04 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1081

04 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1081, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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. :)

05 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1086

05 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1086, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

06 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1152

06 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1152, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

01 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1107

01 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1107, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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.

02 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010 Square_DSC1127

02 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010 Square_DSC1127, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

03 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1134

03 Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1134, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

1011 Beach Ave Vancouver IR AnselA Apr 28 2010_DSC1788

1011 Beach Ave Vancouver IR AnselA Apr 28 2010_DSC1788, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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.

Sunset Beach Vancouver Looking East April 27 2010 Ansel Adams Style_DSC1796

Sunset Beach Vancouver Looking East April 27 2010 Ansel Adams Style_DSC1796, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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.

English Bay Sunset with Solar Halo April 18_DSC1361And8more_tonemapped

English Bay Sunset with Solar Halo April 18_DSC1361And8more_tonemapped, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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 Logs April 28 2010_DSC1816

English Bay Beach Logs April 28 2010_DSC1816, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

English Bay Beach, Vancouver in Infra Red. April 28 2010.

Log rolling contest anyone?

English Bay Beach April 28 2010 IR_DSC1828

English Bay Beach April 28 2010 IR_DSC1828, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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.

Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1162

Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1162, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

Happy Earth Day 2010!

What do you get for a 4.5 billion year old planet that has everything? Easy - Flowers. :)

2010 Olympics Canada vs US Celebration Feb 28 2010_DSC0478

2010 Olympics Canada vs US Celebration Feb 28 2010_DSC0478, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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 HDR Vancouver Canada Apr 2010_DSC1244And8more_tonemapped

Lost Lagoon HDR Vancouver Canada Apr 2010_DSC1244And8more_tonemapped, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

Lost Lagoon, Stanley Park Vancouver looking east in High Dynamic Range. Taken on a hazy spring April day 2010.

Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1176And8more_tonemapped

Stanley Park Rhododendron April 2010_DSC1176And8more_tonemapped, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

Right beside the micro-mini golf course inside of Stanley Park Vancouver. Enough green to last 100 St. Patrick's days and then some.

Warm Spring Sunset English Bay Vancouver Apr 14 2010

Warm Spring Sunset English Bay Vancouver Apr 14 2010, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

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.

_DSC0306

_DSC0306, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

SunsetBeach IR Feb 19 2010_DSC1601

SunsetBeach IR Feb 19 2010_DSC1601, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

Here's a photo in Infra Red light of Sunset Beach in downtown Vancouver. This was taken right at the cusp of the transition between our winter and spring and during the 2010 Winter Olympics. As luck would have it most of the thousands upon thousands of vistors to Vancouver for the games skipped exploring the West End.

2010 Olympic Ski Jumping 16 Forest 02 Feb 12 2010_DSC0038

2010 Olympic Ski Jumping 16 Forest 02 Feb 12 2010_DSC0038, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

The mists during the Olympic ski jumping preliminaries were pretty spectacular. Occasionally the sun would attempt to burn some of the fog off but never succeeded.

2010 Olympic Ski Jumping 17 Stairway to Heaven Feb 12 2010_DSC0042

2010 Olympic Ski Jumping 17 Stairway to Heaven Feb 12 2010_DSC0042, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

I love this shot on several levels. First off the stairs look deadly and I think walking to the top should be an Olympic event all by itself. Second I love the grouping of the crowd near the entrance to the stairway. They are not queuing up to walk up the stairs (to get to the cool seats maybe?) but it's hard to think otherwise looking at the shot.