No big story to accompany this image. My goal here was to get the smoke stacks and the tandoori place in the reflecting bits without getting any passing vehicles, people, Davin, or myself. I also had to stand in the street to take this shot which was difficult but a whole lot easier than trying to do this in Toronto. There's just too much traffic here to attempt such long views so I took the opportunity as I had it. Plus here I have to concentrate a bit harder on cropping out contemporary and/or ugly elements. That was less of a problem in Niagara Falls since I could find a entire storefronts like this with nothing displeasing to get in my way. I really enjoyed the change of scenery for those little differences alone.
I think this puzzle-solving element is one of the things about photography that appeals to me.
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This is going to be a crazy weekend followed by another crazy week. I am about to leave to spend the entire day "shopping" with the Toronto Star. The forecast is calling for rain though. I might be on CBC Newsworld on Sunday morning around 11:30 am. It hasn't been confirmed yet. I'm not sure I should be announcing that publically but at the same time what's the point of taking the time to do this kind of stuff if I'm not going to promote it?
I suddenly realized two days ago that I have a bunch of stuff coming up that involves being photographed, on television, and/or being seen by people in public in a context that involves my looking presentable in a particular way that falls outside what I deem as presentable on a day-to-day basis. My hair has grown out so I made a fast appointment to get it cut yesterday. I couldn't get the woman who cut my hair last time. That was a mistake. I took it for granted that my hair hadn't grown much and that the new person would be able to easily figure out what to do to achieve the style I liked. This woman didn't cut enough off in the back and sides, and had to recut it a few times based on vague prompts from me such as, "It looks screwy. I don't know why but it's freaking me out." I get scared in THE CHAIR and become a bumbling, incoherant fool. In the meantime she had cut it too short in the front in that tapered way that makes me look dorky. I couldn't tell what was happening because my glasses were off and once it's gone too short there is no going back. I think the resulting haircut looks like I'm trying too hard. And now it will be forever immortalized and seen by several people who will not know that it's just a bad cut.
Sitting here all day, quietly working away at my stuff was a lot easier than this whole having-to-care-what-I-look-like-thing I've gotten myself into. Part of me enjoys this aspect of it. I enjoy talking to people who share a common interest, and of course it's a very good thing that people are receiving the book so well and WANT to interview me etc. What if they hated it and no one wanted to interview me or take my photo for such and such? What then? But there's also a part of me that resents the intrusion into my quiet and possibly "easier" life, resents having to suck back the emotional turmoil of this last year and be there and be positive at times when I'm feeling anything but positive.
I always think something is going to be a certain way and it always turns out to be easier or more difficult. or both but never exactly what I thought.