Monthly Archives: October 2018

Kelowna’s October waterfront  

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My friends Shaun and Jo McAvany decided to join me on a on a two-day trip to Kelowna.

Their anniversary had just passed and they had spent their honeymoon 9 years ago in Kelowna so I guess the trip was appropriate for them.

For me it was a chance to spend some time in a bigger city with it’s fancy eateries and, of course, to wander Kelowna’s waterfront with my camera before winter’s snow and ice covered everything.

They dropped off their kids at their grandma and grandpa’s place, found a friend to take care of the menagerie of dogs, cats, rabbits and what ever other animal they have rescued the weekend and jumped into my car to join me for the scenic two hour drive.

Although the Kelowna lake waterfront doesn’t have exactly the same feeling as Vancouver’s seaside, it’s pretty close. And the last days of summer are a perfect time to photograph the colour and mood of the freshwater foliage that mixes with city structures dedicated to tourism.

For this photographic trip both Jo and I carried our little Nikon mirrorless cameras. The Nikon 1 series doesn’t have a very big sensor, but if one isn’t going to be printing 11X14 or 16X20 enlargements, it’s the perfect interchangeable lens travel camera.

The weekend was sunny and it was light jacket weather. In the morning we shopped at 2nd hand stores, then ate lunch at a restaurant called Memphis Blues. (One of my favourite dinning establishments in that city) then spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures along the waterfront.

One might say that my goal is to experience a different aspect of photography each week. I’ll admit I try very hard. Last week I was at a wondrous wilderness park with few people and this week at one of British Columbia’s premier vacation cities with lots of people.

I am not sure if it’s those changing opportunities that called me to photography, but the range available to those that answered the call of photography is certainly a grand side effect.

Doing photography with another person is fulfilling. One might be at the same location, and even with the exact same camera, but how each person chooses to creatively photograph that location, in my experience, is always very different.

Well that photography adventure is over, I have looked at Jo’s photographs and she has looked at mine. Yes we were at the same place, but our view was very different.

 

October photographer’s drive through Wells Grey Park   

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My friend Jo and I decided to test out a big 400mm lens that came in to my shop.

I had brought it home to test and had tried couple shots in my yard, but decided it needed distance subjects for a realistic workout.

Jo had stopped by one evening and after a couple glasses of wine I flippantly said, “if we took it to Wells Grey Park we might find some bears”.

I was joking. Jo always tells me she would be afraid if she saw a bear wandering in the woods where we live. However, in an uncharacteristic comment she took a sip of her wine and said, “can we do that?”

A week later we drove into the wilderness park and Jo had that big six-pound lens attached to her Nikon D800. We had began by stopping at Spahats Creek Falls 400mm lens for some wide angle shots, then wandered around a long deserted homestead and were heading to Helmkin Falls when we spotted the bears.

In the forest town of Clearwater, just before the park, I talked to a local that mentioned there had been a sow and two cubs hanging around a large meadow on the way to the park’s entrance, so we were watching and as we turned a corner there were cars parked on the roadside. And there in a farmer’s mowed field were the three bears.

I stopped, placed my beanbag on Jo’s open door and stepped back as she rested that big lens 400mm f3.5 on it and began pressing her camera’s shutter.

After that exhilarating event we drove on into the park.

We couldn’t have chosen a better day. The temperature was cool enough for a light jacket and the fall colours were inviting so we stopped and stopped and stopped again to take pictures.

The park is a favourite of hikers, boaters, trucks towing large trailers for overnight camping and for anyone, like Jo and I that want to do roadside photography.

Like most photographers, we over packed. We had our cameras, tripods, lots of lenses, a bag of filters, two flashes, extra memory cards and enough food for two or three days.

We didn’t eat very much of the food, use the filters, flashes or tripods and had no need to mount a flash on either of our cameras. I only used my 24-70mm and other than when she photographed the bears with that 400mm Jo stayed with her 20-40mm. But although the need never arose for us to employ that trunk full of equipment we were well prepared.

October is my favourite time of year for scenic photography and as last year at this time, Wells Gray Park is always on my list for fall nature photos.

When the shadows grew and the temperature began to drop we knew it was time to head home. Clearwater to our homes in Pritchard is about two hours and for us that meant two hours of talking about the photos we took, photos we plan to take and places we want to go with our cameras.

I looked for a quote to end with and found this by the most famous scenic photographer of them all, Ansel Adams.

“Everybody now has a camera, whether it is a professional instrument or just part of a phone. Landscape photography is a pastime enjoyed by more and more. Getting it right is not an issue. It is difficult to make a mistake with the sophisticated technology we now have. Making a personal and creative image is a far greater challenge.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 1st Granville Island photography wanderings       

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As luck would have it my second Granville Island visit this year was again on a rainy day.

I suppose any Vancouverite would tell me I shouldn’t be surprised. Rain is normal in both spring and fall in that part of the province.

One could rationalize and say, “well, the colours are deeper on wet over-cast days”.

That is so true, but I still worried about getting my little Panasonic mirrorless camera wet as I strolled with wet hair between the colourful buildings, dodging people clad in rain coats and hiding under umbrellas.

My friend Laurie and I spent previous day at the Vancouver Camera Show and Sale. Laurie had brought a camera that needed repair and we were waiting till after 1’oclock for a camera technician to return home.

There was no discussion for a photographer; Granville Island rain or shine was the prefect place to kill time and wander with a camera.

Buildings filled with expensive artwork, a food fair, farmer’s market, artist studios and, of course the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, are all great places to take pictures. Laurie was forever loosing site of, and then catching up to me as I meandered only thinking about the next photograph.

Heck, I knew where our truck was and was sure he’d find his way there when we both were tired of getting wet in the constant drizzle.

But I did have my camera.

I always find a reason to go there before or after the camera show. It’s also a grand place to shop if one has money in their pocket. And in spite of the sometimes-long wait, buying lunch or breakfast and relaxing among the excited and busy throngs of people from all over the world are fun.

I searched for some info on Granville Island, and the city’s info page says that Granville Island draws 10.5 million people each year. And the island’s architecture, much of which comprises remodelled warehouses, still show the island’s industrial past.

“Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver.”

“The peninsula was once an industrial manufacturing area, but today it is a hotspot for tourism and entertainment. The area was named after Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville.”

That is great trivia, but for me, the lure of the place is photography. Sure, I enjoy an early morning coffee and bagel, but the urge to keep photographing the place doesn’t allow me to sit for long.

I think the famous American photographer Annie Leibovitz describes my wanderings in Vancouver’s Granville Island when she said,   “The camera makes you forget you’re there. It’s not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much.”

Another Vancouver Camera Sale & Swap Meet   

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Vancouver is famous for it’s rain.

Pounding Vancouver rain was what greeted my friend Laurie Patmore and I as we rolled our loaded carts into a large room filled wet shouldered people that were arranging all sorts of camera gear on their tables for the Vancouver Camera Show and Sale.

It was 7:30AM and we had two hours to say hello to long time friends and get our equipment ready for an excited crowd of photographers anxious to exchange their hard earned money for the shiny items on our table.

Laurie, as always, disappeared and left me readying the table. Selling stuff is fun, but searching for and finding treasure is way more fun.

This time I had lots of old manual zoom lenses that I just wanted to get rid of any way I could and I wanted to organize my cameras so people would see them first.

Those zooms lenses were prized and sought after back in the 1970s and early 80s, but now they have lost their allure and aren’t even used as paperweights. Nevertheless, I keep trying to sell them. Actually, “get rid of them” are much better words.

Every show I go through the guessing game of what will sell. Last time anything from the 1970s was popular and digital equipment was totally ignored. However, this show there was little interest in the old manual equipment. It was mostly digital equipment that attending photographers were interested in.

What keeps me coming back year after year? Well the people, of course.

The large, bustling, international, coastal metropolis of Vancouver British offers almost anything one could wish for, and events like the Vancouver Camera Show are always a great excuse to spend time there.

The advertisement says. “ Antique, vintage, digital, and everything else for photography, new and used. Do not miss this opportunity to the fascinating world of photography”.

I agree. What an opportunity to enjoy the exciting and fascinating “world of photography”.

I enjoy the people.

Of course looking at, touching and discussing some precious piece of camera equipment is darn fun, making pictures is stimulating, exciting and a rousing force.

I know we all can hardly wait to look at our latest picture on the computer screen as soon as we depress the shutter and making those pictures is all consuming. But talking with other photographers is exhilarating.

The Vancouver camera show and sale is over for 2018 and I’ll have to wait till the spring of 2019 for the next show. I am more than satisfied knowing that I have already planned a couple more photography excursions for this year.

I found this fun quote by the famous Canadian singer Celine Dion,

“I don’t know if the camera likes me, but I do like the camera”.