Photography: Music Share Fundraiser

Music Share is a non-profit organization recently started by the music studio I work at. Its aim is to provide music education programs and music therapy to children and families who have limited access to such services. One of their current music outreach programs is an early childhood music program for teen mothers and their young children at a local high school!

I volunteered to photograph their recent fundraiser, and it was a good experience to learn a bit more about event photography. Lighting is usually what I find tricky.

The room had mixed lighting, with lots of natural light coming in one side, and fluorescent lighting on the other side. I started with a zoom lens and Alex's fancy flash+diffuser. I wasn't too pleased with the results, as I found the flash still produced some harsh shadows, even as I decreased the strength of the flash and bounced it off different surfaces. Since events don't stop until they finish, I decided to switch to the trusty 50mm/1.8. The photos were sharper and more natural, so for the rest of the event I only used the 50mm. I also liked that without the flash I feel less noticeable to those around me.

When I edited my photos, I noticed quite a bit of digital noise. The camera was set on 'auto ISO' as Alex prefers this setting (I used Alex's camera since his is newer than mine). The previews looked fine at the time, so I just left it. Plus 'auto ISO' was blinking in the LCD screen, so I wasn't too sure what that meant. I suppose this could be an example of you should use your own camera since you know it better. Though since this was a low-light situation, I probably would have needed a relatively high ISO anyway. 

On a slight tangent, I have been thinking of purchasing a new camera body. My camera body is about 7 years old (though I've only had it for about 4 since I bought it used), and according to the guy at Kerrisdale Cameras that's like 30 years in film technology. Apparently what my camera shoots at ISO 200 is what today's cameras can shoot at ISO 1200. 

Things to do:

- Figure out how to use the flash more effectively, or decide that I don't like using flash

- Save up for a new camera body :D

A Paris-Inspired Birthday

 

After returning from Paris, I began an interest in French food.

I always look at the featured books when I go to the library, and one day I came across Peter Mayle's French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew. With this new interest, I picked it up and was presently surprised. The book describes his experiences at the many food festivals around France, and from reading this book, one day I'd like to try eating frog legs.

After we got the Food Network (for the cost of Alex not eating out for lunch once a month... good deal!), I started watching Laura Calder's French Food at Home, which has encouraged me to try a few recipes and has taught me a few French cooking techniques. It always amazes me how much butter and bacon fat she uses.
  
So for my birthday, I wanted to try a few places with French Food. The first evening was with Cin, when we checked out Thierry. It was Friday night and the place was packed. Not a free chair in sight, so we got some macarons to take home. The macarons were nice and light, with a crisp outer shell and chewy cookie. The filling was more of a creme (butter cream?), as compared to the ganache filling I remember from Laduree. I think I prefer the ganache. There also seemed to be a very slight artificial taste, particularly in the darker coloured ones, which I suspect might be food colouring. All in all, I definitely still enjoyed them.

The next evening, Alex and I went to Salade de Fruits, a French bistro connected to the French cultural centre. Just sitting down in the restaurant felt very authentic to a bistro we went to in Paris - it could have been the owners and servers speaking French to each other, the menu written only in French, or the tight and cozy seating. I ordered beouf bourguignon, and Alex had duck breast with cassis sauce. My dish was very fragrant, and everything was cooked very well. Alex even marveled at how good the side vegetables were.

The next morning before church, Alex and I went out to Kerrisdale to try Faubourg. I had read that they had the best pain du chocolat in Vancouver. It was as good (if not better) as the ones we had in Paris - crispy outside, soft on the inside. Yummy. A few months ago I tried a croissant from La Baguette & L'Echalote on Granville Island, but it couldn't compare to a Paris croissant. Faubourg is the place to go.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos this time. Next time.

Mouse in the House!

Hmm. Unfortunately I had a similar post a few years ago. Ah, mice. But this time we caught it! This experience warrants a post, but seeing as it has already been written about, twice , I'll just post the links:

b.p.
j.w.
pic.a.tures

In the end, I will agree that the mouse was cute - but only after it was captured.