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My main hobbies kind of combine together. I'm a fan of stock car racing, specifically the CASCAR series, and have been lucky enough to photograph the races for the past number of years. I've got my own web site concerning CASCAR, with more info on the series.
I started photography with an old Canon T50 automatic SLR. I ended up trading up to a Nikon F80, and took a photo course from Sheridan, to learn just what the heck apeture and shutter spead do when you take a photo. It was the convincing of a friend that I took the course, and I've thanked her often ever since then. Most of the summer is spent photographing the CASCAR races, as well as some of the other Late and Limited Late Model series, along with some of the other divisions like Trucks, Open Wheeled, and even the Molson Indy. While photographing the races, I've gotten to know a photographer named Chris Mann, who has guided me into taking some better photo's. Also, he has led me to Greg McPherson, editor for Inside Track Magazine, which has published a number of my photo's. That has been a great thrill. During the off season, I've taken to travelling around the lakeshore, trying to take some pictures of the many species of wildlife that live in the City. I've found it amazing just how many types of birds there are. In the past, all I've ever seen is malard ducks, and sparrows, but I've have been suprised at the many weird species that call this area home. I've also tried my hand at Landscapes and Cityscapes, which I enjoy, but to be honest, I don't have the eye for it.
I've now graduated to a Nikon D100 digital SLR, and that has been great. You can take hundreds of pictures, and really allows you to understand taking pcitures, and to practice the craft.
Haven't been to a ton of concerts, specially lately, but my very first "big" concert was Pat Benatar, at Maple Leaf Gardens!
Another concert, at the Copa, was Berlin, back when they were really popular, and Teri Nunn was the be-all of lead woman singers. I had also seen them as an opening act, at CNE Bandshell, for the Thomson Twins, around the time of Top Gun, and the famous Take My Breath Away.
I'm also a fan of Lisa Delbello, who was famous for songs like Black on Black. She was at a concert at Ontario Place, and after the show, as I was leaving, she was out behind the building signing autographs. I only had a blank check with me, so thats what I used:
She even commented on it, but I explained that's all I had. Concert was great!
Another hobby I've been working on is making die cast models of CASCAR cars. I take the Nascar metal cars available from places like Zellers, and painting them to match CASCAR teams. I use a Laser Printer Decal sheet to print my version of the sponser logos, then water slide them into place, and touch up with some paint. They are not perfect ( I spelled Scott Steckly's name wrong not once, but twice!), but the teams get a kick out of them. Some of them are in the animated gif below:
AVIATION I've been into aviation, specifically going to various air shows, mostly the Canadian International Air Show at the waterfront. My father was involved with running the show, so we would get into "BOSS CONTROL", where the airshow was run.
Its an area at the south-west corner of the Ontario Place island, and provided the best place to get pictures. I've been back to the CIAS a few times since, but from Centre Island instead of the waterfront. The two main problem with the CIAS is that there is no ground version to see the planes close up, and that your facing directly into the sun when watching it. I've also checked out the airshow from the Airport area, but the restrictions nowadays means you can't really park anywhere without attracting attention from Security/the Police. I had one officer tell me to move, cause I was at the end of a runway, and if the plane crashed, I would be crushed. Of course, he just told me to cross the street, cause its apparently much safer on the other side of the road!
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