My New Baby and the Rest of My Gear

I’ve been shooting with my Canon Rebel XT for about 5 years now… It was definitely time for an upgrade since a lot has changed in the world of photography – sensors got better, cameras are cheaper, etc.

My Canon Rebel XT with a Sigma 10-20mm 3.5 lens

Throughout the years of shooting, I’ve definitely learned a lot about photography. I picked up a few lenses and was constantly trying to learn more. For a while I had to figure out which camera body I should purchase next. After a lot of thinking, researching, and talking to people, I’ve decided to go for the Canon 5D MKII. She’s a beauty!

My Canon 5D MKII with a 85mm 1.8 lens

Why not the 7D you might ask? Well… In my case, full frame would be a better choice because I do a lot of scenic shots, and low light photography is better on a full frame. The only problem with a MKII is, it’s discontinued so I had to do some serious searching. around for a used one in good shape.

Here’s my arsenal of lenses I’ve been using for all my shooting:

From left to right:

• Canon 18-55mm 3.5-5.6: My last resort lens if I couldn’t get away with using my other lenses. It’s an average lens with nothing special… It came with my Rebel XT when I first got it.
• Sigma 10-20mm 3.5: My go-to lens. I use this for everything like from landscape shots to concerts. It’s a really great lens except it could be soft around the edges at some point, but I like the colours of it.
• Canon 50mm 1.4: My first prime lens. Definitely took me out of my comfort zone using this, but it’s been great. I use this for portrait photos and concerts. Works really well in low light settings and sharp pics!
• Canon 85mm 1.8: I bought this with my 5D MKII. This is another sharp lens that I’m really excited to play around with especially when I start doing more portraits.

I’m really excited to take my new camera out into the world and take a lot of pictures! I’m hoping to get out there really soon. So keep checking back for more pictures! I’m always curious as to what people shoot with, so if you want, feel free to post in the comments what kind of gear you use!

Winter Wonderland In Victoria

It’s definitely been a while since I’ve had the chance to update. First off, I started getting a cough last Thursday, and then got full blown sick on Friday. I’ve been trying to recover every since. I thought I’d be fine on Monday, but I was wrong… Worked 4 hours on Monday, 6 hours on Tuesday, and worked a full 8 hours on Wednesday! Yay! I felt pretty miserable during this sickness. I rarely get sick, and when I do, it seems 100 times worse… I dunno… I’m not sure why, but as the days kept passing, I got more antsy. I HAD to go out, but I knew I needed to rest as well – that was really tough for me to do. I had the whole week filled up with work and hanging out with friends, but one by one they had to be rescheduled until today…

… It snowed! Probably a good foot, and that’s RARE in Victoria. So I woke up this morning feeling a little bit better. I saw the snow and I told myself, “I HAVE TO GO OUTSIDE TODAY!” because I have yet to really shoot with my new Canon 50mm 1.4 lens I just bought. So I spent a good hour or so debating whether to go to work OR go play in the snow. It was stressful!! But I decided to go to work AND go play in the snow! I packed my camera and my work stuff, and off I went!

I was able to rope my friend, Rhiannon to play in the snow with me. We were suppose to check out a concert yesterday, but didn’t due to our sicknesses. But today… Nothing was going to get in our ways! So we met up after lunch and decided to do what we always do… Walk around! So here are some pics!

Rhiannon told me to take a pic of this statue thinger because she said it looked weird.

After the Inner Harbour, we headed straight towards the water to Dallas Rd.

Next stop… Beacon Hill Park!We finally found the bridge… And then… This happened.Random sword fights? Yes please!! … It’s starting to seem like every time Rhiannon and I hang out, something weird happens – not that it’s a bad thing or anything. It makes life a lot more interesting.

Apparently they’re in a band called “The Saints of British Rock”… I think I rather see them fight.

Hi Rhiannon!Hmmmmm…. I didn’t see where it led to, so it will remain a mystery…

What a great day! So beautiful. Thank you Rhiannon and beautiful snowy Victoria. It’s been a blast!

Sorry about the quality of some of the pics. Apparently WordPress isn’t as good as Flickr when it comes to sizing them. Hmmm…. Oh well, I might be able to live with that.

There’s more pics of today on my Flickr site if you want to see more! The link will take you to the first pic of the day. So look through them all! Comment, add me, subscribe, whatever. The more stuff the merrier!

My New Baby

Wow… Wasn’t expecting to do another blog update so quickly. So here it goes!

In my previous post, I was debating on which lens to get, and I think I’ve figured it out after that rant. So the more I thought about it, the more I just wanted to get it. And since today is pay day, I thought that this was my opportunity to buy it and I wasn’t able to wait a few more weeks. So ladies and gentlemen, my brand new Canon 50mm F1.4 lens. I also bought a UV filter to protect the lens. SO STOKED!!!

It was near the end of the work day when I decided to slip out for a few minutes to acquire this beautiful lens. I got to the store and after a few test shots on my camera, I just fell in love with it. My first prime lens! This is definitely going to change my way of shooting which is pretty exciting. As I was walking back to the office, I thought “what better place to test it out than in Fan Tan Alley!!” I know it’s a little cliché and all because A LOT of people have taken pictures there, but I must admit… It’s a great place to test out a lens! Click on the pictures for the larger resolution.

Hopefully I’ll have some time tomorrow or in the next couple of days to really test this baby out :)

Busy busy busy!

It seems like I never know how I get so busy… It’s either not busy at all, or crazy busy. Never in between. But it’s been good – working (on day 17 out of 19. SO close to having a weekend!!), rock climbing, hanging out with friends, and going to new restaurants in Victoria. On top of all this, a lot has been on my mind too.

My friends, Shannon, Louis, and I decided to do a “read the Bible in a year” thing, but this time it’s in chronological order. It’s definitely better than reading it from cover to cover (in my opinion). We’re just over a month into it, and it’s been super good. I know it’s super cliché to say this, but it’s true… A lot of times when you don’t know what the heck is going on, you just have to trust in God, because He has a plan for you. I’ve noticed that throughout the readings, that theme keeps coming up. We read the Bible and clearly see what’s going on, but when the tough times roll in, we tend to become blinded and forget about the stories we read and how God has everything under control… In the end, everything will be ok. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right??

It’s my birthday coming up soonish, so I have quite the dilemma… Been thinking about this for a while. I’ve decided to spoil myself by buying a new lens for my camera!! This summer I REALLY want to try doing some rock climbing photography… Or at least give it a try since I LOVE rock climbing… So at first I wasn’t sure which one to get because there’s just too many to choose from. But the more I think of it, the more I wanted a prime lens because it’ll force me to be more creative (at least that’s what I think). So that really narrows down my choices (sort of). After more thinking, I’ve decided to go for one of the following:

• Canon 50mm F1.8
• Canon 50mm F1.4
• Sigma 50mm F1.4
• Canon 35mm F2.0
• Sigma 30mm F1.4

So many choices, right?? But after doing more research and thinking, I was able to narrow it down to three lenses because the Sigma 50mm was out of my price range, and I hate the feel of a bunch of Canon lenses because they feel really cheap, so the Canon 50mm F1.8 was out. So here’s the choices:

(From left to right: Sigma 30mm F1.4, Canon 35mm F2.0, Canon 50mm F1.4)

I went to Japan Camera and Lens and Shutter to check out the lenses, and once they threw on a 35mm, there wasn’t enough zoom on it, so I guess now my only option is the Canon 50mm F1.4. Any suggestions? Thoughts? Comments?

Now onto something totally different…. Rhiannon and I went out to Ferris’ for dinner on Tuesday, and it was awesome! We bumped into a busker she met recently, and he said he was playing at an open mic at the White Bird (I think that’s where it is… I keep forgetting). But anyways, we decided to check it out. We had a few hours to kill, so we did a huge walk around downtown and along the water and finally went to Tim Hortons to have a hot drink. Afterwards, we headed over to the White Bird to check out this open mic. It was definitely a weird vibe when we got there. It was like a small group of people that all knew each other. So at first it was this girl singer with bass and drums backing her up. They were alright except they haven’t practiced much and things started to sound the same… But the music was alright. Next was an opera singer who sang a song which was kinda cool. And then another girl that just sang one song acapella. Next up was this talented guitar player. Thank goodness someone that was really good! Next was a hippie who did a pretty crazy cover of the Beatles. Interesting guitarist… He even beat-boxed a little… Next person was the busker that Rhiannon knew. Wasn’t a huge fan of him because his voice sounded like Creed or Nickelback or Staind (he DID play a Staind cover) or any of those kind of bands. And he just yelled… It almost seemed like an open jam session. And then we left during the last set (I think). Interesting night… Weird venue. Weird musicians. Song butchering. Yeah I dunno, oh well! Makes for an interesting night… I didn’t have my camera with me at the time and I refused to use my iPhone to take pics of the open mic, sooo I’ll leave you with this picture at the White Bird.. Thank you Stachetastic for making this epic.