Photographic Musings...

[Dustin]

As the rest of us west coasters can attest to, there's a severe lack of precipitation this winter. Up in Vancouver, it means there's very little snow on the local mountains and the ski hills are primarily at 50% operation with artificial snow. There isn't a lot of snowpack which could mean a water shortage if we have another hot summer. It's not common here on the Wet Coast but it's definitely an issue. The poor people down in Oregon and California are having a proper drought with red alerts for forest fires in January and who knows what'll happen during the hot season. Scary times ahead of there's not a huge dump of snow soon...

Mt. Baker is the only local mountain with a good amount of snow and that's in Washington state. And it's a glacier.

 

[Dustin]

I just returned from a long weekend away on Bowen Island, BC where my gal and I spent a few days for some R&R. It was very cold and turned out to be quite rainy which made for some sloppy hiking.

The ground was full of needle ice to crunch

Some major waterways were completely or partially frozen like this stream

Killarney Lake was frozen over

This is a staircase for breeding salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean

The first day was quite cold and we had clear skies for most of the afternoon

Eventually, we had to don our rain gear and thermals and continue trucking through the mud

We discovered a frozen waterfall that feeds straight into the ocean

This is the west side of the island where you can (normally) get some stunning views. Unfortunately, not much today

The rush hour commute

Vancouver as seen from the east edge of the island

The view from our B&B on Monday morning

 

[Dustin]

Went out for a walk in the city in between massive storms. Snapped a couple fun shots

This little water taxi can scoot you around the bay. I liked the contrast here

Outside of my girlfriend's office, waiting for her to finish up. still learning how to capture nice low light photos. Forgot the tripod! Doh

 

[returnrider]

Great pics

You have a good eye Dustin. As someone who doesn't have an artistic bone in his his body I have always admired those who do. Keep it up and keep sharing!

 

[Dustin]

Thank you! I appreciate that

 

[lindy]

Dustin.
Must say, your girl is a winner! Not many females would go for that. Please notice. Please appreciate. This from an older guy who has seen much - the way of life and people.

Your photos are good. I've been to Vancouver myself and loved it!
Question on photo equipment you are using. What lenses predominate? Point and shoot with variable - but if that- what variations in focal length? If not point and shoot - what lenses predominate?

I am not a SCR hardcore. Great photos can be taken with anything - even extreme cheapies. Depends on the eye behind the shutter.
You've got a pretty good eye.
Composition is everything - between ordinary - and great.

Send more!

 

[Dustin]

Dustin.
Must say, your girl is a winner! Not many females would go for that. Please notice. Please appreciate. This from an older guy who has seen much - the way of life and people.

She is something special and I make sure she knows that.

Your photos are good. I've been to Vancouver myself and loved it!
Question on photo equipment you are using. What lenses predominate? Point and shoot with variable - but if that- what variations in focal length? If not point and shoot - what lenses predominate?

I am not a SCR hardcore. Great photos can be taken with anything - even extreme cheapies. Depends on the eye behind the shutter.
You've got a pretty good eye.
Composition is everything - between ordinary - and great.

Send more!

I'm using a P&S, the PowerShot SX280 HS. My adjustments vary depending on the situation but mostly I just leave it in full auto unless I'm not happy with the result; then I'll set shutter priority or aperture priority and play around with exposure values. The full auto mode is really quite intelligent now and more often than not will do the job. It's certainly a stark improvement from the last time I had a digital camera, years ago. Full auto back then was pretty dismal

 

[Dustin]

To celebrate my girlfriend being awarded permanent residency for Canada yesterday, we went to a junior hockey game. I got a few fun shots to share.

I have to say, sports photography is hard. I'm getting practice in for MotoGP in April!

 

[tombraider2]

Good action shot. I need to go see a hockey game.. Congrats to the GF to.

Edit : OMG I just found this thread, I looke at things from the back to the front ? and I see you sold the ( FZ600S ) So sad we didn't hook up with old bikes for pictures and chat. Last year for me was outa kitty whampass. I under stand it tho, I have 3 bikes to use my self. Like the thread Man.

 

[Dustin]

Haven't updated this thread much because all my photos have been in my trip report thread. Yesterday I went for a rainy walk around the University of British Columbia's many beaches. Some are sandy, some are rocky and some are clothing-optional

All dry and smiles now but just wait until we finish our 4.5 hour walk

Lift up a rock along the sandy sections of the beach and you're sure to find crabs. I don't think he's too impressed

A very Canadian sign

I caught a heron grabbing his lunch

He decided to take it to go

A kelp-lined shore with a great view of West Vancouver

 

[lytehouse]

Congratulations to S for the residency thing!!! That's great news.
Some great shots in there Dustin

 

[Dustin]

Thank you! I'll pass that along. We're both very relieved.

 

[2wheelMax]

I live in gun & motorcycle friendly Florida.

 

[Dustin]

Visited the local driving centre that was hosting a trackday today. Some friends of mine were there and I said I'd come down and say hi. I'm fighting a cold today but I did snap a few photos before going home to relax and watch MotoGP qualifying

 

[OneSizeFitsAll]

SV 650? and ??

 

[Dustin]

sv 650? And ??

a cbr600

 

[Dustin]

Went for a short hike today at a local marsh

I saw the back end of a baby black bear but was too slow with the camera to get a shot. Shame. I didn't stick around to wait for another photo op

 

[Dustin]

A friend picked up a new (to him) Ford Focus, fully loaded. Surprisingly nice car. I gave it a good detail

 

[Dustin]

First two-up ride today! The girl and I took the lovely Sea to Sky highway up to Whistler, BC, the hub of the 2010 Winter Olympics. She had never been to Whistler Village before today and I have barely spent time there myself so it was a fun place to explore.

Ready to rock!

Stopped at an overlook for a photo op

Whistler Village Olympic Plaza

The usual

Tantalus Lookout

Porteau Cove - This is an excellent stargazing spot just outside the city.

 

[Dustin]

This week, Sandra had two friends from Germany visiting Vancouver for the first time. I rented a car and took them around to see the sights. The weather wasn't perfect but we took them a ways up north to hike a great trail through the mountains up to Garibaldi Lake which is formed below a glacier. It was a 20 km hike and we really enjoyed it

Photo of Vancouver from the Cypress mountain look out

One of many lovely streams along the trail

Caught sight of a landslide. Pretty harrowing to imagine a mass of land that can just vanish like that.

There was so many little critters out and about! No bears, sadly (or thankfully)

The snow was still piled up along the trails. Spring is only just starting at this elevation

Couple photo. Cheesy

The infamous Black Tusk. One of our Australian members asked about it so here it is! I think it was Blanchy!

Creek crossing

Made it to Garibaldi Lake. Lots of snow up here and the glacier was pretty big! Lovely lake

I'm quite pleased with this shot

Lunch break at the lake. Most of the trail across the lake was covered in snow and we were about finished with falling into knee-deep holes of soft snow

Beauty shot of the local birds. They are exceedingly friendly up there

Maybe it's because the hikers feed them all the time

A couple long exposures of the lovely streams along the trail