Bottenation 28

Here's something on the lighter side. Recently my wife and I were invited to a friend's birthday party. Here are the resultant pictures. This year's Bottenation started off pretty chill, but once all the mellow (or tired) people left, things picked up. I took my camera along on a whim, and I'm sure glad I had it!







A candy is placed behind the leg of this chair. The objective is to retrieve it with your mouth, not allowing anything else to contact the floor, while maintaining your balance on the chair (not like this hapless candidate). Try it sometime. It's harder than it looks!



Here a box is picked up off the floor with your mouth. Your only contact with the floor is your two feet (provided you have two feet -- if not feel free to improvise). Once everyone who can completes it, the box is cut down and everyone re-attempts. I have pictures of people picking up flat pieces of card from the floor. I don't have any of myself like that though...



Exceptional ice cream cake was enjoyed by all.

There. I think I'm most proud of the fact that we were all sober. I remember the whole evening clearly, I don't regret anything I did, and I suffered no ill effects the next day (though with all the bending and twisting, the same couldn't likely be said for everyone...).

I've been asked in talking about this "What are you, four?". For one slow moment on a lingering-light evening, yes. Yes, I was.

Granville Island

I've heard about the mystical, whimsical land called Granville Island for years. I was even told that I should go. But after living in this area for an accumulative 7 years, I still hadn't looked fate full in the eye, and made the quest. I finally braved the perilous odds when invited by a friend of mine, and voyaged out to see it last weekend. (To paraphrase Kurt Elling from a recent concert "I'm just riffing here -- I don't know what I'm on about.")

It's actually pretty cool. The weather started off miserably cold and rainy, but that gave me and my shooting buddy some time to re-connect in a nearby coffee shop. And then when the sun broke out in the later afternoon, we grabbed our gear and dashed out to capture some stuff.


A dreary day makes colours pop. You gotta just keep telling yourself that... (I love that my new camera is weather resistant.)


Sorry, am I boring you?


Try as I might, I couldn't get my shadow out of the middle of this picture...


Just going for a simple composition. I think I'll call it "Yellow on Yellow, and Shadow"


When (not if) I go back, I'm going to work harder on these lights. They're just so cool.


The entrance to the fabled land as seen in striking sunlight.


Another graphical composition. Looks cool at desktop size, but you'll have to take my word for it. Unless you're going to stretch this to fit. (Not recommended.)


Something about the grey boat, the grey clouds, the striking sunlight, and the pink floaters, or bumpers or whatever they are. Oh and the name 'Free to Wander'. Yep, something about all that...


I worked here on getting some interesting foreground and background going on. I like wide-angle lenses. (Can't wait 'til I get an even wider one!)

The Vancouver Car Show (Part 2)

Um, I've always had a thing against Ford. It goes back to when we owned a Ford and a Chevy when I was learning to drive, and the Ford had really loosey-goosey steering. That's a freaky thing to come to terms with when you're first starting out. And the Ford had a bigger motor but was heavier and performed worse and got worse gas mileage. And its seats were covered in a nasty grey fuzzy polyester -- ask anyone about me and polyester. No sir, I didn't like it. (That particular car is a knock out in a demo derby, though. If I ever go crash-up competitive, I know the car I'm using!)

As a family we've had a few other Fords down the line, and actually now my whole extended family has Fords in their driveways. Yep, almost everyone. (Hmm, that's strange.) Anyway that's a long way to get to my point -- Ford blew me away this car show! They were the ones generating the most out-and-out excitement with their GT supercar, and the Shelby GR1 concept.

Ford GT (retro take on the classic GT40)



Shelby GR1 (Concept)

You should have heard the comments about the GR1. "How're you supposed to keep that clean?" and "Can that car be legal with all those sun-reflecting curves." C'mon people, it's a concept! I only wish that I had the outdoor lighting that's caught in the background pic. Sigh. My camera was going nuts trying to get a decent exposure with all the hotlights bouncing off the car. I had to take over, and dial it in with some test shots. And I had to do some pretty interesting gymnastics to try and get people out of the shot. Car shows aren't ideal for the amateur photographer...







I still won't ever buy a Ford -- luckily my wife's with me on this one. But finally they're making stuff that's wildly daring and interesting. And if someone gave me either of these, then -- hey -- I wouldn't complain. Unless they have loosey-goosey steering and polyester upholstery...

The Vancouver Car Show

A buddy and I recently went to the Vancouver Car Show. Actually it wasn't so recently -- I've been procrastinating on some procrastinating I need to get done... Anyway, the car show.

I feel a bit weird visiting a car show seeing vehicles that cost many times my annual salary, and even thinking how ridiculously out of my league any new car is, let alone any car I'd actually like. And then there's the whole thing about cars aren't so great for the environment, and they're made by, y'know, corporations and stuff. However, I love cars, always have, and there is something worth celebrating in the industry as it creates unique and impressive automobiles (sometimes) and brings them to reality (sometimes). So I took my camera along, and now I 'own' all kinds of vehicles!

There were two cars that I really wanted to see. The new Camaro. And the new Challenger. They were both there. The myriad of other cars recently announced at international car shows like Geneva were not in appearance (why isn't Vancouver as vehicularly cool as Geneva? It's a mystery...). I tried not to feel too bummed, reminding myself that the two cars that I really wanted to see were both there...sigh. Okay.

The Camaro





The Challenger

They are both great-looking cars, but I love the Challenger. First and foremost it is a Mopar (ie belongs to the Chrysler family, which is true of all the cars I've owned so far), and it's such a perfectly updated throwback. It's thoroughly retro and thoroughly modern both at the same time. Interesting details on the Chally, the side signal lights were stickers (not quite ready for prime time, obviously), and check out those wheels! Not only are they huge, but they also have cutouts that run sideways through each spoke -- tres cool!







With insane gas prices getting insaner, I wonder if we're not only going to be reliving the muscle cars of the 70s, but the gas crisis that killed them too... Just a case of history repeating...? (If that's true, buy one with the biggest Hemi, and tuck it away in a garage for 30 years. You'll be able to sell it for the price of an entire condo complex! Let's see in 2037 I'll be...oh, never mind!)

Photo: Vancouver Walkabout

I was on a walkabout in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. I was supposed to meet up with a buddy, but I missed him and we ended up both going individually. It was kind of an inopportune day, cold and rainy, but it was an interesting personal experience. Me, the camera, and an entire massive city. I was alone in the masses -- kind of a weird, but not unpleasant, experience.

Glocalisation: This first shot could have been taken just about anywhere in the world. To me the context of the shot (urban shopping establishment) isn't at all important to the outcome of the photograph. I shot wide open with my 50mm f/1.7 lens -- though the focus falloff isn't entirely obvious at this size, it's pretty remarkable at desktop size or bigger.


2 Seconds on the Tracks: This was taken out of the front of a rainy Skytrain windshield. It's a 2 second exposure, hence the name. I love the motion in it, but also you can tell the focus is sharp on the track because of the fine streak marks there.


Seclusion: I liked the way the dark, curved arch intersects the bright, straight lines of the window, especially adding dark to the higher part of the frame, which is somehow unexpected. I like the contrasts -- I took several of this, and I think I like this one the best.

Photo: B-Roll From a Weekend Event

I'm getting used to my new camera (Pentax K10D). I was at a work-related event this weekend, and amongst several work-related shots, I got this one. It's cool to see the special effort put in by people to make the details work. And so often they are just taken for granted. A heartfelt thank you to all the unsung, behind-the-scenes heroes in my life, wherever you are.

Photo: Droplet

Camera: Pentax *ist DL
Lens: Sigma 70-300mm (at 300mm on macro)
Shutterspeed: 1/180s
Aperture: f5.6
Flash deployed at minimum flash compensation (-2 stops).

Without a digital camera I would never had attempted a shoot like this. I got a tap dripping steadily, and then fired at it using the on-camera flash to freeze the motion. I got literally 30 pictures of absolutely nothing, having fired just before or just after the drop fell. But I got a whole bunch of variations of the tiny splash too. There is infinite mystery in something so deceptively trivial. I love the camera for teaching me that!

Photo: Title Shot

This is the title shot to my new blog. It's a straight shot taken at Langley Camera Club in late November. According to the camera's meter, this is "radically underexposed", but I'm its boss and it finally got where I was going. My 70-300mm Sigma "half-mac" was used, almost all the way out to 300mm, at its minimum focussing distance, or close to it. Manual focussing was a departure for me, but I'm pleased with how this turned out.

Lighting was a pseudo blacklight (actually a purple tinted incandescent bulb), and a 250W worklight through an umbrella. Take that, multi-$1,000 studio lights! (Actually, I would still love some pro studio gear, who am I kidding...)

My gear probably cost half what some others' did, and I could get closer and higher magnification than they could. That's where thrifty shopping and research will get ya! :-)

Joel's Gig

Pentax MZ-6 w/ 50mm F:1.7
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400
Available light.

Pentax MZ-6 w/ 18-35mm
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400
Available light.

Pentax MZ-6 w/ 18-35mm
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400
Available light.

These were shot at the gig of a friend of mine. Joel and I have known each other more years than either can -- or want to -- count. I finally made it to one of his shows. Though low key and casual, it was fun to hear him perform. Perhaps when he records the new stuff, he'll ask me to provide some sax back up tracks. No pressure, Joel!

Photo: Something Seasonal

Pentax MZ-6 w/ 28-90mm (probably)
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400
Available light (Christmas tree in background, candles, filtered sunlight through window on left)

It's been brought to my attention that everything here so far is automotive. That's not exactly intentional, so to try to make up for it here is a shot to put you (me?) in the Christmas spirit. The sax statuette is a curio from Korea which my brother in law gave me a couple of years ago. It's found its way into a number of pictures so far, but I think I like this one the best.

Photo: Old Chrome

Pentax MZ-6 w/ 5omm
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400
Available light

Abstract made from the fin of an old Dodge in twilight.

Photo: Boulevard Bullet

MZ-6 w/ 18-35mm (might have been 50mm, I forget)
Available light and off-camera flash
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400

Great example of a mid-60s hot rod with modern touches. I caught it with the last glimmer of light in the sky, a technique I've been experimenting with. The paint is a dark blue suede, which gives it a 'kustom' touch. The fat tires and the spoiler suggest some under-the-hood enhancement.

Photo: Space Escape

Pentax MZ-6 w/ 18-35mm
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400
Available light

I really like how this turned out. It's the same Oldsmobile as the prevoious chrome grill, in the same location. Cars are like manufactured sculptures: there's always a new angle to see.

Photo: Chrome Abstract

Pentax MZ-6 w/ 18-35mm
Scanned from Fuji Superia 400
Available light (nearby red neon sign)

One of the reasons I love living in Langley is the automotive culture. Every summer's weekend hot rodders congregate at the local Java Hut. They chat, ask questions, and show what they've been working on all winter. Or what they've just bought to work on in the coming one.