Thomas Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Pets in general, and particularly cats, are notoriously hard to photograph. (I talked about that in an earlier post about shooting pets.) But Perrie's cat Thomas is clearly getting used to having me around.

The other day he was sleeping on his "Kitty Hooch" while we ate dinner. The light was decent and he looked pretty cute, so I grabbed a camera. I started out pretty wide. He opened his eyes but didn't seem bothered by the lens or shutter noise, so I kept getting closer. And closer. And closer. He just stayed there and let me get pretty "up close and personal."

Then, when I couldn't really get any closer, he started to pose! He just let me keep snapping away without any concern for the big black thing staring at him. I think his interest in the process outlasted mine.








I think Thomas is about 4 years old. Perrie adopted him shortly after she moved to Portland. Like the orange cat in Calvin and Hobbes, Thomas is named for the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

St. Johns Farmers Market Monday, August 24, 2009

Last Saturday morning we went to the St. Johns Farmers Market to pick up some vegetables and such for dinner. New this year, the market is not as large as others in Portland—only about a dozen vendors—but it has enough of everything including some great produce. Best of all, it's not crowded out with all of the craft artisans that you find in other markets. And it's only about five blocks from our house!

The weather on Saturday was perfect: around 80°F, plenty of sun, and not windy. There were plenty of people in the market, but not so many you couldn't move. Just right!

The Orchid Highway photos, interview Monday, August 17, 2009

Last night I photographed and interviewed The Orchid Highway at the East End when they were in Portland for the International Pop Overthrow festival.

This was just my second visit to the East End. Almost exactly a year ago I went there to interview The Pack A.D. (listen to that here).

The basement bar is small and dark—which is cool for a bar, but hellish if you're trying to take pictures. Think 1/25 at ISO6400 (f/2.8) on the brightest part of the stage. Way less on Derek and Jamie MacDonald (keyboards and guitar, respectively) at the edges of the stage. So the pictures have lots of grain and quite a bit of motion blur, but I think they look pretty cool, especially in black and white.

After the concert, I interviewed Derek and Rory MacDonald (they and Jamie are brothers) outside the bar. We did a portrait shoot on the sidewalk, and they also wanted to do something with this photo booth inside the bar. Without some major preparations (and more gear than I had on hand) it was impossible to light properly, especially since the bar was so crowded, so I just stuck the flash on camera and hoped for the best. The mirror and a tired patron turned something bleh into something much more interesting.

Look for the interview and more photos on Northwest CanCon in a week or two.

The new home Tuesday, August 11, 2009

As many of you know, Perrie and I moved last weekend. In spite of the unexpected challenge of the annual Bridge Pedal (which closed or restricted access to numerous roads in the area Sunday morning), with the help of eight awesome friends we managed to get everything from both of our apartments into the house in less than six hours.

Now, surrounded by a sea of boxes, we're trying to figure out a) just how many ladles, waffle irons and VCRs a house really needs, b) where we can put the stuff we're keeping, and c) which box the bath mat is in.

Having been built in 1927 and unoccupied for a couple of months prior to our arrival (and previously inhabited by some college kids), the house has some quirks to be sure. We couldn't get the box spring upstairs to our bedroom, so we just put the mattress on the floor for now. The kitchen cupboards are large, but very low to the counter, so there isn't much practical workspace. The dryer vents into the garage—or at least it will once I reconnect the ducts, which were only secured by good will. But we have an awesome backyard (once it gets watered again), my office is about four times the size it used to be, and the neighbourhood is really cool.

I'll put up some more interior photos once the house gets a bit more organized (it may take a while). Tonight I'll be doing some cleaning up at the old place. Then it's back to unpacking here.