English Bay Power Sunset Sept 08 2012 04a
Sunset's soul
Friday, September 14, 2012
Granville Island Sept 11 2012 05a
Here's the Burrard Street bridge looking all fancied up in high dynamic range infra red. The bridge that coulda been a totally awesome bridge but instead the city wimped out ... 70 years ago yet ... and the bridge never got to live up to it's potential awesomeness.
"You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley."
The plan was a dual decker bridge (check out the lower arch in the photo) with a draw bridge section on the lower level. But nooooo .... sigh.
Knowing it's history makes me love the bridge even more.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
English Bay Power Sunset Sept 08 2012 02a
September 8'ths sunset was quite nice. The cloud formation in the left middle part of the shot was even cooler zoomed in.
English Bay Power Sunset Sept 08 2012 01a
A grand sunset fills the sky over English Bay Vancouver.
God painting with light.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Granville Island Sept 11 2012 04a
Howe Street comes to an abrupt and tragic end at False Creek. OK ... so not so tragic but certainly abrupt.
Granville Island Sept 11 2012 03a
Waiting for the Aquatic Center ferry and looking at the Burrard Street bridge spanning the entrance to False Creek Vancouver.
I love the reflections in this shot. In a very real way the computer did most of the heavy lifting to create them.
I think this is one of the prettiest pictures I've ever taken. I really like it. :)
Granville Island Sept 11 2012 01a
A herd of freshly washed hogs basks in the morning shadows outside Carter Honda right at the entrance to Granville Island. Looking all cute and sassy thanks to Infra Red light.
Seawall Aug 30 07a
Looking north east'ish from the lookout point just north of the Second Beach pool. The pool, always busy in the summer, is now shutdown for the winter. Sigh.
I love the cheeto puffy cloud on the top right. Infra red light loves clouds. Especially puffy ones.
Saturday, September 08, 2012
Seawall Aug 30 2012 06a Second Beach Cover Tidal Pool
Looking like a well manicured lawn thanks to infra red light the low tide kelp in Stanley Park's Second Beach cove turns the photosynthesis dial to 11.
Seawall Aug 30 2012 03a Second Beach Cove
Infra red light is not as sensitive to atmospheric scattering as human visible light is. Scattering, aka haze, is caused by the optical refraction of light bouncing off of water particles in the air and, in a nutshell, is why our sky is blue.
Since IR is less prone to scattering photographs taken in those wavelengths wind up being more in focus, over long distances in particular, than what you would see in a photograph taken in normal, scatter sensitive light.
Since our brain also uses haze, especially over a long distances as an aid to depth perception to it less haze = less distance. As such IR photography, among it's million other reasons why its so cool a media, shines at turning a big scene into something more intimate and closer to you the viewer.
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Vancouver Downtown Aug 30 2012 13a Hornby at the Courts
Here's one of the corners of the Law Courts building in downtown Vancouver. Opened in 1980 and designed by one of Canada's preeminent architects - Arthur Erickson. The building is sharp, precise and mostly of the 90 degree variety angles. But it's a building in which B.C.'s and, by extension, Canada's laws get applied. If the building within which such decisions are made can be logical so much the better.
This shot, taken at the north east corner of Hornby and Smithe streets looking north, is the start of a section on Hornby that my higher brain likes the most. Logical goodliness.
Interestingly enough one of Erickson's final buildings, the apptly named Erikson (1560 Homer) is nothing but organic curves. To the cities benefit Mr. Erickson certainly could design with both sides of his brain.
Vancouver Downtown Aug 30 2012 10b Nelson at Burrard
Here's a nice and dreamy shot of Nelson Street looking south east just at its corner with Burrard. With a long depth of field and the magic of infra red light coupled with high dynamic range photography I can almost feel summer flowing from the image.
Vancouver Downtown Aug 30 2012 06a Hornby and Helmcken
At the southeast corner of Helmcken and Hornby, in the heart of downtown Vancouver a signature building, the Artemisia, begins construction. This will prove to be a stunning building from developer James Schouw who also crafted one of my favorite Yaletown towers - Grace. The Artemisia, named after the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, will be a much smaller collection of residences that, based on the artists drawing will quickly become an oft photographed corner of Vancouver. Prices for one of the 21 residences in the 6 storey building start at $935K and go to a line-of-credit-nuking $3.65 million.
For more info check out Les Twarog and Sonja Pedersen's excellent blog posting about the building.
Vancouver Downtown Aug 30 2012 03a Hornby and Drake
At the south corner of Hornby and Drake the new Salt condominium tower, being built by Concert Properties, begins its reach for the sky. At 33 floors, with prices ranging from $300K to $1.4M it certainly is in a great location. Separated from the noisy primary thorough-fairs of Burrard and Granville and being a gentle three block walk down to the marinas at False Creek I expect it will prove to be a good pick for those with deep pockets.
Needless to say this is the "before" picture. :)
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
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.
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 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
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.
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Sunset Aug 06 2012 02a
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
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 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.
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
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Fireworks Vietnam 07a Jul 28 2012
Five minutes into the Da Nang group's fireworks extravaganza over English Bay. I love the illusion of a bouquet of flowers that they were able to create. Totally cool.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Fireworks Vietnam 11a Jul 28 2012
Rattling the windows of Vancouver's West End 10 minutes into Vietnam's Da Nang fireworks group's show over English Bay. The higher they go the louder they blow.
Fireworks Vietnam 10a Jul 28 2012
Vietnam's Da Nang fireworks group working the low, medium and high zones during their July 28 2012 fireworks show over English Bay Vancouver.
Fireworks Vietnam 09a Jul 28 2012
7 minutes into the soft and understated but none the less awesome fireworks presentation by Vietnam's Da Nang fireworks group at this year's Honda Celebration of Light festival over English Bay Vancouver.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Shorefest Jul 28 2012 01a
The local folk band Headwater performing for the Saturday afternoon crowds on Sunset Beach as part of the Shore Fest 2012.
Fireworks Vietnam 25a Jul 28 2012
18 minutes into the July 28 2012 Honda Celebration of Light extravaganza as presented by Vietnam's Da Nang fireworks group. I love this group's ability to create 'delicate' fireworks with this photo a good example of such refinement. "Delicate" is not a word often included with "Massive Ear Popping Fiery Explosion". :)
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