Monday, June 27, 2011

time for a...


...change?

Stories of the last week and a half

* Flat-mate Tom left.

* I continued to not work...

* I also continued to run up the local mountain-track (deep cove), steadily improving my times.

* I finally saw another film at the theatre - thought 'tree of life' would at least be interesting... sadly, it wasn't.

* it started to rain again

* I got fairly depressed

* I watched a lot of TV on my computer - a season of 'Game of Thrones', and the whole 'studio 60 on the sunset strip'
- add this to: the Star wars prequels (utterly horrible, they really don't age well!), Liar liar, Paperback hero, Paul, A few good Men
- and in the weeks before: the fountain, the emperors new groove, 9 seasons of Red Dwarf, 2 seasons of Sports night, and of course, Tron Legacy - you can see how I've been spending my insomniactic-nights.

* I was offered a couple of films in Brisbane... and strongly considered returning...

...'till friday morning. Within 2 hrs - my life was given a sharp-poke for the better.

I'm not going to Jinx it by giving any details just yet - but I should be able to tell you more this-time next week.

If all goes well, I'll be in another time-zone, and on another coast; doing what I came here to do :)

let's just skip to the photos, eh?



first-up: Rainy-hike to Lynn-peak with a new friend Lindsay.


Just love this shot - don't really know why, but it certainly captures the atmosphere of the weather...





Lindsay looks up at the path





more atmospherics





rain+trails=mud-puddles





I do love the terrain over here - it's steep, yet gentle (kinda springy in places)





the "view" on our saturday rain-hike...





wooohoooo, we hit the snow-line.





moody-creek



2nd batch of photos.

Testing out my new camera (bought a D7000 today), by hiking up the local Mt Seymour on a path to "dog" mountain *(huh)


planning the route via an awesome web-site with very-well-laid-out-details...





solo-hike = self-portraits





this hike was 99% in the snow (I say snow - but it's more like spring melt/slush; with potential leg-snapping holes punching through to creek-beds)





as difficult as it was to hike in - it was also fun (slush-sliding on the way down) - I did however learn my lesson, pack the bloody gaiters next-time - water-proof boots aren't water-proof when snow gets in via your socks...





yup - the bridge is passable... just.





going up





...and I've reached the top.






looking back at the western end of the city





pretty-view





to the east, Mt Baker (washington state, USA)





Mossy-rocks at the top





looking homeward (2nd narrows bridge is always an easy landmark)





Love the clouds here





not exactly an effective wind-farm (I think it's some tourist attraction viewing platform thingy - hoping that the turbine makes it carbon neutral?)





city-view





I'm guessing this is the centre of the "peak"





exposed tree-roots





pretty-creek





pretty-reflections





moss-tree-snow...





made it out, and by the looks of it there's still 2m of base in some places...





chairlifts are so sad when they're not being lifted...





yes... it's a mystery-chair





warning - Bears - do-not-feed-them!

So how is the new toy; and why did I finally decide to up-grade?

Back in January, I purchased a D3100 for the 12-day mega-ski-sightseeing-trip

It's shockingly light, and made some AMAZING photos - but there are a few issues.

1 - it doesn't exposure bracket.

that's about it.

I've been getting into HDR photography, and although a single shot RAW can be processed pretty well (check-out my photos from the last few months), it's certainly better to use multiple exposures.

The D3100 is very good for a beginner, and highly capable as a travel camera (glad I wasn't lugging around a bigger one in europe); but I've had my eye on the D7000 since it came out, and felt it was time.

after a few minutes use - I can tell that it's a perfect fit for me.

Very fast, intuitive controls (much closer to my old D50, which I loved), exceptional picture quality, and it even Auto-focuses my ultra-wide lens (which the D3100 sadly wouldn't).

sure - it's a little heavier, and larger... but I'm truly happy (and the shutter-sound... it's bliss)

anyone want a near-new D3100 body with 2 batteries? $350+shipping. (currently retails for around $500 with one batt)

ok. that about wraps it up for the moment.

see y'all later.

Ian

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Libya, Egypt, Iraq...


...Vancouver!?!...WTF

over a hockey game? (reports of the instigators coming from out of town specifically to start something - doesn't change the fact that a whole bunch of locals decided to join-in)

those who stayed "to document" - once the police asked you to leave, you should have gone. The entire area was under surveillance, and all the extra bodies were just getting in the way.

it sucks that the Canucks lost (and i understand they didn't play so great in the game), still... sad day for all

photos from the day.



heading downtown





woo-hoo, go canucks!





nice costumes





canada place crowd





wooo hoooo flags





more fans





big screen





3rd goal... not going so well





unhappy kali





go team canada!?





party balloons





watching intently





photo-opportunities





more flags





go-canucks-go





even more flags...






I'm guessing this is the least interesting shot he got during the evenings events...





fans aren't happy... at least they're not aggressive





they finally shut-down the road (after busses had troubles getting through...)





game over - heading home



drunken idiot kids start a few fights at the seabus station... vibe is tense... glad I'm heading over the inlet...


ummm... what is that?





happy Kali - de-celebratory drinks at Raglans on the north shore





ummmm, what is going on down there?





well... bugger





Weekly WTF





more dark smoke





another view from the north-shore





enough of the sadness - happy/pretty sunset-shot of the lonsdale quay sign.





full-moon, no excuse





get home - turn on the news





ok...? I don't think he was there to watch the hockey!





riot-police out in force





why? why? why?





really?





just... go... home...






part of the problem; get out of town so the police can re-gain control.





Weekly WTF #2 - several cars?





it's been more than 3 hrs...

Well done to all the emergency-services. Thanks for keeping people safe, sorry that you had to do it.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter.

'till next time

Ian