The Old Barn: peeling paint, rusty nails, aging wood

This is the barn we took photos at a couple weeks ago for these shots.  I just loved the peeling paint, and the green tinge to some of the wood.  

I often pass by this abandoned house and the barn on my way to and from work. I walk home a few different routes, but I always pass this house when I walk home from getting groceries.  I did so on Hallowe'en day, and the boarded up front door, beneath the "NO TRESPASSING" sign, the plywood covering the door had been ripped open a bit.  Like a 2' square hole.  Creepy.  

I walked past yesterday after work, and the door had been boarded up again.  Still, I don't know how close to this barn I want to get.  But yet, it really makes such a beautiful backdrop... I'll just have to keep an ear out for groaning and shuffle and general zombie activity.  The apocalypse WOULD start here.  During the war of 1812 festivities (THE THREE YEARS OF FESTIVITIES don't get me started) zombies with muskets, that's all I'm sayin'.

Often times when Ephraim is taking photos of me, I'll have him stand in and I'll futz with my camera settings till I'm happy.  I also like to just take pictures of him while we're standing around and talking.  It's very annoying of me, I know, but he does make a good model.  I don't remember why he posed like this, but it's funnier not to know.

I promised that he does get me back on occasion, and his iPhone is proof of this.  I don't have his iPhone, but I do have this photo from Quebec.  For your pleasure, the face of revenge. My automatic reaction to a camera is fear.  Personal growth, people.  Funny story, I once did an on tape audition to be a Much Music VJ. Why? I wasn't doing anything else that afternoon.  No call back.  I wonder why.

Anyhow, back to Quebec. I was, in fact, reading  a menu and remarking on how you could get a lobster burger (yeah.), and then BAM, camera in my face.  And that, is funnier to know.

Ephraim said I looked like a spy on the run.  Um... no.  Not seeing it.  But fair is fair. 

And now I'm thoroughly reminded how gloomy it has been, and how it gets dark out before I leave work now, and how I can't wait to have light to take photos again.  Looks like I'm going to be having very snap happy weekends!

--Erin

Quebec P3: Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

I believe I mentioned in one of my Ottawa posts that I tend to take photos of weird things on vacation... and yes, that includes signs! Signs and storefronts are so interesting, and one thing I loed about the old town and the old port in particular, is how fond they are of hanging sings like these for businesses and especially restaurants! I just think it has such old world charm, and love the bold graphics, often with high contrast and bright colours or metallics used to catch your eye.

I love the pig sign!! It reminds me of the movie Delicatessen, my favourite film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeaunet.  You may find his name familliar, as he also directed cult hit Amelie, also known as the most charming love story ever.  Until you see Delicatessen, that is. You could probably make that argument for just about any of his movies, but the post-apocalyptic setting of this love story is pretty unique.  It takes place at a post-apocalyptic butcher shop with upstairs apartments for rent. It deals with cannibalism and yet, it's really funny.  This is why Jean-Pierre Jeunet is one of my favourite contemporary filmmakers.

One of the things Ephraim and I were s amused with was the different signage for fast food restaurants, most notably McDonalds.  I guess due to signage bylaws, McDonalds has to have a deep green and low-lustre brass painted sign.  It almost looked classy.  Almost.  I didn't get a photo because I felt super weird about photographing people eating their burgers, and they were on busy streets! 

Have you ever traveled somewhere that familiar things were just a little bit different like that?

--Erin

Ottawa Pt.5: Details

As I am sure has become quite evident by this time, I took a LOT of photos while I was in Ottawa.  In preparation for the trip I bought a larger memory card for my camera, and having the freedom to snap away was such a pleasure.  I love being able to look back on so many moments captured over the course of only a few days, those memories are precious for me.  Plus, since I was really sick with a cold while I was actually there, being clear headed and healthy now helps me appreciate the details and the beauty that much more.  Bonus.

Well, I'm off to go board my flight to Quebec City! I'm so looking forward to this little getaway.  Ephraim and I have never been away together, and I am pumped to create some memories together; visit the Musee De Civilisation, sip fancy hot beverages in a french cafe, have lunch in the lower old town, and drink beers in the dungeon near our hotel.  Wander down streets, get lost, take pictures, and find ourselves again.

Yeah, friends, it's going to be a swell time.  

--Erin

Ottawa Pt.4: Parliament Hill

The one thing I took copious amounts of pictures of in Ottawa the first (and until now only) time I visited, was Parliament Hill.  Even for a 12 (just 13?) year old me, the Gothic architecture and oxidized copper roofs were just the very greatest.  Somewhere in a box there are dozens of photographs of the wrought iron tops of the buildings, taken with what I am pretty sure were a handful of disposable cameras.  Sometimes, it's strangely reassuring to remember that I have always been such a nerd, and I always will be.  Maybe some day I will actually use the photos as references for a painting, as I had intended back then.  Has the decade in between made me more motivated? 

...Do I have to answer that question right away? 

Haha!

Though my tastes haven't changed much as far as the points of interest in our buildings of Parliament, and the buildings themselves certainly haven't changed in much longer than that - don't let the constant scaffolding fool you, they're just trying to stop the buildings from crumbling away beneath our Prime Minister - I could at least see a bit of growth in my photography attempts, this time around.  That being said, this was still by far the most touristy thing we did there, so I didn't get too artsy.  

We didn't stick around long, as we were just on our walk back to the hotel to head to the airport, having come from our delicious afternoon tea and a walk around the National Gallery of Canada, but damn if that sky wasn't worth stopping for.  Isn't that just beautiful? I mean, again, never mind all that scaffolding.  I, like probably everyone ever, am very fond of sunbeams cutting through clouds and this image, well, it made me feel strangely patriotic.

Thanks Canada, you're one beautiful place to live. 

And for those of you reading from our great country, happy thanksgiving to you and your families! I am living it up in cottage country, enjoying the gorgeous autumn weather and too much good food.  Perfection.  Certainly feeling very thankful!

--Erin

Ottawa P.2: Architecture

One of my favourite things to check out in any new (or, indeed, infrequently visited) city is the architecture.  Particularly, I am interested in the architecture of "regular" buildings.  Shops, houses, that kind of deal.  

I was on something of a mission while in Ottawa, to find a building that my brother had photographed about 7 years ago.  I have been painting a picture of that building (completing it is one of my 4 simple goals before 2013!), but the reference photo was lost with my mum's old computer, so I didn't know what some of the details looked like.  Sadly, I didn't find the building, but I found tons of other interesting trims for me to chose from.  Art!

Without further ado, here are a bunch of pictures of the tops of buildings.  I am so, so cool.

The top of this church was stunning.  I'd keep catching peeks of it above rooftops from KMs away!

Do you have any "odd" things you like to photograph on vacation? Or have you ever taken a walking/bus architectural tour of a city? Or am I totally alone in my bizarre passions?

You can check out P.1 of my Ottawa trip HERE

--Erin