Granville Island's Waterfront at Night

Friday was more than overcast.  We could see rain to the south, north and west, yet we were spared.  On a whim, I joined a "meetup" group interested in photographing Vancouver.  Since the meeting had been called less than 24 hours before the event (because another event needed to be rescheduled), I got in.  We met at Bridges at 7:30, took a group photo, and then slowly broke off into groups of 2, 3, 4, 6 and eventually disappeared.  Within hours, selected photos began to appear of the group's site.  Here are some of the scenes that caught my fancy.

This business lady's work seems to have concluded.  She was waiting for the little water taxi to take her from the Granville Island Market to her next destination.  I would guess that several thousand people ride these water taxis in the good weather.

Reflections quickly became an interesting theme, whether upside down (as they appear in real life) or reversed.

This rather long time exposure makes it seem as though the sun is still up, but it set perhaps 40 minutes earlier.

Returning to my car, I saw the taxi cabs waiting for the theatre to conclude.

Sunrise at Jericho Beach, Vancouver, January 2nd

We enjoyed an unusually crisp clear morning today, so I took photos until my finger could no longer feel the shutter button.

Reflections at Night at False Creek, Vancouver

These time exposures were taken on July 25th from the south side of the area in Vancouver known as False Creek.  This protected inlet was formerly used by large lumber mills, factories of various sorts, and shipping.  During the past two decades, the land around False Creek has been transformed into high density housing, restaurants, and stores.  There is a wonderful seawall which now enables pedestrians to stroll around much of the large inlet, and small pedestrian ferries continually ply the waterway.

Vancouver, North Vancouver seen at night from Stanley Park (colourful light pollution)

On Feb. 18th Kevin and I bundled up for a three-hour shoot on a cold, wet night.  The cloud cover offered warm versions of the cities' colours at night.  To some, this is obviously light pollution, but for one evening I looked at it as a wonderful array of defused colours.

Vancouver in December at 3:00 p.m. (low sun)

These days (December 8th) find Vancouver's sun sinking increasingly close to the horizon and the sun itself gone shortly after 4:00 (we are reasonably west in our timezone).  Since the sun's light is filtered through more of the atmosphere as it comes at such low angles, we can enjoy pronounced contrasts of light and dark, and increased density of colours.  It will be this way for only about four weeks, some of which will have rain and no direct sunlight.  Vancouverites have learned to enjoy this wonderful winter light whenever we can.

Vancouver's English Bay from Jericho Beach in November

Hint of a rainbow.

Super Moon or Périgée Moon March 19th, 2011, Vancouver (Canada)

Vancouver's skies were nearly cloudless the evening of March 19th, 2011, offering excellent views of the "super périgée moon".  A NASA Science article explains that the moon's orbit brought the moon the closest to the earth since March 1933.  Their article also compares the visible difference in the appearance of the moon to observers on earth:  14% wider and 30% brighter than other full moons.  That this coincided with the moon being "full" made the cold evening all that more amazing.  My thanks to brother Mark for alerting me to this event, and to Janice for dragging me out in the cold to shoot it.  (You may want to click on some of the photos to enlarge them.)

400mm lens

Even after it ascended, its size and brilliance were awesome (24mm lens).

Moon over West 27th Ave @ Chaldecott Park, Vancouver