Aperture Bound.......
For this weeks adventure I headed to Halifax Nova Scotia. The reason for this trip is actually work related but I figured that I could invite Ryan along(he knows the area better than I do and he also has a few friends in the area, so yeah... I'm kinda taking advantage of him this time.... hehehe)
Okay, the reason for the trip. On Wednesday, June 17th, at 1:00PM, I had an appointment for a Certification Test for Apple's Pro Photo Editing Software .... Aperture 2. Having this certification will give me a little bit of an edge in the Apple world and Photographic Job Market, BUT, more importantly it will give my place of work(Appleby's Foto Source... of which I am the General Manager) an Apple Photo Specialty Store Status.
Hmmm... the adventure begins....
Seeing as my truck(did you know I love my truck... I have never had a truck before, until 3 months ago, and never really wanted one, this one was given to me by my Dad, and since then........ I LOVE DRIVING A TRUCK.... it's just a sense of freedom and the ability to pick up and go, carry things and be rough with a vehicle....NO... I'm not going to wreck it, BUT I don't have to baby it like my old Subaru... did you know I miss my Subaru.... ahhhh ... another story for some other time) where was I... oh yeah... my truck, it was not working very well(vibrating like a son-of-a-b!t@h) so I asked Ryan if he'd like to tag along. We could take his Cooper(a much cooler form of transportation but besides that.... IT'S CHEAPER ON GAS! LOL) and figured we could make it a photographic adventure while we were at it. So... I left my truck at the shop Tuesday night(thanks Armand for the recommendation of your friend who is doing a fine job fixin it...)
Well.... We decided to leave 1st thing in the morning on Wednesday(to us 1st thing is 7:00.....) we pack our stuff into the Cooper(a change of clothes for each of us and our cameras and MacBooks). This is where we run into our 1st snag..... My MacBook(actually Appleby's MacBook) is at the shop, and my key... is with the truck... NOPE... no MacBook for me, looks like texting with my phone will be my mode of communication for the next few days.... DAMN!
We hit the Highway and decide our 1st stop will be.... the Salsbury BigStop close to Moncton....
We also decide to leave the cameras in the cases as to make our trip down a little faster, so I wont be late for my Exam.... so this means .... nothing but good music and good conversation.... well at least the music was good... hehehe(the music was a good mix of old and new hits and for some strange reason I found myself singin along to all of it... I wonder where that habit came from...??..... LOL)
While at the BigStop fuelling up, we do what any red blooded New Brunswicker would do, we go in for BREAKFAST... how can you pass up a BIG, GREASY, BREAKFAST at the BigStop.... YOU CAN'T!.... 2 eggs... sausage.... hash browns.... toast... and orange juice... mmmmm the breakfast of champions... (I know, I know.... no steak .... LOL)....
So now with the Cooper fueled up, and both our rather large bellies now full as well, we hit the Highway once more...... Next Stop..... HALIFAX....
The drive to Halifax was your typical uneventful drive, pretty smooth sailing. We arrived in Halifax at 12:oo, looked around town, and went in for the exam. We then met up with Matt, one of Ryan's Friends...... Matt, like most of Ryan's Friends, is an animation artist.... very cool job ... and actually a pretty cool guy too...
With Matt's advice we get ourselves a room at the Holiday Inn, get settled in and hit the town for Supper. We decide to eat at Ryan's FAVORITE RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD.... the Mongolian Grill.... very cool spot, think of it as a buffet style dinner: you order, they hand you a stainless steel bowl and point at the buffet, you fill the bowl with anything you want: vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, scallops, squid, and an amazing amount of specialty sauces and spices. With this large bowl of food you walk up to the chef who then takes it to this very large round grill and then proceeds to "stir fry" your meal.
At the table you are given a nice portion of rice, a very hearty soup, and your "Creation" of a meal... all I can say is....MMMMM mMMMM good!... very tasty, and if it wasn't... it's your own fault, because... YOU MADE IT!
After our feast Ryan and I met up with his friends again, this time it's Nikki and Josh, more animators and artist types, again... more cool people....
Matt is soon to join us with his girlfriend Jenny Phu, they all couldn't just call her Jenny, they had to include the Phu, it's just something they do... but, it fits... LOL... and then ... Joel was the last to show up, definitely another animation student, he act's like a bit of an animated character himself, but still... very funny... and pretty cool as well.... shit... the whole crowd was just a big happy go lucky group... very fun, very funny.....
Once everyone was there, off to the Bar Scene. We went to Bearly's, a Karaoke Bar that had a great mix of people and music, the best part of the night... AC/DC... some dude got up and started beltin it out so well.... I thought they were playin it straight from the CD... man... he was good!
Well... a fun night in Halifax ended with a pretty good Pizza served by a very cute little waitress. Then off to the hotel to pass out at about 4:00AM.... (from exhaustion .... sheeeeeesh... how dare you think like that!)
10:00 comes oh too early after a late night like that.... ugh.... but, need to hit the road. Up and at em, showered, repacked the car and off for one last stop in downtown Halifax ... the Candy Shop!... need to get something for my boys. I pick em up lots of sugar, and, the best thing in the world... SOUR CANDY AND SOUR GUM.... hehehe
then..... hit the highway.... we're off....
We decide to stop at A&W for Lunch in Turo, same old same old A&W, and then gas up shortly after that, and drive straight through to Salsbury BigStop....
Along the way we decide to play with the ULTRA WIDE Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, we got quite a few shots on the highway while we were driving.... very funny pics of Ryan sleeping at the wheel, as well as some SPEEDRACER style images ...
At the Bigstop we stop for an energy boost: ROCKSTAR CAFE MOCHA.... then,
the back roads for photos and ..."the long way home..."
Okay... so from my other posts you may have realized by now that we don't mind going a little out of our way for a shot.... so... we plan on taking the Fundy Drive to Alma and then out through Fundy National to the highway and on to home.... so.... the out of the way part.... 2 things....
1st... we're in Salsbury, we already passed Moncton so we need to backtrack a little to get on our right course....
2nd .... we want to take a quick detour to Petitcodiac.... that is QUITE A BIT out of the way... hehehe....
So off to Petitcodiac we go via the back roads, and then we see it.... our first Photo Stop....
whataya know.... another bridge(we like bridges... hehehe)... but this time it's in the distance crossing a river, it's a metal train bridge. The mini is suddenly detoured off the road and into a little dirt lot, out we get, grab our gear... and start walkin through the woods.
"This is the kind of place I always expect to see a dead body laying in the bushes" I say as we walk through this very low travelled path. It was the perfect dumping grounds should the situation ever arise... hehehe...
We soon discover that the bridge is a lot farther off the road than we thought, therefore it's also, a lot bigger, higher up, and longer than we expected as well. After a short hike we get to a clearing by the river that we can shoot from..... nope... boring... we want more.... "ummm... lets go on the tracks.... get right on the bridge and shoot..." I say to Ryan as I turn around and discover he's already ahead of me on this one, and already on his way trhough the bushes.... hehehe...
After a few more minutes of hiking through the woods we find ourselves at the bottom of a fairly steep bank, and at the top... the tracks....
We do the usual, take the shots lookin up and down the tracks, and of course, Ryan needs to get in the shots every once in a while as well.... so yeah... I followed suit....
We then decide that the bridge is too cool not to go on and shoot, I shoot a few HDR images from the tracks and then decide to venture on the bridge with Ryan, who isn't nervous, but just a little uneasy. You see, a Train Bridge is made up of: Supports, The Rails and the Railway Ties... there is really no bottom to the bridge so between each tie is ample space for a foot or camera to drop through. These gaps also give you a very nice view of the river bellow...... so.. with my fear of heights in check, I venture out, not too slowly, but .... surefooted if you will... taking my time you might say. Once we are in the middle(actually I believe it was a little farther..) we start shooting and getting some nice detail shots of the rusty metal, shots of the tracks from the bridge etc.... then... I had this thought... "wouldn't it suck if a train came right now?"... so we continue shooting. After about 5 or so minutes I just happen to look up, or down... down the tracks that is..... "TRAIN!!!!!!!" ... in the distance, headlights blaring, it's amazing how fast trains go when they are out in the open, away from roads and towns. I was amazed at how quiet it was... no horn blowing.... no rumbling... then I clued in.. the horn only blows when it's in civilization, and we... we were out in the middle of NO-WHERE, so no warning.... no horn.... YIKES!...
RUN... my fear of heights suddenly disappeared as we both "ran" off the bridge, quickly placing each foot on the next Railway Tie, faster, and faster, not paying attention to the large gaps between, not caring about the river so far below..... we just..... WANTED OFF THE BRIDGE!!!!
Well... the photographer in me did kick in before I started running.... (are photographers regularly know to be stupid people... I don't think so?)... well ... I stood their and said to myself: "Wow... that's a nice shot of the train coming down the tracks...." so... I did what any photographer would do: I took some shots... (actually the camera was up to my eye and shooting before the thought was even processed.... instinct kicked in I guess....LOL) I got a few shots before I hear this voice in my head... it's the voice of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring... I believe it's his last line in the movie....... "RUN YOU FOOL" ..... Ryan, by this time, is almost off the bridge and yelling "Come on man... get your ass in gear!". I turn and start running, well... walking really fast across the Ties..... very fast! We get off the bridge and ran... then .... dive.... down the steep bank we go.... just as the train goes speeding by.... "whew.... that was invigorating..." Ryan says as he looks back at me over his shoulder. We stand there in awe as the train speeds by, so... I take a couple shots of Ryan standing in the bushes watching the train. After the train passed... back up we go.... Now that we know it's safe, we finish our shoot and portrait session.... HDR portraits.... more shots on the bridge... more shots on the tracks...
Well ... nuff of that... lets move on to our next stop.....
Back up the old roads and on to the Fundy Drive.....
From there on home we don't expect anything to be quite as exciting as our first stop but we figured we should drive on and see what we come across....
Taking the back roads is really a nice way to travel: the roads are smooth and full of twists and turns, and, even more importantly... there is much nicer scenery than what you would see on the main highway.
After an hour or so we come across a side road that I thought looked a little familiar... so... a quick detour and voila, back at the shipyard memorial. I had photographed it a few years ago with Beaver and Armand(members of the Rat Pack) and thought it would be nice to shoot it again...
Both of us are intrigued by the light house. We both shoot and later discover just how similar our shots of it are.. hmmmm great minds think alike?... I think not.... nothing great here....LOL
After a few shots I point out to Ryan that it isn't even a real light house. The light in the top is just a regular light bulb hanging from the ceiling by a string... very "Authentic" I would say... LOL
After fascination with the lighthouse died we move on the the ship memorial.. a very cool artists rendition of a 3 masted tall ship...
Then, up the road a little from there to shoot..... Cows in the field... exciting or what....
Ryan actually tried to get down in the field nice and close... but the fool just scared away the cows... they all ran pretty quick when they saw him coming... maybe it was that belly of his making him look like a Pro Hamburger Eater... what they don't know is that he prefers Ham and Bacon Subs at Subway... "mmmmmm two kinds of pig on one sandwich!" as Ryan would say...
Well ... with our shooting done there, we load back into the Cooper and head off. Not too much more to shoot from there other than one quick stop to shoot some horses from the side of the road... but other than that... we were just enjoying the ride...
Just before Alma we did spy an abandoned house on the side of the road and quickly make a mental note of it's location... that will be our next Photo Adventure ... well when we are up for a full day of travel again....
Next stop... ALMA.... oooo exciting Alma. Well... there is a convenience store there and we were hungry... soooo.....
Yum.. preprepared Ham Subs and Chocolate Bars.... MMMMM MMMM .... can you sense the sarcasm there? Nothing like soggy bread with Mayo soaked in..... well ... we were hungry and it was food.. so this adventure doesn't end with the amazing meals that all our others regularly do... but... we did have a few good meals during the trip....
Next stop.... Home.... well, actually, the office for a short while.... man we're fools... instead of going to our homes and getting some sleep, we head to the office... Pathetic... but we do have fun.
Check the link for the photographs of our adventures....
Oh ... and as for my exam..... it had a 2 hour time limit... I took 2o minutes and passed with a 92%... wooo hooo Aperture 2 Certified...
