rant

Low Expectations

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Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan celebrates Canada’s win over Jamaica in their men’s soccer match in the final rounds of the Concacaf FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Toronto, Canada, 27 March 2022.

This is a view-from-my-office photo from a cold, rainy-snowy soccer game.

From the past two weeks:

 

• A Toronto professional photographer does family portraits for $500 according to his web site. The price includes a 45-minute session and 50 “fully retouched” pictures.

Fifty images in 45 minutes? Fully retouched? Ten dollars per photo?

At that price, who should have low expectations, the customer or the photographer?

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Photo Gear Purchases 2020

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The ongoing pandemic has meant that there’s been little work and few purchases. The items listed below were bought before the pandemic shut everything down.

Sirui K-40X Ball Head

My old Manfrotto ball head wasn’t as smooth as I wanted and it struggled with heavy lenses. Also, my new L-bracket (below) requires an Arca-Swiss head and there’s no easy way to convert a Manfrotto clamp to Arca-Swiss.

The Sirui K-40X was reasonably priced ($240) compared to similar ball heads. It’s smooth, solid and a joy to use.
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The Government Is Here To Help

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If you’re a Canadian photographer whose business has disappeared over the past ten months because of the pandemic, be assured that the federal government is here to help.

I’m from the government and I’m here to help.

– US senator Edmund Muskie (1976) but usually attributed to Ronald Reagan (1986)

If you log into your CRA account to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit or the Canada Recovery Benefit, there are a few new things. First, the government wants a short essay describing how the pandemic has ruined your business. There’s also help to plan for a new career. I guess the government assumes your current career is a lost cause because, well, you’re applying for benefits.

Career Quiz

I took all six quizzes to find out what new occupation(s) might be a good fit for me.

The results said that I’m innovative, methodical and objective. I’m also picture smart, visual, good at form perception and good at noticing shapes, shadings and lines.
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Toronto Film Festival 2020 Review

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Most of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is being held online due to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. There are in-person screenings at a few temporary drive-ins in downtown Toronto and at the indoor theatres in the TIFF building.

I spent one day at the film festival yesterday and that was, according to TIFF, one day too many. No photographers or TV are allowed this year. Reporters are also not allowed at any location.

Opening Night with No Openings

If your organization or business was facing its worst year due to the pandemic, would you want free publicity to help mitigate the situation? If your event was open to the public, was funded by all three levels of government and was held at some government-owned properties, would you feel somewhat obligated to allow news coverage?

Not the Toronto Film Festival.
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Photo Gear Purchases 2019

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My annual look back at some of the photo purchases I made in 2019.

Think Tank Airport Security v3 roller

Think Tank Airport Security v3 roller. Earlier versions of this roller bag did not have a zippered laptop pocket. Photo from Think Tank Photo.

This is a well-made roller bag and most things about it are quite good except:
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Political Campaign Notes

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While photographing federal political leaders arriving for a debate in Gatineau, Quebec, on 11 October 2019, this was the view right behind the photo area. That’s a police boat on the Ottawa River.

This is another view-from-my-office photo.

It was obvious while photographing some of the federal election campaigns over the past two weeks that news media turnout has drastically dropped over the past three federal elections.
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