The Best of 2011 Part II

I'm not sure if the large number of favourite pictures from the latter 6 months of 2011 is indicative of any improvement in my skills or because better weather gave me more opportunities. Regardless, selecting only 12 pictures from 6 months of work proved too challenging for a procrastinator like me - So you get a Part II and a Part III!

July began with a trip to the Vancouver Aquarium where the best image captured turned out to be of the feathered variety rather than the fishy variety. Thanks to the "Birds of Prey" show I was afforded a super-close encounter with a stunning bald eagle.

July was also a month with several family birthdays (including my own). Combining three generations this photo of my Aunty Sylvia, my cousin Andrea and her beautiful one year-old Lucy (all of whom celebrated a birthday within a week of one another!) has special sentimental value to me.

Lucy surely wins the "cutest of the year award"!

No other month of the year brought as many pictures as August and among the highlights was a trip to the Greater Vancouver Zoo.

Of all the many awesome pictures I was lucky to capture, the set featuring the oh-so-not-camera-shy Ostrich was number one!

WEEK 34 brought with it a summer night jaunt around Vanier Park, False Creek and Olympic Village. Armed with a tripod and intervalometer I snagged some long exposure shots I am immensely proud of.

I made my first attempts at "light painting" with this sculpture...

And this art installation...

Meanwhile, this next picture was somehow stumbled upon by a rock band in Greece who recently enquired about using it on their next album cover!

My night ended at Olympic Village capturing images across False Creek of B.C. Place. The stadium upgrade was still in progress back in August so I might just have to visit this spot again now that all the new exterior lighting is complete.

September brought with it a new toy in the shape of a Lensbaby and this was my favourite shot I managed to (literally!) squeeze out of it...

Come back soon for the final part of this look back through 2011 which will include pumpkins, macabre kitchens from hell, Canucks and glorious sunsets!

Until next time folks...

2011 WEEK 34 Pt. III: Olympic Village

Today I have for you the final part of my "Vancouver at night" series.

I ended my photographic adventure heading further East along False Creek to Olympic Village. Say what you will about the various screw-ups associated with this development in terms of politics, construction, ownership and financing, but I think they did a wonderful job of the waterfront area - and I'm not just saying that because I had so much success with my picture taking!

Here's a view looking towards the still under renovation Science World.

The forward leaning aspect of these apartments in this next one are really accentuated by the distortion of  my trusty Sigma 10-20mm. One of these days I hope to get my hands on an 8mm Fisheye, then we'll really have some fun!

All of these photos really highlight how the intensity and the colour temperature of the light can change the environment. The violet strip across the apartments on the left cast far more light in this picture than was viewable with the naked eye. The same goes for the eerie green hue of the building to the right.

Here's another entry in Vancouver's ever-growing list of bizarre sculptures... This time we have giant birds! I'd love to go back to this spot with a live model or two and do some forced perspective magic. Think of it as Attack of the Killer Sparrows!

Perhaps some enterprising catering students should construct the world's largest loaf of bread for these guys to feast on? Together with (a couple of hours later) the world's largest bird poop...

This art piece is a lot more traditional...

In the photo below. the bridge caused me no end of troubles when I took the photo and later when I came to do post-processing. Believe me when I say the photo IS level! I leveled the tripod and I tweaked the finished image some more in the computer and yet the damn thing still looks crooked to me... So either I'm crazy or its an optical illusion caused by the smooth curved lines of the girders.

These final 5 pictures are my favourites, perhaps of the entire night of shooting if not my entire 34 Week photo adventure to date.

The railing at the bottom of the above picture was an accident. It was so dark I couldn't even see it in the frame until after the 20 second exposure was completed - and yet it works! I like how it feels like one is looking out from the prow of a boat.

Now, in some of the above pictures you can see a glimpse of the highly controversial (and expensive to tax payers...) new roof of B.C. Place Stadium that is nearing completion. I've been fascinated by the enormity of the construction. The new roof is engineering marvel, so much so it was featured in a great episode of Discovery Channel's Daily Planet show - watch the video here. Despite this, from a purely aesthetic point of view, I haven't been much of a fan.

Until now.

I think the lights inside and out of the structure have only recently been turned on and as you can see in these pictures, on a clear, calm night it is a beautiful thing to behold.

In these pictures you can really see how the new stadium is well on its way to becoming an iconic feature of the Vancouver skyline. Compared to the old roof- the giant inflatable marshmallow- I think its actually a huge improvement.

All in all, I am super proud of the images I managed to capture during my 3 hr. nighttime photo adventure. I hope you've enjoyed seeing a side of the city that only long exposure photography can capture.

I've set the bar a little higher for myself now... Hopefully it won't be too long before I have success again!

Until next time folks...

2011 WEEK 6: It Don't Matter If You're Black & White

I set myself the challenge of capturing some monochromatic images this week and it was exactly that, a challenge!

Even though I had sun in the sky, albeit a sun that was diffused through a thin layer of high elevation cloud, 90% of the photos I took were just "meh"... A lot of them just felt flat and kind of boring to me. It was a good reminder that black and white photography is all about textures, tones and contrast; finding those sweet spots between the light and shadow.

I think I made things more difficult for myself by not having a solid plan in terms of subject matter. Even though walking around and seeing what I could stumble upon was fun (and good exercise after sitting on my butt in front of the computer for far too long) a lot of subjects just didn't really lend themselves to black and white. Still, out of 350+ pictures (delete! delete! delete!) there's a few here that I quite like...

A rare sight. A practically empty Skytrain. I'm pretty sure this guy missed his stop.

Another location and another station. This time the Pacific Central at Main & Terminal. This place will always occupy a special place in my heart as it was featured in my very first short film, "The Fare". One of the few places in Vancouver where one doesn't have to look hard to find awesome architecture and history. I love the mood of this place.

Also at the station. I wonder if these two folks are arriving or departing?

Black and white is great for finding beauty in dirty corners. This was taken in the far corner of False Creek (near Science World) where the lack of tidal movement often causes pollutants to collect. Those paint brush-like streaks are actually boat oil.

These two fellows showed up while I was snapping away and said, "Hope you don't mind birds in your photos!" They then pulled out four (yes four!) large round loaves of sourdough bread and turned this corner of False Creek into an all-you-can-eat buffet for the local seagull population.

A Finding Nemo kinda moment... "Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!"

Seagulls get a bad rap. They're nasty little scavengers. And yet... Another example of black and white imagery lending beauty to the beast. The lens flare really gives this image an ethereal quality. I'm super proud of this one especially since it was completely unintentional. These happy, lucky "accidents" are what make photography so addictive.

Another one of Vancouver's awesomely weird sculptures. I couldn't find a plaque identifying what/who/why this is here so I'll just call this "A Victim of Urban Sprawl"...

THE GEEKY STUFF:

All of these images were captured with either the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 or the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8. Images were taken using the Canon 60Ds "monochrome" user setting and were post-processed with the addition of contrast and (in obvious cases!) blue tint.

2011 WEEK 5: Inukshuks, Sunsets & Other Cliches!

Who doesn't love a good sunset?


I took the opportunity of some clear skies this week to do some experiments in silhouettes and back lighting to capture some Vancouver landmarks around False Creek. This first photo was the toughest challenge due to the sheer number of other eager photographers around. Oh, and to the guy with the words Press Photographer emblazoned across his shoulders, I say "You sir, are not nearly as important as you think you are and just because you have a bigger camera, a bigger lens and a press pass does not give you the right to barge in front of others when they are taking pictures!"

For much of the Winter in Vancouver we're used to it being damp and grey. On a clear day it can still feel damp and chilly but I love the light that comes from a sun low in the sky - wonderful long shadows... This can present its own set of problems for a photographer especially with the sun behind you - my trick is to find a good shadow and hide myself inside it. Shooting towards the sun is a whole other bag of problems. In this next one the Granville Street Bridge provided a great silhouette while helping eliminate bad lens flare.

Further around False Creek near David Lam Park, there were at least 25 inukshuks that someone (displaying far more patience than I could ever show) had carefully constructed. This time I decided to embrace lens flare, play the reflection on the water and use the flash to compensate for the crazy backlight while highlighting the foreground detail.

This is pretty much an archetypal False Creek image with the exception of there not being a little ferry. I tried waiting for one but the driver refused to bring it up to the dock at the right angle and the picture looked too cluttered. Plus I was getting cold by this point!

Not too much to say about this one except I love Vancouver's whacky sculptures! I still miss the upside down church that used to be over by Coal Harbour.

THE GEEKY:

All of this weeks entries were taken with the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 wide-angle zoom. Most of the work was done in-camera tweaking f-stop and shutter speed. No filters, nothing. Considering how much orange/gold light there is in these pictures you'd think a lot of  post-processing and manipulation was done. In fact all I did to these images was increase the contrast, increase the shadow detail for some of the shots with foreground detail and nudge up the warm tones a hair.