Saturday, February 19, 2011

Deep Sunset Feb 16 2011 DSC_8283.jpg

Nothing but clouds caught in sunset light reflecting off the waters if the Straight of Georgia - British Columbia Canada.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Jericho Beach Vancouver Feb 16 2011 DSC_8211.jpg

Sunset light. The magic light. The magic hour for us photo-geeks.

Here's Jericho Beach in Vancouver - the south western point of English Bay. Looking very much like polished teak in the light of a setting winter sun.

Station Keeping English Bay Feb 16 2010 DSC_8184.jpg

Pointed into the wind one of the many deep ocean cargo ships that park themselves in Vancouver's English Bay maintains station keeping and waits for it's turn to fill up.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Sirrus Asleep With Her Favorite Toys Feb 13 2011

Ahh cats. My favorite animal next to humans.

Here's Sirrus. Semi-asleep with two of her favorite toys in the afternoon sun. Sirrus just loves cat toys - any type - any size - any color - etc. But she has over the years adopted several as her favorite and will cuddle up with them and snooze away an afternoon.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Winter Sunset 01 HDR Feb 08 2011.jpg

A nice delicate stratospheric sunset over English Bay Vancouver on Feb. 08 2011. Painting with light.

Monday, February 07, 2011

The Erickson Vancouver Feb 04 2011 DSC_8039.jpg

The Erickson at False Creek in Vancouver. One of Vancouver's signature buildings designed by one of Canada's foremost architects Arthur Erickson. Sadly Mr. Erickson passed away just before his 85th birthday and just before this building was completed.

The Erickson is located at the corner of Beach Avenue and Homer Street and overlooks the inner bay of False Creek. This eye-popping masterpiece never ceases to amaze me and I've watched it 'grow' from an empty lot to this stunning nearly organic fusion of steel, glass and curves. For me this building, like no other, evokes a feeling of a man-nature hybrid emerging from the ground in a twisting dance of life. I can't help but think of those countless time lapse films I've seen of a flower opening each time I look at this icon.

If only all of Vancouver's buildings could be designed with such genius and attention to the art of architecture.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Vancouver West End 01 Feb 04 2011 DSC_8057.jpg

The West End of Vancouver Canada as seen from under the north end of the Burrard Street Bridge on a lazy and hazy early February Friday afternnon. Spring has started and already the trees are starting to show a gossamer thin blush of green. Eggzellent. :)

Friday, February 04, 2011

HDR Tennis Game 7 London


HDR Tennis Game 7 London, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

A new High Dynamic Range treatment I've been working with for the past few weeks. No, I didn't zip over to London England last weekend but I did borrow a photo sequence from the gang running a rather fun 'contest' on Facebook called "HDR Tennis". The sequence they posted a few weeks back I felt needed an emphasis on black and white given the vintage nature of the House of Parliament's architecture along with respect for and attention to the warm tones of the late day sun.

The nice thing about the digital darkrooms of the 21st century is that you can save a technique created with a sequence like this and then apply it to other images. As I've found since creating this treatment it works great for low light sunsets.

Kits Gulf Island Sunset Vancouver Feb 3 2011 DSC_7976.jpg

During a winter sunset here in Vancouver it's not uncommon to have a bank of cloud suspended over the city but clear sky over the Straight of Georgia due west of us. When this happens the light from the setting sun bounces off the waters of the straight and up into the cloud base suspended over the city. When this happens we get this spectacular underside illumination of the cloud bank that shows a side of mother nature that's nothing short of drop-dead-gorgeous.

1000 Block of Beach Ave Vancouver Diana Lense HDR DSC_8015 Feb 4 2011.jpg

Looking east along the 1000 block of Beach Avenue in Vancouver on a semi sunny and somewhat lazy Friday afternoon. A view that's hard to come by once spring begins and the ancient elms become thick with leaves and ravens. Dead center in this photo is the north end of the Burrard Street Bridge. On the right side is a nice lens flair looking nearly physical thanks to the magic of High Dynamic Range post-processing and the Diana lens from PhotoJoJo.