Print of the Week

I take a lot of reflection photos. Most of them don't look like much of anything. I like how this one turned out after processing to bring out the color and detail. In the morning after our stay at the Creekside Inn in Bishop we took a quick walk through the hotel grounds beside the creek. Out of habit, I took a few shots of reflections. In hindsight it was the right kind of conditions - the water was in the shade but colorful scenery around it was in the sun. As well as the color, I like the fine detail (which may not be visible on a small screen).

Here's how it looked before adjusting it.

Reflections

I fear living near the water will mean a lot of reflection photos. I'll try to keep it under control.

A small water feature on a condo building was another interesting subject.

Tofino

It's a bit of a drive from Victoria to Tofino (5 hrs) but it's quite a different feel on the exposed west coast of Vancouver Island, with the waves rolling in from the open Pacific, and big forest.

I took a ton of wave photos, trying to capture some of the feel of them. These weren't very big waves, but still impressive.









There weren't many birds around. Apart from the gulls, these Black Oystercatchers were one of the few we saw.



Since I was a kid and we came to the coast for summer holidays I've loved searching for life in the tide pools. I'm not sure if it was the time of year, or location, or the state of the world, but I didn't find a lot this time. There were a few anemones and a lone starfish, barnacles and mussels, sea weed, and not much else.







No shortage of barnacles:



I always enjoy the abstract aspects of the beach that the sand and water produce. This was spray from the waves in front of seaweed on the rocks:





















See all 35 photos in this album

Fall in the Mountains

As in Saskatoon, autumn has arrived in the mountains. There is snow on the peaks, and not just the peaks. Although there was no snow in Banff there was plenty on top of Tunnel Mountain.



Fall wasn't quite as far along in the Columbia Valley but the cool rainy weather in the valley was also leaving snow on the peaks. We're hoping to squeeze in a few last paragliding flights but that will depend whether the weather gods favor us. We hiked up Mt. Swansea to check out the launch. You can drive almost to the top but the road is borderline with our zero clearance Prius. And besides, we needed the exercise. However, we could have lived without the rain. We didn't linger on top!



The next day, waiting for the weather to improve, we went for a walk on the Old Coach Road near Dry Gulch.





I noticed a dragonfly on the ground. It looked intact but wasn't moving so I wasn't sure if it was dead or not. But it struggled when I picked it up, so I guess it was just cold and wet. (Thanks to Shelley for holding it while I took photos.)



It had an interesting purple pattern on its abdomen.



For something to do in the rain, we drove up to Panarama. In a brief spell of sunshine I took a bunch of photos of the fast flowing water in the creek, alternating between a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion:





and a slow shutter speed to smooth it out:





See all 15 photos

A Few Reflections

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

- Pablo Picasso

A few more from Vancouver Island. Near a B+B I stayed at (Farm Table Inn - recommended) there was a small lake / pond. I stopped briefly to check it out and took a few reflection shots as I'm prone to do. The above one reminds me of a watercolor. The next one is a bit like a Rorschach ink blot.