Day 362: House post

Not a (blog) post from the house, but a traditional west-coast house post. As kinda promised a few days ago, here's a photo of one of the Stanley Park totem poles taken on a nice sunny afternoon. I'm sure this must be the most-photographed totem pole in Stanley Park, perhaps the most-photographed object in the park. We have other sunny-day pictures dating back to when we moved here in 2004; like so many other photos, they're sitting on our hard drive, just waiting to be looked at.

Thunderbird house post

Day 361: It's so fluffy!

After a grey start, the afternoon brightened up and the day ended with a fine sunset. The stormy clouds over the mountains puffed up into great towering cumulus. As the sun dipped low in the sky, the bottom of the clouds faded to an ominous dark grey, while the middle was bathed in a rosy pink glow. Higher up, the tallest clouds were still the brightest of white. The structure in the clouds and the contrast between them and the blue sky made for a beautiful sight. I had taken some photos earlier in the day, but they weren't a patch on this.

Roiling clouds at sunset

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 359: Swimming against the stream

This is one of those photos I've had stored away for a rainy day. Except that rainy day never came, and so, with only a week to go, I figured it was about time I took it. I noticed this sculpture only 11 days into the project last year - that's how long I've been saving it :-) I think it's one of the nicest salmon sculptures I've seen.

Salmon sculpture

Day 358: Violet

I'd sized up this mural a few months ago while I was in the middle of the rainbow series, but hadn't had the opportunity to finish off the mini-project. I'd even got to the point where I wondered if I even wanted to take its photograph, my mental picture of it had lessened its impact during the intervening months. Today I walked past it and took a photo, mostly just to size it up, but I was immediately struck by how intricate the artwork was. I had taken another couple of shots, trying to work around the parked cars, when the car that was blocking most of the lower part of the mural drove away. I now had a clear view of the entire wall, so I framed my shot, ducked out into the pouring rain and took it. The rainbow is now complete.

The mural was painted by an organization called Nomadic Alternatives and they've done quite a few around Vancouver. I'll have to seek out some of their other work.

Bellissima mural

Day 357: City under cloud

A fine end to the day and I sped home to pick up Maria before heading out to Jericho Beach for a walk in the sunshine. I thought about using a nice picture of a ring-necked duck but the sunlight on the cloud-capped city won. It's not obvious in the photo, but the leading edges of the clouds showed some nice iridescence.

Vancouver under cloud

Day 356: Willow, willow, burning bright

With the clocks going forward at the weekend, I was hoping to get down to Kits Beach after dinner to catch the last of the light before the sun set. I was late getting there and the shots I had in mind were not possible, so I wandered around looking for alternatives, bracing myself against the strong wind. A few small branches had come down off some of the trees, now roped off by yellow "incident" tape. I had just returned to the car when the streetlight shining on the weeping willows caught my eye. My first photos weren't anything special, but they gave me an idea. I used automatic white balance to get those nice blue dusk skies, and crouched down low next to the streetlight, keeping it off the lens so it didn't flare. About a half-second exposure was enough to show the willow branches waving in the wind, the lower portions of which looked like they were on fire. The low angle also gave it a bit of an auroral appearance, which I really like. I went home happy.

Weeping willow lit by streetlamp