Life Imitates Art: Back Alley Loiterer

I was walking along my usual picture-taking route, checking out the alley ways for recent graffiti updates. I've noticed that there are always people standing inside the doorways along alleys for some reason. They don't look like delivery guys, nor do they look like employees or drug dealers. They just seem to be hanging out for no reason. Anyways, I found this fresh graffiti and decided to try and make the shot interesting by incorporating the two guys hanging out next to it. 

Another Walter White Poster by Wrk(less)

One of my buddies in the animation industry showed my recent post of the Walter White Apply Yourself wheat paste poster to his director. "I know him, he's my buddy" said his director! Small world. His working art name is Wrk(less) and you can find his work all around Vancouver, although I find the highest concentration of his work in and around Gastown.  I passed on the message to my buddy to tell his director to tell Wrk(less) that I would love to interview him for my blog. I hope to have an interview with him soon. Thanks for the hook-up Jer!! 

This particular Walter White poster is just outside Bangtown Hair Studio on West Pender. Go check it out, as well as Bangtown. I'll have a review of Bangtown up sometime soon as well...

Orange Bike, Orange Hair, Acme Cafe

I was walking along Hastings Street in Vancouver looking to test the 'Partial Color' feature on the Fuji XF1. It's not as well executed as the Canon's, so I had to find a pre-determined colour to match the camera (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple).  I found an orange recumbent bike that matched perfectly. I wanted to get a decent wide image of the cafe as well, so I had to step out onto the street to try and get the shot. Every time there was a break in traffic, I'd step out on to the road and take a few quick snapshots.  I patiently waited for the perfect moment of someone walking in, and eventually a guy with orange hair walked into my frame and headed for the door. I quickly took my shot, and I accidentally captured the curious reaction of the two girls in the cafe starring at the guy as well.  Right place, right time. 

Apply Yourself: Walter White Graffiti Poster

I've seen this poster-style graffiti all over DT Vancouver. I don't watch Breaking Bad so I don't know anything about the character of Walter White, or if this is a line he's famous for saying in the show.  I don't yet know the name of the different artists around town doing most of the graffiti art in Vancouver either. Are they paid? Commissioned? Illegal? Grey area? Hopefully I'll run into one of these artists in the act and I'll interview them. Until then, here you go...

Shot on Fujifilm X-F1 at 50mm equiv. Full review soon...

Cool Grandpa = Fedoras, Aviators, Hoodie and Leather Shoes

I was heading downtown the other day and I saw the coolest guy sitting at the back of the bus (where else right?). It didn't matter that he was an older gentleman. It didn't matter that he was mixing different genres and generations of fashion. If you're cool, you're cool. If you have the right attitude and style, you can almost pull off any look! He even had a really cool varsity ring on his left hand too, but you can't see it in the picture.  Look at the killer way he has his foot up against the seat...

Fujifilm XF1 Review and Motion Panorama

Walking along the alleyways of the DTES of Vancouver, it can be a bit scary. It can be even scarier if you don't fit in and lug around a whole mess of conspicuous camera equipment. That's why I really appreciate the size of the new Fujifilm XF1. It has many of the same features as the it's big brother the X-10 and X-20, but it easily slips into a front pocket, or even hidden in the palm of your hand as you walk discretely through crowds and alleyways.

I have an upcoming full review of the Fujifilm XF1, but so far I'm loving the camera! The retrostyle reminds me of the old Nikon 35ti film camera, but the operation is clearly digital in execution. In the old days, I would have to drag around a Noblex panorama camera on a sturdy tripod to get a shot like this. All I have to do now is find the feature buried inside the Advanced feature section of the main dial and then sweep away!

Store Review: Fortknight Men's Boutique

Guitars, fountain pens, shoe polish, pocket squares, shaving and drinking paraphernalia, handmade bags, wine barrels. What do they all have in common? They can all be found at Fortknight Men's Boutique in Gastown. Okay, maybe the wine barrels aren't for sale (or are they?) but everything else you can find here, and more.

Walking past his store window and looking in, I just had to go inside and see what this place was all about. I asked Tyler, as a retailer, how can he tie together all these seemingly dis-connected products and sell them under a single roof?  Sell a PRS guitar with a bottle of Taylor of Old Bond Street shaving cream? How about a made in  Austria decanter with a nice beeswax shoe polish from Paris? A Jet City guitar amp with a Graf von Fabre-Castell fountain pen? What was his retail theme? His answer was simple...

ABC 123. Keeping Graffiti Within the Lines!

I was walking down Main and Hastings the other day and came across this old abandoned storefront. I couldn't help but notice the unique 'presentation' of the graffiti on the window. Since the security bars are in the way, these guys had to write within the space. It kinda defeats the purpose of graffiti doesn't it? They're trying to be all rebellious and anti-establishment, but had to keep nice and straight, orderly, evenly spaced, and within the literal lines! Ha ha...maybe they should practice their ABC's next time!

Off-Road Unicycle? BC Wheel? No Space?

When I saw this I was literally laughing while I took the picture...then I was scratching my head...what situation would bring about this result? It looks like an off-road vehicle spare tire right? Why would this person need to take this off and lock it up and store it on a bike rack?  It's fully inflated, so the full-sized spare is still good. Hmm... 

Review: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55 Lens

Full Review: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55 F2.8-4 O.I.S Zoom

Thank you for waiting patiently for my full review of the Fujifilm X-E1 with the 18-55 F2.8-4 zoom lens. I apologize for the long delay. I had a stack of notes and a (virtual) stack of pictures to go through and analyze, so it’s taken a bit of time to come up with this review. Instead of making you wait to the end to read my conclusion, let's start with my final thoughts...