in the Laurentians.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry  :)

Montreal FD puts out appartment unit fire

What are the odds of me getting shots of fire gear twice in the same day without looking for it!?! We got a fire down the street from my house in the early evening and I got the chance to take some shots.

The Canon G12 performed great in this low-light/action situation. The only problem with the G12 for photo journalism is its size. People don't take it very seriously. That's why I carry a film SLR on my sling even if I'm not going to use it. I swear, the SLR seems to act like a press pass!

Well, I'll dedicate this post to all the full time firefighters out there, stay safe.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry :)

The Gore Fire Department

While on photo safari in the County of Gore in Quebec's Laurentian region I dropped by my old firehouse and found the current members during exercise day.

Who said training should be boring?

Fire apparatus is always a blast to shoot as they are very colorful and most of the time very clean.

This post is dedicated to all the volunteer fire crews out there. Stay safe.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry :)

Canon G12 remote shutter trigger for under $10

The canon G12 comes with a timer but sometimes this doesn't come in handy. The other day I was trying to make a self portrait with an off camera flash when I realized that the flash didn't work with the timer. A remote would have been great just there. A remote is also useful when you want your hands off the camera but want to be able to shoot at will unlike with the timer.

Not being one who likes to spend money for nothing, read cheap, I looked into a few instructables and found out that making a remote was pretty straight forward. So I went shopping at the electronics store.

I came out with a cellular phone headset and a small project box. I already had switches from a previous project. All I had to do was to cut the headset off, strip the wires, make some holes in the box for the switches and solder everything together. The only hard part is figuring out which wire is which. Simply strip them, plug the jack in the camera and start connecting them one by one to see what the camera does. One will activate the focus, one will activate the shutter with the other wire (or wires) being the ground. I put the switch on top for setting the focus and the red momentary switch triggers the shutter.

That's it that's all and for less than $10.

Until next time.

Gerry :)

Best Photography tip I ever read.

When I started to get serious about my photography not too long ago, I went on a quest on the web to find some no nonsense tips. Ken Rockwell has a ton of great tips and advice on his site. One that stuck with me was the following: If you see something you like and you want to take a picture of it, fill the frame with it. Or something like that.

So fast forward to last Thursday when I was covering the student protest march here in Montreal looking for some interesting human activity to document when I came across this awesome looking gal.

She was on a step ladder all dressed up and waving at the crowd with one of those beautiful smiles that you don't see often. The outrageous outfit, the smile and the crazy scene confirmed on the spot that I had to take a shot. The first shot was taken right when I noticed her and I must admit that I was pretty pleased with what I saw in the viewfinder and here is what came out:

I was about to move on my merry way when I remembered those words about filling the frame. So I moved in closer, composed the frame while she posed for me and took another shot. You'll agree with me that the result is a lot better than the first one.

I mean the first shot wasn't bad mind you but the second one is getting printed and framed. That photography tip is always on my mind and has paid off a few times. I choose to shoot with a 50mm lens because I want to get close to the action and results like these are the reason why. Whoever you are nice Lady, thank you.

Both pictures where taken with a Minolta X570 on Ilford Delta Pro 100 film at f5.6 on Aperture priority mode.  Lens: Rokkor MD f1.7, 50mm.

Gerry :)

Shooting photographers!

When out for a little street photography session, I'm always on the look out for photographers. We are out there "shooting" people and it came to my mind that nobody seems to return the favor in kind.

So I decided to indulge myself whenever I spot one and shoot. After all, since most of them are busy paying attention to whatever they are shooting that makes them easy targets for candid shots. Here are some shots taken in the past weeks most of them from last Thursday's student protest and St-Patrick's day parade here in Montreal.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry :)