Photography with Joe

   📍  Where Baltimore Orioles Live (By Season) Breeding / Summer Range In summer, Baltimore Orioles spread out across much of eastern and central North America. Think of it like a giant seasonal road trip north. Specifically: from southern Canada—southern Ontario, Quebec, and even parts of southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and creeping into eastern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia—down through the U.S. East and central states. They’re in the Midwest, Great Plains (Nebraska, Kansas), the Northeast, the Southeast—basically, anywhere with the right mix of trees and insects. They’re picky about habitat, though. Open deciduous woodlands, forest edges, riverbanks, orchards, city parks, and leafy suburban neighborhoods are prime. But deep, dense forest? Not their thing. They like some breathing room and a good view. Migration Spring is their cue: April–May, flocks start heading north, back to their breeding grounds. Late summer and early fall (July–August onw...

Three Worlds, One Moment 2022 By Scholz and Zeno This photo is basically what it feels like to live right now. I’m holding a phone with this clean picture of a plane taking off — bright sky, sharp colors, everything smooth and intentional. That’s the “inside the device” world: simple, clear, and kind of perfect in a way real life never is. But then behind it, the mirror isn’t giving me one clean reflection. It’s cutting the room into pieces — angles, shards, bits of chairs, color splashes, random objects that weren’t supposed to matter but suddenly do. It’s like the present moment is broken up into fragments, and I’m supposed to make sense of it all even though it doesn’t line up neatly. That’s the tension of the whole thing: the phone world is moving — the plane is literally going somewhere — while the real world behind it is just sitting there, paused, like it doesn’t care whether I’m paying attention or not. My body’s here, but my mind is following the plane. It’s weird how t...

CITIZEN CANADA PRESENTS 🔴 “BUY, BELIEVE, OBEY: THE ACID-AGE CHILDHOOD EDITION” America once feared the future. Not with nuance. Not with science. But with filmstrips. And so, in classrooms across the 1960s and 70s, the lights dimmed, projectors hummed, and government filmmakers rolled out their latest cinematic crusade: Technicolor terror designed to stop kids from even looking at a sugar cube. The message? Drugs were everywhere. Your friends were probably on them. And if you even thought about LSD, your brain would become a lava lamp with legs. Not education. Not health literacy. But spectacle. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 🧧 “Reefer Madness Reloaded (Kids Edition)” The government’s greatest cinematic hits: orange-tinted hallucination montages, fast cuts, sweaty close-ups, and the eternal warning: “This is your brain… on vibes.” These films didn’t teach danger — they taught aesthetics. 🪙 “When Bureaucrats Discovered Psychedelia” Behind the scenes: grey-suited civil servants ...

  Jeff Wall is a highly influential figure in conceptual and staged photography , often considered one of the most important photographers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Here’s a structured explanation: 1. Background Born: September 29, 1946, in Vancouver, Canada. Studied art history and painting at the University of British Columbia. Influenced by painting, cinema, and documentary photography. 2. Style and Approach Staged Photography: Unlike traditional documentary photographers, Wall often constructs scenes carefully , sometimes over weeks, blending fiction and reality. Tableau Form: His photographs are often large-scale, backlit transparencies presented like cinematic stills, resembling paintings in composition and scale. Conceptual Focus: Every image is designed to explore ideas —social, political, historical, or everyday life—rather than just capture moments. Mix of Documentary and Fiction: Even when referencing real events or social...

  The Preset-Focus Trick — a short blog post (pros, cons, example cameras) By Ed Scholz — on “the decisive moment” and mechanical readiness Photography’s “decisive moment” is partly skill, partly timing, partly luck — and partly equipment choices that let you be ready without being fake. One technical shortcut people use is preset focus (sometimes “Preset Focus/Zoom”): register a focus distance (and optionally a zoom position) to a button, then recall it instantly when something enters that distance. Below I run through what that feature actually buys you, the tradeoffs, example Sony bodies that have it, and a deep dive on the most economical Sony that offers the feature. What preset focus actually does (short) You can register up to several focus-distance/zoom combinations to custom buttons; later a single press jumps the lens to that saved focus distance (and zoom) so the camera is instantly “pre-ready” for subjects at predictable spots. This is great for: repeatable stree...

  CITIZEN CANADA PRESENTS 🔴 **“BUY, BELIEVE, OBEY: PLAYBOY IN THE AGE OF CONTENT”** #Scholx #funtimes Playboy enters November like a ghost in a velvet robe. A relic drenched in gold light, half-icon, half-algorithm. The Bunny logo flickers between nostalgia and meme, its ears glitching from print to pixel as culture compulsively refreshes. We scroll past it, yet it lingers. A brand that once defined desire now competes with infinite screens. Hef’s empire dissolved into data; the mansion replaced by cloud storage. The centerfold becomes a PNG, the interview becomes a clip, and the fantasy must now fight for bandwidth. Playboy lives — not as paper, not as lust — but as myth, remixed for the era of hyperpop, monetization, and infinite content. Click. Swipe. Like. Repeat. Desire is decentralized. Seduction is subscription-based. The archive hums, the algorithm remembers, and the Bunny keeps blinking. **INSIDE THIS ISSUE:** 🧧 **“The Algorithmic Afterlife of the Bunny”** Playboy surv...

 Peter Jokes Doctor, Doctor I feel like a pair of curtains. Well pull yourself together then. Doctor, Doctor, everyone keeps ignoring me. Next please! Doctor, Doctor I keep thinking there is two of me. One at a time please. Doctor, Doctor I keep thinking I'm invisible. Who said that? Doctor, Doctor My little boy has just swallowed a roll of film! Hmmmm ... Let's hope nothing develops. Doctor, Doctor, I can't get to sleep. Sit on the edge of the bed and you'll soon drop off. Doctor, Doctor I've lost my memory! When did this happen? When did what happen? Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a pack of cards. I'll deal with you later. Doctor, Doctor my son has swallowed my pen, what should I do? Use a pencil 'till I get there.

  “Triad in Motion” – Anime North, Toronto, May 2025 ☀️📸 #8672 Three cosplayers cross a sunlit street, each in their own world yet caught together in a perfect instant.  The late-spring sun highlights textures, colors, and movement—costumes shimmer, shadows stretch, and the city hums around them. Even Luigi lurking in the background becomes part of the chaos, part of the story. This is Anime North outdoors, May 2025 : where cosplay meets street photography, the ordinary streets become stages, and fleeting moments turn into cinematic panels straight out of a manga. #AnimeNorth2025 #CosplayOnTheStreet #TorontoStreetPhotography #MangaInMotion #SunlitStories #ThroughTheLens

 Cleo Writes What the image is doing, aesthetically This portrait isn’t meant to read as a literal face—it's an impression , a constructed memory. The extreme softening, mosaic-like blur, and halftone texture give it the feel of a magazine recovered from a past decade, scanned, reprinted, and carried through time. The darkness encroaching on the edges creates a theatrical chiaroscuro, almost like the subject is emerging from a projection rather than a room. The colour choices—amber skin tones fading into violet text—evoke retro print culture: late-90s fashion editorials, early-2000s digital art experiments, and even older Japanese pop-magazine aesthetics. That ties directly to your ongoing intertextual practice of blending Western portraiture with East Asian typographic signatures. About the figure She’s rendered too abstractly to identify, which works in your favour: anonymity keeps the energy symbolic rather than biographical. She becomes an archetype, a character of mood rathe...

  October 20, 2025 CLASSIFIED DOSSIER – EYES ONLY AGENT FILE: CODE DESIGNATION: Agent Northstar CLEARANCE LEVEL: 00 Diplomatic 🔷 IDENTITY PROFILE Name: Ian Murry Cover Role: Deputy High Commissioner of Canada to India Nationality: Canadian Languages: English, French, Hindi (basic operational) Known Affiliations: Global Affairs Canada, High Commission of Canada in India 🔷 FIELD OPERATIONS Operation Codename: SAFE RIDE MERA PRIDE Mission Type: Civic Safety Initiative / Public Diplomacy Operational Theater: New Delhi, India Objective: Enhance women’s safety and accessibility in public transport systems through data-driven strategies, targeted partnerships, and discreet community engagement. Results: Orchestrated coordination between Canadian and Indian civic authorities with minimal public exposure. Campaign highlighted in Tatsat Chronicle, Times of India, and India Today—largely credited to institutional channels rather than personal publicity. E...

  ✅ WHY THE PHOTO FEELS FLAT 1. The light is frontal and high — no dimensional shadows The sun is hitting the flowers almost straight on. When light is direct but not angled, you lose: shadow direction modelling of form separation between layers Everything becomes evenly lit, so the foreground doesn’t “pop” off the background. In portrait terms: it’s like using a bright flash pointed directly at the face — accurate, but not sculpted. 2. Depth of field isn’t shallow enough to isolate the subject The background is blurred, but not blurred enough to create that cinematic depth. Several mid-ground layers still compete, including: asparagus fern silver foliage dark greens behind the Verbena So instead of subject vs. background, you get subject + near-background blending together. This compresses the space visually. 3. The container merges into the plants Because the planter is black and sits in shadow, it doesn’t provide a clean visual base. This m...

  Narrative Realism – sometimes used in art/film criticism, not a formal photography term, but understandable. Idea-Driven Documentary – clear and descriptive, not an official term. Conceptual Reality – mostly coined; not common, but evocative. Thoughtful Documentary – descriptive, accessible, not formal. Symbolic Realism – occasionally pops up in art discussions, not mainstream. Documented Ideas – creative label, not a recognized style. Real-Life Allegory – more literary, can work conceptually, not a standard photography term. In short: there’s no official term for the exact hybrid of documentary + conceptual photography. Most photographers either call it: “Conceptual documentary” (the clearest, academic term) Or use creative branding to explain their approach.

 Flowers in Edwards Gardens Toronto  🌼 Front + Middle (Bright Orange) Marigolds (Tagetes) The bold, round, orange flowers with ruffled petals are classic marigolds. They thrive in sun and are often used in rock gardens. 💜 Front + Middle (Small Purple Balls) Gomphrena / Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) Those cute little purple pom-pom flowers are globe amaranth. They stay upright and add great contrast to marigolds. 🟩 Middle Layer (Bright Chartreuse Groundcover) Likely Sedum (stonecrop) , possibly Sedum ‘Lemon Coral’ This is the neon yellow-green, soft-looking, mounded plant. A common filler for sun-loving rock gardens. 🌸 Back Layer (Pink and Hot Magenta Flowers) Looks like Impatiens or New Guinea Impatiens They have broad petals and saturated colors, often used for shade or partial sun beds. 💜 Back Right (Purple Clustered Blooms) Most likely Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia) Upright spikes with many small purple flowers — often called “summer snapdragon....

Web Page updates How This Photo Connects to Edmundo’s Overall Style 1. The “Human Moment in a Non-Heroic Space” Edmundo frequently photographs expressive, costumed, or visually striking subjects against ordinary, unglamorous backdrops such as brick walls, hallways, or blank convention spaces. This image fits that pattern perfectly: A fantastical, whimsical persona Set against a plain, utilitarian wall That contrast— magical self-expression placed within a mundane physical setting —is a recurring hallmark of his visual language. 2. Focus on Character Over Costume Even when individuals appear in elaborate outfits or cosplay, Edmundo’s portraits emphasize: Expression Gesture Emotional authenticity The personality beneath the costume In this photograph, the peace sign, relaxed posture, and genuine smile reflect the same approach: the focus is not on the outfit itself but on the distinct human moment occurring within it. 3. Signature Use of Black & Whit...