ABC 123. Keeping Graffiti Within the Lines!

I was walking down Main and Hastings the other day and came across this old abandoned storefront. I couldn't help but notice the unique 'presentation' of the graffiti on the window. Since the security bars are in the way, these guys had to write within the space. It kinda defeats the purpose of graffiti doesn't it? They're trying to be all rebellious and anti-establishment, but had to keep nice and straight, orderly, evenly spaced, and within the literal lines! Ha ha...maybe they should practice their ABC's next time!

Off-Road Unicycle? BC Wheel? No Space?

When I saw this I was literally laughing while I took the picture...then I was scratching my head...what situation would bring about this result? It looks like an off-road vehicle spare tire right? Why would this person need to take this off and lock it up and store it on a bike rack?  It's fully inflated, so the full-sized spare is still good. Hmm... 

Review: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55 Lens

Full Review: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55 F2.8-4 O.I.S Zoom

Thank you for waiting patiently for my full review of the Fujifilm X-E1 with the 18-55 F2.8-4 zoom lens. I apologize for the long delay. I had a stack of notes and a (virtual) stack of pictures to go through and analyze, so it’s taken a bit of time to come up with this review. Instead of making you wait to the end to read my conclusion, let's start with my final thoughts...

iPod Poster on an iBoard on Granville St

Walking up Granville Street in Vancouver, i noticed the new public iBoards, or information- advertising boards all along the sidewalk. What do i see? An iPod advertising on the iBoard. As i was taking the picture in the pouring rain, people were wondering what was so amusing... seriously?!? You don't get it? iBoard? iPod? iRonic? Ok, it's not ironic. iNcorrect. iT's a CoiNciDence!

Birks Building at Night with Fujifilm X-E1

I saw my bus coming and I was really tired, but I wanted to get this final shot before I ended my long day of testing the new Fujifilm X-E1 camera through the streets of downtown Vancouver. It rained all afternoon, so I had to take most of my images with an umbrella in one hand and the camera with the other.  I've taken a picture of this building before, but I'm a sucker for blue lights. I just had to get this shot! I ran across the street, waited for traffic to die down, and fired off a few shots at iso 1600 and 3200. Both iso speeds looked great, easily printable to 16 x 20; but the above shot (1600) had the right amount of people and the least amount of traffic...

Affinity Lo Pro Bike Frame & Kevin Bacon?

The best bike pics are when they're locked-up, and I came across a pretty rad one chained up on Dunsmuir and Burrard while testing out a new camera. I was just about to take a picture until car traffic cluttered up the background. I hate when that happens but I patiently waited for traffic to clear. Just when I was about to get my shot the owner hastily returned back to his bike while picking up a call for his next pick-up or drop-off. This could either be good or bad. Will he pose for me or not? Obviously he did...

Lululemon's The Lab: Voyeuristic Future

If you've walked down W.Broadway at Cambie, you probably noticed this unusual "factory" in this very expensive retail space: The Lab by Lululemon. If you look at the first image, you would assume this was a factory in Asia...or at least a factory in a factory part of town. Instead, I'm shooting through a retail window in a higher end retail space. West Broadway and Cambie is not cheap real estate. You can tell by the neon lighting on the sidewalk to know this isn't the factory district of Vancouver. 

Check out the link to see what its all about, but I thought it was a pretty unusual use of high end retail; but a very cool concept of sharing factory and retail space to sell custom clothing. It reminds me of what restaurants are doing with their open kitchen design, but with clothing!! 

P.S. I had to wait around a while before there was no one walking across my picture. There's a bus stop right in front, and often people are lined up almost right to the window...

Upcoming Camera Review: FUJIFILM X-E1

Ok the secret is out...well it wasn't much of a secret I guess.  The kind folks over at Fujifilm Canada has graciously loaned me the all new Fujifilm X-E1 with the standard kit lens for review.  I have 3 pages of notes so far, and I'll put together either a short preview or a full review in the next week or two.

What I can say about my testing process is that it will be more like Luminous Landscape and not like DPReview.  I don't care about pixel-peeping or a run down on every single feature and how fast or long things take in milliseconds. As a camera nerd I don't mind knowing those things, but I want real world tests, not what it can do in a lab or a very controlled environment.  Don't you find that you skip to the end of a DPReview 20 page camera test to the "conclusion" section anyway, since that's what counts the most: the opinion of the tester?

NEW FEATURE FOR 2013: CAMERA REVIEWS

I rarely post without an image, but I thought I would just give all my followers a heads up about an upcoming feature of my blog: camera reviews! For those of you who've noticed, in every post I've always labelled which camera/lens I've used.  Why? Oh, I don't know, I guess I'm kind of a camera equipment nerd and I want to know what I shot with, and hope some other nerd cares too. I collect old cameras (Minox spy, Polaroid Land, Minolta XD-11's, Argus, Ricoh GR1) and I enjoy shooting with all types and formats. On my honeymoon, I brought 2 SLR bodies, 4 lenses and a point and shoot. On another trip, to Japan, I dragged my Polaroid Land camera with a few boxes of 667 and 669 film, and still had 2 SLR bodies, 3 lenses, point and shoot, and a medium format camera (Fuji GA645)!! My wife is very understanding...

Dream Job= Shift.Urban Cargo Delivery

A few posts back I spoke with Aaron at Whole Foods who was wearing a Charlie Noble Global Delivery hoodie. I thought it was a real company deliverying food on bikes, but it wasn't...although the hoodie was cool. Yesterday I was walking through Gastown and look what was driving past me: Urban Cargo Delivery. What do they do? They deliver Bites on Bikes!!