Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: July 2023

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Sunday July 30, 2023 Whyte Avenue

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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 http://saccc05.tripod.com/

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Sunday July 30, 2023

So, again, I was up early to do yesterday's Blog, then chores, and napped again before returning to Whyte Avenue for the afternoon with Bob.

The sun was warm and the crowds were sparse today, with it being the last day of Klondike days. Many folks were not interested in having their photos taken today, so we headed to the Commercial Hotel for the music to start at 3pm.

Outside we took a group picture, and the one fellow introduced himself as Leo, promising to buy the first round for us! Little did I know, until we enetered the patio and saw the sign, that Leo was to be our afternoon entertainment! Leo was originally from Chile as was another fellow sitting across from us.

Leo was very entertaining:

https://youtube.com/shorts/M6m_1pHAWZc

Another fun day on Whyte!

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.

Entertainer in Spanish

Lots of dogs again today

See the dog?

Leo and friends

Leo

She plays basketball!

One of the servers

Bob and new friend

Saturday July 29, 2023 Whyte Avenue

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 http://saccc05.tripod.com/

******

Saturday July 29, 2023

Brainstorms and ideas swirl when I wake too early and am trying to doze. Today was an exceptional day as I had a GREAT idea and jumped up excitedly to explore the Eureka moment...

One of the things I enjoy most is people-watching and interacting with people trying to get photographs on busy Whyte Avenue, so why not have a place where they can find those photos, without exchanging personal information???

I already had a business page for Souvenir Photo Studio set up since 2011 on Facebook that I had only activated for a very short time. What if I could amend it to something simple, like "Whyte Ave Photos"??? And what if I had a simple way for people to connect to it???

I got up and started my research, first, to see if a QR code could be added and, to my surprise, that answer was amazingly simple! The fun part was dealing with balky Facebook, and after several tries, I finally got the page to amend to what I wanted. Then it actually handed me a QR code on a silver platter and I was off to the races!

I chose a nice group shot I had taken on Whyte Avenue with Jenn and her stagette friends after I had given her a ride on my Gio.... I went into my Print Shop 23 program and combined it with the QR code. My Canon actually printed a colour version without problem and the Brother laser did an easy black+white. I put them back to back and laminated the new poster.

Then I figured out a simple way (to be improved yet) to have it on my Gio windshield so it would not flap around, and we were very impressed with ourselves!!

This code should work for you if you want to try it...!!

I whiled away the day catching up on sleep before my salad supper and painfully watching the CFL game between BC and Edmonton. Midway through the 3rd quarter I had had enough and called Big Bob to say that I was going to Whyte Ave. He joined me on his red Gio.

It actually shocked me at the fantastically positive reception I got to the poster and the QR code!!!!! Most of the subjects were happy to scan the code so they could see their photos on Sunday!

And also shocking was the recognition by a few nice people of my prior sessions at that spot, including other photographers! I was hoping to build a bit of a good reputation there, as I had at Joes' Secret Garden in Cuencaa, Ecuador, which surely was the catalyst for me to get the Best Photographer award on GringoPost for 5 years running before I left. It appears that I am well on my way, and I am loving this new easy way of doing it.

Partway through, we motored up the block to the Games room (no cover charge) in the Commercial Hotel for a beer, and even took photos around there. One guy came down to us from the patio and asked if he could sit on our Gios and have someone take his photos. We said "Go ahead" and he pressed $10 on us for the easy privilege! Bob promptly lost that money in the closest VLT machine, lol.

Upon leaving around 10:30pm, we were starving and stopped at 4 restaurants, even McDonalds, only to find that they were all closed on a Saturday night! The one pizza/donair place that was open would not allow us bathroom privileges, so they did not get our patronage and are now on our sh*t list.

Bob insisted that he had meatloaf leftovers with beans, and he would make french fries,... so we actually ate in his suite and I got home after midnight to work on these photos.

I am so rejuvenated with my new brilliant idea!

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.

A block up from Whyte

Some enjoying that park

Wonderful Border Collie cross, so smart!

Back in our spot

Poor Edmonton Elks fans. They lost again...

Friendly policeman

Not many stagettes tonight

Yes, we draw some nice looks.

Stripper doing promotions

We each got one of these.

We stopped for a brew.

Old Indian bike.

Setting up to play

Getting dark

Almost ready...