Olympic Torch Relay Run

I am a Canadian and Canada is hosting the 2010 winter Olympics.Tomorrow the torch run is passing through our town.(Huntsville,Ontario) I am quite excited as are many others. Watching the news and seeing the amount of people who are coming out to see this event I am expecting an amazing turnout.

I will be working with TV Cogeco running a camera or some other capacity to produce a local news broadcast for the event. I will also be taking video and photos for my own purposes. It is going to be cold and fun.

January Auto Tint Sale !

Another year has passed and it is time again for our annual January tint sale. All year long people are wanting a deal on tinting. Well people ..now is the time. Since January is always a slow month we can offer a big discount for people who like deals!!

Cogeco

About a year ago, I decided to try volunteering with TV Cogeco. I am glad I did. I have learned alot about the cameras, equipment and what is involved with producing a news clip to a live council meeting.

There is more to it than it seems. Running cables for 3 cameras with audio,video and power to the truck. running the cameras making sure you are in focus and the white balance and audio levels are all correct. In the truck there is the production happening. Audio levels, scene mixing, adding text and visual info.

It is alot of fun and a bit of a challenge. It has helped me get out and meet more people, see town events and news I would not otherwise have known even existed. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested to try it out.

TV Cogeco Website

iPhone posting

Ok here goes my first post from the Iphone. Another drab october day, but i did get out to take some photos and saw some deer and a fox. I also got quite a bit of work done and got a few decent jobs. All in all a Great day

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Photos Posted to my website

http://www.photomuskoka.com/Motorcycles/857583

Back from Sturgis S.D.

It was a long trip. both in miles and time. 18 days and 8000km. Time for a rest! I did capture many good shots. Saw some amazing landscapes and relaxed by the fire at Camp David in the Black Hills.

My plans for setting up a mobile photo studio and take bike and biker portraits where thwarted by US Customs. They did not like the Idea of me working in the US without the proper paperwork. Oh well, I rather enjoyed not working. It was hot and there was lots to do.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

  I am starting to pack ,make lists and plan the route for the upcoming trip to South Dakota for the Black Hills Rally.

We are planning a 2 part trip. Part 1 is going for a 3500 km bike ride from Sturgis to the grand canyon and back, with stops at many places to photograph and just relax. Part 2 of the trip is to set up my photo studio in the black hills to take portraits of people and their bikes. Also to relax and enjoy life in a different environment.

I will be updating the trip as I discover new places.

New Pentax K7

Ok Ok I know I don’t need it! But I do!

I am waiting for it to arrive by UPS this week. I did alot of research and reading and decided I can not afford the Nikon d700 kit (approx $10,000). So now I have a 2 body kit at a reasonable investment. Still missing the full sensor and incredible iso but I do like very much the image quality Pentax delivers. I am not going to sell my K20D but will be selling my Canon HV30 hd video cam because the K7 will do HD video. I will follow up on a review this week of the K7 as I play with it. even a unboxing video.

New Pentax lens

Very cool effects!

I just received my new Pentax 10-16mm fisheye lens in the mail from e-bay the other day. Even with my injury I had to go out and play! I am very impressed with the quality of  the images. They are sharp and the color is great with very little lens flare. This will be a fun lens to have. I am very temped to also get the new Lensbaby.

Ride For Sight Collingwood

I am getting ready to pack for Ride For Sight. This year it is in Collingwood at an unknown venue in downtown Collingwood. I will be setting up the Photography Studio and taking portraits of people and bikes. Last year was a blast. I am hoping for more action at the booth. My setup will be much better, Learning from last year. I am also making plans to set up in Sturgis South Dakota for the big rally in August. So this will be a dry run for that.

tweetphoto

http://www.tweetphoto.com

Adobe CS4

Recently invested in Adobe CS4. I am in the process of playing with all my options. Including Adobe Contribute. It is allowing me to edit my blog. So this is basically a test run.

New Link? My email

New Video Up

I just posted a new video I produced recently. It is not going to get me a golden globe yet. It was fun to play with…I am learning new software. Cyberlink Power Director and Adobe Premier Pro. Adobe is far better and I am afraid I wasted my money on Cyberlink. Adobe is allot more expensive and is going to be allot of work to figure out but the detail and control is awesome. My video was shot with the canon G9 in time-lapse mode.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dqSD-2XJUI

I did get a Canon HV30 and I am very pleased with my purchase. I was fortunate to get to Circuit City when they were closing down and they had one left. I am still going to mainly concentrate on Photography and push myself to get better, but I am going to play with video. I feel learning and being capable with video will only compliment my photography.

New Car!

Ok so it was time to help out the economy and General Motors. I promised myself to get a VW Passat but the chev Impala was so reasonable in price and after driving it I was impressed enough to give GM another go. I will have to wait 4 more years for the passat…oh well we could not afford one anyways. It has been a week and I am still loving the chev and want to put a shout out to Ward , My buddy at the GM Dealership in Huntsville. http://www.edmonds-chevrolet-pontiac-buick-gmc.com/

twitter and smugmug

There is tons of stuff going on right now!

I will start by saying I have opened a Twitter account http://twitter.com/photomuskoka

I am unsure why I tried this other than to try it…..hmmmm . So I will see how it goes. If I am not impressed or don’t see a need for it I will quit. I see alot of other people and companies using it , there must be a reason.

I am VERY impressed with my smug mug account! Easy to set up. Looks great and has tons of features. I downloaded a Lightroom plug in that uploads directly to my smugmug account. http://www.photomuskoka.com/

New Domain & Photo Website

I have been searching for a good place to store and share and distribute my photos. I have been researching it to death and finally decided on smugmug. It seams to have everything I have been looking for. Unlimited storage, customizable pages and gallery's and a place to sell my images on line and has a very nice look to the gallery's with image protection . I will no doubt let you know how the possess goes.

I also purchased a new domain name and I am very excited to see what will develop with it! www.photomuskoka.com !! check it out! I have always been told the Muskoka name has marketing value and I hope that is correct, especially with google.

2010 G8 Summit Accommodations

As of now we are considering renting our house for the 2010 G8 Summit in Huntsville Ontario Canada. June 25-27 2010. There will be a great need for places to stay for the thousands of people who will be covering the event. Security, delegations, protestors, media and support staff. It will be a very interesting time to be in Huntsville but we would rather be in a quiet spot on a lake with our RV for the month. Accommodations will probably pay us not to be here.

If anyone would like information regarding renting the house please email us.

mike@Tint-it.ca

New Muskoka Photography Website up

Ok I have my new website up but it is not finished yet.

Let me know what you think. I am still working on it.

www.tint-it.ca/photography.html then click on new website

or www.tint-it.ca/Photo/PIndex.html

Happy New Year!!!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy new year and all that stuff. It is time for the list of things I want to change this year. First off is to shoot more photos. I plan to accomplish this by listing all the concepts or ideas on my whiteboard and then actually go out and shoot them. Sounds simple! so lets see if I can pull it off.

My list

• Travel Photos (ooooh my fave...so where will I go?)
• Backgrounds....I need to get out searching for good background shots.
• Bike shoot Bikes in motion where I am in a truck shooting bikes on the road. good idea?
• Model fashion and beauty....casting call for any people interested to get there photo taken. FREE!!!! Male or female young old or in between.
• Stock photography. I am a contributor for Istock photo and have sold 1 photo so far!!! I am short on concepts for this and need any help on ideas and again Casting call for any people interested in getting involved with stock photos.
• Fun by the pool
• fun on the beach
• hiking/camping/kayaking/canoeing
• Business world/office/computer/meeting
• Music photos...I have taken photos for a couple of bands. I enjoy it and want to do more music shots
• Artistic model shots including nudes...I have not shot nudes yet but have some creative ideas. Different weird locations and colours lighting and textures

that is a good start for my list and will be adding all the time. I am including a couple of recent photos of my family.