Okay...Okay. Guilty as charged. I neglected to punch up a blog post for the month of February! I guess that I went through a bit of a creative dry spell. The mid winter blahs hit me a little harder this year and I couldn't come up with any ideas that I thought were worthy of sharing in the blogosphere. But spring is coming. Although you wouldn't know it by the weather this morning. I just stepped outside and it's freezing out there with nasty wind gusts to boot. Time to cozy up to the computer and see if I can generate something that might be of moderate interest.
I have, of late, developed an interest in video production. It's early days yet. I haven't produced anything that I want to share here or on any of the social media platforms to which I subscribe. I've been heavily influenced by YouTube videos by the likes of Peter McKinnon, Sara Dietschy and Matti Hapooja. They are all talented photographers and videographers who, if nothing else, provide some inspiration to pursue the craft through their youthful exuberance. Since every camera that I own has video recording capability, I thought that perhaps this is an aspect of digital imaging that I should try. I have no intention of competing with them in the form of vlogging. Overall, I'm not really part of the selfie generation. I prefer to keep my furry face BEHIND the camera. I will occasionally take a selfie just as a mugshot for a social media page, but I try to be pretty realistic about myself. I have a great face for radio.
I decided that I would invest in a video head for my trusty Manfrotto tripod as well as an external microphone for recording sound on location . The video head provides a more stable fluid movement than shooting handheld and although the cameras all have microphones built into them, they tend to produce rather thin sounding audio which also is affected by camera handling and wind noise.
I did my research and could have ordered these pieces of gear online, but decided, instead, to head to Toronto to purchase them. I'd spent almost the entire winter in the small town in which I make my home and was going a bit stir-crazy. I thought that perhaps a trip to the big city might be what I needed to recharge my creative batteries. Also, for me, a trip to Toronto involves train travel and anyone who knows me knows that I love trains. As the son of a railway brakeman/conductor, I was practically raised on them!
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The yard engine in Brantford, Ont. Taken while I waited for my train to Toronto.
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VIa Rail train #70 was right on time and it wasn't too long before I was happily ensconced on a comfortable seat with decent legroom, sipping on a cup of coffee as the train whisked me away to Toronto. Via Rail coffee is surprisingly good. Or maybe it's just the fact that I'm such a caffeine addict that I'll drink any hot water that has been drizzled over the remnants of a coffee bean. I took a few dodgy pictures of the less than spectacular scenery as the train rolled along.
By the time I reached Toronto, the skies had started to clear and I made a few photographs on Front Street before making my way uptown in search of breakfast.
After a nice late breakfast, I wandered up to Henry's Camera and purchased my new video gear. While there, I took a look at the new Fuji XE-3 camera. I liked it and can definitely see a place for it in the future. But the voice inside my head was screaming " You don't need any more cameras! You need to be using the ones you already have!" So with my new video gear safely tucked into my backpack, I hit the streets and did just that.
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| Queen St. W. |
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| Brookfield Place |
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| Eaton Centre |
Keeping one eye on the time, I eventually mosied my way back to Union Station to catch my train home.
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| The Great Hall, Union Station |
All in all, It was a good little break from small town life. I'm always amazed by how radically different life can be in two locations separated by just an hour and a half of travel time. It was the subject of a blog post I wrote a little while back. http://multifarious-musings.blogspot.ca/2016/04/contrasts.html
Back in Paris, Ont. now, where the architecture is not nearly as spectacular, but the pace of life is far more comfortable.
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| William St. Bridge, Paris, Ont. |
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more later
By the time I reached Toronto, the skies had started to clear and I made a few photographs on Front Street before making my way uptown in search of breakfast. 
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