initial shots with the new camera

I've been shooting like crazy with the new Canon, learning more and more each time.
some consistent problems:
the lens I used has a limited aperture range, so in bright situations I can blow-out the whites very easily. I thought I could fix that with a circular polarizer but it's not so easy. I can't tell what effect that filter is having when I adjust it through the viewfinder. maybe ND filters are the answer....
also, the 10x macro I got on eBay is great, but it works like the Canon 65mm macro I borrowed a few weeks ago works. you need to be right on top of the subject to use, which makes it hard to focus with when your hands are as shaky as mine are. that said, for studio work, with a rail on my tripod, it'll be excellent.
other impressions: the new camera is fast, but I am glad I can use manual focus to get exactly what I want (which I could never do with the Nikon). I'll be very happy when the viewfinder extender comes because not only is it hard to shoot at low angles (which I do a lot of) but it's hard to get up on the viewfinder with my glasses on. never mind a baseball cap!
also, Photoshop's Raw Capture cannot read files from my new camera, so I have to upgrade to CS 2.0. as a result, the photos in the diary are not processed (cropped, lighting adjustments, anything), so they're not of the same finish as my other shots, yet.
I've taken a lot of photos in the past week and a half. and there are a lot of photos on my diary now, so beware: it may take some time to download them all onto the page:

• BBG, late afternoon, my first time working with the camera, foxtail lilies (!)
• Dunn Gardens, overcast day, indoors and outdoors, no filters, mariposa lily(!)
• UBC Botanical Gardens, outdoors, no flash, a couple of plants I couldn't ID
• nursery in Vancouver, very bright light, no filters
• nursery in Vancouver, indoor and outdoor, no flash, great banana (or banana relative) plant
• demo garden in Bellevue, outdoor shooting, early morning, 10 points if you can tell me what the extremely phallic flower fifth from the bottom of the page is
• BBG, outdoors, late afternoon, no flash
• demo gardens in Bellevue, outdoors at dusk, some flash, very first photo is with the 10X macro, same subject as the second photo, first outdoor dahlia shots
• UW greenhouse, indoor, some flash, great orchids and water lilies, no passionflowers yet
• UW campus, outdoor shooting, check out the hummingbird in the first photo
• conservatory, indoor shooting, some flash

Vancouver photo diaries now up

it's been a busy week.
I'm heading back up to Vancouver this morning to deliver a print to a customer from last week's show. which reminds me, I still need to post a list of prints that sold.
I've been experimenting with the new camera. it's great, but I need to get the new Photoshop CS2 in able to get the new raw format files, which is a pain.
I did get my photo diary entries from last week entered, though.
I went to the UBC Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, in the rain, but got some good iris and lily shots, along with a few rarities like kiwi flowers, an Australian iris (diarrhaena, I think) and this flowering shrub called a Chinese wax shrub.
I collected the shots I took while at the Vancouver Garden Show into one entry. great passionflowers and I also threw in some pictures of my booth there.
lastly, I also collected all the shots I took at the Van Dusen into another single entry. lots of love-in-a-mist! yeah! and beautiful japanese iris.
here are the pics I sold last week:

• alien (4 prints)


• arms outreached (4 prints)


• perch (3 prints)


• inner light (2 prints)


• flora (2 prints)


• floodlit (2 prints)


• meditation (2 prints)


• heady wishes (2 prints)


• earliest light


• opportune


• wizened


• lying low


• perfect visage


• awake (from an older portfolio)


• grumpy


• pop (from an older portfolio)


• riffle


• forbearance


• spiral (from an older portfolio)

all told, nearly 30 prints. not bad. I know what to prepare for Bellevue!

not all was lost...

I must apologize to my readers... my last posting was somewhat grim, and it detracts from an overall positive experience at the Vancouver Garden Show.
some recent good news:

• the show was good. although the weather and crowds could have been better (as everyone agreed), I did cover my expenses and got to meet a great new customer base. I look forward to next year's event. my hat is off to some of the staff who organized things, especially Ana and Bree and Tabitha, who kept things so organized.


• and while our hats are off, thanks also to Rob at Mendelssohn who was able to save me some money on my bond for commercial entry into Canada. he won't know how much I appreciate it.


• thanks also go to the border guard who checked my passport and paperwork on my way back into the US this morning. it was nice to be welcomed home (and to have my paperwork accepted without freaking out at my passport photo--which is admittedly scary and thankfully will need to be replaced this year)


• my new camera and lens have arrived from Japan (because if we ordered it in Japan we could break down the payments over two years, which is the only way I could afford this badly needed upgrade).


• by the time he saw the doctor, Hiro's kidney stone appeared to have already passed out of the kidney and into his bladder. it subsequently passed out of his system. needless to say, it was very small (although painful on the way out). Hiro, under doctor's orders, saved the stone in a specimen jar and showed it to me on my return.

I took a lot of pictures in Vancouver. I started reviewing the shots and will post several entries in my photo diary soon. I'm especially glad that the shots I took at the UBC Botanical Gardens in the rain came out. of course, these may be the last shots I take with my trusty Nikon, if my new Canon is as good as I think it will be.
it's not all sunshine and seedcake, though. Hiro still needs to revisit his visa re-issue application because the US government has changed the process to an online system, and we're told that he has a strike against him because he can't/won't get a recommendation from CWU. why? perhaps because they'd need to admit on paper that they were incompetent. anyway, the re-issue route is still safer than the return to Japan route.
meanwhile, I've got to do some soul-searching myself.
my day job is at Microsoft, and I'm finding it difficult to stay motivated in my current position (the duties of which are hard to explain succinctly). there are times when that job is great, and I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, but there are times when I think I should just make a leap of faith now and try to support myself on my own. if only it wasn't just my life and happiness hanging in the balance... I'm very glad my manager there has been so helpful and patient until now. if anything wants to make me stay, it is the desire to show him that I can find my place at Microsoft; that his faith in me is not misplaced.
anyway, enough sermonizing. I've got work to do. I'm glad to be home to my own mattress too.

a Vancouver curse

I drove up to Vancouver for the Garden Show on Tuesday.
first problem: the border.
to smooth my way I had all my Canadian paper work prepared and was hoping to breeze through. I also called US customs to make sure I knew what to do beforehand.
on the advice of the person I spoke with in Blaine, who said that any crossing would be able to help me, I drove to the Lynden crossing and stopped to speak with US customs. they were polite but clueless. insinuated that they couldn't help unless all my photos had serial numbers. what?! they asked my to drive around to the commercial crossing at Blaine as they would be better able to help.
Office Leung in Blaine was indeed helpful. I had to fill out a form 4455, listing everything I was bringing up. I also found out that if I came back with materials worth less than $2,000, I wouldn't be charged a duty on my own things. given the expenses for this show, I need to sell about $800 to break even and bring me to that level, but I hope I do better than break even.
anyway, the next hurdle was my entry into Canada. given how un-lovely my passport photo is, I think the officer took one look and sent me to get a manifest. sigh...
when I bring stuff into the country to sell, I could have been able to cross with just an invoice form, but sometimes they make you get a manifest, which indicates that my stock has been bonded. fortunately a bonding agent knew I was coming so that only took about an hour. if only it hadn't been raining when I had to walk back and forth between customs and the agent office...
needless to say after all the delays there was no way I was going to make it to Van Dusen before it got dark, so I went straight on to the place where I was staying, the home of my friends Klaus and Mikie.
I got up early and began load-in for the show at 7:00. finished setup early (we had to be ready before noon for the judging) and went to the UBCBG for a shoot, in the rain...
I went back to the Van Dusen for the dinner party for us exhibitors. it turns out that the judges found nothing of merit in the area in which my work is displayed, so no prizes were given to us artists. kind of a slap in the face.
and then I sat in the cold until 9:30 in case anyone at the preview party wanted to buy some work. but there were no buyers last night. very slow. the sculptor next to me said he normally does a lot of business during the preview party, but this year, nada.
sales today were also slow, but not non-existent. I'll post a list of works that were sold once the show is over. now I have to figure out how to enter charges for amounts in Canadian dollars... :)

stop the insanity, said the drama queen

I'm due to leave for the Vancouver Garden Show today and have been working like mad to get ready, and of course it seems like very little is.
as of this posting, I'm still printing prints on my trusty Epson 2200, light magenta ink being consumed by the bucketful. I guess that says something about the colors in my work. :)
I still need to print my print inserts (the sheet of paper that goes with every photo I sell that says how to care for your print and certifies its authenticity) and more business cards. my Epson R200 is not working right now (I think I put the k'bosh on it with a generic ink), so I have to wait for the photo prints to finish printing.
meanwhile, an order of mats and bags from my favorite reseller, MatShop, is due to arrive today, so I need to wait around for that (or at least as long as humanly possible (because I need to be at the garden by 6:30 tonight--and I've never crossed the border as a commercial entity before!).
found my passport, which is a good thing, and have packed up my iPod, laptop, etc. still need to pay some bills before I leave. sigh.
and, as promised, here is the full list of prints sold at Juan de Fuca:

• riffle


• lying low


• on display


• arms outreached


• inner sanctum (I sold two of these, both framed!)


• perch

I also sold a piece from an older portfolio, a shot of a tick among dew drops on a plant up on Mount Rainer, called 'trapped'. I don't have that shot up anymore, but I may add it to the blog later.
wish me luck!