But for now, I'll keep plugging away at what I enjoy doing :)

Today we were packing up our photo stuff and doing our final checks when our Lowel Omni bulb popped. Loverly. So now we're making phone calls trying to track down a bulb from 1994 in Vancouver, which isn't a big photo town to begin with, I don't think. Four stores didn't know what we were talking about, one did but said their catalogues don't cover those years anymore. So...

The search continues.

Perhaps Cinequip will have the bulb. They probably will, but they might have to order it in. Nothing for today, regardless. So if the shoots turn out a little dark, you know what happened. :/

Ok, Elli out! Wish us luck!

I was working on my photos from my latest photo weekend and was getting exceedingly disappointed. The photos rocked, but so many were out of focus! I've been noticing it getting worse since Mexico, but now it's *really* bad. Terribly upset about the prospect of repairing my Nikon D200 body, I did some reseach. There's a very handy page that explains how to test for a problem called "back focus," which occurs when the focus point is actually behind where you think the camera should focus.

So I printed out the test chart and shot the test shots accordingly. My trusty lens that I got with my D70 kit is focusing a good 30mm behind the actual set focus area! Worried, I tested my zoom and prime lenses, but they were both tack sharp. This means it's the lens, not the body.

Now I've been reading a bit and found that the D200 can have problems with specific lenses, but so far haven't found if this is one of them. My lens is a good 5 years old, so perhaps it has been sliding out of spec for a while now.

Instead of Diva lights, it looks like Elli needs to upgrade her glass before her next shoot day. :(

Plumb tuckered out, I am! Today was a super busy day. This weekend is a shoot weekend, and we're heading out to catch an early ferry on Friday morning, so today we went to Costco (cuz we were out of shitter paper), the computer store to pick up a Kensington lock for my new laptop, and the mall to rape and pillage the many, many "up to 50% off" sales. Disappointingly I didn't find any lingerie worth buying. I did clean up with a bunch of doodads and earrings and the like, though. Oh, and *cute* gym shorts. Ironically they say "1975" on the back as if they're varsity style, and that's only one year off from my birthday. Are the shorts meant for little teenies to wear, as if they stole their mom's old college clothes? I'll never understand fashion, i suppose.

So knackered. I'm doing one more load of laundry, then off to bed. In the morning I'm up bright and early to get my toes done up all pretty, then get gas for the car, then off to Burnaby to pick up some last minute lighting equipment. Back home to pack, then off on Friday morning! Exciting, n'est pas?

A plane just crashed into an apartment building in Richmond, BC. That's the next town over from me! The news stations have already set up a phone line for anyone who saw what happened. Apparently a small twin engine plane like a Cessna or Piper took off from YVR, then instead of pulling up, it turned a sharp right turn and ran smack into the ninth floor of an apartment building! Those poor people. :( The good news is that within 30 seconds (according to witnesses on the ground) the city was alive with ambulances and other emergency personnel. That's a pretty darned good response time, if you ask me.

On another note, here's a zen photo that I took over the weekend of some leaves in a pool.

Yesterday was a complete stress attack, but I'm feeling *much* better today! I'm back at work and can't wait to do my first photo shoot with our new Nikon D200! Wooty woot woot!

Soooo excited :)

I need a haircut really badly, but I'm trying to wait. A friend is getting married in a couple weeks, and I'd rather have a fresh haircut for the wedding. Yes, girls are like that. We're complicated. Deal with it.

What I really need, though, is a pedicure. I have a gift certificate that I got for my birthday, so I think I'm going to do that this weekend.

Ok, back to work!

I visited the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens yesterday, which is in the heart of Chinatown in Vancouver, BC. They are an extremely beautiful, well-crafted traditional Chinese scholar's garden, complete with camphor wood pavilions and carved bamboo canary cages. If you ever get a chance to visit, Do So!


~ Elli

elli@ellinude.com
find all my photos here: http://www.ElliNude.com
my daily blog: http://www.TheReluctantPornstar.com

Last week every day started out with sunshine and goodness. However, by the time I got my schedule cleared enough to go outside, the rain had started. Not so on Sunday! Yesterday was a gorgeous, clear day all day long! We took the camera out and snapped some photos. Now I just have to install Nikon Capture on this computer. It seems to have been forgotten in the format-reinstall process.

Ok, the snow stuck around for another day, and there's more in the forecast for today. *Hopefully* the extra snow will give some traction over the ice rink that is my street tonight so I can get my car out.

Want to see some more snow photos I took this morning? Yes, Elli has picked up the camera again, thank goodness! I was getting rusty, I think! Here we are outside again, but I've manipulated these a wee bit with a soft diffuse glow and a 50% or so desaturated layer for effect.



( More snowy scenes behind the cut! )

Granted, it's subzero according to the Celsius scale, not the crazy American one. I woke up to a gorgeous winter morning today, and thought I would share a few photos of it with you! Ready? Here we go!







And Missy says Pffffth!

Current temperature: -7°C Partly cloudy

FEELS LIKE	-13°C
WIND	SE 17 km/h
GUSTS
RELATIVE HUMIDITY	62%
DEWPOINT	-13°C
PRESSURE	102.72 kPa
VISIBILITY	32 km
CEILING	3600 ft