Fujifilm X-Pro1 Meets Elvis

From the 25th to the 28th of July, 2013, the Ontario town of Collingwood hosted The Collingwood Elvis Festival. Over one hundred Elvis impressionists and ten thousand other visitors descended on the town. Knowing this, I took my X-Pro1 for the festivities. For street photography, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Everyone wanted to be photographed. An Elvis performer would be hurt if he, or she, wasn't approached to be photographed. I used the Fuji 18-55mm zoom, the Voigtlander 25mm f4 Color Skopar and the Fuji 35mm f1.2 lenses. I also used the new firmware updated that became available on the 23rd of July (and the 24th for the supplementary update). The peak focusing feature is amazingly effective. The recent updates allow the X series to focus faster and accurately. Thank you, Fuji. I love this camera.

Great lady. Fantastic tattoo.

Prom Queens

Wednesday, 26th June, 2013. Rideau Street, Ottawa.

Ayesha

My closest friend in Ottawa. Period.
I look at this picture and I think of Peter Sarstadt's song Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?

Batgirl

Batgirl, Nepean and Bank Streets, Ottawa. 19th June, 2013.

Skateboarder

Skateboarder, St. Patrick and Cumberland Streets, Ottawa. 19th June, 2013

Sophie

I was in Gatineau/Hull on the 22nd of May and I saw this doorway from a distance. I came close and as I was about to shoot the picture I noticed that on the centre door there was a stencil drawing of the image of Sophie Scholl. I closed in and took another photograph of the door.

It was Sophie Scholl all right. I am sure that people have looked at the image and wondered who this young woman was. With no first name as a guide, I imagine that many people dismissed the image as one of some punk rocker from the eighties. Or some film star from Europe.

Sadly, Sophie Scholl was one of the major martyrs for peace in the twentieth century. She protested  against war through a peace network called die Weiße Rose (The White Rose). What made her different from most anti-war activists is that she staged her protests during World War II, in Nazi Germany. In 1943 she was convicted of high treason for distributing anti-war leaflets and was sentenced to death. Her trial was conducted by Judge Roland Freisler, who later tried and convicted the participants in the 20 July plot to kill Adolf Hitler. She was beheaded just a few hours after the sentence was carried. Her heroism is worth noting and I am delighted that someone went out of their way to give remembrance to her.