Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Stockholm at Night



I did some night photography on my last trip to Sweden. Actually, this time of year it was more like dusk photography.....:) This time of year it doesn't ever get really dark in Stockholm. That's in stark contrast to my first trip in Dec. when the sun went down around 3 in the afternoon..... :) That's the Swedish Parliament building from behind, at around 11pm. It was a 30 second exposure on my Pentax K10D using my 16-50 SDM lens. Let's just say that the in camera level that is a new feature of the upcoming K7 would've helped...... :)

I downloaded and ran PhotoMe recently. I had no idea there was that much EXIF data in my photos.

If anyone has any recommendations on places to get 16x20 prints made I'm all ears. I've got a half dozen or so recent pictures I want to get printed large, including that one. There's a dizzying array of places to do this, including some that can print on aluminum....that's expensive (by my standards) but it looks very cool from what I've seen so far..... :)

Warsaw is next on my list....and yes, I'm taking my tripod.... :)

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Great Pumpkin Arrives In Nova Scotia

March 10th! How did that happen? That's the date of my last post. Since then there have been not one, but two more trips to Sweden (one in April and one in May) and I'll have more pictures from those to share soon. I may start using Picassa for photo sharing, we'll see.

Last night was election night in Nova Scotia. As predicted the New Democrat Party (NDP) (party color is orange) squashed (pun intended) the Tory minority government we had before the election. You did know that pumpkins are in the squash family didn't you?

Voter turnout was 58%. That is, 58% of the eligible voters cast a ballot. Since the NDP won a majority with 45% of the popular vote, that means that 26.1% of the population (45% of 58) determined the newly elected government. Am I the only one who finds that appalling?

The NDP have never formed a government in Nova Scotia before. We'll see how they do. I find myself possessed of a certain morbid curiousity.

After one of the last Federal elections a few years ago, when the Liberals won a clear majority by sweeping Ontario and a couple of seats in Quebec, I took to referring to them as the Federal Government of Ontario.

Would the results have been different if more people had participated? Given the mood here I'd suggest probably not. Still, I'd feel happier if I knew that the government was determined by more than 40% of the eligible voters.....

Not only did I vote yesterday, but I also acted as a 'scruitineer'. What that means is that I went to one of the polls, on behalf of one of the candidates, where I witnessed and participated in the counting of the votes. The early results were telling. The candidate I was representing surged ahead for a bit, then gradually lost ground. Then he lost more ground, and well before we got to the last of the votes, it was clear. There was no hope.... :) Despite the disappointment it was a very interesting insight into the political process, and part of it that I'd never witnessed before.

If I can find a good picture of a pumpkin I'll add it to the beginning of this post later. In the meantime, did anyone bring some whipped cream? I feel like a slice of pie..... :)