I Can Has Kitty?

In September, I visited my friend Kelly in Halifax where he raises horses with his wife Stacie. They have a huge farm on 35 acres and along with two dogs, 10 cats roam the area on the lookout for mice. I honestly didn't go to Halifax to take photos of cats, but when I got there, the setting was too perfect.

The names of these cats are like characters from "The Wire". There's Booger, Charlie, Skunk, Sly, Tiny, Vo, Itchy... the list goes on. If you ever need names for a tv show, Kelly and Stacie might be able to help out.

Four of the cats were kittens and as always they were playful and eager to investigate what was going on. They never come in the house, but they do know where the food comes from and so they are usually nearby if you go outside.

Looking at these photos you might think I was using a long lens to try and blur the background, but the long lens was too long, as the cats would move around so fast that it was hard to get a nice crisp shot of them. I used my 100mm macro lens instead and that allowed me to sit nearby and if they got close, I could take photos with amazing detail.

That farm where your parents said your pets went to when they grew old and tired exists. It's near Halifax and it's about as close to a kitty "heaven" as I think you could script.

1960's Hong Kong

My dad went to Hong Kong in the 1960's as part of the Royal Navy and came home with three packages of slides that showed various parts of the former colony. I think the package designs of the slide boxes are great, but the slides themselves are terrible. Time has aged these photos with color shifts, dust and debris all over the place, but I have a feeling that the quality of these mass produced photos wasn't great to begin with.

This photo of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak shows what a difference a few decades can make to the skyline of a city. Today HK is a huge metropolis, but back in the 1960's there are very few tall buildings to be seen and nothing what you would call a skyscraper. Compare that image with a shot I took in 2001 and the difference is startling.

Known for it's neon signs and congestion, Hong Kong hasn't changed. 1960's HK looks just about the same today with cars, people and signs shoved into a tiny area of land at the bottom of China.

Night time in HK is spectacular and from Victoria Peak you can see the entire city. The photo here shows a time-lapse of the boats in the harbor and some of the city lit up. Compared to 2001 and again the difference in how much Hong Kong was built up over the years is amazing.

Lastly, I loved this photo of two young boys bowing to each other outside of a doorway. I would like to know what happened to these men and what they are doing now.

Mexico revisited

In March of 1999, I visited my friend who was on a student exchange program in Guadalajara and immediately decided I would enroll the following semester. I spent six months (July - December) going to school and living in Mexico, loving every minute of it. In July of this year, I was invited to shoot a wedding in Puerto Vallarta and as it was only a four-hour bus ride away, I thought I would take two days and revisit GDL.

I arrived at 6am and stumbled off the bus and into a taxi. I took it to the centre of town, "El Centro" and waited for the sunrise. It had just stopped raining and so there was no where to sit and wait for the sky to lighten. Instead, I started to wander around in the dark and see what I could remember of the layout of the city. Rats ran along the gutters, a few drunks stumbled by, and then the sky finally started to lighten. I took this first photo of the town centre at 8am before the crowds arrived.

When the sun came out, I took this photo of a nearby church top. Beautiful colors. I used a 70-200mm lens, which drew a lot of attention when I took it out of my bag. I felt like the one white guy walking into a black bar where all the heads turn and the music stops. I kept smiling and talking to anyone who held my gaze and soon people stopped staring.

At 10am I went to the Starbucks where I was supposed to meet my friend. I called her, sent a text and left a voice mail. I totally forgot about "Mexican Time", and so at 1pm she arrived. Three hours.. not bad. I made friends with the security guard at Starbucks. Rutbe took me to a pretty part of town, Tlaquepaque and we had lunch. We had this huge bowl of tequila and water and ice with lemons in it. I can't explain how good this was.

One of the shots I have wanted to re-shoot was the mural of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla by Jose Clemente Orozco. When I was there in 1999, I didn't have a lens wide enough to capture the entire scene. Using my 8mm fish-eye I was able to stand at the base of the stairs looking up and finally get the full mural. This mural was painted inside the government building and celebrates the father of Mexican independence.

Lastly, this photo just reminded me of Conan O'Brien and so I include it here for your viewing.