You know....

I pay for this site, so I should probably use it! For the last two weekends I was hitting up Lake Huron braving the bitter cold, wind, and a genuine real Canadian winter like I remember from my youth. If you’re younger, you may not know, but temperatures and conditions like this are pretty much normal. Don’t let the media sensationalize it. When I was a kid, the snowbanks were rarely shorter than me, unlike the winters we have had recently. That aside, I plan to update this site more, go further, and possibly longer. It is quite a shame that the places I want to go tend to be seasonal. The hotels and motels are rarely open which Is why I’m looking into short term solutions. The trailer is one, but unless I can get it stored in the city on the cheap, it isn’t good. The truck idea would be great, but I’d need to also keep it somewhere safe when not in use.. and on the side of the road isn’t what i’d consider. So monthly parking in a lot where it would fit would be ideal. For now, Sleeping in the back of the XV is probably the best idea, but that has problems of its own. Condensation, keeping it warm, having a place for my gear and my roadside breakdown tools as well. There’s room in there for a double sized mattress, but obviously that requires literally all the room. So something more twin sized, roll-able, and thick enough to keep me off the floor. My sleeping bag is good for -40c so that should do for the warmth department, but an additional heater that doesn’t drain my battery and also doesn’t kill me in my sleep due to fumes would be ideal. I have a lot to think about. Living in an apartment has its benefits, and its downfalls, just like anything in life, there’s no perfect solution.

Site Updates!

I have reorganized the gallery, removing some old stuff, and adding a lot of new stuff. Feel free to browse through and enjoy, or not!

I will also be updating the store over the next few days, adding new products. That is especially important, since, as of august 31’st I am no longer employed. I have been tirelessly searching for new employment, but with a recession looming, it may not be the best time to find a job. I’ll not be dissuaded, however, I do have until January to find something before I have to give up and leave Toronto. I won’t be able to afford to live here without a reasonable income. I will be heading to Point Pelee this coming weekend to see what I can see, there may be a video.. but if there’s a lot of people there may not be. I hope there are some good photos though! I’m aiming to arrive early, maybe even for sunrise.. but we’ll see if I can haul my body out of bed in time to get there. it is roughly two hours away from here.

Life in General.

I have some news.  I can't talk about it now, however, I wanted to do a quick update in non-related regards.

I have been working on a construction project, for the last year.  This was initially intended to get me into a position where I had a place to sleep and park once I found a good spot for landscape photography.  It is nearly complete, and unfortunately I'll have to pause that for now due to financial issues.

I'll be frank, I have not properly promoted this 'side venture' and therefore it hasn't brought me a single penny, in fact, it has costed me around $4000 at this point in time.  I may need to shut it down while I go through some life stuff, and re-evaluate what I'm doing.  or I may decide to go all-in and risk it all.  As I mentioned before, I have not put enough work into it.  I don't really have an outline of what I want to do with it, what services I want to do, I had the Naive thought that my photos would stand on their own, but the fact is, nothing does.  You need to elbow grease the heck out of it, print them out, show them at markets, get social media acceptance and range.  As a person who does not like lots of attention, this is an extra hurdle.  I expect you'll be hearing more from me in the next few days.

I slipped and fell on Family Day 2018

I did, manage to get back up again, though.  This little video was a bit of a dissapointment, I shot a lot of footage and managed to piece together 'something' but I went in without a plan, and as a result came out without much of a story.  Lessons learned, hopefully the next one will be better.

Building a Backup #4

This is mostly it.  I skipped most of the operating system install, because quite frankly it was pretty anti-climactic.  It 'just works' with a few small caveats, but not enough to really build a whole video on.  This one is the 12v power supply install and test.  I have to say, I edited the video off of the NAS on 12v this time around, and it seems.. stable, up to a point.  I have a feeling the '160W' power supply isn't actually up to the task, I think it is quite closer to 90W instead but I don't really have a way of testing that at the moment.  I am not able to use the 'wireless solution' I describe in the video, since it seems to pull just a little too much power, so I'll need to figgure out further energy saving measures.  Since the fuses in my extension cable are only 5A and don't blow, it must be a limitation of that 160w Power supply.  

I will be heading north again, so I probably won't be posting much more than a blog update next weekend.

Building a Backup #3

As promised, video #3.  I'm still recovering from whatever it is I picked up at Nottawasaga Bluffs, though, doing better today.  I don't think I have enough remaining footage from this project for #4 so that might have to wait until I receive the power supply.  It supposedly should arrive between February 4th and February 18th, so hopefully it does.  I do have plans for the long weekend so I probably won't be posting a full video update on that weekend.

My New Camera

Yesterday I picked up a new camera, pretty much blew my camera budget for the year but this will allow me to do much better video going forward, as well as giving me more options for when I'm scouting new places that require longer treks into the back woods.  Look forward to the next NAS update too.

I got LOST at Nottawasaga Bluffs!

Trying to switch up the format a little bit.  And yes, I was down right lost.  I spent probably thirty minutes walking in circles between those rock walls wondering how I even got down there let alone how to get out.  In the winter, the geometric shapes of the rock and the snow works as quite effective natural camouflage.  move your head to one side or the other and pathways appear and disappear.  I was finally able to get out by checking my compass bearing (because my GPS wasn't able to get a reliable signal) and then follow the wall closest to where I had parked the car, eventually I found a small cave with a trail marker indicating.. well, I guess you'll have the watch the video!

Unfortunately for me, I woke up this morning with no voice and my throat feeling like it was made out of rusty razor blades.  I guzzled some vitamins, took some Neocitran and passed out half the day (after reporting a sick day at work - of course).  I feel a bit better now, drinking lots of fluids and hopefully will be back down town in the dark, gray, boring city once again.  Assuming I'm able to walk upright again by the weekend I expect to be on the road again, if I don't go back to the bluffs again, I expect to visit some of the areas around there.  The photos I took there are unfortunately soft or blurred, because I miscalculated my focal length and didn't have my shutter speed quite fast enough.  I was just so enthralled by the formations in the rocks and the ice that I lost all of my concentration and was just shooting like a madman.  Part of the reason I scout these areas is, to find great places, and second of all, so I can go there with familiarity and purpose next time I go!

Building a Backup #2

The second installment,  I unbox nearly everything needed for my NAS build.  Hopefully the editing is a bit better this time.  I have more footage for this little project so keep your eyes peeled next weekend.  I'm trying to draw it out a little bit, since I'm still waiting on the final parts!

Today, I went to Nottawasaga Bluffs conservation area, and recorded a lot.  I had wanted to go to Niagara falls, but I'm glad I decided against it.  It was warm today, six degrees at the peak, and I got a good workout with my cleats on, which kept me 'mostly' upright and not sliding down a crevasse.  yes, there's a crevasse - one I had all to myself!  I guess no one else brought proper footwear, or maybe just because I arrived by 6:30 am.

Building a Backup #1

Over the holidays I got out and about but didn't actually get much that I can piece together into a video.  Not feeling as motivated for the last few months, either which didn't help.  When I got home I found that one of my NAS storage devices had both drives fail, leaving me with a bit of data loss.  With that in mind, I decided to build my own solution.  The weather has been flipping back and fourth so I'm hoping to get some more outdoors time soon.  I possibly intend to head around Niagara next weekend, depending on how the weather goes.