Uncomfortably Long Exposure

This particular shot was taken at night, and as normally the case with these I press the button and the camera starts about its work which can take a minute or two. I’ll usually just daydream or look the other way and wait for the clicking to stop. Right after I pressed the button on this I heard a woman yell and I immediately thought I was doing something wrong, perhaps taking pictures of someone’s private Cherry Blossoms? I had no idea. It turns out there was a man walking a dog and the dog was, well, answering the call of nature on this grass in front of the lady’s house and she was yelling at the man. The dog was oblivious, the man was embarrassed, and the lady continued to yell. So while all this was going on I was stuck there waiting for my camera to finish this HDR exposure. Let’s just say it was a long sixty seconds after which I quickly picked up my camera and tripod and headed off. (Note to self: always carry poop bags when walking my own dogs).

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Hidden Lagoon

Sunsets are complicated, you never know what you’re going to get and of course no two are ever the same. On this day I resolved to learn about sunsets by staying in one place before, during and after the sunset to see what range of colors I might see. This is a composition of that study and after nearly forty five minutes in the same place taking dozens of photos, I can honestly say I’m not sure what I learned. Nevertheless, it was good fun and easy on my legs.

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Civic Architecture 2.0

North Vancouver city hall and civic center are designed with a minimalist theme that evokes the modern designs of someplace in Scandinavia. To get here I crossed the Vancouver Harbour in a ferry and trekked up the hill for about a kilometer or so. Turning around I had a panoramic view of Vancouver across the bay and jagged rocky peaks at my back, it’s hard to imagine a more scenic location in a cosmopolitain setting. These are my impressions of the architecture at the North Vancouver city hall.

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Not what I came for

This is what happens when you focus the lens in the wrong direction. Actually, at the base of this building is a colorful sculpture that I was determined to capture, but instead focused up as I was captivated by this building. (Hey, I’m from a small town.) My mind wanders from time to time, and sometimes I just gotta go with it. You know, that whole right brain, left brain thing…

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Bank of Montreal

In Florida where I live it seems that a lot of small banks have been purchased by big Canadian banks. They’ll put up a new sign and logo which I then recognize as Canadian. Other than the new logo, the buildings are fairly nondescript as many local banks tend to be. However, when I walked by the same bank on a busy street in Vancouver, well, there’s something to look at. In any case, here’s to the architecture of Canadian banks…, in Canada.

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Cherry Blossoms

In the last few days the Cherry Blossoms in Vancouver have been in full riot mode. It’s really the most amazing thing to see, not just the Cherry Blossoms but the residents of Vancouver looking at the Cherry Blossoms. Silly me, I thought I could just go out and take a few photographs, but as it turns out it seemed that I was only one of about a half million people doing the same thing. There are surely millions of photos of the Cherry Blossoms taken in the last three days. I pointed the camera up in order to get the blossoms without the people taking pictures of the blossoms and in this small way I claimed these Cherry Blossoms as my own, …that is until the next ten people took the same shot.

Spring in the City

Winter can last so long that some of us need visual cues that it’s coming to an end. Such was the case when I walked by these plants in the city park. Until this point, it never even dawned on me there would be an end to winter. Irrational yes, but very good news nonetheless.

Spring In The CityWinter can last so long that some of us need visual cues that it's coming to an end. Such was the case when I walked by these plants in the city park. Until this point, it never even dawned on me there would be an end to winter. Irrational yes, but very good news nonetheless.

Kitchen Sink

I’m not sure where this would fit in our household, however I do know that when I book a hotel in space, this is what the sink will look like. Maybe Apple is designing kitchen appliances now, stranger things have happened. Consider this, in the year 2113 this will be an antique. Nonetheless, I noticed this walking by a kitchen design shop in a part of town where where this isn’t so out of place. In fact, the only thing that was out of place was me.

Regrowth

This little fella decided to move in, but you can see he has a lot of catching up to do. In 2006, Vancouver experienced a devastating windstorm the effects of which can still be seen. With change comes renewal and this little cedar is evidence of that never ending cycle. From the looks of it, he has a lot of sturdy neighbors to keep him company through the many years as he grows to eventually tower through the canopy and see the sunrise on one side and the sunset across the Pacific Ocean on the other.

Look the Other Way

On this particular day I had it in my mind to take a picture of the sunset. Before doing so I found myself captivated by this city view of Vancouver looking across Stanley Park. When I got home and looked at my photos, this one, rather than the sunset shots seemed the better choice. I guess the trick is to not always “assume” I know what’s going to work. Easier said than done for a left-brain guy like myself.