John's blog ^pro

I've taken a job in Fort McMurray, Alberta for 6 months. It's about 1100 kilometers north of Summerland, but they will fly me in and out every month, provide me with a furnished apartment with all amenities, and a pickup truck to drive. I couldn't really say no. Winters here can be cold with temps dropping to -40C in January, but I have to right clothes, and can look forward to a wonderful spring back home in Summerland. I will be trying for some photos of the Northern Lights as they are a regular occurance in this area. I will update my new album, Fort McMurray as I can.

I wish to apologize to all my friends on here, as I haven't been visiting and commenting much lately. I am working on a project that is almost sucking the life out of me. It will go for 2 more months, and then I'll have time to breathe again. I've been too tired to take photos, and when I do make visits to my friends photos, I'm too tired or too brain dead to comment. So please forgive me, and I'll get around to everyone eventually. When I can, I'll upload some more photos.

I haven't forgotten you all!

John

You have to watch this video! I laughed all the way through!

http://www.break.com/index/light-up-sheep-art.html

Working on this new project is not giving me much time to spend here. I've been putting in 12 hour days, and then I don't have much energy after that. I have been looking at some of my friends photos, but too tired to comment sometimes. So I apologise, and will get caught up on everyones photos when I can.

Best wishes for you all, John

Here's a little news item I heard the other day while driving to work. I didn't realise there was a connection to Iceland in Canada!

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/02/09/icelanders-manitoba.html?ref=rss

Well, I'm heading off to Calgary to work on a project until mid-June. Building the house was something I did to fill in while my business got really slow. I hate to leave my little paradise, but I was fortunate to get this contract. I hope to be back here at least one weekend per month. I don't know what my internet access will be like, but I'll come to this site when I can. Keep up the good work, and keep posting your great photos!

John

I've been trying to live up to what I encourage everyone else to do, and that's to keep a camera with you at all times. This is so you won't miss anything. However, this morning, even that wasn't enough. I was sitting at my table, at the front window, having my coffee and looking at photos on Ipernity, when a deer walked right by the window !!! :-O By the time I picked the camera up that was in front of me, and turned it on, he was gone !!! So now I have to have it aimed and ready on a tripod !!!

Arrrrghhhh.........................

Window to the world

Yippee!!! I have 99 friends! And soon to have 20,000 visits!

:-)

I was offline for about a week with internet problems, but have spent some time documenting my local area. When I say local, I mean within about 150 kilometers from where I live. Canada is a big country, so local means greater distances. I want to show the diversity of my area, and how nice it is to visit, so I've been Geotagging most of my photos,

Within a short drive from my house, I have,

3 ski resorts. Apex Alpine, Penticton, - Big White, Kelowna, - and Silverstar, Vernon.

3 major lakes, Okanagan Lake, Skaha Lake, and Canada's warmest lake, Osoyoos Lake.

About 70 wineries in this valley, and the quality is winning awards.

Orchards for fresh fruit.

Lots of Golf courses, and many other things of interest.

Anyone wanting to visit this area is welcome.

Hope to see some of you.

John

I thought I would draw your attention to this persons photos. Have a look and add him as a contact.

http://www.ipernity.com/home/19128

Visitor # 10,000 came and went, and I didn't notice. :-( 

My apologies.

There's a few changes coming and the biggest one is moving from Edmonton, and going back to Summerland, BC, just 4 hours from Vancouver. I'm going to be closer to my family, and the winters are much shorter there as well. This happens at the end of the month. I hope to schedule some time for just taking photos. I know I'll be walking every day, as I'll be living in a beautiful area, and the camera will always be with me.

 I've picked up another Fuji Finepix to tide me over untill I can get a Digital SLR, but I'm still using the Pentax film camera.

I've added music to a few of my photos, and they're in an album titled, "photos with music". I hope you enjoy them. I'll add more from time to time. Thanks to JoJo for the idea and instructions.

Right now I have my Pentax Super Program with a 200 mm lens on a tripod on the balcony taking progressive photos of the lunar eclipse. I hope I'm doing everything right, and I have no digital camera as a backup to play with anymore.

Curses, curses, curses!

Why can't a product last more than a year?

Just venting. I hope these photos turn out.

Well, my Fuji FinePix has broken. The shutter won't work anymore, and of course, the warranty is finished too. If I have it repaired, the cost will be almost as much as the camera. I'm pretty annoyed, as this camera was going to be the transition camera until I could afford a Canon Digital SLR.

So I bought some more film today, and that is getting harder to find, but my old Pentax has been great for years. It just means I have to wait to see my photos from now on. Oh well.

On the positive side, I really enjoy this site, and have found some great photos and people here, young and old. Sometimes I'll look at your photos a few times before I comment, or just have a quick look until I have more time. If you're on my contact list, it's because I want to see more of your work, so keep it up everyone, and help inspire me.

Thanks,   John

I've been a member here now for a couple of months, and only came because one of my contacts on Flickr left there to come here. I still have my Flickr account and will probably keep it, but I'm enjoying this site more. I like many of the features here, especially being able to see who has visited my photos, and being able to reply directly to comments made.

Some of my best photos on Flickr have less than 10 views, and some of my car photos have hundreds. I have started to post what I know will be popular.

Here though, although there aren't many views, I'm getting more comments, and comments from photographers that I have developed great respect for.

I take photos for many reasons. To document my work, photos that please me, photos to show others the beauty of my area of the world, and to capture news worthy events.

I have a lot to learn, and am currently using a couple of old Pentax Super Programs(film) and a Fuji Finepix digital camera. I'm aiming for a Canon Digital SLR in the future which will mean a complete equipment change, but am looking forward to the new frontiers that will open.

I have some travel goals too, and thanks to Photographers on this site, Iceland is one destination. I want to see Lake Baikal, and travel more in the Canadian north, as well as Alaska.

 So anyway, that's a little about me, and I look forward to more of your beautiful work too.

Thanks for listening,   John