Throw cushions for your patio furniture are as luxurious as indoor cushions. Seen here is the CANVAS Outdoor Toss Cushions (Canadian Tire $14.99). The weather has warmed up and it’s time to get outside. But is your patio up to par? If your outdoor space is not perfect, it’s time to redesign or add to the decor. A great patio can be a relaxing retreat, an ideal entertaining space or simply an escape from the everyday. But before you splurge on an expensive new furniture set and accessories, you need to plan what your patio will be for you. If your ideal outdoor space means getting back to nature, then your focus will be on landscaping and gardening. If you live in the city and have a smaller area, it may mean a potted garden. For outdoor furniture you will want to use more natural materials and traditional shapes to give your yard a rustic feeling — think country getaway or English garden. Rattan or wicker conversation sets with comfortable cushions, and floral-patterned throw pillows covered by a retractable pergola (to keep the sun or rain off) and perhaps a stone fire pit off to the side come to mind.
Home Depot has the four-piece Delaronde set for $648; you just need some floral pillows to top it off. Beside the seating area, a large rustic wood slab table decorated with fresh flowers and herbs picked from your garden would make the space perfect for big outdoor Sunday dinners. Rona Home and Garden’s Lounge Factory Inc, eucalyptus wood and wicker set is ideal ($1,999). Sometimes you want to walk out your back door and into another world far away from the urban or suburban life. For you, the patio is a culture trek to the tropics or other exotic locations. Think of bold vibrant colours of furniture blended into green palms with colourful pillows (Walmart $35.99), bright patio lanterns and planters. Rona Home and Garden’s Soho five-piece fire pit chat set would be ideal: four comfortable chairs with a fire pit coffee table ($1,499). You may want to set up a Tiki bar with a traditional hut look (Tiki Umbrella Walmart $30) and of course a great hammock under the shade of a big tree.
Is your house the one everyone gathers at every weekend for barbecues or impromptu parties? Then you are going to need a more modern setup with lots of seating and an outdoor dining set. If you have a large yard, you can separate your space into a dining section and a seated area. Rona Home and Garden has a cool grey modern set that will fit in any yard from its new Beverly Hills collection. It’s a blend of wood and brushed steel (seven-piece dining set $899, three-piece sectional sofa $1,099). For a smaller yard, look at the Luxembourg set: a sectional with stools and a table, perfect for cosy seating and dining in one ($1,199). GCW Custom Kitchens & Cabinetry Inc. OLG Slots at Western Fair District Go to the Marketplace »Patio & Outdoor FurnitureOutdoor Conversation SetsOutdoor Dining SetsOutdoor Seating & ChairsView AllBBQs & GrillsGas BBQ & GrillsOutdoor KitchensCharcoal BBQs & GrillsView AllOutdoor Power EquipmentSnow BlowersLawn MowersLawn TractorsView AllSnow RemovalSnow BlowersSnow ShovelsIce MeltView AllFire Pits & Outdoor HeatingPatio HeatersFire PitsPortable HeatersView AllSheds & Outdoor StructuresStorage ShedsGazebosGreenhousesView AllGarden CentreLawn CareGarden CareGarden ToolsView AllLandscapingGarden StonesRetaining Wall BlockEdging StonesView AllOutdoor Recreation & PlayPlaysets & Swing SetsBounce HousesTrampolinesView AllOutdoor LightingDeck & Patio LightingLandscape LightingOutdoor Ceiling, Entry & Wa…
View AllDeckingDimensional LumberComposite DeckingDeck TilesView AllTrailers & RampsTrailersLoading RampsTrailer AccessoriesView AllWinterGeneratorsSnow RemovalHeating, Cooling & VentilationView All Make your outdoors even greater with everything to enhance, maintain and enjoy your yard and property. Our selection of outdoor and seasonal products includes a complete lineup of the best in outdoor power equipment, BBQs, patio furniture, sheds, and more. Choose from brands like Kobalt, Char-Broil and Garden Treasures.Canadian Tire Motorsport Park offers spectators great vantage points in which to captre all the exciting on-track racing action. Corners tend to be the most popular viewing spots since they usually the best passing zones giving photographers great images to capture. If you prefer to shoot the race cars or bikes in high speed, then the start/finish straight and the tail-end of the Mario Andretti Straightaway, between Corners 7 and 8, should satisfy your craving. Digital photography is all about shooting.
Make sure you don’t get caught short because you don’t have enough storage. For higher megapixel cameras, you will need even more storage. Shooting all day requires battery power, so remember to keep an extra set of fully-charged batteries along with you to keep your camera operating at its peak. To extend the optical zoom of your lens, add a teleconverter. These lenses can be used singly or in combination to give immediacy and drama to your action photos. A telephoto lens also compresses perspective and simplifies the background, which really puts the focus on your subject. For shooting on a bright sunny day, a polarizing filter will reduce the amount of light hitting your camera. They also make a bright sky darker and make puffy clouds really pop out of the sky. The polarizing filter will take away 1.5 f stops so it makes for great blurs in the background, especially great with high-speed racing shots. You may also consider adding this effect later using an image editing program.
In most cases, you don’t want to be carrying around a tripod all day. Instead, hold your camera as steady as possible by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your elbows gently pressed against your rib cage. When you are ready to take the picture, gently squeeze the shutter. Even the motion of the shutter can cause the camera to move and thus blur the subject of your picture. When you hit the race circuit, keep your bag packed with everything you need to take great shots. Invest in a high quality camera gadget bag that will carry everything you need, safely and securely. Get to the track early and position yourself at an interesting spot. A carefully selected camera position can make the difference between a static, uninteresting picture and a remarkable image that puts the viewer in the thick of the action. Some of the best pictures are often taken when the cars are jockeying for the lead. The very beginning or very end of the race can also be a very exciting place to be.
Fast subjects, like many race cars and motorcycles that run at Mosport that cross directly in front of you zip by so fast you can hardly keep track of them, and you certainly won’t have time to react to all the action. Position yourself so that the subject is moving directly across the viewfinder. A subject moving directly toward or away from you shows the least apparent motion, so it’s easier to try and follow the action. Position yourself so that the sun is either over your left or right shoulder. This will give you the best and most balanced lighting. You may need to move throughout the day to avoid shooting directly into the sun. Bright backgrounds make for dark subjects especially if you are using auto exposure. With larger, better LCD optics and longer lasting batteries, its easier to rely on your LCD for previewing your pictures. Take a few test shots during the practice laps to make any adjustments to white balance or other camera settings. Look for natural horizontal lines and use them as guides for composing your picture.
For certain shots, you are going to want to place the natural horizon line in either the top or bottom third of the picture. Low-angle shots exaggerate the size and power of the objects and make your photos more dynamic. Slightly tilting your camera is another technique that can enhance the motion of your subject. Diagonal compositions suggest imbalance and motion. Your best chance for taking these types of shots are when the cars are in the paddock or the pits during spectator availability periods. Fast action can appear and vanish before you know it, leaving you wondering how you missed it. Your reaction time is critical and so is the camera’s. With digital cameras, there’s a tiny split second lag from when you press the shutter button and when the camera actually takes the picture. With fast moving subjects, you have to anticipate and press the shutter button in slightly to prefocus. Most action photographers want to freeze a split second in time that best demonstrates the skill, power or determination of the subject.
Choose an interesting point in your subject’s path and prefocus on that point. By the time your subject gets there, you’ll already have framed your shot and set the focus. Pan your camera as the car makes its way from one corner of your viewfinder to the other and continue panning even after you press the shutter button. Since you never know when you are going to snap a great shot, shooting at high resolution will ensure that you can enlarge your prize photos. Many digital cameras allow you to take several shots quickly in a burst mode. Set the camera to this mode when you want to have a choice of pictures or to capture a sequence of action shots. Make sure you have plenty of available picture storage if you are planning on using burst mode. By increasing the ISO on your digital camera, you are doing the equivalent of going to a higher speed film. The higher the ISO, the less light that is needed for the picture and the faster your shutter. Increasing your ISO lets you capture good action shots and shoot in low light conditions.