And, for the second year in a row, I'll be alone for the proclaimed 'most romantic' day of the year. Yes, again, Girl Guides has abducted my wife for the weekend. But I didn't mope. I did what any single manly man would do in these circumstances... I went antiquing with my good friend
Richard! I had heard about antiquing before, but I only found out today that it's a professional sport (just watch for it in Vancouver 2010!). But let me back up a bit.
Richard and I had been discussing tilt-shift lenses. These are specialty lenses that allow you to - get ready for this -
tilt and
shift the lens with respect to the camera body, thereby changing the focal plane. These lenses are most commonly used in architecture photography to ensure the focal plane is parallel to the film/sensor, in order to prevent the keystone effect. But, you can also use these lenses for selective focus, and creating some neat effects.
Unfortunately these lenses typically cost over $1000.
Now, there is a special lens called a Lensbaby that is a low-quality tilt-shift lens, but it still runs $100+.
So, Richard and I decided it would be fun to try and build a tilt-shift lens for ourselves. There are many other frugal (cheap) photographers out there, so we found out
how to do it. The first and most difficult step would be to find a lens for a medium-format camera. To buy a new medium format lens could cost $500+. And thus, the antiquing.
I'm not sure how long we spent in that 30,000 sq. foot warehouse, but I've never seen so many small tins, gaudy light fixtures, and nearly matching tea sets. Having said that, there were lots of cool things too, like old wooden radios. There was a small selection of antique cameras too, but no medium format ones. However, I did find a new (well, actually quite old) tripod, for $14.50! It's nice and sturdy (meaning
heavy).
So, dejected but not defeated, we ate lunch (fancy mac & cheese!), grabbed our cameras, and took a stroll along the Grand River in the Galty part of Cambridge.
Majestic.
Richard admiring the Central Presbyterian Church.
Now that's a
real photographer!
There are a lot of churches in Galt.
A lovely couple getting their photo taken.
It was cold.
Happy Valentine's Day! Amazingly enough, there was a heart-shaped depression in the rock beside the Grand River, and some water had frozen in it.
Richard tells me that this character is from the Space Invaders arcade game. I've seen similar icons all over the globe. (I recall seeing the slime character from Dragon Warrior in Spain). Is this a global movement, or random acts of nostalgic graffiti?
Apparently Richard's wife was good enough to stay in town for this special day, so I had to drop him off in the afternoon. Unable to find any used medium format lenses at Henry's in Waterloo, I went home and decided to play with my infrared filter instead. My awesome wife bought some tulips before she left, so I took the liberty of taking some photos (using my new tripod). It's an interesting effect, and I'm curious to see what kind of results I'll get in the spring when there is foliage everywhere.
