Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Saturday July 5, 2025 Visitors

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Older Blog: https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

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Saturday July 5, 2025

Well I did score a tripod like my present one off Kijiji, way at the south end of the city. There was one available closer, but the guy would not respond properly so it is his loss. Now I have 2 tripods in my window, one for close-ups and one for landscapes.

I spent a good chunk of Friday trying to find a lens for the extre D5600 I have in the window. I checked a few out, then talked to Don, who is extremely knowledgable about these, and ended up staying with my short 50mm lens, which is a prime lens with good optics. There was no point getting another lens to compete with my 28-300mm and the 28-3000mm!

I read my second Joseph Kanon book until 2am again, slept until 10am, did my first batch of exercises, laid down to rest a minute and it was past noon when I looked at the clock again.

I never accomplished much until I got a surprise call from my Godson, Russell Zotzman and his wife Angie (who is also my accountant) from Calgary. They were cruising through town close by and were wondering if I had time for a beer.... I had nothing but time on my hands so they picked me up and we went to On The Rocks. Angie ordered calamari (which was awful), Russ ordered jalapeno poppers, and I decided it was time for a steak (which was only passable, really tough to cut), but, as always, we enjoyed each other's company and got caught up on happenings and trips planned. Russ's mother Eleanore is in the U of A Hospital ICU ward with leg and mobility problems. I will try to get over there tomorrow...

Tomorrow promises to be a busy day.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

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If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

2 Tripods and cameras in the window

Angie, old guy, and Russ

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Thursday July 3, 2025 Tripods

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Older Blog: https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

******

Thursday July 3, 2025

So I took Don with me to surprise Bob at Wing Night at On The Rocks last night. Don had been feeling left out of our gatherings so this made him feel good. Bob had 10 wings, Don 20, and myself, I went crazy and had 30 wings.... And we each had a Moosehead beer while watching the Blue Jays blow an 8-0 lead but pull it out with an 11-9 win, so they are now tied with the other top team, the Yankees! Go Jays Go!

Today, I tackled the tripod problem with a pair on channel-lock pliers and finally did manage to remove the old ball-head from my Geekoto tripod. This allowed me to install my new fluid-head which is much easier for me to manage panning and focus. Test pics below....

So, that got me thinking that I should have a spare tripod with the ball-head so I am presently shopping on Facebook Marketplace. There are 2 similar to mine available for $45, so I am pretty certain I will do this today.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

******

If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

The new Chinese fluid-head

Post 40' away

Vehicle over 100' away

A lily close to my Regal

My Regal

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Wednesday July 2, 2025 Fireworks

PLEASE bookmark this page and check daily.

Older Blog: https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

******

Wednesday July 2, 2025

So, I did decide to sneak out with the P1100 to try to find a spot to photograph the 11pm Canada Day Fireworks last night. Actually, I took a chance and only went 2 blocks basically to see if I could get an angle to catch the fireworks along with the Legislature building... I did guess right and the first 3 pictures show the result of my thinking.

But then I moved again onto 109 St itself (no traffic allowed during the fireworks) and zoomed in to get better and closer shots of the actual explosions in the sky.

I was shooting continuously pretty well for 20 minutes, in roughly 4-second bursts, and took 144 shots. Then I came home and worked on the photos until 2:30am today, culling out 100 of the shots. I am really happy with the 44 shots I decided to keep below.

I did not get a whole lot of sleep because I had to try to help Bob, driving him to 2 different locations for Shaw (Rogers) Cable. Bob wants out of an unsigned TV contract (which they were supposed to email me a copy, because Bob has no email, etc., but have not, as yet) for which they are charging outrageous prices.. Bob can get reasonable internet and cable through his new apartment and wants to drastically reduce his costs. The jerks at Shaw want $450 to break the contract, so Bob will simply refuse to pay these crooks, especially after they were most unhelpful when we visited their Southgate office. They make it almost impossible to deal with them by phone. Rogers and Telus have both ripped us off for years and do not deserve our business.

When I returned home, I helped our friend Louise order some lovely caftans on Temu.

Now I am going to rest this afternoon and have a lazy evening .....

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

******

If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.