Snappy Friday – Wedding Bells!
Erika getting prepped for her big day!

Erika getting prepped for her big day!

Hi, everyone!  I spent the day snapping pics of my long time friend, Erika, today!  As you can see, it was her wedding day!  So I was under a semi “media blackout” – haha!

I haven’t forgotten the bicycle race pics – I dropped off my rolls of film yesterday afternoon and I’m hoping they will be scanned and ready for next week. Also, this weekend is chock full of stuff for me to do, so I’ll be posting more pics next week.

In the meantime, please follow our photographic adventures by subscribing here and follow us on instagram (Me – alvin_villanueva and JP – gta86).  Also put a like on our Facebook page!

Alvin’s Digital Follies – The 2016 Thompson Bucks County Classic
"Feeling the heat (in more ways than one...)" 2016 Thompson Bucks County Classic, Doylestown, PA

“Feeling the heat (in more ways than one…)” 2016 Thompson Bucks County Classic, Doylestown, PA

 

I apologize for taking so long to post since the teaser I put up in Snappy Friday.  My son and I had spent the weekend in the state of Pennsylvania to meet up with our friend, JP.  Yes, a road trip!  I do love road trips!  The reason for this road trip?  It was to try my hand at taking some sports photography, namely, the Thompson Bucks County Classic!

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Snappy Fridays – Getting Ready For Another Trip!

Safe to say, I’m ready for this weekend’s road trip!  My son and I are heading over to the beautiful state of Pennsylvania to meet up with Jezza.

You may be asking, “Wait, why all the film? ” and, “Why 1600 Fuji Colour?!?”. To answer, if you’ve seen my earliest posts in this blog, I do shoot film and I haven’t shot film in a LONG time, so I needed a fix. In regards to 1600 – stay tuned to find out!

Alvin’s Digital Follies – A Sunday Meat Fix
Bario Restaurant, as seen from the West.

Barrio Restaurant, as seen from the West.


Labour Day is commonly known as the last long weekend of the summer in Canada and the U.S.  Most people head out of town to cottages or to camp.  This year, because I am doing a bit more travel than expected, I stayed in town.
What to do in Toronto?  Well there are plenty of things to do!  The CNE (locally known as “The Ex”) is still running, and for the first time, the annual Epilepsy Toronto Buskerfest ran this weekend at Woodbine Park.  But before heading over to the Buskerfest, my girlfriend and I decided to go to church, then have lunch.

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Alvin’s Road Trip Follies – Pelee Island
"JIIMAAN's mouth closes..." Kingsville Ferry Dock, Ontario

“JIIMAAN’s mouth closes…” Kingsville Ferry Dock, Ontario

 

I’m a bit overdue to put up this post, since I had gone on this trip last week.  Having no cellphone signal on the island was bad enough, although Rogers does insist that there is coverage on the island.  Well, I was getting constant text messages saying “Welcome to the U.S.A.”.  I guess this was to be expected, since Pelee Island is Canada’s most southern point.

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Jezza’s Gift Follies

Every year for my birthday, my lovely wife always asks me “what do you want for your birthday?”, and I always respond with a resounding “dunno”.  I did come back with something once I think about it for a couple of days.

This year, I chose the Think Tank Photo Retrospective 30 Camera bag as my gift of choice.  I am in desperate need of a functional, yet compact camera bag.  My Tamrac Pro-12 is too big and bulky, and my Tenba Messenger bag (I forget the model number) is getting too small, or is small, or my gear just doesn’t fit in it anymore, or at least it’s not meeting my current needs.

Now, why the Think Tank Retrospective 30 you ask? Well allow me to explain. I listen to this obnoxious photographer’s podcast called Raw Talk. That photographer is Jared Polin aka the Fro.  If you don’t know who he is, watch or listen to his weekly podcast, Raw Talk.  Jared and Co. (Stephen, Todd, DDDan, and Noah) are a blast to listen to.

But anyway, what does listening to some dude’s podcast made me pick a particular camera bag?  Well, Jared sells his own version of one (linky here) and he spoke very highly of it.  (as he should since he’s peddling it. LoL)   I took a closer look, and it practically fits my needs. I would have bought his “I Shoot Raw” branded version, but I like to be a bit more discrete.

So now it brings me to my predicament.  My wife ordered the bag through Amazon, which was being sold by a third party seller through Amazon. It was Prime eligible, and was going to be arriving the day of my birthday.  I come home, and I see all the gifts she had for me waiting for me and a mysterious Phottix boom stand box. (see pic)

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Snappy Fridays – “Mount up!”
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Tricia is raring to go.

Tricia (my Jeep Patriot) has the bikes mounted and cargo loaded!  With that said, off we go on another weekend road trip adventure.  Until my next post, see you all on instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Digital Follies – Open Streets Toronto (Aug. 21, 2016)
Road Closed! Yonge Street, looking north from Shuter Street.

Road Closed for Open Streets!  Yonge Street, looking north from Shuter Street.

 

Well, it was raining on the Saturday night that had just past, and I was concerned that on Sunday it would be a bit too wet to bike out to Bloor Street and Yonge Street where Open Streets Toronto was being held.  To my delight, the moisture dried up and it turned out to be a beautiful day!  It was a great change from the heat waves that ravaged the city for the past few weeks.

 

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Alvin’s Musical Follies – Alvin Restrings a Cute Guitar

 

No, this is not my guitar. The owner is my son’s classmate.  I was just asked to replace the strings on this guitar, but I gave it a bit more.  This cute, black beauty, needed some TLC.

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