Monday, April 2, 2012

That was once around the sun

It's over... done and dusted. It's been a year in the making and, to be honest, I'm glad it's finished. And I'm amazed that I actually succeeded. Or did I? The goalposts shifted very early on in the project from a photo per day to a "good" photo per day. Here, I define a "good" photo as one that I will want to look at again (and, hopefully, again and again). So did I take 366 "good" photos? I think it's too early to tell, but I think the answer is probably no. Give me another couple of months to look through the set and see which photos I linger over.

One thing that I was curious about was whether taking daily photos would improve my photography skills. I'm probably not the person to judge that, but I think I have become more particular about the kinds of photos I size up now. I take far fewer repeats than I used to (with the exception, perhaps, of glacier lilies...), as well as reducing the number of marginal shots (especially at full zoom).

Would I recommend such a project to someone? I found it hard work, especially at first, so I would say it depends on that person, and what photos they enjoy taking. How likely is it that you will be able to take those kinds of photos? Is it weather-dependent? How much spare time do you have to think about and set up shots? All these factors come into play.

I would say that anyone interested in taking a photo-a-day should be prepared to wake up every morning with the thought in your head: what am I going to get a photo of today? A list of candidates really helps relieve some of that pressure, but it only goes so far. Of course, if your photographic criteria are more relaxed than mine then it's easily possible to take a photo per day.

Another important factor is how much you like your camera. The days I felt worst about this project were the days I had the camera I didn't enjoy using. Having a camera (or two) I enjoyed using made all the difference - it makes you feel like you can take anything.

So after all that, would I do it again? No, absolutely not. It was a fun experiment but I don't see any need to repeat the process. I don't feel I have anything to gain from beginning another project, and I see plenty of things around me to photograph without the artificial need to take a picture every single day. Plus this project really got in the way of dealing with all the other photos we took over the year. The only type of project I might try would be a once-a-week photo diary, but that won't be for some time now. The next project is to turn the photos into a book-shaped souvenir :-)

It was an interesting, pleasant and often fun journey, but as always it's good to be home. And that was once around the sun.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Statistics from around the sun

It's been over a week since the project ended, and I've had some time to reflect on how the journey went. But before I put down those thoughts, I wanted to lay out the bare numbers.

Of the 366 photos, 190 (52%) were taken in landscape orientation, 157 (43%) were portrait and the remaining 19 (5%) were square. That's interesting to me as I hardly ever turned the camera round to its portrait orientation when I first started taking photos; it must be Maria's influence, as it's something she does a lot. The square photos obviously didn't start out that way, but some subjects really lend themselves to a square crop.

I used three cameras during the year. The Nikon D5000 SLR was the most heavily used with 266 photos. No surprise there - it's our best camera and the one I enjoy using the most. Next comes our most recent pocket-sized addition, the Canon SX230HS, with 52 photos, which is closely followed by our older Canon S3IS with 48 photos. The newer Canon got its 52 photos in less than 3 months, compared with about 7 months for the older S3IS for its tally of 48. I stopped using that camera altogether in October, and I doubt I will ever use it again.

Going by the tags on the photos, I took photos in 64 locations of 34 different kinds of subjects. And I took photos on all 7 days of the week :-)

Of the 64 places I tagged, 30 were visited only once, 12 were visited twice, 8 three times, 4 five times and 5 twice. I visited no place 6 times or 9 times, but I did visit the Sunshine Coast 7 times, downtown Vancouver 8, Stanley Park 10 and Jericho Beach 11 times. Then there's a big gap until one location I visited 22 times (Kits Beach) and then the big two: our home neighbourhood (Kitsilano) with 81 photos, and work (UBC) with 119.

The top ten subjects were water (45), flower (44), bird (37), mountain (36), transport (32), sky (32), tree (31), art (26), people (22) and architecture (21). A dozen subjects were targeted less than 5 times. The rest were somewhere in between. Some of the subjects probably overlap slightly and I doubt I've been as consistent as I intended to be - I have sea and water and snow as separate subjects, whereas to be truly accurate they would all be the same thing (i.e., water!). But the trend is clear: I really like to take pictures of natural subjects. I'm surprised by "transport" sneaking in at number 5 - I have quite a few photos which contain ships, aircraft and/or bicycles. "People" is also a surprise as I'm not really much of a people photographer. Or at least, I wasn't until I started taking on the role of semi-official photographer for the Tiddley Cove morris dancers.

As I mentioned at the 90 per cent mark, I'm really not an indoor photographer. Only 15 photos (4%!) were taken indoors or had indoor subjects, and not all of those were taken on days with bad weather. For the rest, I ventured out in whatever weather - rain, sleet and snow, windy and calm, sunny and cloudy.

How many photos did I take to get my 366? I'd be a while counting but it's in the thousands. I plan to go through and create a Flickr set of the "also-rans", the photos I took that I liked but didn't make it as a daily photo. I also have a pile of photos of subjects I planned to revisit on another day but didn't. It will be interesting to see how many of those I have :-)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Day 366: Returning to where it began

Do you believe in happy endings? After today, I might just begin to do so. To finish off this project I decided to return to the place it began, Lighthouse Park. In my mind's eye I imagined how poetic it would be to end the year on the same note on which it started with a photo of budding trillium. I headed straight to the spot I'd seen them last year, fully expecting to see white flowers poking through fresh green leaves. But mother nature decided that I shouldn't have it so easy: I found myself standing next to the low fence looking forlornly at a single green shoot barely six inches high. Nothing to do but to take its picture anyway.

So there I was, standing in a dull and cold Lighthouse Park, rain clouds threatening overhead, with a somewhat anti-climactic photo in hand. What next? Where was I going to get my finishing photo? Surely I couldn't let the project end with such a "nothing" photo? I looked at the map and picked a trail I had only walked once before, which took me to one of the park's rocky promontories, in search of the flower that had actually brought me to Lighthouse Park this time last year: white fawn lilies. I knew it would be too early to see them in flower, but perhaps I could find a leaf, or a bud?

I wandered around, doing my best to ignore the snow pellets, rain and cold wind. No sign of any flowers; and then something caught my eye. A single leaf, which I recognized immediately as from a lily. I crouched down and saw another - then a bud, and more leaves. I set about recording the evidence, hardly able to believe my eyes. I moved on and barely 10 metres further I saw another pair of leaves with a bud, and another and another. I picked my way carefully through the litter of dead pine branches, found a comfy spot and fetched the tripod from my backpack. A dozen photos later I figured I had my shot, and, marvelling at these wonderful little flowers-to-be, reluctantly put away the camera gear. I could not believe my luck. To top it off a pair of bald eagles squawked in the tree tops across the cove, and a hummingbird squeaked in the nearby pines. And only then did the rain begin in earnest.

Fawn lilies in bud
Lighthouse Park, 22 Mar 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Day 365: 0.986 degrees to go

The penultimate day and I'm scratching my head - what shall I photograph today? I found myself in downtown Vancouver under unexpectedly-sunny skies and decided to walk home over the Burrard Street bridge to size up one of my favourite views of the city. I stopped mid-span and to size my photos: the conditions could not have been better with snowy peaks peeking through the city canyons and the flat calm water reflecting the blue sky. But it was this view that caught my eye - zooming in on the Inukshuk in English Bay (which, actually, was on my photographic list for this project) offered a perspective on Sunset Beach that I really liked, and I could follow the curve of the seawall path from there into Stanley Park.

And with that, I am less than 1 degree off finishing.

Following the seawall
Vancouver, 21 Mar 2012

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Day 364: Along the old straight track

Some months back I was at the Commercial Skytrain station, admiring the view along the tracks towards downtown Vancouver, and kicking myself for not having the camera with me. I added it to my list and today (which is the Spring equinox - woohoo!) I took the bus out east and ticked off another photo from my now exceedingly-short list. The light isn't as good as it was 10 minutes earlier when I first stepped off the bus, and the sun had dipped below the clouds just moments after I crossed the road. I was also hoping to catch an approaching Skytrain, but in retrospect, I'm glad the photo is empty of trains - the exposure time was too long to stop them and I think a blurry train would have detracted from the photo. It'll just have to do as it is :-)

Today's title is brought to by the Jethro Tull song "Cup of Wonder" which includes the line "sung along the old straight track", though it is not referring to railway tracks.

Skytrain tracks pointing to Vancouver
Vancouver, 20 Mar 2012

Monday, March 19, 2012

Day 363: Night bridge

Another of Stanley Park's famous landmarks, the Lions Gate bridge was somewhere on my list of photographic targets but it wasn't until I saw a picture taken by a friend that I decided on a dusk shot. I've wanted to take a photo like this for some time, having seen many night shots of the bridge. With only a few days to go, my chances of including it in this project were diminishing by the day. And so, a rainy Monday evening saw me (and other photographers) standing on the bridge over the causeway, taking numerous long exposure photos of traffic on the bridge. I tried using the polarizer to help cut down reflections, but to my surprise (and disappointment) it had no effect. However, all was not lost - it acted as a perfectly good neutral density filter, allowing me to get longer exposures than was otherwise possible. Despite the rain threatening to soak the camera I got my shot.

I also have a graphic reminder that the bridge is a suspension bridge, with the oscillation of the bridge deck showing up in two photos taken back-to-back, about 20 seconds apart. You don't notice it while you're on the bridge as it's quite slow, and it's masked by all the vibration from the traffic. It's given me another idea for a diptych which may appear at some point in the future.

Lions Gate bridge at dusk
Lions Gate Bridge, 19 Mar 2012

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Day 362: House post

Not a (blog) post from the house, but a traditional west-coast house post. As kinda promised a few days ago, here's a photo of one of the Stanley Park totem poles taken on a nice sunny afternoon. I'm sure this must be the most-photographed totem pole in Stanley Park, perhaps the most-photographed object in the park. We have other sunny-day pictures dating back to when we moved here in 2004; like so many other photos, they're sitting on our hard drive, just waiting to be looked at.

Thunderbird house post
Stanley Park, 18 Mar 2012

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Day 361: It's so fluffy!

After a grey start, the afternoon brightened up and the day ended with a fine sunset. The stormy clouds over the mountains puffed up into great towering cumulus. As the sun dipped low in the sky, the bottom of the clouds faded to an ominous dark grey, while the middle was bathed in a rosy pink glow. Higher up, the tallest clouds were still the brightest of white. The structure in the clouds and the contrast between them and the blue sky made for a beautiful sight. I had taken some photos earlier in the day, but they weren't a patch on this.

Roiling clouds at sunset
Clouds, 17 Mar 2012

Friday, March 16, 2012

Day 360: Full circle

Three-hundred and sixty degrees is a circle, but I am still six days short a my year. It feels like the year should be done already because spring is well and truly making an appearance here - the bulbs are flowering, the witch hazel is past it, the magnolia is in bud, and the forsythia is out here, there and everywhere. Not to mention the flickers - it's been a while since I heard or saw one of these birds, but they seem to be conspicuous in the spring. A few weeks back, we saw (and heard) one drumming on the top of a lamppost - presumably announcing itself as a way of marking its territory. And tonight, as I walked up and over the knoll by the Student Union building, there was a pair in the trees above me. The sun was at a favourable angle, and one of them kindly spread its wing as I pointed the camera in its direction. The late afternoon light caused its red feathers to simply glow. Beautiful!

Preening flicker
UBC, 16 Mar 2012

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Day 359: Swimming against the stream

This is one of those photos I've had stored away for a rainy day. Except that rainy day never came, and so, with only a week to go, I figured it was about time I took it. I noticed this sculpture only 11 days into the project last year - that's how long I've been saving it :-) I think it's one of the nicest salmon sculptures I've seen.

Salmon sculpture
Kits Beach, 15 Mar 2012

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Day 358: Violet

I'd sized up this mural a few months ago while I was in the middle of the rainbow series, but hadn't had the opportunity to finish off the mini-project. I'd even got to the point where I wondered if I even wanted to take its photograph, my mental picture of it had lessened its impact during the intervening months. Today I walked past it and took a photo, mostly just to size it up, but I was immediately struck by how intricate the artwork was. I had taken another couple of shots, trying to work around the parked cars, when the car that was blocking most of the lower part of the mural drove away. I now had a clear view of the entire wall, so I framed my shot, ducked out into the pouring rain and took it. The rainbow is now complete.

The mural was painted by an organization called Nomadic Alternatives and they've done quite a few around Vancouver. I'll have to seek out some of their other work.

Bellissima mural
Kitsilano, 14 Mar 2012

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Day 357: City under cloud

A fine end to the day and I sped home to pick up Maria before heading out to Jericho Beach for a walk in the sunshine. I thought about using a nice picture of a ring-necked duck but the sunlight on the cloud-capped city won. It's not obvious in the photo, but the leading edges of the clouds showed some nice iridescence.

Vancouver under cloud
Jericho Beach, 13 Mar 2012

Monday, March 12, 2012

Day 356: Willow, willow, burning bright

With the clocks going forward at the weekend, I was hoping to get down to Kits Beach after dinner to catch the last of the light before the sun set. I was late getting there and the shots I had in mind were not possible, so I wandered around looking for alternatives, bracing myself against the strong wind. A few small branches had come down off some of the trees, now roped off by yellow "incident" tape. I had just returned to the car when the streetlight shining on the weeping willows caught my eye. My first photos weren't anything special, but they gave me an idea. I used automatic white balance to get those nice blue dusk skies, and crouched down low next to the streetlight, keeping it off the lens so it didn't flare. About a half-second exposure was enough to show the willow branches waving in the wind, the lower portions of which looked like they were on fire. The low angle also gave it a bit of an auroral appearance, which I really like. I went home happy.

Weeping willow lit by streetlamp
Kits Beach, 12 Mar 2012

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Day 355: Meadow and mountain

We were heading out east for a dinner appointment and, having not taken a single photo in the earlier part of the day, I took a small detour to find somewhere to get a view that I hoped would have something worthy of a photograph. I took a handful of pictures in all directions, but wasn't particularly hopeful that I'd got anything good. Only later when looking through them did Maria draw my attention to this particular scene with the farm buildings in the foreground and the snow-laden peaks of the Widgeon Creek valley forming a forbidding backdrop. What really helped, though was the fact that we processed this photo from the raw file, rather than using the somewhat uninspiring JPEG out of the camera. Hmm, maybe there's something in this raw processing after all.

Pitt Meadows farm and mountains
Pitt Meadows, 11 Mar 2012

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Day 354: Vancouver In The Rain

I think I saw this rock on my very first visit to Vancouver, before we'd experienced the shades of grey that rainy days bring. My boss even warned me how grey and rainy the winters are here. Maybe it's because I grew up in Britain, but for the most part the rain has never bothered me. Like the author of the text on the rock, sometimes it does get to you but then, yes, you stumble across something that thrives on our liquid sunshine, and suddenly it's not so bad. Like yesterday in Stanley Park. I think that the rain in May and June is more annoying, as by then, after enduring a grey winter, you feel you've earned a bit of warm sunshine.

Vancouver In The Rain
Kits Beach, 10 Mar 2012

Friday, March 9, 2012

Day 353: Into the final fortnight

Computer problems took us downtown in the morning, and I took advantage of that to head into Stanley Park to look for today's photo. The obvious place to go was the totem poles near Brockton Point, which we've photographed before but have yet to show on our Flickr account. Knowing that we have photos taken in better weather (it's pouring down today) I decided to go for a detail shot, and sized up this carving of herring on one end of the Grandparents and Grandchildren welcome portal carved by local Musqueam artist, Susan Point. There are three of these welcome portals now; personally, I think they're nicer than the totem poles.

And with that, only a baker's dozen to go.

Herring carving
Stanley Park, 9 Mar 2012

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Day 352: Don't be daffed

Today's terrible pun brought to you by those ubiquitous yellow flowers seen in gardens everywhere (in the northern hemisphere) at this time of year. Like tulips, I have no great love for daffodils, though the smaller varieties - like the ones in today's photo - aren't too offensive.

Daffodils
UBC, 8 Mar 2012

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Day 351: Vapour trails

No, not the Rush album - real vapour trails, in the sky :-) I was out trying to get a good picture of something else when I noticed this vapour trail. At first it was two bright white and parallel straight lines, but it quickly began to break up into a wonderful wavy pattern. I've seen helical vapour trails before, and I wonder if the shorter wavelength ripples are like that. Within a minute of taking this shot they'd disappeared completely.

Like a vapour trail...
UBC, 7 Mar 2012

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Day 350: On the crest of a wave

As I get closer to the end of this project, I find myself having to fight a sense of complacency - the job's done, right? Not quite... Today was a perfect day though - clear sunny skies, a stiff breeze from the west and a rising tide all made for some wonderful beach photography. I spent my lunch hour taking pictures of the waves, trying to capture that precise moment when a wave starts to break. The strong onshore surge had piled up the pebbles, creating a small storm line along the beach. I stood at the edge and sized up a photo, waiting for a wave to break in just the right way to emphasize all the various perspective lines. The snow-capped mountains on the horizon, up to 60 km away, made the perfect backdrop.

Breaking waves on a pebbly beach
Tower Beach, 6 Mar 2012

Monday, March 5, 2012

Day 349: Life imitates art

Well, not so much art as public information. I'd noticed the stencilling on the pavement and decided that it alone would make a good subject for a daily photo. The words say: "I can't believe the time. I need to hurry up if I'm going to get home for dinner" with the letters for "dinner" scattered about like groceries from a split bag. It's part of a public road safety safety campaign run by the city to try and reduce the number of accidents in Vancouver. I'd taken a couple of shots already, and was sizing up a couple more when a woman dashed out of the supermarket and straight across the road, right at the point where the words enter the roadway. Fortunately I was already lined up and was able to take a quick couple of photos. I couldn't believe my eyes, or my luck.

Life imitates art
Kitsilano, 5 Mar 2012

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Day 348: Father and son

We went out for brunch at the Red Wagon cafe in East Vancouver, meeting up with our friends Anne and Adib and their two boys. I captured this picture of Adib with Konrad as they walked back up the street, surreptitiously holding the camera in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion. Yes, I'm a sneaky photographer. Sometimes I feel bad about that, but that doesn't last too long when I get a shot like this. I caught them both looking in the same direction, their attention drawn to the store front. Like father, like son.

Adib and Konrad
Vancouver, 4 Mar 2012

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Day 347: Focus

I enjoy photographing Maria and her troop of Morris dancers, especially with the responsiveness of the SLR. Still, it takes a hundred or more photos to get a dozen or so worth showing. Today, and despite the grey skies, I was really pleased to get this photo showing the concentration on June's face as she launched into the next figure of the dance.

Focus
Farmers' Market, 3 Mar 2012

Friday, March 2, 2012

Day 346: Gloom

With today's gloomy weather, I had this photo in mind as a counterpart to the night shot from a few days ago. I meant to take it earlier in the day, but it wasn't until dusk that I set foot outside to get the shot. It was dull, drizzly and I didn't hang around.

And now there are only three weeks to go...

Vancouver in the gloaming
Dusk, 2 Mar 2012

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Day 345: Look east

Another 111 days from 123 and 234. Funnily enough, 111 days ago was 11/11/11. The usual story - dull day, didn't get out - but this time I had a bit of spare time at the end of the day and used it to take a different route home, heading along Fourth Ave instead. I got off at a stop with a superb view along Fourth Avenue - on the best days about this time of year, the snowy face of Mt Cheam over 100 km to the east rises above the city. The only time I saw that view, I was a passenger in someone else's car, and I've waited in vain for those weather conditions to repeat. I grabbed my photo and wandered down to the Jericho Beach pond and watched the beavers in the fading light.

Eastwards view along Fourth Ave
Vancouver, 1 Mar 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Day 344: Many paths

I've used three approaches to getting up Grouse Mountain: the gondola, the Grouse Grind and the adjacent BCMC trail. Cleary, riding the gondola is the easiest, but there's no doubt that the BCMC trail is far nicer than the staircase that is the Grind. As the saying goes, "One journey, many paths", which is a comment on life and how there are many ways to lead it. Last night's fresh snowfall meant I could get a picture of the entire mountainside blanketed in white. I like the way that the snow really shows up the deep gulleys and drainage systems on the mountain; not a pleasant place to end up. A surprise was how the snow also highlights the swath of smaller trees marking the path taken by the gondola.

Click through to Flickr to see a couple of notes about where the hiking trails are.

Grouse ascents
Grouse Mountain, 29 Feb 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Day 343: The Journey

Today's after-coffee wander took me past some blooming oregon grape which I was convinced would be today's subject. But the sleet and bitterly cold wind drove me on in search of other things, eventually forcing me inside the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Going through the doors of the old section, I looked around at the stained-glass windows to see if any of those would work. Unfortunately the most interesting panes could only be photographed from an acute angle, so I wandered on until I was stopped in my tracks by a piece of First Nations art on the wall. Striking in its circular simplicity and triangular arrangement of faces and eagle profiles, the mixture of warm-coloured wood and etched glass is just so simple, yet so effective and so appealing (as faces tend to be). I sized up my shot, noting that the camera wanted a 0.4 second exposure. Time to lean on the banister and practice stillness; I pressed down on the shutter release gently, keeping my finger down for three shots in a row. All three worked, so here's the first.

The Journey, by Brent Sparrow
UBC, 28 Feb 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

Day 342: Vancouver at night

I'd taken some mediocre shots during the day, but it wasn't until the evening when I saw how calm the water was that I knew what picture I wanted. I drove down to Kits outdoor pool and set up the tripod on a small grassy patch with a clear view of the city. I should have brought the remote shutter release or used the timer as most of my photos showed signs of camera movement as the tripod settled (it's not the sturdiest tripod), but fortunately three photos turned out perfectly. Then it was just a matter of choosing the preferred scene - I like the fact that the mountains can be seen behind the city in this one. One other thing I should have done when shooting this scene: I should have used the in-camera correction for lens distortion, as the curvature of the reflections is pretty obvious near the edges of the photo. I could get rid of that if I processed it from raw but that's something I've yet to get into.

Vancouver skyline at night
Kits Beach, 27 Feb 2012

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Day 341: The otter and the beaver

A wander downtown on a fine but chilly Sunday. Getting a photo of the floatplanes here in Coal Harbour has been high on my photographic to-do list for this project, and today was a good day for it. I could have got closer by walking round to the west side of the convention centre, but that wasn't the direction we were going today. We watched several planes take off and land (do float planes "land" on water?), but it was this shot of two together that I liked best. The smaller plane on the left is a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, like the one we flew in to reach the beginning of the Nootka Trail; the larger aircraft is a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter. I've always liked aircraft, and I could watch these all day.

Floatplane greeting
Coal Harbour, 26 Feb 2012

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Day 340: Breezy

Wow - Vancouver is rarely windy, but this winter has been quite exceptional. I was woken up by the wind at 5:30 this morning: I thought it was thunder. Knowing what the waves would be like down by the water I dragged Maria to the beach to get sand-blasted. I was disappointed to find that the tide was low, and the waves were far away so I couldn't get the picture I had in mind. On our way back to the car, the wind was whipping up the sand into an ankle-blasting storm, and a family of three was making its way across the beach, heads bowed against the wind. With the city as backdrop it made the perfect second-best shot for today.

A bracing walk on the beach
Locarno Beach, 25 Feb 2012

Friday, February 24, 2012

Day 339: Bagelry

I remember discovering bagels in the late 1990s. They were tough, chewy rings of dense bread that didn't work with standard toast toppings of butter and marmalade or jam. Then I tried them with cream cheese (at Einstein Bagels in Las Vegas if I remember correctly), and haven't looked back. I was delighted to find Einstein Bagels again when we moved to Maryland - we even lived within a block of one store for a while and it was a regular weekend breakfast. Imagine how happy I was to find another good bagel place so close to home in Vancouver. It's a toss-up between Solly's and Siegel's - Siegel's has a bigger range of flavours, and to have one of their bagels fresh out the wood-fired oven is a sublime experience, but Solly's is closer, and they serve Ethical Bean coffee...

And of course 3 times 3 is 9.

Solly's bagelry
Kitsilano, 24 Feb 2012

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Day 338: The upside-down tree

Yes, really. I laughed when I first heard about this - a tree that had apparently been re-planted upside-down so its roots now grew into branches, and its branches established roots. Nonsense, I thought. As it turns out, the label was a nickname for a tree I walk past regularly which has a convoluted (and I mean really convoluted) branch system. A quick Google search turned up some info about the tree, which states that it is a wych elm grafted onto a witch hazel trunk. I've been wondering about getting a good picture of this tree for a long time, so I am more than happy to use it for today.

The upside-down tree
UBC, 23 Feb 2012

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Day 337: Mountain city

Much of the last week has been rainy with little or no sign of the mountains. Today, the clouds lifted and the sun shone a little, brightening up the city. I've always liked the view downtown along Cambie Street and over the bridge with BC Place, the Harbour Centre tower and Crown Mountain lined up. I think it's one of the best views in and of the city. The problem is that to get a clear view requires standing in the middle of the road, which I could do for a few short seconds while crossing. I went back and forth a few times, taking as many photos as I could hoping to get that perfect shot with the best light. This is about as good as it gets, I think.

Mountain city
Vancouver, 22 Feb 2012

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Day 336: Double dew-drop daffodil

I had an alternative title in mind when I found a little patch of daffodils to photograph, but the allure of alliteration was too great. Of course, they're not really dew drops - it's been pouring with rain all day - but a little artistic licence is always allowed, right?

Double dew-drop daffodil
UBC, 21 Feb 2012

Monday, February 20, 2012

Day 335: Democracy inaction

A rainy day, time to grab a photo of something that doesn't need great weather. It took me probably three or four years before I actually went over to this sculpture to read the plaque at its base. Turns out it was erected to commemorate the democracy protests in China that culminated in the Tianenmen Square protests of June 1989. The original was created at the time as the ultimate protest, and though it clearly no longer exists, it has become a symbol for democracy movements around the world.

Goddess of Democracy
UBC, 20 Feb 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Day 334: No need to fret

The usual rainy-day-at-home-goes-by-without-taking-a-picture scenario, so I spent a few minutes trying to recreate some test shots I'd tried while messing about with the small camera. Somehow it all felt like I was trying too hard, and I wasn't particularly enthused by anything I took. This was the only shot that I could say I was happy with, being a fun experiment in shooting with a small aperture (f/22) to get a large depth of field. It was instructive to see how much the depth of field changed from f/8 through f/16 to f/22. By comparison, the aperture on the compact camera only goes as low as f/8, but the small sensor means that it still has a very large depth of field, much larger than the SLR at f/8. But the main reason I took this photo is that I really like this view along the neck of the bass, in which the strings appear to be parallel. They are not, of course, but the angle the strings make is just right to give this impression.

Bass perspective
Bass guitar, 19 Feb 2012

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Day 333: Times three

Today is the third and final triple-digit day on this photographic tour around the sun. Day 111 featured ice tricks while day 222 took in signs of autumn. I couldn't get the photo I wanted today - thanks to some idiots deciding that they can drive better than everyone else in the pouring rain only to find themselves needing assistance from the local constabulary and a tow-truck or two - so I settled for a doughnut. But not just any old doughnut - the official doughnut of the Vancouver Canucks! How about that?! I must admit to being somewhat puzzled, though - I would have thought that the official doughnut for a hockey team would at least be puck-shaped...

Canucks doughnut
Doughnuts, 18 Feb 2012

Friday, February 17, 2012

Day 332: Band of gold

The day started grey, got greyer and then somewhat wetter. On the drizzly walk home from a pleasant afternoon coffee at Momento I spotted the something bright on the western horizon: a gap in the clouds as the sun set, a gleaming sliver of golden light on the horizon. I hobbled home as fast as I could, grabbed the camera and went out onto the balcony to capture it before the light disappeared.

Band of sunset gold on the horizon
Sunset, 17 Feb 2012

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Day 331: Still raining

As expected, yesterday's euphoria of realizing I have only 36 days to go was tempered by today's persistent damp drizzle. Coupled with my somewhat dodgy ankle I can't get out very far to search for a photo. I did the usual round where I watched the local hummingbird do its thing, listened to a very loud and tuneful wren, and stared into the foot-deep abyss of the now-empty reflecting pool outside the library. But there wasn't much to photograph. I tried a couple of things, including these wet fuzzy magnolia buds outside the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Meh.

Wet fuzzy magnolia buds
UBC, 16 Feb 2012

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Day 330: Ninety per cent

I can't quite believe it but today marks the passing of the 90 % point in the project. I used the 10 % mark to reflect on how things had gone so far so perhaps I can dare use this moment in time to look back and voice a few thoughts on a project almost complete.

  • I have to say that the whole photo-a-day concept has become part of every day life, much to my surprise. I don't fret about it as much as did six months ago, though I still have days where I don't feel inspired - I just try to make those few photos count.
  • While I have been less than happy with the image quality from the S3IS, and I've worked hard to make the photos from the SLR as good as humanly possible, buying the SX230HS was one of the best things I could have done. I no longer feel constrained by the "poor" image quality of the former, and I don't have to make a choice of lens with respect to the latter. I also feel freed up from trying to get a perfect-quality photo. I have an unobtrusive, versatile camera I can slip into my pocket every single day, and that has made a huge difference to the way I feel about this project.
  • Having a camera I'm happy to use has been vital to getting satisfactory photos. My definition of happy includes good low-light performance. I wouldn't dare use the S3IS on anything other than the ISO 100 setting - under certain conditions, I'm happy to let the new SX230HS go up to ISO 1600. Plus its image-stabilization is superb.
  • The Flickr set has filled out quite nicely, though the growth of this project has been to the detriment of our other photos (of which we have a huge backlog).
  • I will do almost anything to avoid taking a photo indoors - only 14 of the 330 photos so far have an indoor subject. That's only 4.2%.
  • Really? 90 % already? Where has the year gone? Mind you, I have to be careful that I don't get so carried away with being this close to the end that I get complacent and miss a day or end up with something I really don't like.

My photo today was taken from the Burrard Street bridge, a location I hobbled to from nearby Kitsilano hoping for nice light on the city. That didn't happen, but the little ferry boats doing their dance on the water always attract my attention.

False Creek ferry
False Creek, 15 Feb 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Day 329: Be my valentine

Today is Valentine's Day and what better way to celebrate it than by giving Maria flowers of the kind she likes best - alive, and growing in the ground :-)

Snowdrops
UBC, 14 Feb 2012

Monday, February 13, 2012

Day 328: Between the clouds

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was remarking on day 238, but that was three months ago already, a quarter of this journey around the sun. Today's photo was not planned (unlike the photo on day 238); just another opportunistic shot from our balcony, as the jagged white peaks of Crown Mountain poked out above one band of clouds and below a higher band to give the impression of the mountain lying between the clouds. We even had some blue sky, as expected for the Monday after a wet weekend.

Crown Mountain between the clouds
Crown Mountain, 13 Feb 2012

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Day 327: Grumpy

In local birdwatching circles, great blue herons are known colloquially as GBH (which means something a little different in the UK). I think it can also stand for "grumpy blue heron" as the expression and demeanour of this bird might suggest. "Grumpy" is also how I feel tonight after twisting my ankle on a small kerb on the way back to the car (after enjoying more tasty hot chocolate and a waffle at Leonidas). Back to the heron, we were amazed to find this one standing in little more than an inch of water right next to the trail along the shore of Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. This is as close as I dared get, not wanting to spook it into flight, and it's as close as I've ever been to a heron.

Grumpy blue heron
Lost Lagoon, 12 Feb 2012

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Day 326: Canada's Place

As part of our endeavour to sample as much of the hot chocolate festival as possible, we found ourselves downtown searching for one of the places taking part, Leonidas. A bit of aimless wandering had us scratching our heads as to where exactly this place was, and fortunately we happened to walk past the tourist information centre. We went in and asked, and they knew exactly where we meant. As it turned out, we had walked more or less right past it, about the time I took this photo of the sails on Canada Place. We ended up at Bella Gelateria instead as it was closer (by all of 50 m) and enjoyed a truly sumptuous salt-caramel hot chocolate with their fantastic to-die-for banana bread. Delicious!

Canada Place
Canada Place, 11 Feb 2012

Friday, February 10, 2012

Day 325: Faces in the night

As a measure of how uninspired I am to take photographs indoors, I went out on a windy, rainy Friday evening to get some night shots. My original plan was to set up the tripod to get some long exposure photos of the city, but that didn't seem such a good idea in the rain. I tried my hand at a couple of pictures of the centennial totem pole, which is lit up beautifully at night. Seeing as I was in a hurry, I only took a few fairly close-in to get as much light as possible. And lo-and-behold, my second picture of the night was the best.

Centennial totem pole at night
Totem pole, 10 Feb 2012

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Day 324: Symbols for Education

I don't walk this way too often, and when I do I'm usually on the other side of the road. I was drawn into the small courtyard behind Brock Hall by a tree in blossom, but my attention was immediately grabbed by the artwork on the opposite wall. I had no idea what it was when I took the picture - I just liked it, and thought it would be a nice colourful photo on a rainy day - but a search of the UBC website turned up a page describing it. Turns out it's a glass-on-cement mosaic commissioned by the graduating class of 1958, with each panel representing the various academic disciplines studied at the university. It goes by the apt name of Symbols for Education. There is a fair bit of public art on the campus, but this is definitely one of the nicest pieces. The only point against it is that astronomy isn't represented.

I can't believe there are only 6 weeks to go, a mere 42 days.

Symbols for Education
UBC, 9 Feb 2012

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Day 323: Springing

It's still February, but spring is making its presence felt. The witch hazel got the year off to a cheery start and I've been on the lookout for snowdrops to photograph as they are the archetypal February flower, but have only seen them when I haven't had the camera on me. As I walked in to work today, I noticed some bulbs had pushed their way up and looked almost ready to flower. Next to them, almost hidden against the leaves, was a lone purple crocus, its flower exposed but still furled. Maybe tomorrow it'll be open, and it'll really feel like spring is near.

A crocus appears
UBC, 8 Feb 2012

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Day 322: Paint the whole world

...with a rainbow :-) Well, not quite. As I mentioned in my indigo photo, the gay pride rainbow flag is missing a colour. Never mind - there's a shop down the street with a sign outside that has all the colours of the rainbow (and more!). This is one of only four photos I took today thanks to a migraine - my first, err, opportunity to try out my new tablets. An interesting experience in itself...

Rainbow flag
UBC, 7 Feb 2012

Monday, February 6, 2012

Day 321: Upon reflection

Take a calm sunny day and a photo-scoping route that goes past a pool of water near a couple of striking buildings, and today's photo is done.

Reflecting pool
UBC, 6 Feb 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Day 320: Trapped under ice

From eagle sculptures to Eagle Bluffs. My first snowshoe trip of the year took us up over Black Mountain to a pleasant lunch spot on Eagle Bluffs. On the return, we explored some of the small ponds and lakes on the plateau, taking great pleasure in being the first to walk through the soft snow. At the edge of one lake, the outlet stream was still open and only partially covered by ice. I was delighted to see the ice was full of bubbles, reminding me of one of my favourite shots on Flickr. Some of them looked like bubbles trapped under the ice, rather than frozen into it, but many of them were indeed trapped in the ice itself. I've wanted to see that for ages and I'm really happy to have found a good example.

Today's title is brought to you by a song from Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" album.

Bubbles in and under the ice
Eagle Bluffs, 5 Feb 2012

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Day 319: Foggy

I first noticed the mist over the Burrard Inlet yesterday, and wondered if I could get a picture of it from down on the beach. The mist had largely drifted away by the time we went for our walk, and I found something quite different to photograph. Today, the mist hung around for longer and at about 4.30 pm I decided I had to head down to Kits Beach to capture it (despite failing earlier thanks to a dead camera battery). I trotted down to the beach (testing out the bare-foot running technique some more) and ended up down at the waterline on a small section of sandy beach. The mist was drifting through the trees of Stanley Park, with some making its way into the middle of downtown Vancouver. I was losing light rapidly and I snapped as many shots as I could as the sun sank until I got my favourite: the sun was still high enough to illuminate the top half of the mist, but low enough to have gone off the lower half, leading to a lovely pink-and-blue mist picture. With some trees poking out. Perfect.

Pink and blue mist over Stanley Park
Fog, 4 Feb 2012

Friday, February 3, 2012

Day 318: Tranquility base

A mid-afternoon walk along Locarno Beach on a fine working-from-home Friday. We noticed some metalwork sculpture set up on a log and walked over to investigate. There, we met and chatted to the artist, Don Francis, about the three pieces he had out. The most striking was one of an eagle clutching a salmon in one of its talons. I couldn't resist trying a shot with the rising moon between the eagle's raised wings with the Vancouver skyline, Eagle Ridge and the bright white peaks of Golden Ears in the distance. (Though unintended, Golden Ears continues the eagle theme, as they were originally named the "golden eyries".) What I didn't notice at the time was the bright orange jacket of another photographer at the shoreline... D'oh!

Eagle sculpture
Locarno Beach, 3 Feb 2012