November 2015
It's a rainy month
Vancouver Viaducts
I read once that if you can do a good job
on architecture photography and nude photography, you can do just
about anything with a camera. After a night of trying to
take pictures of architecture in the rain, I think just getting
the architecture part down is enough.
The city is trying really hard to tear
down the viaducts and build condo's in their place. The
viaducts have issues - they basically form a barrier preventing
the city from overrunning chinatown. The land under them is
difficult to use (except for the cool skatepark) and if they could
just figure out how to move a few thousand cars and hour, they
could make millions upzoning the land.
So the photo club at work thought it would
be a good idea to go out and take some photos. Turns out
there the day we agreed on (Friday) had a rain warning and it
never did stop raining, but it wasn't raining hard. My
parents were town so I had childcare take care of so I went out
for a walk on my own to see what I could capture.
This is probably my favorite picture of
the night. It has strong diagonals and a good mix of light
colors. The buildings look menacing but off in the
fog. I'm curious what else I could have captured.
Vancouver Aquarium
The Vancouver Aquarium really is your
ideal rainy weekend destination - it's mostly indoors so you stay
dry (and mostly warm). The kids have fun (especially if they
set the pace and pick the attractions because you have seen them
all a dozen times) and there are lots of places to have a snack
and just the crazyness go by.
The downside is that every other parent in
the city has figured out that the Vancouver Aquarium is the ideal
rainy weekend destination so the place is full of kids and many
destinations (like the beluga display) can take some patience to
get an unobstructed view. As kids get more tired they get a
little crazy so a good short day is often preferable to a long
hard day. We usually try to be there just before it opens
(so the parking isn't crazy) and leave in time for lunch so that
Claira gets a nap.
Bike Ride in Stanley Park
Remembrance day is a holiday here - daycares
and schools are closed, some businesses close. We were lucky
with the weather so we decided to take the kids out to Stanley
Park for a bike ride and to feed the ducks. We considered a
trip on the seawall but opted to go around Beaver Lake because
it's much safer (and less busy) for new riders.
The kids do like feeding the ducks. In a twist on the usual,
Nara decided she wanted to use my camera to take pictures of the
ducks. My camera isn't exactly kid friendly (she uses the
iPad at home) but she is starting to get used to it. Nara
can tell the difference between Mallards and Wood Ducks so she
tried to get Wood Ducks in her photos.
As we walked around the lake, I noticed
squirrels and chickadees feeding on bird seed left behind by
another walker. The chickadees looked pretty small to me -
turns out there are two types of chickadees here and these are the
smaller ones - the Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. New to me.
East Side Culture Crawl
My first East Side Culture Crawl was
probably back in 2004 - a friend in class suggested we go and I
was blown away (and overwhelmed) by what I saw. More
recently I have became a regular - every year we try to go, even
if it's just for a few hours. So many parts of the show are
inspiring - the art obviously, the spaces (galleries and studios)
are diverse and expressive, but also the people. The artists
put so much into the presentation and the work - seeing it drives
you to want to do more and better yourself.
So last year I got this idea of taking
photos at the Culture Crawl. Taking photos of work is an
sensitive thing to me. I noticed some artists embrace it and
recommend hashtags to focus publicity. Other artists have
"No Photography" signs. I'm not a big fan of taking photos
of someone elses work - as a photographer, I'm not really bringing
much to the product. I decided to focus on the tools and (a
little) on the spaces. I always asked the artists if they
minded if I took a photo of their tools (I took pictures of the
floor without asking).
I few surprises emerged. First, I spoke with the artists
more this year than previous years. I learned more about how
they work - for instance paints are often covered up so they don't
dry out. I felt a little bad talking, looking, taking photos
and then walking away without buying anything but in a number of
cases the art is well out of my price range. On one hand,
I'm not sure what I will do next year, but I'm hoping whatever I
do will cause me to keep talking to artists.
I was surprised to learn I wasn't alone in taking photos of tools
and space - one artist (Gerri York) pointed out her neighbors
paint tubes and clips had been photographed twice the day
before. Thanks to the artists who indulged me (no one said
no or was short about it). The Culture Crawl is a real
highlight to my year - I'm already looking forward to next year.
Owls in Queen Elizabeth Park
Nara and Claira have gymanastics
class for any hour on Saturday afternoons. One option is to
stare at my phone for 55 minutes. The other option is to go
for a walk in Queen Elizabeth Park which is right next door.
So a few weeks ago I went for a walk and I heard a racket in the
trees. Two Barred owls were having a non-contact argument
about who's trees these were and they didn't seem to care about
anyone else. A minute later one bird flew off and the second
sat on a lower limb just looking around. I was quite impressed
with the view I got of the owl and wished I brought my camera.
Fast forward to today - I took a walk though the same stand of trees
- nothing - but a a little way down the path a small bird was making
a racket. Sure enough a Barred Owl was sitting on a branch
watching the world go by. He was patent - he had no problem
while I moved around and tried to get a nice photo. I was back
with plenty of time pick up the kids after class.
Tags: art crawl(7), Eastside Culture Crawl(7), Stanley Park(6), Vancouver(5), Vancouver Aquarium(4), light streaks(3)
People: Claira(3), Nara(3), Helen(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2024 to 2005 > November 2015
Last Modified Sunday, January 29th, 2023 at 20:46:39 Edit
Copyright and Contact Information.
