Day 223: Halloween

Today is Halloween, All Hallow's Eve. It is one of the four cross-quarter days of the year (close enough...). Coincidentally, it's also the start of the autumn Bike To Work Week - is it really five months since the last one already? I've been cycling in quite regularly of late, in whatever weather to prepare myself for this week. And we're off to a good start - a beautiful sunny morning, though the stiff breeze made cycling along the beach hard work... As I climbed the hill, a pair of ravens were expressing their displeasure at a bald eagle floating in the wind at tree-top height. The journey home was just as nice, the city lit up by the late afternoon sun as I passed Trimble Park.

But come the evening, I couldn't resist going out to look for more pumpkins to photograph. I didn't have to go far - within a couple of blocks of home I started running into all manner of carved pumpkins to an intermittent soundtrack of shrieks and bangs from fireworks. A few groups of Trick-or-Treaters were cruising the streets, including one particularly funny group of teenagers who offered the most dismally-unenthusiastic "Trick or Treat" when a front door opened before them. The smell of pumpkin mingled with that of the leaves and fireworks to make for an interesting aroma - skunk was mercifully absent. I spent about three-quarters of an hour seeking out ghostly, ghoulish and even superhero pumpkins, and found these two below on my way home. They won the day for me :-)

Cannibal pumpkin

Day 222: Day two two two

Day two-hundred and twenty-two. Twice 111. Two, two, two. Day two was a long time ago, as was day twenty-two. There will not be a day 2222.

The rain stopped, the day brightened and we fitted in a quick wander on Jericho Beach. The park is full of colourful trees, including these ones which really caught our eye. The bunnies were out in force as usual - a couple of young kids were feeding them carrots - and it looks like the demolition of the old promenade is complete, the beach now restored. It was only a short wander, but it was a welcome breath of fresh air.

Colourful trees

Day 221: Filtered sunshine

I'm getting a bit careless with the batteries again... I went out for an afternoon coffee at the new Uprising Breads before continuing my wander around the neighbourhood looking for photos. I managed to get half-a-dozen or so before the camera gave up on me. I was curious about how the tulip poplars lining 10th Ave were faring, as I have a striking photo of them lit up by the sun in late autumn from a few years ago. They're still mostly green, with a good mix of yellowing leaves. I had the good fortune of the sun coming out as I sized up my shots (walking back and forth across the pedestrian crossing to get the view straight down the road), which lit up the tunnel of trees with a lovely afternoon glow. Two more photos and it was time to go home and recharge.

Filtered sunshine

Day 220: Pumpkin party

I spotted this cheery quartet yesterday on my bike ride into work and, knowing that today's forecast was for more rain, I figured that today would be the day to photograph them. And I was right :-) Aren't they cheery?

Pumpkin party

Day 219: And we're back...

After yesterday's rain, today dawned sunny and fairly clear, revealing the first snow of the season on the North Shore peaks... Ah well, it was nice while it lasted. Now to start preparing for snowshoeing trips.

The snow is back...

Day 218: Autumn at night

In preparation for Bike to Work Week, I decided to cycle in today despite the rain. As it turned out, the rain wasn't that heavy so the ride in was uneventful and I barely needed my rain gear. But it was only on my journey home that I pulled out the camera to get a picture for today. A few days ago, I'd noticed some flaming red maple trees next to a streetlamp and wondered whether it would be possible to capture that. Well, the answer is below :-) The colours aren't really as good as I'd like, but I think it kinda works.

Fall colours by streetlight

Day 217: A sunny morning in the city

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, but I only took the wide-angle lens with me. As I cycled up Eighth Avenue, I stopped by Trimble Park to look back at the city. The trees were lit up perfectly by the morning sun and I vowed to capture that scene today with the telephoto lens. And so today I stopped at the same spot and took that picture, and though it's turned out quite well, I don't think it's as good as it was yesterday. Never mind. Golden Ears looks nice, doesn't it? :-)

Morning sunshine on Vancouver

Day 216: On fire

I've been watching the leaves change colour over the last week or three. Some of the trees near my office are turning brilliant colours, and today we had a perfect blue-sky day to capture them. I tried several trees but in the end this one won: the bright red-orange-yellow leaves against a blue sky is just irresistible. To me, they look like little leaf-shaped flames. (And no, there's not a hockey pun in there ;-)

Leaves on fire

Day 215: A world of science

We didn't go hiking today despite the fine weather - we needed a rest :-) Instead we met with friends for brunch, and then walked down to the athletes' village area on False Creek. It was very relaxing strolling along the water's edge on such a sunny day, with views across False Creek to downtown Vancouver dominated by the new roof on the BC Place stadium. I've heard people complain that it's unsightly but I quite like it. I'll save that picture for another day, though. Today I rather liked the view of Science World with a pair of docked dragon boats in the foreground.

Science World and dragon boats

Day 214: A gap in the clouds

We have numerous brilliantly-coloured trees in the neighbourhood, but all my attempts to photograph them have ended in disappointment. Somehow I just haven't been able to capture what my eyes see. So I was very glad when the grey clouds parted at sunset and gave me a very moody-looking scene. I don't think I have a sunset photo that looks like this, so I'm happy to use it.

A gap in the clouds at sunset

Day 213: Autumnal

Yup, it's definitely feeling autumnal. The trees have been changing colour over the last couple of weeks, and it feels like it's accelerating. I've already missed a few shots I had mentally lined up, so after I'd seen these trees the other day I decided I should go back and get them while they were good.

Autumnal trees

Day 212: Making the MOST of every day

On top of the department of Physics and Astronomy is a satellite dish that spends its time pointing straight up in the air. This dish is the downlink station for the MOST satellite, a small suitcased-sized space telescope that is designed to monitor the light output of stars to look for signs of variability. Sometimes this variability is intrinsic to the star, caused by vibrations in the star itself, but sometimes the star's brightness varies because a planet crosses in front of it. Though this was not the primary design goal for MOST, it's certainly proved adept at finding a few such exoplanets. The lead scientist for the project calls it the "Humble Space Telescope" (as opposed to the better-known Hubble :-)

Back to photography, then: I've been waiting for a suitable time to get a good photo of the dish and have been wondering about how to get a better angle on it that simply a silhouetted of a dish looking straight up. But the other day I noticed it slewing around and I ran in to get my camera and get a shot, only to find it was back pointing upwards again once I returned. Today I was lucky as someone decided to move the dish around just as I was unlocking my bike. I already had the long lens on the camera, so all I had to do was point and click.

MOST satellite downlink antenna

Day 211: Red Green

No, not the colourful TV character, more like the colours of autumn. A still-green (mostly) tulip poplar in front of a tree I can't identify.

Turning leaves

Day 210: User error

Would you believe it? Another beautiful day in October, so I had to cycle in. I took the old camera in today seeing as it's lighter and smaller, but guess who forgot to check the batteries? I turned it on just to check how many shots I had on the card, and promptly got the low battery warning and it shut down on me. There I was, gorgeous blue skies, firey red and yellow trees all over campus and nothing to record them with. Talk about frustrating.

In the end I had to make do with some rather nice wispy clouds seen from our apartment :-)

Wispy and ripply clouds

Day 209: Desert island view

The good weather has continued beyond the weekend, and I went out for a walk at lunchtime to see if anything caught my eye. I didn't have a destination in mind but I ended up heading down to the beach. As soon as I reached the top of the trail, I realized that all the campus sounds had disappeared and I found myself listening to the stillness, disturbed only by the occasional chirp from an LBB(*). As I descended, I could hear the sound of the waves, the sound of a calm sea on a sandy shore. Down on the beach I walked along the logs for a bit and then ventured across the pebbles to the water's edge. The view to the north-west was largely uninterrupted, and I was struck by how idyllic it looked. A sunny day, a sandy beach and a gentle sea: this could be a tropical island.

And I think I've found my "indigo" photo for my rainbow series, which I'll get to once I've found a suitable "blue".

Lunchtime desert-island getaway


(*) LBB = Little Brown Bird :-)

Day 208: Apple Festival

The Tiddlies were at the UBC Botanical Gardens Apple Festival today and I wandered along to get some more photos of them in action :-) Maybe it was the crowds, maybe it was the bright, harsh light but I found it difficult to get good shots today. I like this one, though, as they flourish their hankies in the dance called "Millennium Wheel".

Hanky flourish

Day 207: Little and larch

Wow, wow, wow, just wow. That's all I can really say after today's hike to the larch plateau in Manning Park. The sky was cloud-free and the purest azure blue, the larch trees were the perfect shade of gold and the dusting of snow finished off the scene beautifully. It was difficult to pick just one out of the three-hundred or so photos we took today, but I really like this one for its simplicity and the side-by-side comparison of two larch trees. Oh and I couldn't resist the pun for Little and Large even though I didn't really like their show.

Little and larch

Day 206: Sunny bunny

A sunny Friday afternoon, time to cycle home along the beach. A few nights ago we'd been walking on Jericho Beach and noticed how many rabbits there were and how tame some of them were. Today the rabbits were grazing out in the sunshine and I took my chance to get some bunny close-ups.

Sunny bunny

Day 205: Art and nature

The usual story - a mid-afternoon walk to find something worth photographing. I tried a few things, especially some colourful leaves, but then I stumbled across this sculpture and fountain. I thought I'd try a few shots, and it was only when I walked round to get a clear view that I realized the sun was behind me and I had a nice colourful rainbow to complement the artwork. Art and nature combining beautifully :-)

Transcendence

Day 204: Mushroom, mushroom

Tonight I took a roundabout route to the bus, looking for something to get a picture of. I passed these bright red mushrooms and snapped a couple of shots, especially as one of them was covered in a crocheted (or knitted) mushroom. I'm not really sure what these even are. :-) But anyway, thanks to a relatively recent introduction to the badger song all I could think of when I saw these two was "Mushroom, mushroom!". Actually I suppose they're toadstools, since they look like the highly poisonous Fly Agaric.

Mushroom, mushroom

Day 203: More of the same

Another grey day, another day of not getting out to find something to get a photo of. So I had to make the most of the ten minutes I had when I got home before it got dark. I was lucky that there was a bright patch on the horizon where the sun was setting (or rather, had just set) which brightened up this ominous cloud view. I must admit I really like the clouds in this one.

Grey clouds at sunset

Day 202: Dodging showers

Guess what? It's been raining today. Which means that I didn't feel like going outside to look for anything to photograph. Not until late afternoon anyway when we went for a wander along Jericho Beach whatever the weather. Remarkably, the rain stopped as we parked up and we had a dry, and peaceful, walk. That didn't change the fact that it was dull, and there wasn't much to get a good picture of, but I managed to find an angle I liked when we got to the pier by Locarno Beach.

Locarno Beach pier

Day 201: Thanksgiving

This year we've found ourselves actually getting to some of the local farmers markets and we've thoroughly enjoyed the inspiration that comes from buying fresh food. It's almost the end of the regular season so we went along again today to pick up as much as we could carry, coming home with an 8-pound box of San Marzano tomatoes (for soup, bolognese and risotto), a large tub of cherry tomatoes, three varieties of potatoes, parsnips, beetroot, carrots, green and yellow courgette, garlic, Swiss chard, a turkey breast fillet, peaches, pears, and plums. With it being Thanksgiving weekend, the stalls were full of countless varieties of squash, and one of the local specialities, cranberries. We didn't buy any, but our friends did and they brought along a delicious cranberry sauce to go with our roasted-everything Thanksgiving dinner :-) Thank you to everyone who grows food.

Cranberries

Day 200: Nice ice

Today's unexpectedly good weather gave us an excuse to rethink our original plans and hike up to Wedgemount Lake instead. The trail up to the lake was as steep as I remember (and much more slippery given the recent wet weather), and the compacted icy snow at the top of the slope made things a little tricky. The lake, of course, was stunning - the south shore scree slopes were dusted in white right down to the green water's edge, while the surrounding peaks and glaciers shone brightly against the occasional patches of blue sky.

Our goal for the day was to touch the Wedgemount Glacier and to see the ice cave we'd seen in other photos. We reached the end of the lake and climbed up the boulders to get our first view of the cave and were stunned to see how large it was. Maria walked closer and I got a couple of photos which captured its size quite well, the deep blue ice an even greater contrast with all the fresh snow surrounding us. The glacier even creaked a couple of times, which was heart-stopping given how close we were :-) We hung around for quite a while, taking plenty of pictures, but really mostly just in awe of the spectacle of the blue ice. It was hard to leave such a stunning place.

Ice cave

Day 199: Colours

Today began quite misty and my initial idea was for a photo of the Vancouver skyline with the tops of the tallest high-rises lost in the low cloud. Later, the clouds thinned, parted and largely disappeared and we had a few hours of gorgeous autumnal sunshine. A few of the trees on campus are turning, and one in particular was a dazzling display of red, orange and yellow leaves. I had mentally ear-marked that tree for another day, but once the sun had come out, I couldn't help but take a few shots. And would you know, it was a good job that I did because my misty morning shots were terrible!

Red, orange and yellow

Day 198: Lessons

My original photo idea fell through as the leaves I had intended to photograph had all dropped off the tree. I need to be a little more pro-active in getting these type of time-limited shots. There will be plenty of grey rainy days for me to explore later - get the colour now while I can. So I got back on my bike and headed for the sea. I stopped off at Hastings Mill Park but there was nothing worth taking pictures of there. I moved on and took my bike down the steps at the end of Waterloo St, propped it up against a rock and looked out over the water to see what I could see. I took a few city shots - a cormorant was drying its wings on a floating log - and a couple over towards Stanley Park when the sun came out and lit up Siwash Rock, but nothing really stood out. Turning the other direction, I noticed the light was nicer to the west, and I spotted a handful of laser-class dinghies out on what looked like a sailing lesson. I snapped a couple with Mt Gardner looming in the background. Looking more closely back at home, I cropped one to highlight the boats, made a few adjustments to the contrast and colour and was really pleased with the way it looked. Another pleasant surprise.

Sailing lesson

Day 197: Who, me?

Another attempt to get a photo of a squirrel leaping in the grass. I wandered out in spotting rain and saw one of the black squirrels foraging in the grass. It darted off as I approached and I thought my chance had gone, but then a grey squirrel appeared and I followed it round for a bit. No luck though as it never stopped moving. I had a couple of "almost" shots, and I was ready to go with that when the black squirrel returned and began foraging in the grass. I moved closer and set up the camera to get my photo when it spotted me. It looked up and froze as if to say "Who, me?" - perfect! Even though I was at full zoom and the exposure time was 1/40 s, I managed to hold the (old) camera steady and the picture came out much better than I expected.

Squirrel surprise

Day 196: Signs of the rainy season

What to photograph on a rainy Tuesday? Well it hadn't actually been that bad during the day. I was at home in the afternoon waiting for the cable guy to turn up with our new box, and for the most part it was dry, even bright at times. But I was deep in work stuff and didn't get off my chair to look for photo ops. Towards the end of the day, I heard the first rain drops hit the skylight in the kitchen and I wandered through to take a look. I've always like the pattern that the rain makes when it's just started. Once the rain is continuous, the skylight is a blur with the water, but in the beginning the drops make a nice pattern. I've had this picture in mind for a while now - today was its day :-)

Rain on the skylight

Day 195: Smooth as silk

I hadn't recharged the batteries for the old camera, and I didn't fancy cramming the SLR into my work bag, so I left my photography until the evening. With the sun setting before 7 pm I figured I would try some dusk photography, and ended up shooting a handful of long exposures of the sea to smooth it out. Most of them didn't work out (I need to use the other tripod I think) but I only need one. Some bright western sky, some blue-tinged clouds, some ships in the bay, some nice reflections.

Dusk on Kits Beach

Day 194: Bears in a tree

Day two of our Okanagan trip and I had seen that Hardy Falls regional park near Peachland had a kokanee salmon run. Kokanee are landlocked sockeye, and are just as colourful during the spawning season though they tend to be much smaller. This weekend last year we called in at the Adams River sockeye run and I was blown away by the numbers, even though we were close to the end of the run, so I was really looking forward to seeing the "red fish" again. As a bonus, we'd seen photos of a bear in the park but I figured it would be too much to hope that we'd see one.

However, within only a few minutes of parking up and walking to the first bridge to look at the salmon, I heard someone say "bear" and looked up the slope to see a bear dashing away. To our amazement there were two of them and we heard them cross the creek and head into the undergrowth a few metres downstream. We carefully made our way out of the park and downstream to a picnic area where suddenly we saw both bears climbing a ponderosa pine. We stopped and watched for a few minutes, taking as many pictures as possible. I even shot a short video of one of the bears, umm, scratching itself. We left them alone and continued upstream to the waterfall (via a geocache under a bridge) and a third bear encounter! Talk about the classic BC experience - salmon and bears in one place :-) Wow!

Black bears in a tree

Day 193: Sheep at play

Today we're in the Okanagan on the Bowen Island Black Sheep's annual winery tour. For the first time ever, I saw rain in the usually-dry Okanagan. Fortunately it stayed dry enough in the morning for the Sheep to do their bit at the Penticton Farmer's Market. Yaarrrgh!

Sheep at play