Laura took a week long vacation and I took a week off of blogging - of course I didn't take any time off of shooting photographs... 
Laura and I did shopping for some home renovation and then stopped at The Lockview for a few drinks. We decided to walk down to Bricco for some dinner - but on our walk we heard some serious cover-rocking. We trekked over to the gates of Canal Park and with a little alcohol in our systems were moving our feets. "Lets try out 'The Game'" - the newish restaurant at the stadium- we said simultaneously. We watched 'Wild Ave' relive the past, ate some great food, and drank some Thirsty Dog beer on the patio - we would have even caught part of a Rubber Ducks game but a storm rolled in - so we finished our delicious duck bacon blt and fish tacos inside looking out. I haven't heard a bad thing about 'The Game' so I'll add to the chorus....check it out - especially on a game night....
Yesterday I grabbed some great food and photos at Child Guidance and Family Solution's 'Food Truck Friday' - on the corner of Forge and East Market. It was hard to decide where to order from - but I went with Wholly Frijoles - I'm a sucker for Mexican. I didn't regret it - I had a few different tacos which were outstanding. I really didn't need to eat anything else - but since part of the money benefits the kids - I ordered a strawberry/banana crepe with caramel and whipped cream from Premier Crepes. It was amazing, I mean really, really amazing. 
My cousin Jeff let me borrow his Canon 10-22mm lens on a Thanksgiving weekend back in 2007 - I put it on my Rebel XT and was blown away by the results. I had never shot anything that wide and with that kind of dramatic distortion before. I wanted it. That Winter I was working third shift at Boston Mills - I decided when the season was over I wanted to get more serious about photography. I was able to easily save a decent chunk of change working those hours - there was no one around to spend my money with! So after the season I bought a new flash, a set of radio triggers, a 50mm, and the Sigma 10-20mm f/4. That Sigma was rarely ever off of my Rebel and was often on my next camera (the recently deceased) Canon 7D. I loved it. It was awesome for shooting bands in small venues - my favorite thing to do at the time - and I also used to capture sweeping landscape, dramatic portraits, and everything else in between. 
Tonight I took some shots of the flood damage to the tracks of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad where Yellow Creek topped the canal era culvert under Riverview Road. The power of water never ceases to amaze - not to mention that the flood rose high enough to go over the tracks, road and Towpath Trail here. Having worked in the Valley for so long floods bum me out - so you usually don't see much of this kind of thing from me.... 
On Saturday morning Laura and I were in the mood for something good for breakfast and we didn't have much in the house. We decided to head down to the Farmer's Market at Howe Meadow and get some burritos from our favorite stand run by Spice Kitchen and Bar. Their breakfast burritos are out of this world - they don't give them away though - 9 bucks a pop.
What do you do when you get a new camera lens? Throw it on the camera and take photos of everything around you of course. My Canon 85mm f/1.8 came in the mail today - its my first decent prime lens for digital. The idea is for it to be my portrait lens - and a short telephoto for landscape-type-things. Its the first lens for my new camera - and as I wrote the other day I plan to get a set of all primes(non-zooms or fixed focal length - for the uninitiated) for it. I did change my mind about the 50mm though after a talk with a friend/experienced pro-photographer. I think I'm going to get a 35mm for my standard lens instead and then add a wide angle - possibly 20mm - but I'm still researching the wide angle options. I already have a 50 if I need it.
Here is a partial garden update. Everything is looking good so far and we've somehow managed to keep the deer out(for now). We've also trapped 9 chipmunks and they finally have seemed to stop coming around. I've decided I'm never planting anything "heirloom" again - it just grows way to slow for my yard. Gimmie those hybrids created by modern science....
On Saturday I went for a hike on the open part of the Langes Bridle Trail - my favorite part has been closed since the massive flood earlier this Spring. I took my Canon 6D with a single lens - my $100 Canon 50mm f/1.8. I originally bought the lens for my Rebel XT as a step up over my kit lens - and even though its feels like a toy it is decent optically. My main goal was to get more of a feel for the 50mm focal length as I've been considering buying a new 50mm lens. On my Rebel and 7D(because of their smaller sensors) it looked more like an 80mm lens. 50mm on a 'full frame camera' or a 35mm film camera is considered a 'normal lens' - the resulting photos are close to what your eyes would see. 
Tonight I was trying out a few lighting ideas I have for some upcoming shoots. I also wanted to test my new camera with the lights - unfortunately it doesn't have the regular light hook-up built in. I have to use a hot-shoe converter and I wanted to make sure it worked right before I was in a situation with a client. Everything worked well. I used my remote trigger to focus and take my shots - you can see it in my hand above. I was thinking it would be awesome to get a second set of triggers and put one on my other camera - you know, so I could take a picture of myself taking a picture of myself. Yes, that's pretty much the best idea I've ever had.... photos of photos.....
This little guy was hopping around on the lily pads in the Canal last week eating bugs. I captured a few cool photos of him and had posted one to my tumblr previuosly. A few people mentioned how much they liked it so here is one for the blog.
Laura and I finally made our way downtown to the Gothic building to try out 'Nuevo Modern Mexican and Tequila Bar - or 'Nuevo'. There was a ton of buzz about this place before it opened but after it did I kept hearing 'blah' reviews. Even some trusted friends gave it a shoulder shrug. So we waited until the 'kinks' or whatever should have been worked out..... and either they were or I have no idea what my friends were thinking. We loved it - pretty much everything. Starting with a flight of three margaritas for me - $11 bucks for 'ritas with fresh squeezed juice seemed like a good deal - and the smoked salt on the rim was awesome(and I'm glad I didn't even have to be asked if I wanted them 'on the rocks' (of course I do - what do I look like, a tourist?)). Laura had the premium margarita which was also great. We were washing down chips and salsa(top-notch) and a delicious appetizer of perfectly prepared tuna. 