Thursday, August 30, 2012

English Bay Sunset Aug 25 2012 01a

Fire ze lazer.

The Georgia Straight photo of the day for August 29 2012. Right on. :)

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home by VancouverDoug
Home Sweet Home, a photo by VancouverDoug on Flickr.

I love my view.

One of the big advantages to high dynamic range photography is that it greatly expands the white balance depth of field. Close, mid range and far are better color balanced compared to what you would see in a single frame shot. Soon cameras will shoot in HDR. The iPhone 4 and up already do. Very cool.

West End Aug 26 2012 01a

Welcome to the West End.

Vancouver Pacific and Hornby Aug 30 2012 01a

I woke up desperate for a vente (aka the big-gulp) Starbucks bold coffee of the day. Near zombie mode I was. Must .... have .... coffeeeeeee.

Given that it was a nice sunny dog-days-of-summer morning and, that as the summer wanes the trees in Vancouver's core don't reflect as much infra red light, it seemed the perfect time to satisfy two addictions - my body's craving for caffeine and my inner artists craving for some fresh infra red high dynamic sequences.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Sunset Beach Seagull Aug 24 2012 01a

The tidal blooms this year are brief and pretty. This is Friday August 24 2012's bloom at the entrance to False Creek Vancouver Canada. With my favorite seagull beach-berm fitting in nicely.

English Bay Aug 23 2012 01a

Count the number of different aquatic vessels in this shot. I come up with 7. Or 8 if I push it and consider the shape in between the cruise ship at the top and the tanker on the near top left a submarine. ;)

Nice shot and all but it is seriously lacking in the "aircraft carrier" department.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Whistler Set Jul 04 2012 02a DSC_5524_5_6_tonemapped

Photogs. My kinda people. :)

Whistler Set Jul 04 2012 02a DSC_5524_5_6_tonemapped

Photogs. My people. :)

Whistler Set Jul 04 2012 01a

Brandywine Falls. Just south of Whistler BC. I like the circle of green in this shot and how it surrounds the orange and browns of the dry and wet earth in the center of the shot. It's a nice photo op with good shots of the fast flowing mountain creed that precede the falls a nice level walk from the parking lot.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Gay Pride Parade Aug 05 2012 01a

A flash from the past near the start of the Vancouver 2012 Gay Pride parade.

Friday, August 10, 2012

English Bay Aug 8 2012 01a

Only one word for this shot - Cute. :)

Thurlow and Beach Aug 8 2012 01a

Living on a street named Beach Avenue, on the beach, during the dog dayze of summer ... does have it's photographic advantages.

Sunset Aug 09 2012 01a

Sunset Aug 09 2012 01a by VancouverDoug
Sunset Aug 09 2012 01a, a photo by VancouverDoug on Flickr.

English Bay Vancouver - We give good sunset.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Sunset Aug 06 2012 02a

Sunset Aug 06 2012 02a by VancouverDoug
Sunset Aug 06 2012 02a, a photo by VancouverDoug on Flickr.

A mackerel or buttermilk or altocumulus sky is often the precursor of either dry weather for the next few days ("Mackerel in the sky - three days dry") or, as this particular sunset portended, rain-showers and thunderstorms ("Mare's tails and mackerel scales make tall ships carry low sails" - i.e. run slow and steady in the inclement weather that's around the corner). The day following this sunset Vancouver was treated to its best thunderstorm so far that year. The day following, August 8th, was overcast but cleared late in the day for yet another glorious west coast sunset. Sunsets that never, ever, get old.

Summer Lightning Aug 07 2012 HDR 01a

An electrically charged and drama infused storm cell tracks across Vancouver's Kitsilano region and the Straight of Georgia moments before nature flipped the lightning discard switch to "On". Time to head to the storm cellar!

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

nn_Summer Lightning Aug 07 2012 09b

Later that evening ...

Summer Lightening Aug 07 2012 05b

Here's the second of eight lightening strikes I managed to capture this evening.

Summer Lightening Aug 07 2012 04b

While we get more than our fair share of rain here on the 'Wet Coast' of North America we rarely get thunder and lightening to compliment it. If we're lucky we can count on one hand the number of decent lightening storms received during the course of a year. Tonight however, almost two years to the day from the mother-of-all-lightening-storms of August 2010 Mother Nature did not disappoint..

I lucked out and managed to capture 8 lightening strikes this being one of the best.

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 31b

The finale of Brazil's excellent display over English Bay during the August 1 2012 Celebration of Light.

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 21a

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 18a

14 minutes into their show Brazil lights up the sky over English Bay Vancouver.

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Sunset Beach Seagull Aug 02 2012 01a.jpg

As the waters of English Bay Vancouver warm (late spring to summer) we get these colorful algae blooms made all the more colorful in this shot thanks to the magic of High Dynamic Range photography. This beach berm, visible to the apartment dwellers overlooking Sunset Beach in Vancouver's West End has always reminded me of a seagull in flight.

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 22b

Brazil lets loose with a classic Chrysanthemum firework over a base of Nauticals in English Bay Vancouver. 17 minutes and 31 seconds into their show at the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks festival on August 1 2012.

Fireworks Brazil Aug 02 2012 14a

Eleven minutes and 50 second into the show Brazil goes for the big air high above English Bay. A symphony of triggered car alarms joined the roar of the crowd as the big rockets exploded.

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 05a

Six minutes and 30 seconds into Brazil's fantastic pyrotechnic display over English Bay Vancouver on August 1 2012. Once again the chemical wizards who craft these incredible exploding rockets prompted me to say "How the heck did they do that!?. Squiggly rocket trails!? No way!" ... Way. :)

ISS Transit Aug 4 2012 04a

Here's a 30 second, f/6.3, 13mm wide angle exposure of the International Space Station (ISS) 220 miles above Vancouver's English Bay as it transits the city at 17,500 MPH (MACH 22.8). *Wave*.

Photo taken at 03:53:36 AM on August 4 2012.

This particular transit was quite bright and the space station reached a maximum magnitude of -4.0 at its peak. As bright as Venus. The track was from the horizon (facing west north west in this image) up to the zenith. From my vantage point (downtown Vancouver) the transit was in my field of vision for just over 2 minutes.

And while it's a bit of chore to get up so early to see something that happens often once you've seen a transit of the ISS and experience the tingly feeling in knowing what that dot in the sky is the cost (a bit of sleep disruption) becomes worth it.

Predicting the transits is quite easy. This is the 21st century after-all, and 'yes' there are apps for that. The one I use is called Satellite Flybys.

Friday, August 03, 2012

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 12a

Great balance from the team from Brazil one third of the way into their half show (10:11:39 PM PT Aug 1 2012) .

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 10a

Brazil's timing at the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks-o-rama this year, I must admit, was nothing short of razor sharp perfect. Here's a good example at 10:10:48 PM. Mid and low altitude pyrotechnics perfect timed.

The only downside though to the 'new' technique of 'singular' fireworks (one or two types in the air rather than bunches and bunches) is that, in my very jaded opinion, the 'WoW OMG!!' factor is diminished a bit.

My two bits? Near the end - press all those 'fire the fireworks' buttons and go nuts.

Fireworks Brazil Aug 01 2012 07a

Nine minutes and twenty two seconds into the fiery carnival that lit the skies over English Bay Vancouver August 1 2012 compliments of the team from Brazil.

I love the balance in this shot. Fireworks barge exploding - check!
Mid level fireworks kablaming - check.
High altitude fireworks ezplodink!! - check.
Hundreds of surrounding boats doing that 'thousand points of light' thing - check