Van Dusen In Bloom & Vancouver Aquarium

My parents have been in town visiting the last few weeks and among other things, that means getting out and about and doing the tourist thing and hand in hand with that means lots of opportunities to snap pictures!

My Mum and Dad @ Powell Lake on the Sunshine Coast

My last visit to Van Dusen Botanical Gardens was years ago and it was at Christmas time when they put on their annual festive light display (well worth the vist by the way). Since my last visit, they now have a big swanky entrance lobby and interpretation center.

With the first signs of summer showing its face around these parts its a great place to visit and though we were on the tail end of the tulip blooms and the cherry blossom there was still lots of color around the place.

Right now is a great time to check out the Rhododendrons - these purple/lilac ones were my favorite.

I've no idea what these odd looking trio of flowers are but they made for a good picture.

This Boa Constrictor was thankfully not seen at Van Dusen Gardens but was safely behind glass when I took my parents to the Vancouver Aquarium.

"NEMO!"

With the exception of the two pictures above which were taken with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 all of the pictures here were captured with the Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS f/4-5.6. It's a good walkaround lens for this kind of thing and can be found on the used market very easily and for a good price.

The Macro feature on the 17-85mm came in particularly handy for these shots.

I wonder if the guy in this next photo was aware that dinner was sitting on his back?

This last one is I think my favorite of the set. He was definitely "ready for his close-up"!

Until next time folks, thanks for stopping by!

2011 WEEK 52: And so it ends

One week into 2012 already! Goodness time flies!

I'm a little sad that my year long photo adventure has sort of come to a close with a whimper instead of ending with an impressive bang but, such is life... I'm not really one for ending the year with thousands of strangers clutching over-priced cocktails so I ended my year exactly the way I like - surrounded by a gaggle of my best friends and most loved people.

Masks were rocked...

The year that was 2011 was pondered...

Good times were celebrated in style...

And I finally caved to pressure and took my turn in front of the lens... It's probably fitting that the final picture of the 2011 photography journey should be of me.

To all of you who have stopped by week after week to check out my pictures, thank you! I've had a blast snapping away and sharing the results. I'll be posting a few random details soon summing up the year along with some of my favourite images. I'll also be looking ahead to the next 12 months... This particular journey may have ended but new ones await and I look forward to sharing them here soon.

Thanks again for visiting. Please let me take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy and inspired 2012.

Until next time folks.

2011 WEEK 51: A Sunshine Coast Christmas

The trip up to Powell River on the Sunshine Coast can be a little exhausting. There's a ferry connection to make from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale followed by a 2hr. drive along the extremely twisty road that runs up the peninsula followed by a second ferry from Earl's Cove to Saltery Bay.

Thankfully one of the ferrys was serving a new brand of Christmas Punch to keep passengers entertained...

The unfortunate recipient of said punch is Joel, a man I envy mostly because he's able to fall asleep practically anywhere. But he's a pretty good writer, doesn't smell bad and knows more about music than anyone else I know. If you love discovering cool albums and songs, if you love to laugh and if you're not at all politically correct then I highly recommend you check out Joel's blog here.

When we took Max the Goldendoodle out for a walk down to Powell Lake I saw this mysterious woman who may or may not be in search of her next starring role in a Fellini movie...

There was a break from family tradition this year with dinner on the 24th rather than on Christmas Day.  Great to see Laurie finally getting to relax on Christmas Day instead of being focused on performing miracles in the kitchen - and a good thing too since there were 14 for dinner this year.

There's something awesome and terrifying about the fact that year in and year out millions upon millions of families around the world spend so many hours (maybe even days!) preparing a feast that is consumed in the space of 2 hours.

Another family tradition is the presenting of gifts from family pets - on reflection this is absolutely ridiculous but, hey, its a tradition and I love it! This year I got this from one of our cats...

I make no apology for the general lack of festiveness to these pictures... Way too predictable! Besides, I decided to shoot some video over Christmas instead of stills as a warm up for what I hope to be doing a lot more of in 2012. Stay tuned for more on that. As for the Christmas video, well, I'll see how it turns out before I decide whether or not to share it!

In the meantime, here are some images from our trip back. The light at this time of year with the sun low in the sky really does some wonderful things.

What's that on the right hand side? Looks like Ogopogo decided to visit the Sunshine Coast for Christmas too!

A view of the ferry approaching across Saltery Bay. This truly is a beautiful part of the world isn't it?

The cats were especially happy to see us return home. Mostly because this meant that the lights on our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree would be turned on again. Based on how keen they are at trying to chew on it I think it must have had catnip infused into it during manufacturing...

H'mm... Next year's Christmas card image perhaps???

Until next time folks!

2011 WEEK 50: Max

I've always been more of a cat person. It's not that I don't like dogs, it's just that I never owned a dog and they were never really around much in my life growing up. I guess you could say I'm mostly indifferent to them unless they're barking loudly, gnashing their teeth at me, nipping at my heels or ramming their heads into my nether regions... In these situations I'm raising my eyebrows and being grateful I'm a cat person!

Max is a dog. A Goldendoodle to be precise and quite simply, he's AWESOME!

Max lives in Powell River and belongs to my mother-in-law, Laurie. After taking numerous pictures of Max, I've decided that he doesn't have a single bad angle. The camera loves him! And he I suspect he kind of loves the camera back...

How could anyone not like a lovable muppet like this?

Max is very soft and from certain angles he looks like a dog wearing a fluffy dog suit. When he runs, his ears flop around and even when he's barking up a storm it's hard to to take him seriously.

Max can be a little nervous when it comes to meeting new friends but he soon gets over it.

Just another day for Max.

Until next time folks... Hoping you're all having a wonderful Christmas!

2011 WEEK 43: Happy Halloween!

Every year for a couple of weeks at the end of October, the PNE opens its gates to thousands of thrill seekers, ghoul hunters and those willing to have the crap scared out of them at "Fright Nights".

There are a number of Haunted Houses set up, each with their own spine chilling theme and almost all of the rides are open for business. Bright lights, fast moving objects, smoke in the air and macabre creatures wandering through the crowds... I thought this would be an excellent opportunity for some pictures but for the most part, it ended up being an exercise in disappointment.

I was hoping to get some cool streaking light effects but it was not to be. In hindsight, I should have brought along a tripod or at least a monopod to try some long exposure shots and avoid blur.

The greatest challenge were the extremes of exposure. The light was constantly changing and wherever one looked there was a random, bright, flashing light somewhere. Expose for the bright light and everything else in the frame was banished to a dark, shadowy void - Expose for the less bright subject matter and the bright spots burned out like supernovas. There really was no middle ground of exposure.

With each swing of the ride above there was a loud rising and falling scream! I like the atmosphere of a fair ground but have never been a fan of spinning rides. Add to that the fact that I'm 6'4" and many rides end up crushing my spine and I'm pretty much left with the Ferris Wheel...

If there's one thing I hate, its evil clowns so we stayed away from this doorway to doom.

No scraps for this guy at the Mini-Donut concession...

This is what fate befalls those customers who don't pay...

Nothing says Parental Guidance required like a demon baby eating human organs...

The below pictures were all part of an exhibit titled Hell's Kitchen. The consistency of lighting and the fact that the subjects weren't spinning around at a dizzying speed helped make these my favourites of the night.

Mmm... Fresh meat! Apparently it tastes like chicken...

Love this one. So much going on in this little scene. I especially like the foreground amputated leg hanging from the chain...

Happy Halloween folks!

Until next time...

2011 WEEK 42: Gourd Help Us!

Before I get to the fate of our pumpkins from the Westham Island Herb Farm pumpkin patch, here are a few more pictures I snagged on the way back from Westham Island.

Access to the island is over a rickety old wooden swing bridge that is only one lane wide - Vehicles take turns crossing it in each direction. In all the times I've visited the island over the years I've never had to stop while the bridge was opened for a boat.

On one side of the bridge there are a number of floating homes.

The following pictures were taken further down the river. Wonderful dramatic Fall skies. It reminds me a little of Alberta.

Arriving home we got to our pumpkin carving and here are the results... First up, Mel's:

And here's mine. "These aren't the Gourds you're looking for"...

Until next time folks!