P.J.'s look at the world

A reminder

A reminder that this photoblog has moved to its own domain. Please update any bookmarks you might have.

posted by P.J. @ Wednesday, July 12, 2006 1 comments

Fire!

I took this shot in downtown Montreal. It was a fire truck flying down St. Catherine St. and I got it as it turned, I think, on to Metcalfe. I had the settings still set from when I was taking shots in the metro, so I got a blurred shot. Although it wasn't what I originally looking for, I really liked how it came out.

Also, for the record, this might be the last photo I put at this blog. I've gotten myself some photoblog software and have put the blog on one of my personal sites. That way, I am in control of everything, can keep tabs on amount of space used, etc.

For those who have been reading, I appreciate it and hope you'll come over to the other site. Feel free to leave any comments over there and hopefully you'll pass the site along to friends and others to check out.

The new site: New Blog

posted by P.J. @ Tuesday, July 11, 2006 0 comments

The Beatles in Canada??

No, it's not the real Beatles. ;) Duh! This was part of the Canada Day parade in Montreal on July 1. These guys were really good and I wish I had brought out my point-and-shoot camera as it can also record short videos. I would have loved to have gotten this act as they wheeled by! You can visit their site at: hommageauxbeatles.com.

Tech specs (18-55mm lens): iso 400, f5.6, 1/1000th.

posted by P.J. @ Monday, July 10, 2006 0 comments

Schwartz's

After wanting to visit this place for several years, we finally opted, this year, to go and eat at Schwartz's. This is an extremly famous place in Montreal, known for it's smoked meat. It was a fantastic place to eat and an experience at that (I'll eventually get to it in my other blog). A quick bit about the place though -- there were two lines outside - one for takeout and one for sitting. We wanted the whole experience and were soon seated. You never know who you'll be sitting with at this place though. The three ladies in this photo were at our table. They were from Florida and also trying for the first time.

I shot this photo with no flash, hand held at a slower speed. Hence some blur in the background. This waiter was awesome, so I figured I needed to get a shot of him. I like the whole photo because I kind of think it shows the smaller atmosphere of the place and also shows the hustle and bustle of it with the blurry waiter in the background.

Tech specs (18-55mm lens at 18mm): iso 400, 1/15th second, f10.

posted by P.J. @ Saturday, July 08, 2006 0 comments

A fountain

This is a fountain in downtown Montreal. I can't think of the name of where this is, but it's where JazzFest is being held. It's a pretty sweet area of downtown, however. There always seems to be a lot going on down there. I tried to capture the fountain with the buildings in the background, but didn't get a ton of the buildings.

Tech specs (18-55mm lens at 18mm): iso 400, 1/2000th, f5.6.

(Click to enlarge).

posted by P.J. @ Friday, July 07, 2006 0 comments

Olympic Stadium

This was a shot taken outside Olympic Stadium in Montreal. We had taken a tour and were walking to the metro when we stopped to take this photo. Olympic Stadium is the building on the right, attached to the tower. In front of it, I believe, is the botanical gardens. I liked this shot because of the sky. The dark clouds, the white clouds and the blue sky. Of course, if I was better with this camera, I might have captured it even better. Even still, I was happy the way it came out.

Tech specs (18-55mm lens at 18mm): iso 400, 1/3,200, f6.3.

Click on the photo for a larger version.

posted by P.J. @ Thursday, July 06, 2006 0 comments

In celebration of Italy winning...

I couldn't resist posting a second picture I took from the Italian bistro in Montreal where the Italy quarterfinal game was being televised. Loud and excited this crowd was and this was one of the ring leaders. It was pretty awesome, actually. He was all decked out in Italian garb, including using the Italian flag as a cape. This guy, too, with a megaphone was a riot -- with chants like "Italia! Italia!," or at the end when he was chanting "Nah, nah, nah, nah... nah, nah, nah, nah... hey hey hey, goodbye!"

Tech specs (75-300mm lens at 100mm): iso 400, 1/1000th, f4.5.

(Click to enlarge photo)

posted by P.J. @ Wednesday, July 05, 2006 0 comments

Montreal's metro

I wanted to attempt to get one of those cool shots many photographers capture out there. The whole speeding traffic and movement with everything standing still. I think I could have gotten it if I had my tripod with me. However, I was shooting with just me holding the camera, so some of the things in the background are also blurred. However, I think I captured the movement pretty well. (I have another movement shot that I took in Montreal that I'll likely post later this week).

This was at the St. Laurent metro stop in Montreal. It gives you a perfect look to shoot the metro trains coming at or away from you. Next time I go up, I'll likely try this again and have a better idea of what I'm doing.

Tech specs (18-55 mm lens): shot at 18mm, iso 400, 1/10th, f5.0.
(if there are any photographers out there with some advice on this, feel free to post).

As usual, too, click to enlarge the photo!

posted by P.J. @ Tuesday, July 04, 2006 0 comments

Italia!

Walking around Friday in Montreal, we heard a comotion and went to one of the squares off St. Catharine St. What we found was this little Italian bistro with a couple of canopys up and a whole crowd of people sitting around a television watching the World Cup game between Italy and Ukraine. It was quite something to watch the second half of the game with a group of Italian fans.

This shot here was after one of Italy's goals. This guy was one of the ring leaders with the chants and cheers the fans were doing. It was pretty cool to see it and be there to watch. (We saw the French fans celebrating in the French quarters later that day, but unfortunately I didn't take any photos. But it looked like quite a party!).

Tech specs (75-300mm lens at 75mm): 400 iso, 1/1000th, f4.

(As always, click on photos for a bigger photo).

posted by P.J. @ Monday, July 03, 2006 0 comments

Blog updates

posted by P.J. @ Saturday, July 01, 2006 0 comments