One Day in Canada

I had my first real photo day today in Vancouver and I was so impressed I decided to get my old blog going again.

I have been carring around my camera recently and today, when I left the house it didn't take me long before I had it out. When snowflakes as big as a Dime are falling around you its easy to understand why.

The first place I see on my walk to work is Nelson Park, when covered in snow it has a quitness to it that is hard to describe.

The streets here are beautifully lit up, this is Robson Street, one of the upperclass shopping areas. Just one of the many streets I walk along to get to work.

After arriving to work, the snow picks up and I tell my boss "I'm just going to duck out to take some photos". He replied "What of..." I guess this is not that special to everyone. Six minutes down the road is the famous steam clock.

On the way back to the office I swing by what is now becoming my favorate cafe, Finch's to get a coffee.

For lunch its Meat & Bread for a Guinness Braised Lamb Shoulder, Root Vegetables, Potato Chips, Cabbage Slaw, Chive Sour Cream sandwich.

After work the camera comes out once again, and it seems that Nelson park comes up with the goods.

New Travel Blog

I have started a new blog for our travels. This one will not get much attention.
See: Bites, Camera, Action

Going Vertical

I have always had a thing for vertical panoramics. I like the way they capture a whole slice of a scene, from the smallest rocks at your feet, to the expanse of the skies above. But there are practical reasons as well. For instance, houses have many long vertical walls ideal for vertical panoramics.

I have tried many, but this is the first one that I think is worth uploading (just). Getting the composition right is strangely difficult, and then there is the problem with stitching. I don't know why, but stitching these little suckers is almost impossible.

The Cloud Makers

The day I captured this shot was eventful. I had been meaning to explore a forest not far from home and it turned out to be an amazing rainforest. The shots from there didn’t really turn out, but I will be heading back.

From the rainforest I had to do a quick dash to the nearest town for fuel, it was completely out of my way but it meant travelling via the Victorian Cloud Makers. Stopping to get some shots, I headed into a paddock. Not being the first paddock I have been in, I was unsurprised to see some cattle coming my way. Usually they are just curious, but these turned out to be angry young bulls - one started to charge, and while bolting to the fence my mind was racing trying to work out how I was going to get over it, with my camera and tripod, safely. The fence was about 50 metres away, and the bull was gaining quickly. But luck was on my side today, and when I was about 10 metres away from the fence, the bull stopped. This shot was taken just before I realised that I needed to get out of there.

The sunset was also worth stopping for, but again the shots didn’t really turn out.

Almost There

It was a great morning, I was not expecting anything special as the cloud cover was heavy, but it cleared just as the sun was rising and turned the sky an amazing red.
I only wish I had the skills to capture it to its fullest. I was too slow, and I was not happy with the location I had chosen. My composition could be greatly improved. Also, I still don’t know how to correctly capture a stitched panoramic. Although I have enough overlap between images, Photoshop could not line up the horizon correctly and the image was curving down.

Before Work

This year, work moved me to a great coastal town in South East Gippsland called Inverloch. The coast is beautiful and because it faces south, it works for sunrises and sunsets. I can now head out in the mornings before work, grab a sunrise and still make it to work on time. Work also put the 44 inch printer in the same office as me. So I can now print at the correct size of 2m wide.

This is one I shot before work. It was a great morning to be out shooting, much better than sitting in an office looking out the window.

Taken at Eagles Nest, between Inverloch and Cape Patterson.

Enjoy.

Painted Trees

I really enjoy looking at this shot. The way the trees look like it’s been painted or drawn.

This one was taken near falls creek. A fire went through the region in 2003 creating a very strange feeling landscape. I went to the alpine area of Victoria over Easter looking for some autumn colours. But I walked away with a black and white, odd how thing rarely go to plan.

This panoramic was taken with the telephoto lens (200mm), it’s a record for me coming in at 110 megapixels. At 100% you can see textures on the tree trunks. I cannot wait to see it printed on something massive, it can easily go 2m wide.