Turning Point Ensemble Rehearsal

Vancouver's Turning Point Ensemble invited me to shoot during their rehearsal at the Vancouver Academy of Music.  The rehearsal room was hardly photogenic, so I worked mainly with closeups having as shallow a depth of field as possible. 

The world's most beautiful bassoon

Bloedel Conservatory, Vancouver

The City of Vancouver has about 210 parks.  Visitors usually know about the largest of these, Stanley Park, and the VanDeusen Gardens are also quite famous.  The Queen Elizabeth Park was fashioned, in part, out of a former stone quarry, and includes one interesting little gem that is easily overlooked.  Its Bloedel Conservatory sits on one of the city's high points, offering views of the city below.

The top of this extensive park also houses an underground water reservoir which is beautifully covered with a park and running waterways which children enjoy. 

Part of this area is devoted to a geodesic dome in which tropical plants are carefully tended and exotic birds given free reign to fly and live more or less as they wish.  Weekends are impossible because the intimate paths become crowded when tour buses unload, but the Conservatory is more camera-friendly weekdays when it opens at 10:00 a.m.  The colours are best on overcast days.

Crocuses on March 25th, Feast of the Annunciation

We enjoyed a bit a bright sunshine this morning (something I can use about now) and I mustered up the energy to take a few photos in Janice's front garden.

Clinton Trail in Pacific Spirit Park, Vancouver

One way to approach the Clinton Trail in the Pacific Spirit Park is to enter the park at Camosun and West 33rd Avenue.  The trail is clearly marked.  You soon turn left (south) quickly descend, and then you can enjoy an easy 1 km stroll to SW Marine Trail.  These photos were taken on cloudy afternoons in March.  The various mosses are thriving and mushrooms were appearing.   The final photo shows a map of this park.  Clinton is Trail No. 3 (in red) in the lower right corner.