Day 360: Full circle

Three-hundred and sixty degrees is a circle, but I am still six days short a my year. It feels like the year should be done already because spring is well and truly making an appearance here - the bulbs are flowering, the witch hazel is past it, the magnolia is in bud, and the forsythia is out here, there and everywhere. Not to mention the flickers - it's been a while since I heard or saw one of these birds, but they seem to be conspicuous in the spring. A few weeks back, we saw (and heard) one drumming on the top of a lamppost - presumably announcing itself as a way of marking its territory. And tonight, as I walked up and over the knoll by the Student Union building, there was a pair in the trees above me. The sun was at a favourable angle, and one of them kindly spread its wing as I pointed the camera in its direction. The late afternoon light caused its red feathers to simply glow. Beautiful!

Preening flicker

Day 352: Don't be daffed

Today's terrible pun brought to you by those ubiquitous yellow flowers seen in gardens everywhere (in the northern hemisphere) at this time of year. Like tulips, I have no great love for daffodils, though the smaller varieties - like the ones in today's photo - aren't too offensive.

Daffodils

Day 351: Vapour trails

No, not the Rush album - real vapour trails, in the sky :-) I was out trying to get a good picture of something else when I noticed this vapour trail. At first it was two bright white and parallel straight lines, but it quickly began to break up into a wonderful wavy pattern. I've seen helical vapour trails before, and I wonder if the shorter wavelength ripples are like that. Within a minute of taking this shot they'd disappeared completely.

Like a vapour trail...

Day 343: The Journey

Today's after-coffee wander took me past some blooming oregon grape which I was convinced would be today's subject. But the sleet and bitterly cold wind drove me on in search of other things, eventually forcing me inside the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Going through the doors of the old section, I looked around at the stained-glass windows to see if any of those would work. Unfortunately the most interesting panes could only be photographed from an acute angle, so I wandered on until I was stopped in my tracks by a piece of First Nations art on the wall. Striking in its circular simplicity and triangular arrangement of faces and eagle profiles, the mixture of warm-coloured wood and etched glass is just so simple, yet so effective and so appealing (as faces tend to be). I sized up my shot, noting that the camera wanted a 0.4 second exposure. Time to lean on the banister and practice stillness; I pressed down on the shutter release gently, keeping my finger down for three shots in a row. All three worked, so here's the first.

The Journey, by Brent Sparrow

Day 338: The upside-down tree

Yes, really. I laughed when I first heard about this - a tree that had apparently been re-planted upside-down so its roots now grew into branches, and its branches established roots. Nonsense, I thought. As it turns out, the label was a nickname for a tree I walk past regularly which has a convoluted (and I mean really convoluted) branch system. A quick Google search turned up some info about the tree, which states that it is a wych elm grafted onto a witch hazel trunk. I've been wondering about getting a good picture of this tree for a long time, so I am more than happy to use it for today.

The upside-down tree

Day 336: Double dew-drop daffodil

I had an alternative title in mind when I found a little patch of daffodils to photograph, but the allure of alliteration was too great. Of course, they're not really dew drops - it's been pouring with rain all day - but a little artistic licence is always allowed, right?

Double dew-drop daffodil

Day 335: Democracy inaction

A rainy day, time to grab a photo of something that doesn't need great weather. It took me probably three or four years before I actually went over to this sculpture to read the plaque at its base. Turns out it was erected to commemorate the democracy protests in China that culminated in the Tianenmen Square protests of June 1989. The original was created at the time as the ultimate protest, and though it clearly no longer exists, it has become a symbol for democracy movements around the world.

Goddess of Democracy

Day 331: Still raining

As expected, yesterday's euphoria of realizing I have only 36 days to go was tempered by today's persistent damp drizzle. Coupled with my somewhat dodgy ankle I can't get out very far to search for a photo. I did the usual round where I watched the local hummingbird do its thing, listened to a very loud and tuneful wren, and stared into the foot-deep abyss of the now-empty reflecting pool outside the library. But there wasn't much to photograph. I tried a couple of things, including these wet fuzzy magnolia buds outside the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Meh.

Wet fuzzy magnolia buds

Day 329: Be my valentine

Today is Valentine's Day and what better way to celebrate it than by giving Maria flowers of the kind she likes best - alive, and growing in the ground :-)

Snowdrops

Day 324: Symbols for Education

I don't walk this way too often, and when I do I'm usually on the other side of the road. I was drawn into the small courtyard behind Brock Hall by a tree in blossom, but my attention was immediately grabbed by the artwork on the opposite wall. I had no idea what it was when I took the picture - I just liked it, and thought it would be a nice colourful photo on a rainy day - but a search of the UBC website turned up a page describing it. Turns out it's a glass-on-cement mosaic commissioned by the graduating class of 1958, with each panel representing the various academic disciplines studied at the university. It goes by the apt name of Symbols for Education. There is a fair bit of public art on the campus, but this is definitely one of the nicest pieces. The only point against it is that astronomy isn't represented.

I can't believe there are only 6 weeks to go, a mere 42 days.

Symbols for Education

Day 323: Springing

It's still February, but spring is making its presence felt. The witch hazel got the year off to a cheery start and I've been on the lookout for snowdrops to photograph as they are the archetypal February flower, but have only seen them when I haven't had the camera on me. As I walked in to work today, I noticed some bulbs had pushed their way up and looked almost ready to flower. Next to them, almost hidden against the leaves, was a lone purple crocus, its flower exposed but still furled. Maybe tomorrow it'll be open, and it'll really feel like spring is near.

A crocus appears

Day 322: Paint the whole world

...with a rainbow :-) Well, not quite. As I mentioned in my indigo photo, the gay pride rainbow flag is missing a colour. Never mind - there's a shop down the street with a sign outside that has all the colours of the rainbow (and more!). This is one of only four photos I took today thanks to a migraine - my first, err, opportunity to try out my new tablets. An interesting experience in itself...

Rainbow flag

Day 321: Upon reflection

Take a calm sunny day and a photo-scoping route that goes past a pool of water near a couple of striking buildings, and today's photo is done.

Reflecting pool

Day 315: Totem poles

I've walked past these totem poles many times on my wanderings, always saving them for another day. I'm running out of days in this project and I've finally realized that I cannot get the photo I want of these poles, which requires a mid-summer sunrise. I had an alternative shot in mind that involved a damp, misty day, but the mist and rain has never been dense enough for my picture. I walked down to the beach again looking for more water's-edge ideas, though I snapped a couple of totem pole photos before I descended the 400 or so slippery steps to the beach. Sifting through the day's photos, I decided that today would be the day for this pole.

Haida mortuary pole

Day 311: Planets and moons

Today passed without me even thinking about getting outside for a photo, and it was with some trepidation that I set off home wondering what I could get tonight. Last night, the slender crescent moon was close to Venus in the sky, making for a beautiful sight. I looked up to see where they were, not believing that I'd see them due to the cloud cover. Lo and behold, through the clouds, Venus and the Moon were shining brightly, along with Jupiter a little higher in the sky. Now for the next challenge - holding a small camera steady enough to get a decent picture. Zooming in for a detail shot was a no-go, but at full wide angle, I could easily get all three in the picture. My exposure time was still quite long at half a second, but I leaned my elbows on the bike lockers, took a deep breath and took a handful of shots. And as has been the case so many times before, one of them worked well enough to post.

Jupiter, the Moon and Venus

Day 309: Indigo

This is the closest to indigo that I could get after my first target didn't work out. To my eye, they looked reasonably close, though usually I think of it as a deeper (darker) colour. The camera hasn't really captured the colour as I saw it, but it will have to do. A bit further down the road, the streetlamps were decorated with the gay pride rainbow banners - what better place to scope out indigo! Well, to say I was disappointed is an understatement - their rainbow was missing one, and only one colour. Bet you can't guess which one... Back to today's photo, I've had this scene in mind for a while, primarily because of the perspective rather than the colour, so I'm twice as happy with it.

A place of mind

Day 308: Overlapping circles

Another rainy, rainy day - a torrential downpour one minute, fine drizzle the next. Bands of heavy clouds rolled over Vancouver, and it was interesting to note the change in light levels. At one point, visibility was barely 100 m as the drizzle enveloped everything. Later, and still well before sunset, it seemed as though we were on the verge of the "blue hour", only for it to brighten up again, before darkening again and so on. By the time it actually got dark, I felt like I had anticipated two sunsets already. Between the downpours I snuck out with the camera to get my afternoon coffee, and pretty much the only thing to photograph were the puddles. As the rain started again, I liked the overlapping, spreading circles as the rain drops hit the surface. With such a dull day, the exposure time was long (1/3 of a second!) on the usual ISO setting of 100, and only 1/50 s at ISO 1600. The shorter exposure looked better today, but I liked the long exposure effect too, so that's one to save for a different rainy day.

Overlapping circles

Day 303: A tantalizing view

The forecast was a mix of sun and cloud today, and if there was much in the way of sun, I didn't see it. My afternoon ventures to find a subject have been getting later in the day, following the sunset. I didn't expect to find any colour and I was fully prepared to hoof it down to the beach to catch whatever shades of grey the sunset offered. I got as far as the Museum of Anthropology and stopped to try and photograph one or more of the half-dozen eagles soaring overhead in the cold breeze. None of them really worked - the new camera is fine for capturing scenes, but less good at fine detail, and bird photos are very often about the fine detail. But that didn't matter. Over the course of the next 10 minutes, the light on the mountain tops changed from creamy white to an orange glow and I was drawn to the distant jagged peaks of the Tantalus Range beyond Lighthouse Park. I zoomed in, steadied myself and clicked.

Sunset glow on the Tantalus Range

Day 302: Only a dusting

The recent storm warnings haven't amounted to much snow for Vancouver (though the Fraser Valley has seen more than its fair share). An inch or two fell a couple of days ago and since then the temperature has dropped to something that feels more like winter. Sure, it's not been the -15, -20, -30 C of the Interior but -7 C is cold enough for me. Wandering around on a dull chilly day, I couldn't find much to photograph, but I liked the way the grass was poking through the snow. I traipsed to the top of the knoll outside the Student Union building and managed to find a patch of untrod snow to get this one.

A dusting of snow

Day 301: Aglow

With the clouds breaking up, I was hoping to get some late afternoon colour. I could see Mt Seymour in shadow above the gym which was itself bathed in bright sunshine, and braved the icy wind to wait for the sun to drop below the clouds and light up the mountain. Over a period of a few minutes, the slopes of Mt Seymour were lit up in golden light as the sun sank lower in the sky, until all of the three peaks were glowing brightly against the darker clouds. Another five minutes and the light was gone.

Sunset glow on Mt Seymour