My good friend Nate has launched his Web site for Northridge Photography, so if you’re in the Calgary or surrounding area and are looking for a talented photographer, get in touch with him. His growth as a photographer has been remarkable to watch over the past two years, and he definitely has the eye for photography – I was blown away when I saw his very first wedding photo shoot. He does wedding, children, commercial, travel, and band photography.
My friend Jon wanted to poke fun at the way I was documenting Logan’s first months at home with monthly photo albums, so he sent me the above image…don’t worry Jon, I don’t think I’ll still be taking monthly photos of Logan when he’s that old.
I’ve talked about how awful some of the comments on YouTube can be, but sometimes the lack-of-brains can come from the content producers…check out the screenshot above, where someone named “FierceMightOMax” went berserk with the annotation tool. Yikes!
It’s amusing watching companies figure out how to use Twitter…the above screen is from my Twitter feed. I follow both Dell Canada’s consumer Twitter feed, and their Business user feed. They each have different offers and discounts…until they start copying each other and repeating everything twice, creating what amounts to Twitter spam in my feed. And then there’s their contest, which so far as resulted in 37 tweets in three days. Twitter is a great tool for businesses to reach out to their customers, but if you do it too often, you risk alienating those customers. After I post this I’m going to un-follow the Dell Canada Business feed, and possibly un-follow the Dell Consumer feed until this contest is over. If you’re a business, value the attention of your customers – don’t abuse it by being too “noisy”.
October was a busy month from a photography perspective, so here’s a round-up of the photos…
First up, we have the family photo above taken by Nate Northridge from Northridge Photo.
That’s Auntie Chelsea holding Logan at Ken’s 60th birthday party.
Thanksgiving 2009 was when Logan got to meet his Great-Grandma, Jean Paniak, in Edmonton, Alberta.
October was also Auntie Cariann’s birthday, so we went to celebrate her birthday – and Nana Dunn and Auntie Cariann got to give Logan a bath for the first time.
Iron Man was one of my favourite superhero movies, so I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel – and hopefully it’s not one of those sequels that sucks, but one of those sequels that’s even better than the original (a la Empire Strikes Back). Seeing the War Machine armour gives me hope…woo hoo!
For those that don’t know, a “Toonie” is a Canadian two-dollar coin. Can you really run a promo called “Toonie Tuesday” and have the item cost $2.79 plus tax? That’s $2.93 in Alberta after our 5% GST tax. Kind of makes your business look stupid…
I’m not a big fan of PETA or the extremes that they sometimes go to – though this breaks my heart and I’m glad PETA is shining a light on it – but I truly love animals and hate to see any animal of any shape or size mistreated. I’m not an extreme animal rights activist – I eat meat and wear leather – but the idea of going to a circus makes me feel very uncomfortable. The idea of an animal being trained purely for entertainment doesn’t sit well with me.
I’m OK with zoos though because I think zoos are a vital part of creating a bond between people and animals, and when people care about something, they’ll try to protect it. If someone has never seen a bear up close in a zoo, they might not care about protecting the bear’s natural habitat. In some ways, the animals in a zoo are “taking one for the team” – they’re sacrificing their freedom in order to serve as a bridge between humans and animals in order for that bond to be created. I’m excited about taking Logan to the Calgary Zoo someday, because I want to instill in him the wonder and beauty of the animal world. But a circus? Nope, I won’t be taking Logan to a circus – unless it’s a Cirque-type show where people are the ones doing all the tricks. Animals don’t belong in a circus.
This is what I awoke to see on the morning of November 15th. Such beauty in Creation…full gallery here.
