The Brown Knowser

Now that the Photo Synthesis exhibit has wrapped up, I'm already thinking about the photos that I would want to show at the next show. If I ever have another exhibit, that is. I learned a lot from Photo Synthesis . I learned what size of photo seems to be more popular. Though one of my larger pictures did sell, neither of my largest, 24 x 36 canvas prints, sold. Most of the framed prints that were most successful were 8 x 10, or smaller. Nature subjects sold better than did subjects of city scenes or candid people shots. Though I did sell my closeup of the waterfront buildings in Porto, Portugal, most photos that had people in the frame did not sell. I think that if I were to select photos again, I'd go for some of my bird photos and some of my flower shots. I'd offer some of my landscape nature images. While I've learned that a good photo should tell a story, many photos in the exhibit that screamed storytelling remained unsold at the end of the last day. Photo Synthe...

When DW and I go for a nature walk, I almost always bring my Nikon D7200 D-SLR with my 70–300mm lens attached, just in case we spy a bird or other creature and I have an opportunity to snap a photo of it. At it's maximum zoom level and with a cropped sensor, that lens is effectively a 450mm lens with a nine-times magnification. It's the most powerful lens/camera combination I have in terms of zooming in on something. It's not the fastest lens that I have by any stretch of the imagination. At that focal length, the widest aperture that I have for it is f/5.6. And with that magnification, the depth of field at that aperture setting is pretty shallow. I don't care. When I'm looking to photograph a bird or other creature, I'm not interested in what's in the background. The last couple of times that DW and I have been out, we've made our way to Fletcher Wildlife Gardens , just off Prince of Wales Drive, across from the Central Experimental Farm and next t...

One of my favourite beer styles, over the past few years, has been the modest, unassuming saison. These farmhouse brews, which originated in Belgium, have a lot of characteristics that I like in a beer: light, fizzy, and fruity, they are perfect on a hot summer's day. They also have added characteristics that I like. There's a mineral quality, almost flinty, with a spice that just gives me a comforting feel when I'm sitting back and sipping one. So when I saw one being offered when I visited a Toronto brewery, last month, I had to add it to my mix. Blood Brothers Brewing was founded in 2016 by Brayden and Dustin Jones, and I discovered that their taproom is just a short, five-minute drive from where my kid lives. Why I hadn't visited sooner, I don't know. Though I picked up a good mix of IPA-styled brews, I was most interested in trying the saison. And after chatting with Dan, who was behind the counter, I was comped a couple of small cans that I can't wait to c...

The lady didn't have to say anything more. We knew where to look. On Saturday, DW got us up early to head out on a photo shoot. I was feeling like crap, with a lot of discomfort in my lower abdomen, but after some coaxing, I finally agreed to go. Lately, we've been visiting Fletcher Wildlife Garden, near the Central Experimental Farm and the Arboretum. At this time of year, the wild flowers are really in bloom and there are myriad birds fluttering about. We've already been there twice and I've shared some of the flowers in a recent  Wordless Wednesday post. I'll have more to say about the photos at Fletcher's on Friday. DW and I thought that if we went to the wildlife gardens early enough, there would be few people there, if any, and that the birds might be more active. We were right about there being few people: in fact, no one else was there when we arrived, shortly after 7. But the birds weren't fluttering about as we had hoped. We heard birds in distant...

Image: Openverse I really don't like going to the doctor. I have to be pretty sick to see my GP. For example, a couple of years ago, after a camping trip with DW to Killarney Provincial Park , I developed a fever and felt under the weather. I thought I might have caught a bought of COVID—I hadn't caught it yet and even though I was always wearing masks when in public, it wasn't impossible—but several tests came back negative. After almost 10 days, when I seemed to be getting worse and I discovered a red mark on my leg, I finally went to the hospital, suspecting that I had Lyme disease . Ten days of feeling awful before I had it treated. I was reluctant when I went to see my doctor, a few weeks ago, because of an acute pain on the lower-right side of my abdomen. DW was concerned that it was my appendix , even though I didn't tick all of the boxes for that diagnosis, but we thought that we were better to be safe than sorry. Turns out that I had appendicitis. And an a...

Another weekend is fast upon us. Is it me or does 2023 seem to be going by so quickly? It's hard to believe that we're approaching the end of July. I hope the coming weekend brings you a good balance of productivity and relaxation. I truly hope you find joy over the next few days (and always, of course). If you don't have any plans for the weekend and you live somewhere between Ottawa and Montreal, might I suggest that you take a day trip to Vankleek Hill, a short detour off the highway that joins these two major Canadian cities? My Photo Synthesis exhibit is still running strong. Photographs from three Vankleek Hill artists and me show a unique perspective of the world around us, from a cat sitting on a bicycle, a statue blended into waves on water, flowers and birds, to a lone woman walking on a New York City subway platform, the exhibit at the Arbor Gallery is a great collection of eclectic images. If you're up for a road trip, get to Vankleek Hill for lunch time a...

DW and I have cancelled vacation plans only twice in the 34 years that we've been together. Actually, scratch that: we've only cancelled vacation plans one time. The other time, our plans were cancelled for us. In 2020, we had plans to see Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. We had our flights booked and all of our accommodation arranged. We booked early to ensure that we'd get to stay exactly where we wanted and when we wanted, and early booking got us a fantastic rate on our flights. And then COVID happened. We held onto our reservations because we didn't know how long the pandemic would last. Our trip was in September and we naively figured that life could be back to normal by then. It was the airline that cancelled our flight and provided a refund. Luckily, we were then able to cancel our hotel reservations without penalty. As soon as the pandemic was over, we told ourselves, we would reschedule this trip. It's still on our radar but it's been pushed back...

It's taken me long enough but I've finally finished creating all of my Portugal videos. When I created my video of our visit to the neighbourhood of Belém , in the west end of Lisbon, I wasn't sure that I would have enough video footage to make something watchable, but the more I looked at what I had, the more I thought that there was, indeed, enough content to make the video worthwhile. With our day trip to Cascais, however, I was sure that I had even less footage. We had actually visited this small coastal city early in our stay in Lisbon, making use of the transit cards that we had charged up pretty much as soon as we landed in Portugal. We chose to head to Cascais on a day when many of the Lisbon museums were closed. We wanted to see this popular tourist town but we also wanted to go beyond, to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe. I wrote about our day last October. I was pretty sure that I had only a bit of video footage, as I had only cover...

In January, when Kid 1 was heading back to school in the GTA, DW and I agreed to let her take our CR-V to make it easy for our daughter to commute between campus and the house where she was living for the semester. She could have used public transit to get from her rental place and the campus but it would mean that she'd have to take a bus that passed by the end of her street, which took her to a GO train station, take a train to another station that was a couple of kilometres from campus, and take another bus that would carry her the rest of the way to school. The whole one-way trip would take Kid 1 close to an hour to complete, assuming that the buses ran on time. By driving herself to campus, the whole trip would take about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on traffic along the QEW. DW and I didn't really need two vehicles. We both work from home and if we did leave the house, we usually went out together. Any time we needed to get to an appointment or run a quick errand, the othe...

One of the things that saddened me about leaving Twitter, last November, is that I was going to miss communicating with people with whom I had made connections over the dozen years that I had been on that platform. Some of them had become real-life friends and I was going to miss keeping up-to-date on their daily musings. When I moved over to Mastodon , however, I was pleased to find that many of these friends were also on this federated platform, and we continued our conversations as per usual. I also made some new virtual friends, and for the past nine months or so, I've really enjoyed this algorithm-free environment. When I discovered that Twitter hadn't actually closed my account, as I had requested, I decided that I would use it to post announcements of my latest blog entries. I didn't voice any other thoughts or opinions, though every once and a while I would 'like' a friend's post if it showed up immediately in my feed. I was done with scrolling in Twitte...

I've always liked the expression "near miss." It rolls off the tongue but it's just so wrong. If you've nearly missed something, doesn't that mean you've hit it? Shouldn't the term be "near hit"? Last week, DW and I took a short walk to get out of the house. With my appendicitis still raging, I had practically lived every day lying on my back in our bedroom. But after a couple of days of being on antibiotics, I was starting to feel the swelling in my lower abdomen lessening. DW thought it would be a good idea to get on my feet and move around a bit. I had also recently acquired a gimble for recording steady video with my smartphone and I wanted to try it out. We decided to drive to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, just off Prince of Wales Drive, near the Arboretum. I wouldn't have to walk far and if I was feeling lousy, it wasn't such a long drive to get back home. We noticed a photographer with a large telephoto lens sitting on a bench...

I don't remember ever mentioning it to her. It's a strange feeling, as a parent, when your kid reaches the age where he or she or they can purchase and consume alcohol, assuming your child has decided to drink. Having allowed our kids to consume the odd sip of beer or wine (or, rarely, a tiny glass of bubbly on special occasions), they've never made a big deal about it, and have even felt comfortable reaching out to us if they had partied a bit too much with friends, and needed to be picked up. We don't judge. We were young, too. Now that Kid 1 is home for the summer, she's been earning money by working at an optometrist clinic. Having been away at college, we've known for years that she's developed her independence and seems to thrive in a work environment. Occasionally, after a busy day at work, she'll swing by our friendly neighbourhood LCBO to treat herself to a beverage or two. We've known that she has an affinity for rum and for alcoholic spr...

The vernissage for Photo Synthesis brought a lot of people to the Arbor Gallery on Saturday, and I have to say that it took a lot off my mind. In the weeks leading up to the exhibit, which runs now until July 30, I questioned my submissions and even my abilities as a photographer . I worried that visitors of the gallery would look at my work and shake their heads, wondering why I would have been asked to join with other photographers more worthy of the wall space. But many showed up to admire the work of Greg Byers, Reenie Marx, Karen Molson, and yours truly, and the vibe, the feedback, and the praise were heartwarming. A weight was lifted from my chest when I saw a red dot affixed to the label for one of my photos. It was a great beginning to the show. I captured some video from my smartphone and have put together a short presentation of the exhibit. Have a look. The three Vankleek Hill photogs and I will be back at the gallery to close out the show on Saturday, July 30, from 1...

One of the things about trying to shake the feeling that I'm an imposter as the Photo Synthesis art exhibit drew near (it's on now) is that I keep looking for photos that I feel are better than what I've submitted to the show. Not so that I can replace my submissions but so that I can learn for next time. Assuming that there ever is a 'next time.' One photo that sprang to mind was one that I took in August of 2012, during a summer photo walk that I led through Centretown. The group met on the Mackenzie King Bridge, outside the Rideau Centre, and from there we walked to Sparks Street, headed down O'Connor Street to Sommerset, over to Bank, up past the Confederation Building, and down the stairs that take you below Parliament Hill. From there, we walked to Mill Street Brew Pub, where we enjoyed a well-deserved beverage and something to eat. While we were on O'Connor Street, my eyes not only scanned for what was on the road but what was above, as well. I...

I like to think of myself as a simple man, neither dull nor extraordinary, getting through life as best as I can, trying to avoid adding chaos while still trying to bring joy to me and those around me. When I felt a bit ill, on Sunday evening, I hoped it was a symptom of fatigue from the weekend's activities, mixed with a bit of stress over this coming weekend's Photo Synthesis art exhibit vernissage, where three Eastern Ontario photographers and I will be showing some of our work and meeting patrons of Arbor Gallery, in Vankleek Hill. A good night's rest, I told myself, is all I needed. Simple. However, when I woke up on Monday, I had a cramping pain in my abdomen and had a headache. It almost felt like a major hangover from a night of binging, even though I hadn't consumed more than a half pint of beer on Sunday afternoon. I had eaten well and healthily, and had gone to bed at a decent hour. Apart from having felt a little off, the night before, there was no foreseei...

Yesterday, I drove out to Vankleek Hill to drop off my work for the Photo Synthesis art exhibit, which open this Thursday. The next time I drive to the Arbor Gallery, 10 of my photos will be hung on the walls to be displayed to the curious public. Hanok Home (12" x 15.5" print in a 17" x 21" matted frame) That's when I'll be exposed for the fraud that I am. I've already withdrawn four photographs from my initial submission, replaced with a single print that I like for the colours but the longer that I look at it, the more I think it shouldn't belong on a wall. The memory surrounding that photo has significance to me but I doubt anyone else will find it appealing. What makes me think that I have any right to show my work to people in such a fashion? I'm not an artist. Some of my photos, in my opinion, are good, but I can't help but think that someone will come to the exhibit, look at one of my photos, sneer, and say, "You're actuall...