On the last day of our cycling trip in May, we arrived at our hotel in Maestre, which is the mainland part of Venice, Italy. Chantal and I were chatting and waiting for the desk clerk to come out from behind a divider wall. Suddenly, she exclaimed,

“Oh, is Al Pacino in the house?”

“Hoooah!”, I replied.

I’ve been told many times, even during ski lessons, that my voice is like that movie star. But in this case, we didn’t get any special celebrity treatment. But “Scent of a Woman” turned out to be one of the young lady’s favourite movies, so that made for great conversation. Of course, I couldn’t stop saying “Hoooah!” all evening, and Chantal had to tell me to “Shut Up!” several times. After a few beers, I thought it sounded pretty good in the restaurant.

Well, I thought I would pass that little story on, but this blog is really about the 3rd 10 weeks of the #dogwood2017 challenge. The other entries are weeks 1-10 and weeks 11-20

 

Week 21 Artistic: Soft

Week 21 Artistic: Soft

Week 21 Artistic: Soft (candidate)

Week 21 Artistic: Soft (candidate)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 22 Story: Geometric Shapes

 

Week 22 Story: Geometric Shapes

This the nosebleed section of the Roman Coliseum. The story? Imagine the discomfort the spectators went through watching Christians being torn apart by lions, without modern optics!

 

 

 

 

Week 23 Technical: f/8 portrait

Week 23  Technical: f/8 portrait

The interesting thing about this photo is the wooden wall, long abandoned, was part of a firearm testing range. The Long Branch Arsenal, which is close to my place, was established in 1891. The firing range was actively used until 1957.

Sten machine guns and the Long Branch Lee Enfield rifles were manufactured and tested here during World War II.

Also, on this site, in May 1915, Curtis Aeroplane and Motors Company of Toronto opened Canada’s first airfield and flying school. It’s objective was to train airmen for service in World War I.

This place was really overgrown. I cycled in, put a plastic tarp in front of the wall to cover the weeds and tall grass. (worried about ticks). Apparently, there is radioactive material buried in this vicinity. And here, I was only worried about ticks when I shot this self-portrait using f/8.

 

Week 24 Artistic: Green

 

 

Week 24 Artistic: Green

Green is the colour of life, nature and hope.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 25 Story: Toy Story

 

 

Week 25 Story: Toy Story

Not the movie! Tell a story with toys or about toys. Is this the kind of place where Barbie would do her shopping, or just a fantasy?

 

Week 26 Technical: Light painting

 

 

Week 26 Technical: Light painting

Put the camera on a tripod at night, open the shutter for 30 seconds, and paint the raccoon family with a flashlight. This was on the bike trail, and I got some funny looks from people walking by.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 27 Artistic: Communicatio

Week 27 Artistic: Communication

The pen and ink is perhaps one of the oldest of modern communication devices.

 

 

 

Week 28 Story: Portrait as Landscape

Week 28 Story: Portrait as Landscape

Is this about the Dolomite Mountains or the people looking at them? Well, that’s really up to you.

Lots of confusion about the meaning of this challenge, but for me, even though the landscape seems beautifully overwhelming, the story is really about the people.

 

Week 29 Technical: Water drop

Week 29 Technical: Water drop

Week 29 setup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 30 Artistic: Family

 

Week 30 Artistic: Family

Family is the inspiration, but no people can be in the image. (But Dale didn’t say anything about feet 😉

 

 

Credit First Nation elder, Steve Teekens, Anishnabee traditional teacher, performs the sunrise ceremony on Canada Day. This is a time to reflect on our lives and to offer thanks for all of creation and Mino Baamodziwin (the good life) while Mishoomis Giizis (Grandfather Sun) starts to look over us and provide us with light and warmth for the daytime.

Credit First Nation elder, Steve Teekens,

[click on any photo for slideshow]