Here's another angle on the chapel at the Minoru Park in Richmond BC. Done in Infra Red High Dynamic Range or IRHDR for us acronym junkies. I really like it. And, I think I’ve just invented an acronym. :)
Located in the north west corner of Richmond BC and directly south of the Richmond Hospital you'll find Minoru Park. A carefully tended mixture of willows, ducks, waterfalls and manicured lawns including the Minoru Chapel shown in this picture. I'm a big aviation fan (Go Snowbirds!) and thanks to Wikipedia was charmed to learn that the first flight of a Canadian aircraft west of Winterpeg (Winnipeg) took off from Minoru Park on March 25 1910. Just over 100 years ago.
This is my first High Dynamic Range Infra Red composite image and I quite like the effect. Thanks to my brother Mike for suggesting the treatment years ago and for my good flickr friend Harris Hui for pointing me towards the park with his own IR and color photographs. You can find more of Harris's work here -> www.flickr.com/photos/harrishui/sets/72157621471405773/
Here's an Infra Red shot of English Bay Vancouver the day after Canada Day. This was shot with a Vivitar 7mm f3.5 CS fish eye lens using a IR converted Nikon D100 DSLR. Getting decent focus with infra red photography is a challenge made even more so with a lens with such a huge (180') field of view. But, with a bit of hyper focal focusing (f22, ISO 500) and a touch of post production sharpening in Capture NX/2 I'm getting close. Not gallery-close unfortunately but certainly flickr/blog-close. :)
A late evening post sunset cool down in English Bay Vancouver Canada. June 27 2010
A warm summer sunset on Sunday June 27 2010 over English Bay Vancouver Canada.
I've been a big astronomy fan for years but since moving to the core of Vancouver and being surrounded on three sides by thousands of points of city light astronomical events that I can see are few and far between.
In the wee hours of June 26 2010 however I got that old star-gazer feeling back as I shot short (1/200s) and long (2s) exposures of the first partial lunar eclipse of 2010. As the low clouds over the Strait of Georgia and the dawn twilight started to roll in I caught this view of the moon 20 minutes away from the peak of the eclipse.
And, as luck would have it 6 hours earlier I'd watched, for the first time, the International Space Station (ISS) track across Vancouver's sky.
A few years of astronomical beauty crammed into 6 hours. :)
The June 26 2010 partial lunar eclipse.
Time: 04:04:30 AM pacific
The June 26 2010 partial lunar eclipse.
Time: 03:27:48 AM pacific
Vancouver Biennale 02 - The Stop by Michael Zheng (USA/China). Here done with a heavy handed Hight Dynamic Range treatment. This sculpture can be found in Vanier Par Vancouver in between the Planetarium and Maritime Museum.
Sirrus, looking for all the world like she just got a joke that's been rattling around in her head for a week. :)
English Bay Vancouver June 18 2010 - a few days before the Summer Solstice - in Infra Red. I love how IR treats clouds in particular the every delicate high altitude cirrus variety.
The monument, located in Vanier Park Vancouver right near the Maritime Museum, erected in honor of Captain Vancouver - the city's namesake. Looking all nice and mystical in the light of High Dynamic Range photography. The plaque in front of the monument reads:
"Captain George Vancouver, R.N., 1758 - 1798
A veteran of Caption Cook's voyages of 1772-1775 and 1776-1780, Vancouver went on to become one of the most important explorers of Canada's west coast. In 1791 he was given command of an expedition to the northwest coast of North America for the purpose of establishing British sovereignty here and exploring the possibility of a northwest passage. On this voyage (1792-94) he charted much of the coast north of the 30th parallel, sailing up the inside passage, circumnavigating Vancouver Island and exploring many of the geographic features in the area.
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada"
Freezing Water #7 by Jun Ren (China). Located near the entrance to False Creek in Vanier Park Vancouver this sculpture is meant to represent "liquid water or mercury stopped in motion that revealed its shape as a drop or spill caught in the air." For me, each time I see this beautiful work I can't help thinking about the curious and friendly water creature on the 1989 James Cameron epic underwater flick "The Abyss".
The super yacht Ocean Victory, on what I think is its maiden world tour laid anchor in English Bay Vancouver today. A gorgeous 75m ship with room for up to 20 crew and 12 overly pampered guests. Build in the Netherlands and, thanks to the power of Google, freshly in from a stop in southern Alaska after laying port in San Diego California.
A mid-spring very magical looking infra-red photo of the backyard of 1001 Beach Avenue. This pricey but quite sexy building is nearly flush with the North West corner of the Burrard Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver. Architecturally 1001 Beach is a very unique building. I love the round portal windows that the architects used for the upper floors. A style that’s very much in keeping with the nautical flair of the building's overall design.
Classic rays of light over English Bay Vancouver on June 6 2010. Thanks to High Dynamic Range this shot includes rays coming in a different angles. A damp spring in Vancouver but one filled with fantastic sunsets that more than makes up for it.
Vancouver is not all 21st century with its back alleys reflecting the 20th and 21st century duality of the city. In fact, given that on June 13 1886 what was then Vancouver (1,000 or so wood houses) burned to the ground in 45 minutes (nearly 30 people were killed) the city is pretty much as new as they get in Canada. Ironically Vancouver's first fire department was formed 2 weeks before the great fire.
A hard-fought-for victory for the city of Vancouver, thanks to decades of careful but firm city planning, is that we don't have a big, ugly 10 lane mega-highway cutting through the center of the city. As a result the downtown core has grown into one with a residential rather than a business focus. Very much a forest of glass and steel growing alongside a forest of 1 to 100 year old trees. Thus the reason Vancouver’s downtown core, from more than one angle looks like a model 21st century city.
Each time I'm out with a camera on the Seawall Walk that circles downtown Vancouver I'm drawn to the weather worn seawall itself. A collection of concrete, wood and iron that has kept speed walkers like me truckin' without interruption for years.
A nice Infra Red treatment of the condos on the north edge of George Wainborn Park (corner of Beach Cres. and Richards St) in downtown Vancouver on May 8, 2010.
The April 2010 Rhododendron Park bloom in Stanley Park Vancouver Canada. Part 6 of 6.
The April 2010 Rhododendron Park bloom in Stanley Park Vancouver Canada. Part 4 of 6
The April 2010 Rhododendron Park bloom in Stanley Park Vancouver Canada. Part 4 of 6
Here's a 1 minute view of the center span of the Burrard Street Bridge in Vancouver as some of the 50,000+ marathon participants exit downtown Vancouver.
A 1 minute video of the Vancouver Sun Run participants at the intersection of Beach Ave and Pacific Blvd in Vancouver's West End. Taken at 9:51 AM Sunday, May 9 2010.
The April 2010 bloom of the Ted and Mary Greig Rhododendron Garden in Stanley Park Vancouver.
My maternal grandfather's Lancaster Crew who were shot down the night of February 24, 1944.
From left to right Doug Eastham (KIA, my grandfather), Shorty Kay (KIA), Scotty Jackson (POW), Jack Rudford (POW) and Bob Freiberger (POW).
Part of the Pathfinders Bison Squadron #405.
The Ted & Mary Greig Rhododendron Garden in Stanley Park Vancouver blooms from March to June. The park has done a great job of providing detailed information on the various species of flowers, when they bloom and where they are over the Internet. At this link, Stanley Park Vancouver Rhododendron Park you'll find tons of info on the flowers along with recommended walks for each of the blooming months.
A highly recommended way to enjoy a peaceful afternoon in the downtown core of one of Canada's most beautiful cities. Don't forget to bring your camera. :)
During the late 1960’s, the Vancouver Park Board was the grateful recipient of an extensive collection of hybrid rhododendron and azalea plants. This stunning collection, which still blooms in the park in a spectacular show of color, form and fragrance 50 years later, came from the Royston nursery on Vancouver Island belonging to Mary and Ted Greig.
This collection of photographs was taken during the April 2010 bloom and is dedicated to mothers everywhere.
Beach and Thurlow in Vancouver Canada's West End from Sunset Beach. English Bay. Made all the more dramatic in the Infra Red light of a sunny but quite blustery spring day - April 28 2010.
I use a program called Capture NX/2 as part of my digital photography workflow. The amount of fine grain control that this application allows and the results delivered with both HDR and Infra Red photographs is fantastic. If Ansel Adams were around today I'm certain he'd love the creative freedom that digital photography delivers.
Here's a recent Infra Red photograph treated in the Ansel Adams style - high contrast and near perfect black and white balancing. What took Ansel days in the darkroom takes but 30 minutes in the digital light rooms of today.
Processing thanks to page 336 of the definitive Capture NX/2 digital book - The Photographer's Guide to Capture NX2 by Jason P Odell.
High Dynamic Range photography more often than not will reveal details in a scene that you can't see with the human eye let alone a single exposure. Here's a pretty solar halo surrounding the setting spring sun over English Bay Vancouver the evening of April 18 2010. I didn't know the halo was there until I 'developed' the 9 images into one a week later. :)
English Bay Beach, Vancouver in Infra Red. April 28 2010.
Log rolling contest anyone?
English Bay Beach, Vancouver in Infra Red. April 28 2010
Here's a nice shot of the entrance into English Bay Beach location at Beach and Denman.
Happy Earth Day 2010!
What do you get for a 4.5 billion year old planet that has everything? Easy - Flowers. :)
Like something straight out of a Disney feel-good movie at the final hour of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver the come back heros, Canada's mens hockey team, beat the US team in one of the most fantastic games ever seen. Needless to say downtown Vancouver pushed the 1 out 10 celebration scale to 11.
Lost Lagoon, Stanley Park Vancouver looking east in High Dynamic Range. Taken on a hazy spring April day 2010.
Right beside the micro-mini golf course inside of Stanley Park Vancouver. Enough green to last 100 St. Patrick's days and then some.
Here's a nice and dreamy spring sunset over English Bay in Vancouver Canada. Very much a preview of the hazy, lazy summer that's just around the corner.
One thing I really like about this photo is that it was taken by my new, simple to use, Nikon L110 point and shoot camera. I bought the camera specifically for its ability to shoot 720p High Def video onto a flash card rather than those pesky and so-old-school video cassettes. As always with these simpler cameras I find that it reinforces a key rule I've learned to love about photography - it's not the camera that counts it's the conjunction of the photographer with a camera (any camera) and the moment.
Photography is all about the moment in my opinion. With a cheap little point and shoot camera, one that's ready to go the moment I turn it on and, most importantly, is not something I'm too worried about breaking or loosing there's a much greater chance I'll have it with me than my more expensive equipment.
It's always nice to see how photographic beauty transcends the dollar.
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