John Harvey Photo

March, 2005
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The first of what might be a monthly photo blog


Mark At Food Court
I put my preorder in for a D2x a few days after it was announced (around September) and it finally arrived March 1st.  Congratulations, I'm now digital.  Like a parent suddenly handed their first child, it's taken me a few days to get my head wrapped around what to do with this thing.  After the loss of my carbon fiber (manfroto 440 with an Arcatech head) tripod in September, I was having a hard time taking photos and getting this new (larger, noisier, button encrusted camera) I wasn't exactly jumping to take photos.  I brought my camera in to work and Jermey actually took the first picture I think is even worth posting.  (Please kill me for the first photo being of Mark.)  The first actual photos (since deleted) were of the wall and couch at home - and they were incorrectly exposed.  This camera is going to take some getting used to.


Jin's Birthday (March 4th)

My camera's real first outing was at a party for Jin's Birthday.  (March 5th if you are playing the home version). 
Jin At Her Birthday
Still not sure what to do with this thing, David took the only photo worth keeping.  I'm starting to figure a few things out.  First, I am not a photo preservationist.  Every photo taken by the camera is not precious and beyond deleting obvious crap (out of focus or misfired), I don't see a reason to keep photos of stuff I don't think is worth showing people.  I'm sure someone is going to die and the only picture I had of them was less than perfect and got deleted, but if I died, I wouldn't want less than good photos of me surfacing in some sort of road side memorial.

The second issue I really haven't dealt with is people.  I've had a few bad experiences with people.  Jermey really doesn't like having his photo taken - he will often get out of the scene (stopping what he is doing and conversations to do so.)  I get it.  Try not to take photos of Jer and definitely don't show them to him.  Mike has a similar view point but is less energetic about avoiding the camera (and discovering his picture was taken seems to be less of a downer for him).  Sean has asked that photos be removed from the web site.  I get that too (especially Sean since he can't rely on the "John Doe" effect to shield him from google).
Mike with the Glove
One of those problem photos - It's a loved photo by this group, but
I can hardy imagine Mike was thrilled with me at the time.
(Manning Park, Circa August 1997)

The other side of the coin exists too.  David (ongoing experiment in social engineering) doesn't seem to mind being photographed.  Mark asks for it (hence the Shrine to Mark as Web site).  Eric will actively pose for the camera.  Other people have expressed nearly no opinion, or given reasonable limits (don't take pictures of me without my clothes on for instance). 

Mark Eric And Gabi In Pool
The other end of the scale - a posed, welcome photo
(Sakurajima, Circa April 2004)


This problem was reasonably easy to avoid with the film camera.  Because of the expense (I figured it was roughly 40 cents a shot) and the specialization (I almost always had 50 or 100 speed Velvia loaded), the camera stopped coming to parties and social gatherings.  Generally I took people shots when we were out doing things (camping, hiking) and it was all good.

Jesse And Jin Playing
What I like - people ignored me and had fun
(Pender Island, Circa May 2003)

There was a time when I shot mostly print film (the APS era), filled a few photo albums a year and brought my camera to parties.  The photo albums didn't have nearly the same kind of distribution as the internet, but that's both a feature and a liability.  I'm going to have to have a discussion with my friends and see if I can come to some new understanding.

Going for a cycle (March 5th)

So here is the next problem.  When I shot only film, the barrier to entry for a picture to make it onto the website was steep.  I had to finish the roll (generally I shot at least a roll a week) and then get it developed (approximately the same frequency) scanned (less frequent - in the summer I often fell far behind and in the winter I caught up), cleaned, processed and then put up.  Because of the barrier to entry, I generally only put up web sites for substantial trips (half a dozen good photos meaning at least a roll shot) so I stopped shooting the smaller events in my life.

Enter digital.  Now I can take my monster camera (I need a new bag) anywhere, shoot anything and then have them on my website the same day.  Cool.  But where?  For minor trips and events, I decided to create this month by month photo blog.  So it's Saturday the 5th and Eric wanted to go for a bike ride.  Humor ensues.

Fixing Davids Tire
The first challenge was David.  David's back tire had developed a flat and he needed a new tube and tire (how desperately didn't become apparent until later).  He filled his leaking tire and told us to meet him at MEC (it sure is nice to have that in walking distance of your house).  Eric and I both arrived at MEC but no David.  His tire was too flat - he wound up taking the bus with his bike the dozen blocks from here to there.  No problems.  Buy a tire and tube, install it in the parking lot (classy, I know) and we are off.


Look No Chain
The theory was to get some TransCanada trail in.  We took Ontario to the sea wall to Adanac (This city has a lot of bike routes) and as we started to climb the hills in East Van (just past Commercial Drive), Eric fell behind.  Turns out he had broken his chain.  Doh.  Given the tools in our collective bike bags, we couldn't see how to fix his chain so we were a bit stuck. 


Signs On Comerical Drive
Thankfully Commercial and the Bike Doctor on Commercial really isn't the far away.   Getting the chain fixed was neither instant nor permanent - Eric wouldn't be able to ride hard so a longer or steeper bike ride was out.  Given the falling light we headed back down town to China town and eventually over to Crab park and downtown proper.

At Crab Park
 
  I actually quite like biking down town.  The cars are going at a reasonable pace and with the views are second to none. 
 
Lindeman Lake (March 6th)



My Building (March 12th)

My Building
As you probably know, it's my fault the Vancouver real estate scene peaked last April - I purchased a small part (3%) of a hole in Vancouver.  Being as it's a block from my house it's pretty easy to go over and see the progress.  Now that I've upgraded to the miracle that is digital technology, I can do it fairly cheap.  The have cleared away the old buildings and parking lot and have done the first stage of retaining wall.


DSC_0123
These buildings can get built awfully fast, or very, very slow (don't talk to me about the parking lot at work).  They started sales on my building in April and sold most of what they were going to sell (65%?) in the first month.  Seven months later (and not many sales longer) they finally tore down.  My theory is that they are waiting for the construction crews to finish Concord Pacific's latest projects and flood the market with labour. 

George Wainborn Park

As I understand it, if they don't get cheap labour, the cost comes out of the fit and finish of the building and suites.  We will see how things work out.

Biking out the Ioco Spit (March 12th)

Bikey Art
Now that Eric "I biked across Japan" Jones is back in Vancouver we seem to be doing a lot more biking.  Todays adventure included parts of East Vancouver (I met up in Trout Lake) and a trip out to Ioco Spit.  Mark was added to today's mix and he bravely played the role of "control group" for how effective pedal clips are.  I believe the next trip will include a stop at MEC for Mark.


Eric is number 1DSC_0155David and Eric on Large Pump House
The actual ride out to Sea Island (the airport) isn't bad.  We took the Cypress bike route down to the Arthur Lang bridge (which had pretty good margins for Bikies) and once on he island we took the quite road out to the bridge.  From the turn off to the end of the spit it's about 9km of almost dead flat road - very rare in Vancouver.


DSC_0134
At the end of the spit you are surrounded on 3 and half sides by Ocean.  There are views of UBC and the airport and the big concrete blocks involved in dumping Vancouvers treated sewage.  Cool.  Cold actually - the wind picked up and the sun was getting lower and lower.

DSC_0156David taking a break

The bike back was kind of sad.  David experienced Homeostasis shutdown - even though he was pedaling, the couldn't keep himself warm, and as he got colder, he could perform less work, which meant less heat, which meant less work, which ....  He took the bus home.  Eric and I froze all the way back to Fairview.

Hanami in QE Park (March 13th)
Sean had the best idea ever - Hanami!  Most of us have been to Japan and in Japan they have a festival called Hanami - basically cherry blossom watching.  To make it more fun, you bring a blue tarp, lunch, drinks and sit out and watch the cherry blossoms.  This festival isn't yet big here, but I really should be.

Lunch under SakuraSitting Under Cherry Blossoms
Sean did most of the heavy lifting on this one - he dropped by Ichibankan and purchased a number of Bento boxes including Vegetarian boxes for Eric and I.  Once at the park we spread out the tarp and started eating.



Full from LunchLooking up at the Cherry BlossomsDSC_0175



Yeah, GPS (March 20th)
My MC-35 arrived and I picked up a Garmin Gecko from MEC.   My camera can now record GPS data with each photo I take. 

Boats And Buildings
It was rainy weekend so I spent most of the weekend in writing code (sad I know).  I wrote a cool new bit of search so you can find pictures of people on my web site.  It's funny how much you can enjoy collecting, sorting, editing things.


Gabi's Back! (March 24th)
Gabi and Eric got engaged a few months ago and living on different continents was probably putting a kink in things.  Gabi decided to get on a plane and see how many people would come out to say hi.

Gabi is Back
To increase the challenge level, she decided to join us at 6:10am the day before a long weekend.  Needless to say, Mark was there in Spirit.  After perhaps the best airport pick-up timing ever, we had breakfast in fairview before we all ran away to our respective jobs and Gabi and Eric got a little "quality time" together.


A Weekend on the Island (March 25th)
Turns out it's been pretty much forever since I've been home to visit the folks.  (Ok - it was Christmas, but who's counting).  Being Easter, it seemed like the right time to come home.  The weekend was supposed to be solid rain, but Friday turned out to be quite nice.  My mom suggested I check out the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific not that far from their house. 

White Fawn LilyunopenedSatin FlowerOpenedOpened Close

Unlike Butchart Gardens, they have a pretty large collection of endemic gardens.  They also have a selection of more foreign plants...

Blue FlowersPurpleRed Flower

And a slowly emerging Japanese garden.  Cool.

Stepped BridgeJapanese Garden
  Castle

In the afternoon, we decided to visit Hatley Castle.   It also has extensive gardens including a Japanese theme, but the gardens are much older.


Unlike the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, Hatley Castle's gardens were once fantastic, fell into disrepair and are coming back.  Hatley's Gardens have signifigant statues, structures and trees in them, but the grounds still have ways to develop.

Boy With A HeadachePeacockPurple Flowers SBend

Boar Scar Water Feature
Being young and male, one of my favorite parts of a garden is the water features.  There were two that I really like - the boar scaring device (a common Japanese element) and a good sized water wheel.  The best part of water wheels is the moss that grows on them and this wheel seems to be just starting out.

Water Wheel

We were lucky to be there during a blossom period so the obligatory blossom snaps came out:

Blossoming TreeMom And Dad
 
On Saturday, we decided to take a run up to Whippletree Junction to look at some furniture stores.  (See house citation above).  Although it was pouring on the way up, it was quite nice when we came back through GoldStream so we stopped in for a brief walk.

TrilliumWhite Fawn Lily Gold Stream

Skunk Cabbage Near Gold StreamSquirrel Crop


After a trip back from the Island, I discovered that David hates me - or at least wants to kill me.  He invited us all over chocolate waffles and they were so rich I honestly feared for my life.  The shaved chocolate on top was my fault so perhaps it wasn't all David to blame. 

Chocolate Waffles


Satin Flower
Species: Olsynium douglasii (Douglas' grasswidow, Douglas' blue-eyed-grass)
Altitude: 36m (118 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: flower, grass
DSC_0156
Person: Eric
Squirrel Crop
Species: Sciurus carolinensis (eastern gray squirrel)
Tags: invasive
unopened
Species: Erythronium revolutum (Pink Fawn Lily)
Altitude: 34m (111 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: flower, garden
Skunk Cabbage Near Gold Stream
Species: Lysichiton americanus (Skunk Cabbage, Swamp Lantern)
Tags: flower
Opened Close
Species: Erythronium revolutum (Pink Fawn Lily)
Altitude: 44m (144 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: flower, garden
Boy With A Headache
Altitude: 28m (91 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: garden, statue
Boats And Buildings
Location: Go To...
Tags: beach, boat, city, crane, Vancouver
David and Eric on Large Pump House
Person: Eric, David
Location: Go To...
Tags: Iona Beach Regional Park
Japanese Garden
Tags: garden, twin, zen
Look No Chain
Person: Eric, David
Location: Go To...
Eric is number 1
Person: Eric
Tags: biking
Signs On Comerical Drive
Tags: restaurant, Vancouver
DSC_0155
Tags: Iona Beach Regional Park
DSC_0175
Person: Jesse, Mark, Sean, Michael, Jeremy, Eric, David, Catherine
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Gabi is Back
Person: Eric, Gabi
Mom And Dad
Person: Janet, Lloyd
Chocolate Waffles
Tags: food porn
Mark At Food Court
Person: Mark
Purple
Tags: flower
Blossoming Tree
Tags: tree
White Fawn Lily
Species: Erythronium oregonum (White Fawnlily)
Altitude: 39m (127 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: flower, shallow depth of field
Bikey Art
Person: Mark, David
Tags: art, biking
Fixing Davids Tire
Person: Eric, David
Tags: biking
Jin At Her Birthday
Person: Jin
Water Wheel
Tags: motion blur, water wheel
Trillium
Species: Trillium ovatum (Western Trillium, Pacific Trillium)
Tags: flower
Red Flower
Tags: flower, garden
Full from Lunch
Tags: cherry blossoms, hanami, lunch, Queen Elizabeth Park
Boar Scar Water Feature
Tags: garden, motion blur, pond
DSC_0134
Person: Eric
Sitting Under Cherry Blossoms
Person: Jeremy
Location: Go To...
Tags: cherry blossoms, hanami, lunch, Queen Elizabeth Park
Opened
Species: Erythronium revolutum (Pink Fawn Lily)
Altitude: 34m (111 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: flower, garden
David taking a break
Person: David
Stepped Bridge
Altitude: 39m (127 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: bridge, garden
At Crab Park
Person: Eric, David
Location: Go To...
Tags: biking
DSC_0123
Tags: construction, crane, Vancouver
George Wainborn Park
Tags: construction, crane, Vancouver
Castle
Altitude: 25m (82 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: castle
Purple Flowers SBend
Tags: garden
Blue Flowers
Altitude: 57m (187 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: flower, garden
My Building
Tags: construction
Lunch under Sakura
Person: Sean, Mark, David
Tags: cherry blossoms, hanami, lunch, Queen Elizabeth Park
Peacock
Tags: bird, garden, peafowl
White Fawn Lily Gold Stream
Species: Erythronium oregonum (White Fawnlily)
Tags: flower
Looking up at the Cherry Blossoms
Tags: cherry blossoms, Queen Elizabeth Park, tree
Tags: flower(11), garden(11), Do Not Tag(8), Queen Elizabeth Park(5), cherry blossoms(4), biking(4)
People: Eric(9), David(8), Mark(4), Jeremy(2), Sean(2), Jin(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > March, 2005

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