Wedding Party

Wedding Party
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

A scene from a wedding I shot last weekend.

Sleeping

Sleeping
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

A Canada goose having a nap with friends and family.

Wow, this is old!

I think Webshots was the first image hosting place I'd ever used. I uploaded a lot of old photos there a long time ago, and most of those are still sitting there (collecting dust). Here's a photo I remember taking. It was a grey and cold winter day and I was driving by an orchard and spotted this apple tree with some frozen apples on it. I really liked the contrast, so I stopped and took some photos.


by alphamark

Ocean View

Ocean View
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

I traveled to Whistler BC on the weekend. On the way back I stopped to view some of the sights along the Sea to Sky highway. I shot this photo near Squamish BC.

Dragonfly in Flight

Dragonfly in Flight
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

Drangonfly in Flight

Drangonfly in Flight
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

I was in Vancouver's Stanley Park on the weekend, just walking around with my camera, when this large Dragonfly approached me and hovered for several seconds. It was as if it was observing me as I was observing it. I managed to shoot a few photos before it flew away.

Me at English Bay in Vancouver

Me at English Bay in Vancouver
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

A shot of me taken by my friend Reno just before sunset at English Bay in Vancouver. This is with my 135mm f/2.3 lens.

Brianne in Color

Click photo for larger view.

I assisted my photographer friend Assad in a photo shoot the other day. His model was this lovely young actress, Brianne. She's very photogenic. This is one of the photos I shot of her with my good old Asahi Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4 lens from the 1960's. I shot this wide open at f/1.4. I can't decide whether I like the mono version or the color version better, so I posted both.

Some more of my photos

I shot this photo of a swan at Stanley Park in Vancouver. I used an old German made lens called a Meyer Optik Gorlitz lens. It's from around 1958. I love that old lens.



I saw this Great Blue Heron perched on a big rock in the water at English Bay in Vancouver. The sun was setting and I think the bird was getting ready to sleep for the evening.

Yeah I know. It's been forever since I've updated my blog.

Lately I've been using Flickr a lot more. Although it isn't a blog site, it's very easy to upload photos. With this blog I've been using an image host, which I no longer use. I figured there was no point in paying for an image host when I can use another one for free, and it's easier to use.

So that's that.

Everybody Loves Peanuts

I threw some peanuts out for the critters this morning.



There are a couple of Stellar's Jays that live nearby and they also came to eat some. They always pick up the peanut and shake it first, as if they are checking for quality. They'll do this with several nuts before choosing one or two, then they fly off with them.









This one came back later for lunch:

Nature's Beautiful Creatures

If one were to spend their entire life watching birds, it would not be a life wasted.

Nature never ceases to amaze me.

Excellent Sake

I really enjoy good Sake. I've had many different kinds; some very good, others not as much. Most of the time I like it hot, but I've tried a few varieties are are better served chilled.

On Friday night, I went for dinner with a photography friend at Kitto, a Japanese restaurant on Granville Street near Robson in Vancouver. I like Kitto because of the authentic Japanese food. It doesn't cost very much, and it's really healthy.

My friend had never tried Sake, so I ordered a small bottle that we could share during our meal. I chose the Nigori unfiltered Sake. It's kind of a creamy white color because the little micro particles of rice are not filtered out. It's a rather sweet tasting Sake, and it's very smooth. I loved it, and so did my friend. It's best served chilled. Here's a shot I took of the bottle with two small glasses of the Sake:



If you are a fan of Sake already, then you'll love this kind.

Granville St. Bridge

Here are some photos of people walking across the Granville St. Bridge. It was a nice sunny Saturday about two weeks ago but a little chilly too.

Chicken Drinking Beer

Some friends of mine have a chicken named "Chicken". Chicken is really an amazing bird because she doesn't know she's a chicken. She was raised by my friends from a chick.

The other night I was visiting my friends and they brought Chicken out of her house. She had some sushi and amazingly, she also had some beer! I couldn't believe it when my friends told me she actually loves beer, until I saw her drink it. First she drank it from a bottle cap, then she drank it from the bottle. Here's some photos:



"Chicken"



Tasting the brew



Enjoying her beer



Swallowing



I guess she likes beer in general, but she seems to prefer the imported Dos Equis Special Lager over the other beer. I like them both.

When I asked "What if she gets drunk?" My friends said she knows her limit. What a great chicken! I'm going back there for a better photo shoot in a couple of weeks.

Mallards in flight

Here's a shot I took a couple of weeks ago of some Mallard Ducks in flight. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was setting.



That's water droplets coming off of them. They took flight off the lake.

Husband and Wife

I love the colors on these wood ducks. Here is a mating pair. Wood ducks pair up in January around here. Of all the pretty waterfowl, I think these are my favorite.





And here is another favorite of mine, the American Coot. These are some really bizarre looking water birds. They have really smooth bodies and they almost look wingless because their wings are stored so seamlessly against their body. They make a really funny noise and they have huge feet. They are usually a little shy, so I was lucky to get close enough to get some decent photos of these ones.

Squirrel Abstract Photos

These are not your ordinary squirrel photos. I shot these with a very narrow depth of field and most are slightly outside of the focal plane. These are all shot with my old Pentax Asahi Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4 lens. One of my favorite lenses.













And here's one of my crazy cat Stimpy:

The 86th Annual Vancouver Polar Bear Swim

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I attended the 86th Annual Vancouver Polar Bear Swim again this year. I shot a lot of photos again, but this years event didn't get the sunshine it did last year at this time. It was windy, cold and raining, a lot! In fact, I had to put my camera in a big plastic bag with an elastic band around the lens barrel. Luckily for me though, there were some kind folks around me who held their umbrellas over me most of the time I was shooting.

Still, who am I to complain about the rain, when there are people crazy enough to jump into the water at this time of year? Ya gotta love 'em!

So, as promised, here are the photos:

There were some Vikings there, and you just know when there's Vikings, there's gonna be trouble:





I think this was their leader:





Here is a shot of the crowd waiting in the rain:



And some of the swimmers getting prepared to go in:



And of course there were clowns there too(I think someone was throwing rice at them. I'm not sure where it was coming from):



Eventually, about 20 minutes before the official dive-in time, they let the participants into the big square 'holding pen' where they can get psyched out:



There they go into the holding pen. Check out the frozen news camera man in the center:



Here is another Viking showing off for the media:



Participants in the holding pen stripping down to their swim wear for the event:





Seconds before the actual diving in part, the crowd is hyped up by some blue guys:



And they're off!:















And here come the first ones back out again:



While some others swim further out:







Here is an example of how hard the rain was coming down. These people won't be getting dry anytime soon:



Lots more people going in and out:



Quite a few of the paricipants posed for photos by friends and family:



These to fellas look like they've been working out:



A tie will do little to keep you warm:



Elvis was there too!:



I saw Miss Piggy, but I didn't see Kermit anywhere:



In case you are wondering how cold the water is, let us examine the expression on this woman's face:



There were a few late stragglers that still wanted to jump in. Here's a happy looking couple:





I think this guy is praying for someplace warm where he can drink a gallon of hot coco!:



Here's one of the clowns hamming it up with some of the local police:



I think this is the last guy out of the water. He must be frozen. The lifeguard behind him is waiting patiently:





Even though it was raining, I still had fun. Maybe next year It'll be sunny, but who knows, it could be snowing even. It's always a blast.

Cheers!