Sunday, January 3, 2010

DT 13.2 Blogging Non-School-Related Photos

Wow! Can't believe the holiday have already came and gone. I am pretty sure we had roughly 3 weeks away from Prairieview, and it has seemed both long and short. I am happy to be getting back into the swing of things! I had a great holiday, including a trip to Banff. Below I have included some of the highlights...

On the 12th, just a few days into holidays, me and one of my good friends Rita went out for some sushi. We went to my favorite sushi place, "Kenko Sushi" on Corydon! We had a blast, and low and behold I had my camera with me. I took some fun shots in the restaurant using my 1.8 and a high ISO. This is a picture of Rita holding up the chopsticks, featuring the Kenko logo!
I got to catch up with some old friends as well. Lots of my friends go to school out East at McGill and Western University, so it was great to see them all! My friend Paul was wearing a t-shirt featuring Farrah Fawcett. He happened to be lighting up a cigarette, and I thought it would make for a neat candid shot, lighting up Farrah on the t-shirt. We hung out that night at one of my friends apartments and had lots of wine and pizza - it was a blast!
I decided to make a triptych in order to display what I did on this day! This is my friend Rita (once again), and she was going to Latsch Studios to do a photo shoot. It was a pinup shoot, and the photographer who owned the studio was Mike Latsch. I tagged along with her because she was nervous, and I also thought it would be neat to see a studio! Latsch studios is in the exchange district on McDermot. The first image is one I took of the makeup artist in the mirror, getting Rita's make up done! The second is Rita all ready for the shoot. The third I took after we left the shoot (yes I fully took advantage of the hair and makeup that had been done!) We went for a walk in a park afterwards because it was so nice out, and it was fun to get some shots of Rita in the natural light. I did not take any at the actual shoot because it would have been too complicated with the studio lighting and what not to have two cameras going at once, plus I did not want to rain on the other photographer's parade! Once again - it was a blast.
Well, well well... another night of drinking? I suppose this is normal during the holidays! One of my good friends got a brand new tattoo done on her leg, and was wearing fishnets this night. She was carrying her vodka around the kitchen, and I got her to freeze when I saw what an interesting shot this could be! Needless to say, we consumed a fair bit of vodka that night (cosmopolitans, being total girly-girls!) It was really great to have lots of party and chill time with my friends over the break.
After too many nights of partying, I decided it wouldn't hurt to stay in and have a relaxing, alcohol free evening! I wound up hanging out with my sister Sarah and her boyfriend Jordan at my place. We ordered in pizza and watched movies (Shaw on Demand is life changing!) I grabbed this shot when the two of them were deciding which pizza to order in the kitchen.
On the morning of Boxing Day, around 5 a.m., I embarked on a 15 hour road trip (which we did in one day!) to Banff, Alberta. I love to snowboard and party, so I knew this would be a trip worthwhile of a 15 hour drive. I shot this when we were just outside of Brooks, Alberta. The sun was going down and we still had about 4-5 hours ahead of us on the road. I made my friends pull over because I couldn't resist getting a shot of this beautiful sunset.
On one of our first nights in Banff, we visited "The Balkan", a very funky Greek restaurant! A belly dancer danced around the restaurant for about an hour or so, and she was going around the restaurant choosing people to come dance with her. She would use her purple scarf and wrap it around your neck, forcing you to get up and dance! I do realize that the flash is just terrible in this photo (I was using my old point and shoot), but the story behind it is priceless! This is my friend Jessie, who was absolutely terrified that the belly dancer was going to choose her! I decided to capture the moment. The belly dancing was really neat, and we got to smash plates later and everything. Definitely the coolest Greek restaurant I have ever been to!
This photo was taken on December 27th, which happens to be my birthday! Out of the whole 5 days we were there, my birthday had the nicest weather. It was +5 and clear blue skies. We decided to go to Sunshine Village that day, about a 30 minute drive from Banff. This is, obviously, a photo of my friend Jessie! We were at the top of the mountain here, and had just finished a healthy morning birthday breakfast of beer and nachos. We were quite happy indeed. I had to use my point and shoot on the mountain, so the quality is not what I would have liked it to be but hey - that's okay sometimes when it is not school related!!
This was on the 28th, the day after my birthday. You are probably wondering why we are in the town and not on the hill! The answer is simple: big huge ugly almost dying hangover day! Jessie and I finally made it out of the hotel around 1 p.m., and we were on a quest to find greasy food when I took this. I felt guilty for not being on the mountain, so I brought out the SLR to get some shots instead! She was about to kill me here cause we could barely walk due to the inhumane partying of the night before. But the view behind her was too gorgeous to pass up, so I made her stop and let me grab a shot. After this we found Dairy Queen and it cured us. We then spent the day shopping, and I almost got a tattoo on the fly, but then realized this may be a hangover decision, which would not be good. I do not regret my decision to hold off on the tattoo!
There are many more photos from my trip, but I chose one of the last photos taken on the drive home! We climbed into the car on New Year's Day and embarked on our 15 hour drive home. This shot was taken literally 10 minutes into the drive! Good thing Jessie was not supposed to drive for another few hours - she was wiped! I guess it had something to do with going out for New Year's Eve the night before. When I took this photo she totally caught me and woke up right after, telling me to "Put that damn camera away!" Thus, this is one of the last images taken on my holiday.

- LC Murdoch

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