Category — Photography

Over labour day weekend Bernie and myself organized the 3rd annual Kitsilano Tennis Open. We had a good turnout this year of 10 players of varying tennis skill, and lots of new faces to the tournament.

Oliver had won the tournament the past 2 times, and was crowned champion once again this year when he defeated Dom in the finals. As for myself, I had a strong start going undefeated in the round robin, however lost my focus in the semi finals and got destroyed by Dom. Was good to get the tournament going again after missing last year. One of these years someone will finally take Oliver out as champion.

Here are some photos I shot of the day.

During my time back in Fauquier I made a day trip with my nephew Mateo to Vernon to visit my brother Michael and his family. It was a really nice summer day, so Mike decided to take out his boat on Kalamalka Lake to do a little wakeboarding, and just enjoy they hot summer day.

Here are a bunch of photos I took during the day. First up was Mateo who had never wakeboarded before. He was up on his first try!

Next up was Kalin. He started off on a wake skate, goofed around on that for a while then switched to the wakeboard.

My sister in law Angie and Kalin’s friend Johnny also went for a board. I went too, but nobody remembered to take any pictures of me. Maybe it was for the better!

However it was my brother Mike who showed us all how it is done.

After we all got a little wakeboarding in we got a little silly. We put Kalin in the dry-suit and filled it up with air so that he would float on the water. We then pulled him behind the boat!

The rest of the day we spent cruising around the lake enjoying the sunshine. Kelsie (Mike & Angie’s dog) was sure enjoying it.

It was a great way to spend the day, as it is always fun hanging out with Mike and Angie.

From their website:

“Vectorial Elevation” was an interactive artwork that allowed you to direct powerful light beams and transform Vancouver’s skyline between February 4 – 28, 2010.

The light show was one of my favorite additions to the city during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It added a feeling of intrigue to our skies, and gave you a sense that the city was alive. Many nights walking home across the bridge from Downtown, I would stop to watch as the lights danced across the sky.

Despite being on the go for most of the Olympics I did find time to go out and photograph the lights on one occasion. The weather was wet and we were socked in by fog, but I think it added to the effect of the photos. Here are some shots from my photo walk. Also definite thanks to Jordan and Oliver for bearing with me, and helping me setup.

As a bit of a last minute decision I took off for Maui midway through January. My brother Michael and his wife Angie had booked a trip out there, and after finding a flight for less than $600 I decided to jump at the opportunity. As you may know I started last year off in Hawaii as well. I spent an amazing 6 weeks there last year, so it was a no brainer to return. Every year should start in Hawaii!

Most of our time in Maui was spent on the beach, or in the water either surfing or paddle boarding. We would barbeque almost daily, and coconut ice cream or shave ice was our dessert. Life was definitely grand. On our last days we did the Hana Highway drive, followed by whale watching. It was a really great trip, and I am happy I got to spend it with Mike and Angie.

Here are a some photos from the trip Maui:

During my time on vacation in Maui my brother, his wife and I went up to Honolua Bay one day to checkout the surfing. The day we went we caught the tail end of some monster waves. Still got to see the occasional 20+ foot wave being surfed though. Also was some of the best surfing I have ever witnessed live before. Here are a few shots I took from the day.

* Just a warning this is an extremely long post, and potentially boring *

Anyone who knows me, would be able to tell you two things about me. One, I am a huge Philadelphia Flyers fan and two, my favorite band is Pearl Jam. So when Pearl Jam announced they would play 4 concerts in Philadelphia to close out the Spectrum, the very arena the Flyers won back to back Stanley cups in, I had to make the trip. It also helped that several friends would also be going, the Flyers were playing 3 games during that time, and I have never been to Philadelphia before.

I arrived into Philadelphia in the early morning on a Sunday. Flying into the city as the sun rose up to kiss the vibrant coloured leaves of autumn was certainly a nice welcome. It was a quick train ride into downtown. My hotel was really close to the city hall where I got off the train, and was impressed that they had a room available for be at 10am. After having a shower and cleaning up after my red eye flight I took to the town to do a bit of touristy activities.

Philadelphia is a really great city to explore on foot, with it’s easy to navigate grid design. The city itself is busting with American history. Being the first capital of the US a lot of major historic events took place there. It was fun to wander the old cobblestone streets, and explore the old historic parts of town. During my walk I eventually made my way to Jim’s on South Street. Jim’s is one of the big name cheese steak places in town, which was evident by the lineup that looped around the block. The line moved pretty quickly, and before long I was chomping down on a hoagie filled with beef, cheese, onions and peppers. After lunch I headed back to the hotel for a nap to rest up for my first ever Flyers home game.

I took the subway down Broad Street (hence the nickname Broad Street Bullies the Flyers were given in the 70′s) all the way to the end where all the stadium’s are. Literally every professional sports team has their stadium at this one location. I got there pretty early so I could wander around the complex and checkout the Wachovia Center. I have been to a lot of hockey arenas and I have to say this is one of the nicest ones I have been in. The building has really wide hallways making it easy to get around even with big crowds. I also really loved how many windows they had on the outside of the building letting a lot of natural light into the main aria. After wandering around I was able to find the Stanley Cup banners, which were hung up in the hallway (odd that they were not in the rafters).

I had great seats to the game. I sprung for lower bowl seats, and it was great to see all the players up close. I have to say Chris Pronger is absolutely massive. He towers over guys, even the ones who are suppose to be the same size as him. Anyway I really enjoyed my first game in Philly. The Flyers ended up losing the game to the San Jose Sharks, however for most of the game they outplayed the Sharks but couldn’t capitalize on their chances. It didn’t help either that Boucher who got the start in net played absolutely horrible. Regardless it was still a fantastic experience.

The next morning I got up at 6am and made my way to the train station. I was off to Washington DC to spend a few days and catch my next Flyers game against the Capitals. It was nice to be on a train, a nice change from the flight the day before. I got into DC in under 2 hours and found my way to my hotel. Again I was impressed that the hotel was able to accommodate me with a room despite arriving so early. After checking in, I jumped straight to work. This trip I planned to work most days as I have been running low on vacation days. During the day I found out that that night the Monday Night Football game was in Washington, and it was against the Philadelphia Eagles. So I decided to check craigslist if there was any tickets available. Sure enough I was able to find a really good lower bowl ticket for only $70. The best part was the guy who was selling it was only a few blocks from my hotel. So after work I ran down and picked up the ticket, got myself a coffee and jumped on the DC subway out to the football stadium.

Fedex Field was a long way out of the city, and took over half an hour on the subway to get out to it. Not only that, once you reached the subway station you had to walk a good 15 minutes to the actual stadium. Once I got to the stadium I was blown away at the sheer size of the building. Fedex Field is said to have a max capacity of over 91,000 people. That is practically the entire population of Kelowna to put things into perspective.

While not a huge football fan, this game was definitely an experience. I felt like I had gone back in time to the Roman ages and was watching a gladiator match. The fans in the stand were ruthless, and all very much drunk. There was fights breaking out left and right, not only between Eagles and Redskins fans, but also fights between fellow Redskins fans. The game was a complete blowout for the Eagles from the opening kickoff. I cheered outwardly for the Redskins, but inwardly was rooting on the Eagles, hoping the Flyers could follow in their footsteps the next day. As the forth quarter was coming to a close I left the game early so that I didn’t have to wait at the subway, and could get back to the hotel a little quicker.

The next day I decided to work a half day in DC. So I took the morning off and did a bit of exploring. My hotel was just a few blocks from the White House, and most of the site of DC, so I decided to walk around and explore. I had been to Washington once before when I was really young, yet don’t remember much from the trip (besides a visit to Ikea, and the Smithsonian). So it was nice to experience everything over again. While the weather wasn’t the best for a day of tourism, it did mean that most of the monuments were deserted, which was nice. I also found it really amazing how beautiful the fall colours were despite the dreary weather.

After checking out the major monuments in the city I decided to goto one of the museums. I decided to goto the Holocaust Memorial Museum, which I had heard good things of. Despite being very somber, I have to say, it told the history of the holocaust extremely well. One thing I found was really well done about the exhibit is that it really showed the human aspect of holocaust through use of photos, videos, and informational panels. I highly recommend going to the museum if ever in DC.

I made it back to my hotel after lunch to put in my half day of work. I was really excited about going to the hockey game that night as the Capitals are one of the most explosive offenses in the NHL right now. I was also extremely excited to get to watch Ovechkin play, and to see how the Flyers would stalk up against him.

So after work I made my way down to the Verizon Center. The nice thing about the arena in Washington is that it is right downtown. So it was a quick 15 minute walk from my hotel room. As I approach the arena, I couldn’t believe how many caps jerseys I saw. This team had really become a big thing in Washington, largely due of course to the personality (and of course incredible talent) of Ovechkin.

This was now my third game in three nights, but I was still energetic. Actually probably more so for this game than any other. I really had a great time at this game. While the fans in Washington are not the most knowledgeable, they made up for it with their enthusiasm. After tying the game 2 – 2 with the Flyers the arena exploded into cheers, and I hate to admit it, but was a more exciting, and loud venue than what I had experienced in Philadelphia.

As it turns out the Flyers lost again in Washington. The game was a lot of fun though, as the Flyers again outplayed their opponent but were shut down by solid goaltending, and missed opportunities. I have to admit, it was fun to watch Ovechkin score 2 goals!

The next day I was once again up at 6am to catch a train back to Philadelphia. Once again I was impressed by another hotel for having a room ready for me so early in the day. After putting in a full day of work I was really excited, as I was going to meet up with my two favorite Californians, Joe and Kasie. They had arrived into town the day before and would be around for the rest of my stay. I hadn’t seen them in close to a year so it was nice to be able to get together with them. That night we went out for dinner with their friend Susan from Philadelphia who they were staying with. Wednesday was the first game World Series of Baseball game being played in New York against the Philadelphia Phillies, so everyone was dressed in red, and ready to watch the game. I really wanted to experiencing seeing a game in Philly, while Joe and Kasie were more interested in seeing Pearl Jam. So we parted ways, they went off to the show, and I stuck with their friend and who I accompanied to a sports bar to catch the game.

I have to say I am not really a baseball fan, in the very least. With that said, watching the game in a packed bar of 300 people, all rooting on the Phillies was sure fun. Everyone was cheering, and chanting, and clapping, and just overall having a great (albeit suspenseful) time. It helped that the Phillies won the game. The next day after work, I met up with Joe, Kasie and Susan again to catch game 2 of the world series, unfortunately, the Phillies weren’t so lucky and lost the game.

As Friday rolled around it marked the arrival of a lot more friends coming in for the remaining 2 Pearl Jam shows. I had taken the day off so that I could hang out with those who were arriving, and spent some more time with Joe and Kasie. I had a fun day exploring the market in Philadelphia with Vanessa and Tatiana, before meeting up with Jason and the rest of the gang. It became evident very quickly that our hotel room wasn’t going to fit all those who were suppose to stay in it, so I jumped ship to stay with Joe and Kasie. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with everyone and doing some more touristy things.

That night I got to see my first Pearl Jam show at the Spectrum with Vanessa. We had really awesome seats, and it was a lot of fun to rock out with her. The show that night was really excellent, and Pearl Jam played a large number of my favorite songs. It was really exciting too knowing that in that arena the Flyers had won their Stanley Cups. It was sad to think they are going to destroy the building in a few short months.

After the show we partied it up until the wee hours. Despite my urge the next morning to sleep in until the afternoon, I had to get up early once again, as the Flyers were playing an afternoon game. It was also Halloween so I had to get my costume ready. Jason and myself decided to go as Wayne and Garth from Wayne’s World. I was Garth.

We met up at the Wachovia Center at Noon, and were shocked to find so few people dressed up for Halloween. I didn’t let it get my down though. This was my last Flyers game of my trip and I wanted to enjoy it. As the arena filled up we did manage to see a bunch more people dressed up, which made us a little more happy.

So the last Flyers game I caught was a complete blowout by the Flyers. They won 6-2 and completely dominated the game from start to finish. The game was also full of fights which made the Australian Hinn, and Brazilian Tatiana happy. After the game we parted ways, and I met back up with Joe and Kasie. We had a really lovely dinner at this restaurant called Pumpkin, before heading back down to the last ever concert at the Spectrum.

For this show I was sitting with Jason. Our seats were really similar to the seats I had the night before, which was nice. After we got settled we sneaked his friend Sophia down into our section as well. The final show by Pearl Jam was one crazy show. Pearl Jam played for close to 4 hours, and played some songs they hadn’t played in 10-15 years. It was truly a memorable night, and a lovely way to end such a fantastic trip.

The next day I left early for my flight back home and my week long recovery from my week of no sleep. While busy, I really had an amazing time on this trip, and look forward to the next time I can visit Philadelphia and Washington again.

Here are a few final images from my trip.

Wild mushroom picking, specifically the pine mushroom (Matsutake) is something of an event back in the Kootenays. Since pine mushrooms are such a lucrative crop, you will find many different people out picking. Whether it is someone with a job just out to get a bit of extra spending money, or a student trying to save up for his first car, or even a retiree, you are likely to find them out in the bush come September. For as long as I can remember my mom has been one of the most religious pickers in the area. So this Thanksgiving at the tail end of the pine mushroom season, I went out in the bush with my mom for a short picking session.

My mom has been picking in the same location for the last 20+ years. Actually I think most of the Fauquier community picks at this one location. So during the pine mushroom season, you are almost more likely to run into your neighbor in the bush, than you are on the streets of Fauquier!

So what makes pine mushrooms so special? Well they are a bit a delicacy in Japan, and are sold at extremely high prices. They are also a mushroom that is near impossible to farm. Pine mushrooms form a symbiotic relationship with the trees in the forest through a network of mycelia in the forest floor. So it is very important when picking that when you pick the mushroom you take care not to damage the ground of the mycelia when you dig out the mushroom. Pine mushrooms are also a difficult mushroom to find. Largely because they often grow below the forest floor. Often times you might only seem a glimmer of white, or even just a bump. Really good pickers like my mother, almost have a sixth sense when it comes to picking.

It is important when picking pine mushrooms to know what they look like. There are many different mushrooms in the forest, many of which that are highly poisonous. Several of these mushrooms tend to resemble the pine mushroom to the untrained eye. So how do you tell a pine mushroom? Well a young pine mushroom, called a button, will be fully contained without a detached “hat”. Somewhat resembling a lightbulb.

Pine mushrooms are creamy white in color, and generally found barely above the surface of the forest floor. As a pine mushroom grows older the outside of the hat begins to detach from the mushroom stem, and eventually when fully matured the mushroom will look like a table top.

It is important when picking the mushroom to be very gentle. Pine mushrooms are very fragile, and especially if you wish to sell the mushrooms, you will want to make sure the mushroom stays in excellent condition. So to begin, start by slowly uncovering the dirt that is on top of the mushroom.

After the mushroom is uncovered, then you can use your fingers to gently dig around the stem of the mushroom until you reach the bottom of the stem. Then very gently rock the mushroom back and forth with your fingers until the mushroom becomes loose enough that it will come out of the ground.

Once you have picked the mushroom it is extremely important to cover up the hole it came out of, to protect the mycelia, and promote future growth. If the mushroom’s “hat” is already open, before closing the hole you can tap the top of the mushroom to knock the spores back into the hole. This is said to also promote future growth of mushrooms. Once the whole is closed you are done and can continue to look for more mushrooms. Be sure to look around where you found the mushroom as well, as pine mushrooms often grow in bunches. To protect your mushrooms it is best to carry them in a cloth bag, as plastic bags tend to make the mushrooms age quicker after they have been picked.

It was really nice to get out into the bush with my mom this Thanksgiving and take part in a bit of tradition. The excitement of the hunt, and getting to explore the forest makes mushroom picking a fun activity, and getting paid at the end of the day is icing on the cake.

Here are a few additional photos I took out in the forest of some other mushrooms. Be sure to leave these ones alone, as I am pretty sure none of them are edible.

Croatia was never really a country that was on my radar in terms of places to visit, mainly because I really didn’t know a lot about it. However a few years while in a hostel in Malaga, Spain when I asked a French Canadian couple what country was their favorite from their European trip, they both said resoundingly, Croatia. They went on to tell me about the city of Dubrovnik and how wonderful it was, and then went on to tell me about the rest of Croatia. This stuck with me, and made me want to someday see this great walled city, and the rest of Croatia. Later on that trip during Oktoberfest I made friends with a Croatia girl named Sidonja, which gave me even more reason to goto Croatia.

So a few years later, I find myself with an unplanned Europe trip. The only commitment I have is to attend Regis and Johanna’s wedding. Apart from that everything was quite open. So I emailed Sid and asked if she would like a visitor in Croatia. When she told me she would love to have me, it was enough reason for me to put Croatia in my plans for this European trip.

When I told Jason of my plans he wanted to join in. He was thinking of going to Italy for the Palio di Siena, which would fit in nicely with a visit to Croatia due to the close proximity to Italy. We agreed to meet in Dubrovnik, and make our way north via rental car (another story in itself). So I arrived at the airport to find Jason waiting patiently for my flight to arrive. He had arrived an hour earlier from Zagreb where he had flown into the night before from Montreal. It was good to see my oft travel buddy again, and to take on a new adventure.

From the airport we took a bus into the city. The drive already got my excitement level up. We drove on a single lane road that was winding its way across cliff bluffs overlooking the Adriatic. When we turned one of the final corners and the city of Dubrovnik was there before us, I was blown away at how magnificent the city is.

We got out of our bus, and with a little help from my GPS we found where we were suppose to meet the lady who was renting us an apartment room. A few buzzes on her buzzer without any answer, forced us to have a beer and wait. Tough. An hour later, I decided to call her. She was busy, and came to find us. She showed us a smallish little apartment that was right in the heart of the old city, overlooking Stradun, Dubrovnik’s main street. In her broken English our hostess showed us on a map all the places to go, and the ones to avoid. “You go here 50 kuna beers, but if you go here, 15 kuna beers. I don’t know about you, but I like 15 kuna beers.”. As she parted she had 1 final rule to follow, “No sex parties.”, She then pointed at me and said, “You, girl”, then pointed to Jason and continued, “You OUT!”. She then repeated the rules however outlining what would happen if Jason had a girl; and yes, I was “OUT!”.

So over the next 2 days armed with the advice from our hostess we explored the city of Dubrovnik and all it had to offer. We drank cappuccinos in side streets with locals, had shots of slivovitch listening to live blues, watched a marching band parade up and down Stradun from our apartment window. We walked for hours around the city walls, ate squid ink risotto, and swam in the Adriatic. We partied with hundreds locals in a back alley, watched the daily lightning light up the night sky, and had drinks in a hidden tavern.

I had really high hopes for Dubrovnik before my trip, which is often a recipe for disappointment. In this case however, the city of Dubrovnik not only met my expectations, but far surpassed anything I had imaged. I will someday have to return to this lovely walled city on the sea.

I have posted a few of my favorite photos from my time in Dubrovnik. Hope you enjoy them!

As you may or may not have known, I spent the last 3+ weeks in Europe. The main purpose of this trip was to visit my cousin (or is it kleincousin?) Johanna, and attend her wedding to her love Regis. Now I have technically known Johanna since I was about 5. We were at a relatives 25th anniversary and we sat together at the children’s table. Johanna didn’t speak any English and the only German I knew was Du bist blöd, which basically means “you are stupid”. So as 5 year olds go, I called my cousin stupid, and she would respond with something similar, and on goes the story. What a lovely first encounter.

I really hadn’t gotten to know Johanna until I was 21, when she came to Canada for a visit. She came during the summer, during a time when I was unemployed due to the dot com crash. Since I had no job, I was able to tour around with her quite a bit and get to know her a little more. Since then we kept in touch, and every time I visit Europe I do my best to visit with her.

So back to the main story. I came to Europe to attend the wedding, and was going to do a bit of touring afterwards. I packed a light camera bag with a couple 2 somewhat wide lenses and a 50mm prime. Good lenses for touristy pictures. At the wedding I hadn’t planned on taking many photos. Usually weddings have photographers hired, and every guest tends to have a camera. So I decided I would leave my camera in my hotel room.

German weddings have 2 parts. The first ceremony which is the state wedding which takes place at the town hall usually, then the second church wedding, well … in a church. So I headed off to the town hall, with nothing but my cellphone for the odd snap or video. As I expected everyone had a camera, and everyone was taking loads of photos. I felt relived that I made the right choice; or so I thought. After the first ceremony, after congratulating Johanna, she said to me with a very stern and serious look, “Why are you not taking any photos?”. I told her my rant on how everyone was shooting, which she replied, “I want you to take our photos.”

So it was settled. When I got back to my hotel room, I grabbed my camera bag, and thought, for Johanna I will take some photos. So during the church ceremony, I snapped off some shots, and continued to do so outside the church after the wedding. I got a few good shots here and there, thinking nothing more of it. However after a short gathering after the church ceremony, it was time for couples photos. Up until this point one of Johanna & Regis’s friends had been shooting a lot of their photos. So I had assumed he was their unofficial photographer. When it was time to take the couple photos however, Johanna grabbed me by my arm, and told me to come along too. She wanted me to take their photos as well. I am sure there is some sort of rule about saying no to a bride on her wedding day, so I agreed and went off with them in their Mercedes to take photos.

For the rest of the day I proceeded to act as the alternate photographer for the wedding. Taking shots of whatever I could. Since this was a bit of a surprise to be shooting the wedding, I didn’t really have time to prepare, so I just flat out winged it. As for the results? I am relatively happy with some of the shots I got. I think I probably would have been able to get a lot nicer shots if I had prepared for the day, however for a first time I am satisfied. Anyway let me know what you think of the shots. Most were shot with my 50mm f/1.4 lens. A couple I used my wide angles. Below are some of my favorite shots of the day. Oh and congratulations to Johanna and Regis!