Red

On Sunday I wandered around Canada Place and Coal Harbour seawall looking to photograph a new public art piece adjacent to the Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre. I became increasingly frustrated by chain link fencing surrounding the Convention Centre and seawall in preparation for the Olympics. It seems every venue that will be used during the Olympics has multiple layers of security beginning with chain link fencing (occasionally topped with razor wire).

So as is sometimes the case when one is looking for a photograph that can't be taken, another one appears. What luck! I really like the colour red and the way these benches were arranged. They sit adjacent to the new Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel at the north foot of Burrard Street. I shot a couple of frames and then it started raining so I was lucky with this shot.

Spring has sprung! Really?

I came across these on West 23rd Avenue yesterday. Snowdrops and crocusses are coming out everywhere, as are Japanese Cherry blossoms. But, it's only January 24th and I'm sure there is still some winter weather to come.

The Olympic Rings

One of the most popular photography venues these days is the seawall adjacent to Brockton Point Lighthouse in Stanley Park. From there one can see the Olympic rings that are mounted on a barge moored in Coal Harbour. Behind that are the "sails" of Canada Place lit up with the Olympic colours. The new Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre is just to the right of the coloured sails. The rings on the barge change colours on a timer and apparently the five colours don't come around to often so I was fortunate to be there at the right time. Immediately after this shot, they turned white and remained so for as long as I was there. It just didn't have the same impact as the coloured version.

Vancouver has been going through a unseasonably warm period lately (the meteorologists called it a moderate El Nino.) Cypress Mountain, where the freestyle skiing and snowboarding will take place, has virtually no natural snow on the lower mountain and contingency plans are now in place to helicopter and truck snow in from the higher slopes. Wow!



This was shot from the seawall near Brockton Oval in Stanley Park and shows Canada Place and the skyline of Coal Harbour. The very bright white object in the water is the Chevron gas barge used for refuelling boats and floatplanes.

The Birds!

Went for a stroll along the False Creek seawall (where you go Nordic Walking) during a brief respite from the rain on Sunday. It continues to be quite mild, so apart from the rain, it has been very comfortable here. On Saturday I rode 49K out to Richmond and back on a glorious sunny day, but was quite tired when I arrived back home.

Today it's back to weatherproofing the house, but I hope to get out for a short ride this afternoon.

Still no word on work, but hopefully Lily is working to rectify that situation.

As for the photo; this process requires 3 exposures taken in quick succession and are then merged in the computer. During these exposures a flock of seagulls (not the band) flew through each of the 3 exposures so they appear in different ways in the final merged image. Some people might remove them in Photoshop. I left them in because I kind of the like the ghostly effect.

Like the title says...

No stories, just a photo today.

If you're interested in the technical information, this photo was made with 3 different exposures, merged in Photomatix and then post-processed in Photoshop and Lightroom.

Rain, Rain go away.....

The photo is deceiving. This is not the weather we are having in Vancouver right now. It has been raining steadily since last night and has deposited about 50mm of rain so far with more to come. On the positive side, Vancouver had the warmest temperature in Canada yesterday (Sunday) at 11 Celsius.

Life at home has returned to a normal routine. I am in the midst of weatherproofing the house so we can qualify for a government grant. When that project is done I will tackle the bike room in hopes of making it a more workable space. Mundane, I know.

I'm continuing my riding regime of 3 times a week and have accumulated 135 km so far this month. I think my goal of 400 km for January is attainable.

The photo above was taken during our cold snap in December at Acadia Beach, which is at western-most point of Jericho Beach. It was damn cold but worth it, I think.

My First Blog

Well, this is my first entry in my new (actually only) blog, that will hopefully keep Adena up to date with the goings on in my life. I hope to post photos of life in Vancouver and of the things that we are doing here. I might even post a purdy picture once in awhile. So, if you any suggestions please feel free to comment.
Glad to hear you made it to your destination. Hopefully you'll get some sleep soon so that you can get on with the business of vacation.

I am posting a photo of Grayland Beach to start this blog, but expect some Vancouver photos soon.