: I've Still Got A Fever...

And the only prescription... is more sporadic website updates cowbell !

In my last Pants update way back in August I mentioned that I was feeling a bit under the weather thanks to a certain fever. Unfortunately instead of Peggle fever, cowbell fever or yellow fever (or any of the other fevers I wouldn't mind getting...), the fever I had was in fact glandular fever. And it sucks to be me because here I am three months later and it's still hanging around, meaning I'm still feeling quite fatigued at times and often a little braindead.

I took almost a month off work to try and recover but now I'm back at work again. In theory my break from work could be considered a holiday, but the most I got up to for that month was a few hours of Peggle each day in between 16hr+ sessions of deep sleep. It was most unfortunate timing for me, considering that one of my other big passions in life (aside from Peggle) is my fondness for stupidly expensive sexy camera equipment.

You see, just a week before glandular fever hit me bad, I went out and bought a new DSLR camera — a Canon EOS 1D mkIII, the smooth & svelte outline pictured below:

The EOS 1D is one of Canon's flagship cameras and it is a huge step up from what I was using previously for most of the photo galleries currently on the site. I'd talk more about the camera (and I probably will later...), but I can't say too much at the moment because I haven't actually had a decent chance to use it yet thanks to my god-damn chronic fatigue. Sniff... :(

I have used it a little bit since I bought it in August (and already know it was definitely money well-spent), but given my illness and my workaholic-ness I'm yet to give the camera a proper workout yet. What I can do though is post couple of sample shots from a few events I've shot so far. The general consensus of the feedback I get is that I'm waaaaay behind with my photo gallery updates (duh!) so I figure this will give Pants visitors something to look at until I get all the proper photo galleries sorted out.

The three shoots posted below don't really have a common theme aside from the fact that they were all shot with my new EOS 1D and they each had an unknown or foreign element to them, which is about the most tenuous link I can think of to group all three shoots together...

And although you don't even know who I am, I hope you had a happy birthday today Fiorella. :)

: I Don't Understand, Part I

Formerly known as "Ith In The Thand"

The weekend after I collected my brand-spankin' new camera, the very first thing I went out to shoot was some local soccer shenanigans. I wouldn't say I'm much of a soccer fan and I certainly don't pretend to understand all the intricacies of the game, particularly the part where the players roll around on the pitch pretending to be injured and/or dead. I mean seriously, I've seen better acting on Step By Step (starring TV's Patrick Duffy, need I say any more...).

The soccer was not my most ideal way of getting familiar with my new camera, but in hindsight it became a very useful test. The unpredictable nature of the soccer helped me figure out how the autofocus works on the 1D (which is different and far better than my old DLSR).

Action shots need fast shutter speeds which in turn need good light levels, and light was not something in great abundance that day either due to the brooding storm clouds above. This turned into another advantage though, since I got to test the high ISO (low light) capabilities of my new camera, and also the environmental seals on the camera body and lenses.

Both tests worked out great — I spent over an hour in heavy rain (and even hail) and kept on shooting. I was decked out in industrial strength wet-weather gear and both me and the camera were completely drenched after it all but the 1D just kept on going. It was a scary initiation ceremony/stress test for my new expensive equipment but it totally passed on all levels. :)

: I Don't Understand, Part II

Formerly known as "That'th Thwet"

Photoshoot #2 was me wandering over to the Royal Showgrounds for the Autosalon 2008 motor show thingy. This was a purely photographical exercise because my knowledge of the tuner car culture extends to playing the Need For Speed: Underground games and watching half of a Fast & The Furious film.

While some of the cars were pretty cool (sorry, I mean "pimp"), I actually spent most of that day taking photos of people, not cars. There was a main stage that held a Miss Autosalon contest throughout the day (see below), something which I imagine will get me the same sort of website traffic that ZOO Weekly pushed my way back in March this year.

The guy pictured above was one of my highlights though; he was like a host between shows and every now and then he'd pop out on the stage carrying a wheel rim on his shoulder, then he'd start rapping. Then at the end of his act he'd point his mic towards different parts of the crowd and find the guy who could act like the biggest tool, and that idiot got to take the shoulder-mounted car bling home. The Pants research team later confirmed that this gangster host guy was one half of rap duo X & Hell, but at the time I had given him a nickname of MC Rimjob.

: I Don't Understand, Part III

Formerly kno— yeah, OK... I've been playing way too much Microsoft Golf

The third photoshoot (in mid-August, the last time I've used my new camera) again was at the Royal Showgrounds, this time for something called a Roller Derby. I didn't know much about this before I went, but the basic (successful) sales pitch I gave my mates was "a bunch of women racing around in circles on rollerskates trying to kill and/or make love to each other".

In theory that sounded like fun so the goons and I went to go see this thing. It was all over in about 90 minutes but I think I had a clearer idea of what a roller derby was about before watching one compared to what I knew after watching it. Very confusing stuff...

I seriously have no idea what on earth is going on in this last photo here.
(...or the three photos above either, *ahem*)