OK this is not b&w which is the whole point of this blog entry of a photo taken on Feb 26, 2007. It really shows how gray the days have been in this bleak winter period. Not that it bothers me anymore. I love the cold weather and I am bundled up with the latest winter wear. A toque, gloves and warm shoes and I am invincible!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
snow in dem dar hills!
It's been a gray February but it's been beautiful up in the mountains. The mountains have been covered in snow while it has just been cold and gray in the city. It looks so beautiful from below with even just a little bit of light.
Queen Elizabeth park is a 20 minute walk away from the house but I have yet to walk there...go figure. I am always going to parks further away and yet Queen E is so close by and just as pretty. It's just that I just didn't know how to look at it and how to capture the beautiful setting. But recently I finally figured out how to take photos here and I was walking around when another stroller pointed me in the direction of this heron. It was the closest I have gotten to one of them and I shot away like crazy. I finally spooked it away when I got too close but I still managed to take a few 100 shots.
ambivalent day (like me)
Feb weather has been gloomy and the sun has been fighting to get through at times. Like my mood lately, the days have been ambivalent. I am also having a tough time deciding on the photos I like and/or want to post on flickr. SIgh...
Since our 2 daughters take dance classes at Arts Umbrella, I am always at Granville Island. I squeeze in an hour or two now and then in between pickups or when I am just hanging around waiting for them to finish. Granville Island is a minefield of photo opportunities and as much and as often as I take photos here I am always finding different things or different ways to shoot in this little area. This time around I thought I would collect doors and windows as subjects since they are so colorfully designed. I have a set of photos I that I took.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Vancouver/Whistler will be the site of the 2010 Olympics. I am afraid, as most residents are, of the huge bill that we will all eventually have to pick up. The infrastructure costs will be huge although they will have long term benefits. Meanwhile the traffic patterns is horrendous with all the road construction going on. I feel for the Cambie businesses who no doubt are suffering due to the construction. This huge clock was installed in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and counts down the time before the start of the Olympics.
clouds
The view from Granville Island is just terrific. In this one you see the bridge and Yaletown. There are houseboats in the foreground and my daughter has been inside of one and said it was terrific. I love the lighting effect this late in the day and the clouds make it more dramatic.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Vancouver Art Gallery is an interesting building. I specially like the steps leading to it. It adjoins the Courthouse and is across the street the Hotel Vancouver and a couple of other interesting buildings. In front is a fountain and recently an Olympic clock was installed to countdown the time until the Winter Olympics 2010 commences.
We rarely get to go downtown. The parking is difficult and very expensive. Yoiiy likes to window shop on Robson Street and just walk around and try to experiment with architectural photos. We like to eat at Aki's for Japanese food and sometimes go to a Korean restaurant just next door. Time seems to pass quickly when we are here. We always end up meeting at Starbucks at the end of the afternoon.Here is more of the set.
Have fallen behind on my blog so I thought I try and update a bit. Went over some old images and recropped them to see how I could make them better images and I have found that recropping does wonders sometimes. It brings a fresh view to the way I see things and just make them so much better.
Here is the complete set.
Here is the complete set.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Finally go to Garry Point Park in Steveston. I intended to stop by at the Chinese Buddhist Temple but when I saw the long lines of people going there for the Chinese New Year's celebrations I just kept right on going. At the entrance to the park were these Japanese sculptures. Steveston has a history of Japanese settling in the area so I was not surprised. I like these sculptures as they make good subjects. There weren't much in the way of kite flyers as there was very little wind on the day. But the sun was out and there were a fair number of people walking about. So I too wandered about and took my photos. The light was fairly good so I came away with a few good shots.
in between trips
In between dance classes for the kids, I try to fit in a little time for photography. Their dance classes are on Granville Island so that is why a lot of my photos are from this area. I was lucky to time this twilight shot and I have finally realized that sunset shots don't end when the sun goes down. The sky is so beautiful after the sun has gone down and I have taken the opportunity to take as many shots at twilight recently.
tree at the Botanical Garden
I continue to experiment with b&w and I think I am getting better results. I've even learned to dodge and burn. This tree was at the UBC Botanical Garden which looks a bit plain so I am looking forward to coming back in the Spring when all the trees will be greener.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Parking...Roman style
Italy is our favorite destination in Europe. There is Rome, Venice and Florence as our top cities to visit. The food, the people, the city and its architecture and sculptures are so interesting and fun to see and enjoy. I haven't found my many photos of Italy but I will get to them someday.
Friday, February 16, 2007
My first 'adventure trip out of Saudi Arabia was to India. Flew to Bombay and then to Srinigar and from there to Leh, Ladakh, India. We then drove down the mountain back to Srinigar and then flew back to New Delphi and then home. Leh, Ladakh is Katmandhu-like as I believe they are from the same people who migrated down from China. The monastery tour was interesting and so Brad Pitt-like but the welcome procession for the Head Llama was the most memorable. The local people all donned their traditional garb and lined up on the streets to meet the llama. The sight was incredible. The trip down the mountain was quite exciting. Since we were above the clouds we were literally 'On Top of the World". We rode down the mountain on Indian-made taxis on narrow roads and in one spot at cloud level were dirt roads that literally were carved out of the side of the mountains as the other side crumbled down due to the wet conditions. Another stretch of road were one way and we waited for hours for the other side to cross. We were met with torrential rains once we got to ground level and the roads were flooded at some points whereupon our Indian drivers turned the car around and backed up instead of driving forward this avoiding the engines from flooding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)