Day 158: Cheam sunrise

Another sunrise photo but this time one taken of a view I've wanted to capture for ages: the sun rising over the Cheam Range of mountains. This was an opportunistic photo as I pulled off Highway 1 just before we reached Chilliwack on our way to Yoho National Park. I drove a few hundred metres along the road and stopped next to a field full of ripening crops. A grain silo (or similar) was silhouetted against the morning light, adding a nice level of rural goodness to balance the jagged mountains. I'm not sure what it is about Mt Cheam and its fellow summits, but it has a hold on me I can't explain. Maybe it's because it's just such a picturesque mountain, maybe it's the notoriety of the road to its trailhead. Dunno, but I love taking photos of this mountain.

Cheam sunrise

PS Mt Cheam is the one at the far left :-)

Day 136: Orange

The next colour in the rainbow :-) I was keeping my eyes open for suitable oranges but tonight's sunset made it easy for me. I had a couple of choices but liked this one best in the end.

Orange sunset

Day 133: Spots on the sun

Sigh - back to work today. And after the photo frenzy of the weekend (where we filled the 16 GB memory card again...) I wasn't feeling particularly inspired to go out and look for more pictures. But for some reason, after I got home I went rifling through our photo-gear storage and pulled out the sun filter we'd bought back in 1999 for the solar eclipse we viewed (partially) in Cornwall. I placed it in its holder, attached it to the camera and went out onto the balcony to get a sun photo.

One small snag: the sun was so faint through the filter that I couldn't take the photos by hand, so back inside I went to get the tripod. Now I was in business! It took a few test shots to get things right, and the photos still came out rather soft, but I was happy with my little experiment. I initially wanted a clear disk picture, but in actual fact I'm very happy with the clouds at the top and bottom. And as for the sunspots, well, they were a real bonus. I knew the sun had some spots visible but I didn't expect them to be as obvious in the photo. Serendipity strikes again.

Sunspots

Day 124: Of sunsets

Sunsets are probably the most common photograph taken from our balcony. When we first moved in (and especially after getting what is now our much-maligned "old" camera) I took lots and lots of sunset photos. Even now I have to work hard at resisting the temptation to record every single colourful sunset I see. So it takes something special to get excited about a sunset and coming home on the ferry, tonight's sunset was spectacular. Great colours, but even more importantly, a few clouds in just the right places to catch the pink light against the deepening blue sky. Our timing was perfect as the ferry left Active Pass and sailed into the open waters of the Salish Sea (or Strait of Georgia depending on which name you prefer). The port side of the ship was pretty crowded...

Salish Sea sunset

Day 17: Fun in the sun

Despite being more of a night-owl, I really like seeing the sun rise. This causes problems in the summer :-) So far this year I haven't been tempted out of bed by too many sunrises. The only other memorable one was back in January when I drove all the way out to SFU. Since then I've been content to watch the sunrise from home. However, this morning promised to be clear and I had already decided to take the day off work so I figured that today would be a good day to catch sunrise. I wanted to see the sun come up behind the city skyline so decided that somewhere along the waterfront between Jericho and Locarno Beaches would do the trick.

I checked the time the sun was due to rise and set my alarm. I got up just before 6am and almost didn't go out as the temperature was only about 3 C (prairie folk can laugh now). I didn't fancy the idea of being cold down by the water. But I told myself it would be worth it, grabbed the camera, hat and gloves and headed on down. I went out onto the pier by Jericho Sailing Club, which was covered in a light frost. Looking around me I could see the sand was also frosty.

And so I spent the next three-quarters of an hour admiring the golden sky behind the city, and the blue then pink sky to the west. The wind was calm, and though it was cool I didn't feel cold. A group of people were fishing for crabs off the pier, loading up their traps and casting them into the shallow water. I took pictures of the city, of the mountains, of the water, generally keeping my sights occupied until I saw the first light on the tips of the Tetrahedron Peaks. I snapped a few in that direction and turned back to the city. I noticed a strange halo more or less directly over the Shangri-La tower, and within seconds the sun peeked over the Golden Ears ridge and lit up everything around me. I'm guessing it was a pollen corona since all the cherry trees are in bloom.

With the sun up, it was time for me to head home for some breakfast. But I took one last shot as the sun cleared the tops of the Vancouver high-rises and saw crepuscular rays where the buildings were casting shadows. It looked like a golden orb had been perched on top of Vancouver. And I decided that was my photo for today.

Other photos from this morning are on Flickr.

Golden sunrise over Vancouver