Samomatic

Just a few informal shots taken from the pew with the Pentax K-5, 50mm F1.4, and Lensbaby Composer.

The Lensbaby is a lot of fun to shift the focal plane, but severe distortions inhibits any drastic shifts.


Playing around with the heart-shaped aperture.



The unity harness was a great idea, capturing their passion on rock climbing into their wedding ceremony.

Congrats to the newly weds!

Congratulation and thank you for inviting me to join in your special day in Camp Koinonia!
Below is the quick summary of the day, please see the full gallery for more photos.

The groomsmen starting the day with a hearty brunch.


Meanwhile, the ladies getting ready at the hotel room.

Back at the camp there is much multi-task, hacking into laptops, slideshows, and shaving.



Putting on the final touches inside the cabin.

The bridal party!

A gallery of Ben & Julie’s special day in full page HERE.

Continuing from the first Day, day 2 was spent wandering through the different neighbourhoods of Montreal.

Walking through the Parc La Fontaine in the morning.

A pigeon sits on the fence. I really like the exterior staircases and multi-story building in the downtown region.

Wandering through the Plateau district. The streets are filled with local shops showing new styles/ideas. In the side streets there are garage sales.

A community of orthodox Jewish community along Rue Saint-Viateur


St-Viateur Bagels, established in 1957 and each bagel is still baked with wood-burning oven. Delicious!

Tam Tam Jam on Sundays in Mount Royal Park.

Both visitors and locals are encouraged to participate in the music and dancing.

People bring in their own instruments and start jamming.

Reminds me a lot about Kensington Market in Toronto.

At the other end of the park, people gather with foam-padded weapons & shields to fight mock medieval battle. I was itching to jump in.

People size each other up and pick their match.

The battles would last for several minutes, then the 2 sides would reset and charge at each other again.

There is no limit to age, though I didn’t see any ladies join in the battle.

Definitely need to go back and spend more time in Montreal!

Last time I posted some of the trip photos taken with 120 Film, this time the journey in Montreal is told from the digital camera’s point of view!

I find Montreal to be a very artistic/expressive city. An example are the graffiti everywhere.


At Jean Talon Market.


Fresh produce sampling…delicious and successful marketing scheme!

Using the fisheye for some fun shots!

Enjoy some musical performance outside a deli.

Walking around the neighbourhood, the multi-story buildings, each have their own style and decoration, offer so much for composition.

The Church of the Madonna della Difesa, constructed in 1919, with its impressive fresco.

Wait….is that Mussolini in the ceiling?!

Ordering some take-out sandwiches for our picnic!

The path to the top of Mont Royal, very peaceful path for biking/jogging/walking.

The view from the top, overlooking downtown Montreal.

At the top of Mont Royal.

A beautiful display of tulips in full-bloom!

Children playing in the fountain along Rue Sainte-Catherine.

As the sun was setting we strolled along the narrow streets and settled for dinner in Old Montreal. Behrouz and his brother also joined in at this point!


That concludes Day 1 in Montreal.