Life as Mark sees it.

Mark Klotz's photostream

2011-03-31T22:03:00.001-07:00

Mark Klotz's photostream on Flickr.

Barista Action Figure

2010-04-11T02:38:00.001-07:00

Barista Action Figure, originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

I don't like this thing. But I've been taking photos of all of my tacky items, and putting them on Flickr.

Flickr

2010-04-11T02:36:00.003-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr

2010-04-11T02:36:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr

2010-04-11T02:35:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Some photos.

2008-07-21T21:43:00.004-07:00

Here are some photos. You can see more of these at http://www.flickr.com/photos/markklotz/.

Holy Crap!!

2008-07-21T21:27:00.002-07:00

Yeah, it's been a long time!! Way back in the day, I used to think blogging was so cool. I guess I don't dig it that much anymore. Photography, and work take up most of my time these days, and so I'd rarely get a chance to maintain something like this. I couldn't even log in. With this whole 'google' account login thing, I'd completely forgotten how. Resetting one's password it a bit of a run around now as well.

So, I'm going to thow some photos up here, and then I'm off again, until who knows when.

Cheers!

2007-07-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

Image testing...

Bison

2007-07-10T21:26:00.001-07:00

Bison, originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

Here are two big Bison I found while driving to my brother's place in Summerland.

Flickr

2007-07-10T21:24:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

It's been a long time...

2007-07-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. It seems Flickr has been my web site of choice for displaying my photos lately. Today I had to reclaim this blog, since Google has taken over things around here. It was a little tricky, and I thought I'd lost this blog for good.

Wedding Party

2006-09-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

Wedding Party
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

A scene from a wedding I shot last weekend.

Sleeping

2006-09-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sleeping
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

A Canada goose having a nap with friends and family.

Wow, this is old!

2006-09-04T02:26:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-27T00:32:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

Dragonfly in Flight
Originally uploaded by Mark Klotz.

Drangonfly in Flight

2006-08-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

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

2006-03-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-12T03:02:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-12T02:41:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-03T00:07:00.000-08:00

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

2006-02-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-29T15:57:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

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!

Happy New Year!!

2005-12-31T14:24:00.000-08:00

I wish you all the best in the New Year! Cheers!!

On New Year's Day, I will be attending the 86th Annual Vancouver Polar Bear Swim. I hope the weather is as good as last year, it was a blast! If I get some good shots, I'll post them here again for all to see.

Which Reindeer are you?

2005-12-23T14:38:00.000-08:00

You Are Dasher

You're an independent minded reindeer who never plays by the rules.

Why You're Naughty: That little coup you tried to stage against Santa last year

Why You're Nice: You secretly give naughty children presents.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Japan revisited

2005-12-18T22:59:00.000-08:00

When I was in Japan last spring I brought a film camera along as well as my digital equipment. I haven't really done anything with the film I shot there yet other than get some contact sheets made. I was looking at those the other night and there are a few photos that I really like. Here is one of them:

This fox is one of many located at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. They are very attractive with their bright red bibs on. The fox is considered to be the messenger for Inari (Shinto god of rice).

A Gaggle of Geese

2005-12-16T00:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo I shot of some geese at Burnaby Lake last October 2004. I found this while I was making backups of some of my images today.

Graduation Ceremonies

2005-12-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

To a good friend of mine who just graduated from the police academy;

Here's to you! I wish you and your fellow officers all the best in your future with the police force. You've worked hard, and you've been through hell, now the day has come and you made it! Cheers!

Happily Ever After

2005-11-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was my friend's Wedding. It was a perfect day for them, and a nice wedding out in Fort Langley British Columbia. I was his best man, but I also brought my camera along with me and snapped lots of photos.

Takayama-usagiya

2005-11-17T01:38:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine from Japan is coming to visit Vancouver in the end of December. That got me thinking about Japan and all the wonderful experiences I had there. I was going through some old folders of pictures that I shot when I was there last winter. I came across this one of a bonsai. I shot this photo when I was touring the Japanese alps in Takayama. It's an amazing place to visit, because it's completely different than any other place I've ever seen before. Here the houses are small, and most of them don't have yards, but each house has a very small area in front for their precious bonsai trees. I saw a lot of these trees there, and each one was amazing, because they are so old and valuable. Probably passed down through generations. Yet, these people don't have to worry about anyone coming along and taking one, because it just doesn't happen there. Hard to believe isn't it? Especially when you live in a big city. One of those valuable bonsias wouldn't last 5 minutes on a patio here.

So anyway, I crouched down to take a picture of this one, that is in it's winter dormant stage. It was perfect. I heard some people laugh at me when I crouched down to take the picture, probably because they don't see very many foreigners there. It was a small village, and I stood out, being the tallest white guy around.

Remembrance Day (Canada) November 11 2005

2005-11-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

Another November 11th passes by. I went down to Victory Square in Vancouver this morning to see the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Not as many people showed up this year because it was raining cats and dogs, and it was very cold and windy. I felt sorry for the soldiers, cadets and war veterans that had to stand at attention in the cold and wet weather for so long.

I couldn't expose my camera to the rain, so I was limited to shooting behind the crowd from under an awning. Ironically, after the Ceremonies were over, the rain stopped, and the sun even came out briefly.

Here are some photos from today:

When I look into this veteran's eyes I can only imagine the suffering he has experienced. He's been through hell and back, and for what? They say we won the war; what did we win? They say it was to stop an evil tyrant from taking over the world, but I'm sure there is a lot more to the story than that, because while he was out there selflessly risking his life to protect democracy, some corporate fat cat was back home in America watching his profits soar, and safely enjoying a soda by his swimming pool at his million dollar mansion. The rich never have to go to war.

Watching the sun set

2005-11-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

A scene from the end of summer. I don't know this couple, but it looked like they were enjoying a peaceful time as the sun was setting over English Bay in Vancouver.

Halloween Pumpkin Mayhem

2005-11-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

I was handing out candies to the kids with my friend this year for Halloween. It was a blast. We made crazy pumpkins and watched zombie movies. I wore a freaky mask to scare the kids with. I didn't wear it for the little ones though, as I didn't want to give them nightmares.

Here's me:

These little pumpkins were all terrified because a big pumpkin was eating them, ergo the pumpkin guts everywhere (viewer discretion is strongly advised):

Oh, the horrors!

Jazz at the Sennheiser Lounge

2005-10-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

Squirrel With Nut

2005-10-19T03:11:00.000-07:00

Squirrel with nut.

Photos

2005-10-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

Older unusual lenses

2005-10-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

Since I acquired a special M42 mount adapter for my camera a couple months ago, it's opened up a whole new world of imaging possibilities for me to explore. There are a large number of lens manufacturers that produce lenses with the M42 screw mount. Carl Zeiss, Pentax Takumar and several other Russian and German lenses as well. The greatest thing about it is that most of these lenses are not very expensive, yet they have excellent quality optics. A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a few of these at a big camera swap and sale. One of those lenses is a Meyer Optik Gorlitz lens, which I purchased for a mere $10.00! It's a 50mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.8, and it has a very close minimum focusing range, which I think is great! Here, you'll see I've compared it with a Pentax Takumar 50mm f/1.4. Both lenses are shot with their aperture wide open and both at their minimum focusing distance:

Here's the Pentax Takumar:

and here is the Meyer Optiks Gorlitz:

As you can see, they have distinctly different characteristics. The pentax is sharp, and even wide open it has fairly minimal halo effect distortion. It's an excellent, fast and sharp lens. But the Meyer Optiks lens has a lot of halo type distortion and an extremely narrow depth of field. I actually really enjoy this type of distortion, as it's quite a nice artistic effect when applied to the right subjects. I'll experiment further. By the way, the Meyer Optiks Gorlitz lens is a German Lens from the mid to late 1960's.

Motocross Action

2005-10-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

D'oh!

Wooohooo!!--I mean, AAAAAAA!!!

D'oh!!

Langley Cruise-In

2005-10-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the photos I shot at the annual Langley Cruise-In this year:

This is the General Lee, one of the actual cars used in the Dukes of Hazzard movie.

There were lots of Cobras there. I liked this one:

Here's a rare car:

No car show is complete without a DeLorean:

There were even a few cool bikes there. Here's one with a chrome guitar case:

This was my favorite car at the show. The paint on this car was amazing, you really had to be there to appreciate it fully:

At the PNE

2005-10-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

I've been so far behind in posting photos from all the events I photograph. Anyway, here's a photo that my friend Andrew shot of me at the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) petting zoo. That's me petting a little piglet. That's a Llama's ass beside my head. Nice shooting Andrew! ;)

Whiterock at 6:30AM

2005-09-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos I shot in the wee hours of the morning in Whiterock. It's such a lovely place. I got there at about 6:15AM and it was low tide (but the tide was coming in quickly). There were a lot of critters just waking up on the shore.

"What on Earth is That?!"

2005-09-16T00:26:00.000-07:00

I was at a friend's birthday party for her 1 year old baby. The little one unwrapped her presents and discovered her very first toy horse. The look on her face was priceless.

Fish De Jour

2005-09-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

I like fish too. Look at this Great Blue Heron. I managed to get very close to this one without making it nervous. It's head shot into the water faster than I can even think and it caught this little fish, which wiggled for a second before being gobbled.

In other news I was at the Langley Cruise In yesterday. It was pretty cool as usual and there were some awesome looking cars! This is the third year in a row that I have attended this event. More photos from yesterday to come later on.

Two years ago

2005-09-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

I shot this train coming down the tracks near Burnaby Lake. Today while I was digging around in my archives, I discovered this one.

I worked on it a little and was able to bring the light levels up to where they were originally supposed to be in the shot, thanks to decent image editing software. Isn't it cool how today we can finally do the same things to our photos as we did in the darkroom years ago? I still have a love/hate relationship with the digital technology (or more truthfully the digital industry), but it is getting better. Canon recently released a full frame 12.8mp digital SLR targeting the 'prosumer' photographers (like myself), but the price is way over the top at $4500.00CAN. I can still buy the best roll of film professionals can buy at no more than $15.00, and shoot photos exactly as detailed as the pros can. That's the big irony with the whole 'Professional Digital' SLR separation from the 'Consumer Level'. Apparently, amateur photographers are no longer allowed to shoot like the pros, unless they are willing to (stupidly) shell out $12,000.00 for their next DSLR.

Thanks for the Seeds, Man!

2005-08-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some friends that stopped by for a bite to eat today:

Todays menu featured raw sunflower seeds, raw pumpkin seeds and peanuts in the shell. I had some too.

The squirrels are already getting fat. I wonder if cold weather is coming early this year?

Moon from the Other Night

2005-08-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot of the full moon from the other night. I've just sold my Canon EF 2x Extender on Ebay, so that'll be the end of moon photos like these for a while, until I purchase some other long range telephoto lens (like the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L or some thing (or if anyone reading this would like to buy me one as a gift, I would be forever grateful! LOL!)). In anycase, I need to do some upgrade work on my computer, so I had to sell some stuff. It was a matter of sacrifice/practicality I guess. Which reminds me, I think I should have some kind of carwash to raise funds for my new printer.

The Moon Tonight

2005-08-15T23:09:00.000-07:00

While I was on my way home this evening, I noticed the moon just over the horizon, looking big and beautiful. When I got home, I grabbed my camera and set it up on the tripod to take some shots.

Here are two images; the first one shot with my Canon EF200mm f/2.8L USM, and the second image shot with my Canon EF200mm f/2.8L USM + a Canon EF 2x Extender. My digital SLR the Canon 20D, has a 1.6x magnification factor due to the partial image sensor. Because of this, my Canon EF200mm f/2.8L USM becomes the equivalent of a 320mm f/2.8 lens, whereas with the 2x Extender connected, it becomes a 640mm f/5.6. Some image quality is sacrificed however, when using the 2x Extender. But when you compare the price of a 200mm lens + 2x extender to a true 600mm lens, well, it's worth the sacrifice (at least until I can afford an actual Canon 600mm L lens).

Here is the first image at the 200mm focal length:

And here is the same moon (a few seconds later) at the 400mm focal length:

Isn't it lovely? Now just imagine what I could do with a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM?
Whoever wishes to donate such a lens, of course I would be forever grateful! ;)

For those of you who might have missed it, here's a link to a photo session I did of a Lunar Eclipse last year. It was an amazing event. Have a look if you haven't already seen these.

And here's one that I posted on Pixel Critic:

Joy

2005-08-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is one of my photos from the wedding I shot a few weeks ago. I really like this scene because this is the bride giving her daughter a nice big hug after the wedding ceremony. The expression on her face is worth a thousand words.

HSBC Celebration of Light

2005-08-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went down to English Bay to watch (and photograph) the fireworks. This is an annual competition, and it's the biggest of it's kind in the world. Last year's winning competitor was Sweden. This year it is Canada, Sweden, and China that are competing. I haven't actually watched the fireworks directly from the beach in years. There is a tremendous crowd of people who go to this event (about 400,000 or so) and so when it's over, there is a mad rush to get out of town and head home. Anyhow, this year I was determined to brave the crowd and just do it.

I got there at about 5:00pm (the fireworks start at 10:00pm) and I decided to set up all my camera stuff on a big rocky area. I figured most people would choose the prime sandy spots on the beach, and I was right; so I had no one sitting in front of me. The only thing is, I had to sit and wait for 5 hours. Luckily, a friend showed up to keep me company. So here are some of the highlights from that event:

Here was the crowd when I first arrived. Not too crazy yet, and it was a little cool and cloudy as well:

A little while later, it started filling more:

This is the barge the fireworks are deployed from. There are over $2,000,000.00 worth of fireworks on that ship for each show:

A lot of boaters came around to see from the water:

Some people went for a refreshing swim while they were waiting:

The cops were there too; on the beach and in the water. I guess they were making sure people weren't drinking on the beach (that's actually illegal here).

Fireboats where there as well:

It was getting dark, and the crowd was getting very thick now:

So here are a few of the fireworks. I can't show you all the photos, because there are too many, so I'll just post the highlights for now:

Makeup

2005-07-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

I've always enjoyed watching women put on makeup. I don't know why, I just do. I shot this photo before the wedding, while the bridesmaids were getting ready.

The past two weeks have been very busy. I've been working on 3 different photography assignments. It's ok though, because the weather has been rather cloudy and rainy lately.

Sneak Peek

2005-07-09T00:35:00.000-07:00

I had a great time last weekend. I was in Summerland shooting a wedding for some friends. I was surrounded with wonderful talented people. It was a great weekend!
Here's one of many shots I took just after the ceremony:

I'm currently working on all of the photos I shot at the wedding. I'll be making a web page for the wedding and I'll post a link to it here when it's ready. I'll drop a few photos here as I go.

Last Summer in Whiterock

2005-06-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot from last summer. I love trains. I shot this one while I was on the beach in Whiterock BC.

It's been a long time

2005-06-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

There will be new photos here soon. I've been absent from my photoblog because I've had a fractured right foot. It's been difficult to get around, and so I haven't been doing any photography for the past 6 weeks or so. My foot is getting better though, so I will be back at it soon.

In other (and totally unrelated) news, here's a little clip from one of my many hilarious answering machine messages that I get from friends:

Mark, are you there? (MP3).

From the floor

2005-05-23T23:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, I was exploring the dark corners of my old hard drive when I came across a bunch of photos from the Canon EOS 10D. These ones didn't really make it past the editing room floor, so to speak. But with today's improved software, I was able to restore these to the way in which I'd originally indended them to look.

Computer trouble

2005-05-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything here. That's because I've been having major computer problems--well, problems with Windows is more accurate. I need a Mac G5 or something.

Calla Lilies

2005-05-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

These are some Calla Lilies that I photographed about a year-and-a-half ago. They've been sitting in my image database all this time. When I initially took the photos, I shot them in RAW mode, so that I could obtain the highest possible image quality my digital SLR was capable of. Unfortunately, back then (and probably still today) the capabilities of the hardware exceeded that of the available software. Now, finally there is RAW conversion software that is suitable enough to allow me to translate the image to print (or screen) to be viewed in the original way that I intended.

Scenes from Suzaka City

2005-05-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

Suzaka City is where my friend Reno lives and teaches. This is where I stayed while I was in Japan--more accurately, this was our base camp for all the traveling we did, because we were hardly ever home while I was there.

Most of the time I was there, it was very cold in Suzaka City. It was basically still winter, although they were expecting spring to come very shortly. As it turns out, it was the coldest it had been in Suzaka City in twenty years.

One morning, on day four of my adventures in Japan, I woke up very early. It was so cold in Reno's house that I could see my breath. I got up, opened the door and looked outside. It was snowing. There was a few inches of snow covering everything. I picked up my camera and shot a photo of Reno's bike:

I went back inside and quicky jumped under the nice, warm Kotatsu. (A small heated coffee table with a quilt that you sit cross-legged under. Every Japanese household has one.)

Reno got up a little later and we had some riceballs and coffee for breakfast.

A little while after that, we ventured outside. I thought it would be a good day for photos with the fresh new snow on the ground.

It was sunny for a little while, but still very cold, and a new storm system was also blowing in, with more snow coming.

Little Boy and Monkeys

2005-04-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

While I was shooting photos of Monkeys in Kyoto Japan, this little fellow ran past the monkeys towards me, but before he could make it, he lost a shoe and fell on his bum-bum. The monkeys were indifferent.

Guess what I saw on the weekend?

2005-04-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Goslings!

I didn't expect them this early, but they are here, and there are a lot of them! I guess they're not really early, it's just that time seems to be flying by so fast lately. Probably because I was in Japan for three weeks, and it was still winter there.

Anyway, it's quite warm here now, and there are new parents and babies all over the lake.

This guy was just shakin' his head:

In other news, it was my buddy J.S.'s Birthday. We took him to a French restaurant on Denman St. in Vancouver. It was the fist time any of us had eaten there. The food (although really small) was really good.

Matsumoto Castle (Matsumotojo)

2005-04-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

Before I went to Japan, my buddy Reno asked me which places in Japan I'd like to visit. One of the first places I'd mentioned was Matsumoto Castle. I saw a picture of it on the web, and it looked pretty amazing. So on Day three of my arrival into Japan, that's where we went.

Matsumoto is the second largest city in Nagano Prefecture. We traveled there by train from Nagano City and it took about an hour or more to get there. My main purpose was to see Matsumoto Castle, (Matsumotojo) one of Japan's original castles, but it's also a really interesting city as well, with all kinds of good shops and places to eat.

When we finally got to the Castle, I was in awe! It's this huge, dark, and very intimidating looking castle, built on a massive stone platform that sits in the middle of a pond! It's no wonder why in Japan they refer to it as 'The Black Crow' (or Possibly 'The Black Raven', as sometimes the translation is difficult). Built for defense, this castle is every bit as impenetrable as it looks.

...And now back to Japan

2005-04-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

The first time I saw Zenkoji temple (my favorite temple of the ones I visited in Japan), it was raining and cold outside.

It was a bit of a trek up a hill in Nagano City to get there, and my buddy Reno and I were starting to get a little soaked. We weren't sure exactly how to get to Zenkoji, so we asked two young Japanese girls for directions. They were more than happy to help us--in fact they walked all the way up the hill with us, even though they were headed the other direction. They each held their umbrellas up over our heads to keep us dry. I couldn't believe how kind these people were, they were wonderful. I felt bad for the girl holding the umbrella over my head, because I am much taller than her, so I crouched down as far as I could when I walked. It must have looked pretty funny.

We would encounter this kind of kindness and helpfulness all over Japan. The people there were great!

Reno discovered these cows around the back of the temple in the garden. Neither of us could decipher the significance of the cows. Reno decided to ham it up a little. It was pretty funny (you had to be there):

Here is a big bell at the front of the main temple at Zenkoji. It's an amazing sound. The monks rang it a few times while I was there.

Back to Vancouver for a moment

2005-04-18T01:19:00.000-07:00

I wish I had more time to work on my photography. Lots more photos to come.

Images of Japan

2005-04-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my images from my trip to Japan (These are just a few, while I am still working on the images I've shot)... :

This is the view from the main temple at Kiyomizudera ("Pure Water Temple") in the east side of Kyoto.

Here is a woman at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto:

These are some sort of fortune or prayer boxes. I'm not sure exactly how they function:

This is the Hida Folk Village (Hida no Sato) in in the mountains in Gifu Prefecture near Takayama. It's an amazing place. More photos of the Hida Folk village to come.

Night time in the city, Kyoto. Kyoto is very lively at night, and very pretty as well.

Shinkansen! (The Bullet Train) I traveled from Nagano City to Tokyo on this train. It is very fast. It's also the most comfortable ride I had in Japan. My friend fell asleep.

This is Shinjuku Station; the busiest train station in the world. This station handles more than two million passengers each day. Ironically, when I took this shot, there were only 7 people in front of it:

My friend Reno and I at Hachiko Statue at Shibuya Station, Tokyo.

Please read the legend of this dog's statue here. It will melt your heart.

A typical afternoon in Tokyo:

This is (left to right) Yukiko, me and Naomi. Yukiko and Naomi (friends and former English students of my friend Reno) showed us all around Tokyo. It was great! Without them, we would have been lost and confused. Thanks again girls!

Darth Vader and I (no, I am not short, Darth Vader is huge!):

My favorite temple in Japan (and I saw a lot of them) is Zenkoji in Nagano City. It's beautiful, and natural looking, with very old natural wood. There is a wonderful scent in the air around the temple, because there is a huge incense burning pot in the courtyard where people can come and pray and meditate. A great feeling of peace comes over me when I go to Zenkoji.

I can't remember the name of the temple we were at when I shot this photo, but there are thousands of these little statues:

I saw a lot of monkeys in Japan! You all know how much I love monkeys, so I was thrilled! I saw my first monkey at the Bed and Breakfast Onsen in the Japanese Alps in Gifu near Takayama. I was just sitting down to breakfast with friends, when I saw a monkey outside the window on the sun deck. I yelled "Monkey!" in my unexpected excitement, and I immediately jumped up, grabbed my camera and ran over to the door to shoot some photos. Unfortunately, I scared the heck out of that monkey, and he ran away down the road. I was shooting photos as he ran, but I only got one photo of a mailbox instead.

A few days later, I went to a wild monkey sanctuary in the west side of Kyoto, and there I managed to get many photos of the monkeys. It was great! Later on, I also took photos of monkeys at the Monkey Onsen in Nagano, where the monkeys sit in natural hot spring pools.

Here's some monkeys from the mountains in Kyoto:

This little fellow is only about 12 inches in height. It was tiny:

And here are some monkeys from the hot springs in the mountains in Nagano:

That's all for now, but there are more photos from Japan to come.

Back Home from Japan

2005-04-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from Japan a few days ago. I've been eager to update my blog, but I've been having some troubles with time for the past few days. I think yesterday was the first day in which I wasn't suffering from jetlag. There is a 17 hour time shift from Japan to Vancouver. Since I've gotten back, I've been falling asleep at the strangest times.

Japan was an awesome experience for me. It was 18 days that I will remember for the rest of my life. It is difficult to describe in a few sentences what Japan is like; It's really something one must experience for themselves, however I will do my best over time to describe some of it, and I'll continue to post some of the over 700 images that I shot while I was there. I'll include descriptions with the images as well.

In the near future, I will have a web site that will be dedicated to my trip to Japan, which will include more photos and my 18 day journal from the trip. I will post a link to that web page here, as soon as it is complete.

Flashback to last fall

2005-03-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a shot I took of some Canada geese out on Burnaby Lake last year, early in the morning. The lake was blanketed in a thick layer of fog, and the sun was just coming over the horizon.

And here's a closeup portrait of one of my favorite Canada geese:

All about Flight

2005-03-02T01:36:00.000-08:00

The Sun Tower

2005-03-02T01:26:00.000-08:00

This was at one time, the tallest building in Vancouver. I've always liked it. I wish they would still find time for so many fine details in the construction of modern buildings.

Spring is coming

2005-02-27T22:49:00.000-08:00

I went out for a walk around New Westminster Quay today, and I saw these flowers growing along the walkway. They're very pretty:

For this shot, I turned my 50mm lens around backwards and held it against the camera:

New Westminster Quay

2005-02-27T22:31:00.000-08:00

The soldiers in New Westminster Quay are really big! It's a good thing they're friendly.

In fact, this is the largest tin soldier in the world!

The Good Life

2005-02-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

If you get up in the morning, have breakfast served to you, and then go stretch out and lay in the nice warm sun for a few hours, then you are probably a very fortunate person--or you're my cat:

Cafe S'il Vous Plait

2005-02-23T23:58:00.000-08:00

There's a restaurant I always like to go to when I'm downtown Vancouver. It's called "Cafe S'il Vous Plait" and it's on the corner of Robson and Richards. I love the food there. It's simple, wholesome food, and it's inexpensive. It's a charming little place because of it's design. If you're ever in there, check out the stairs up to the washroom in the back. It's the weirdest staircase you'll ever climb. You'll feel like you're drunk, so hang on tight to the railing.

There's two little washrooms at the top of the stairs. One has red painted walls. I took a few photos in there, just for the hell of it. Here's me:

I was trying to take a picture of myself in the mirror with the red light overhead. I thought I had the camera in the right spot, but I kept missing.

Pay-Per-View

2005-02-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

Here's one of those 'pay telescope things'.

Call me weird, but I've always liked these telescope things. When I was a little kid, I remember my parents taking me on vacation. It seemed like wherever we went, there was almost always one of these to play with. Sometimes I was too short, and my dad would have to pick me up so I could see through it. Most of the time I couldn't really see anything though it, but that didn't matter; it was the idea that was cool. I remember finding the occasional one that was broken, and didn't require a quarter to make it work. That was a major bonus. Today I tried this one without a quarter, but it wouldn't let me see anything--it seems to be functioning--besides, now they want a dollar, not just a quarter. And it's 2 dollars if you want to see through both holes. Of course you want to see through both holes--what were they thinking?! Sheesh!

Elmer

2005-02-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

If you hang out around English Bay in Vancouver very much, then there's a good chance you've seen (or met) Elmer (AKA 'Elmo'). He always has a little instamatic camera with him, and a whole bag, or suitcase full of pictures. He loves taking pictures and he'll excitedly show you every one of them.

He also loves having his picture taken, but not before he takes several pictures of you.

Bill

2005-02-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

It's the kitty

2005-02-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Here's kitten. She's flopped on the carpet. It's funny when she does this, it usually means she wants her belly rubbed.

Down the Alleyway

2005-02-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

Dogs are funny

2005-02-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

There's a ball in the air; you just can't see it...

It's getting closer now...

Got it!!

This is Canada!

2005-02-16T23:35:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year Parade!

2005-02-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I met up with Bingo and Betty early in the morning, for the Chinese New Year parade in Vancouver's China Town. This is one of my favorite events of the year. It's the most colorful parade I can think of, and I love the dragons and costumes. There's drums and firecrackers going off everywhere.

I've got lots of photos to post, so stay tuned, I'll be adding more soon!

May I try it?

I love the dragons!

Check out the size of the beard on this guy!

2005-02-12T23:33:00.000-08:00

Being an artist in today's society.

2005-02-11T22:51:00.002-08:00

Recently, I had a good discussion with my friend regarding the prospect of succeeding as an artist in this society. Our discussion was inspired by an article by Geoff Olson that I'd read in a local magazine called Common Ground. The article, "The artist as early warning system" was about artistic trends, the difficulties associated with being an artist today, and the difficulties experienced by the visionary artists of yesterday.

Here's a quote from the article that really grabbed my attention:

Any artist worth his or her salt hopes to make a mark, to rise above mere trends, even if that expectation is something of a tall order in a culture with the attention span of a ferret on crystal meth.

After reading that, I had a bit of an Epiphany. That statement hit the nail right on the head; it's so true! Today's society really does have a short attention span. Not only are People today impatient, but they want and want, yet they are insatiable. Everyone seems to want instant gratification, and so few are willing to sacrifice anything to get it. People of today's society take everything they want, absorb what they need from it, and toss it out like yesterdays trash when the next best thing arrives.

If you can understand any of that, then congratulations, because now you have some idea of what it's like to be an artist today, trying to establish themselves.

I'd wager the World Wide Web is partly (largely) to blame for this, as is corporate advertising and consumerism. Today, nearly everyone thinks they are a photographer. (--I think Nikon, Canon and all the other corporate giants would like you to believe that too, but that's a whole other story--) Almost everyone has a new digital camera, and millions upon millions of digital images are uploaded and shared on the internet every day. With so many photos on the net, and so many people browsing through those photos, it's no wonder people have become so jaded. I think after seeing a bazillion pictures of Aunt Lucy's cat' and 'Uncle Tom with his new lawn mower' probably all the pictures start to look the same. I think this has, to a certain degree, diluted the artistic and creative value of photography.

Let me explain this in a different way; Imagine a person buying really expensive paint brushes, paints, and canvas and then expecting to paint a Michelangelo. Not very likely, but it's basically the same as people who buy a great camera and expect that it will somehow transform them into a great photographer. So many people want this, but the reality is; like any other art form, photography takes practice. It requires much time studying, learning and practicing the basics.

Sure, some people will argue saying,

"Look, I took a really good photo! I must be a good photographer."

And sure, it can happen, but can that person explain how they shot the photo and the technical details like aperture settings, shutter speed, ISO? Could they shoot the same photo with the same results if they had to? Not likely, because the image was shot haphazardly and they got lucky. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with people going out and taking snapshots, after all, it's a lot of fun. Sometimes it's exciting to point and shoot and see what you get, but it isn't photography in the artistic sense, it's just taking pictures or snapshots, and that's the key distinction between the two.

This brings me back to my point about today's society wanting instant gratification. When the average person today sees a great photo, composed and shot by a skilled photographer, they'll probably be thrilled by it for a moment if at all, and then they're off again in search of something else. A very small percentage of people will stop at that photo and actually look at it for all it's worth, they will spend more than a few seconds exploring all the details, and they will try understand what the photographer is conveying in that image.

More from last Saturday

2005-02-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday

2005-02-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was the first sunny Saturday we've had here in about 2 months I think. I was eager to get out there with the camera, but I got delayed and I didn't get out until late in the afternoon. I went down to English Bay at about 4:30 and shot a few photos there. There were clouds on the horizon, so the sun was poking through in spots here and there.

I managed to get a shot of this gull while it flew through one of those sunlit areas. The background was dark, so it made for an interesting image:

And now back to Photography

2005-02-03T23:51:00.000-08:00

The locusts have pretty much gone. Now it's time to return to the normal way of things.

A few weeks ago, it was a winter wonderland around here. I took some photos around Burnaby lake, but I didn't really get around to working with those photos. Until tonight, when I should have been in bed sleeping. I have to got to work tomorrow morning at 6:00am. It's midnight, and I've been in creative mode for the past 3 hours. What can I do? I'm going to suffer tomorrow, I know that.

Anyway, here's some of those nice winter photos from the lake:

Change is good?

2005-01-30T22:29:00.000-08:00

Any of you who were viewing my Blog tonight, will have probably noticed that the style has changed a few times. That's because I was trying to change the template. I do like the look of the current template, but I've been considering switching the background to gray so that he photos will be easier to view. The bright white background tends to make the b&w photos appear more contrasty than they are meant to be.

So I tried a few different templates out, and did some tweaking to them, but I just couldn't find anything that really impressed me. Blogger has a few nice templates, but there aren't enough styles to choose from I think. I've considered switching to something like Movable Type, an excellent publishing tool for blogs, but I would have to pay for a hosting service, and it's difficult to get it set up.

So yeah, after battling with CSS code all evening, without much success, I've decided to switch back to the original. Maybe I'll do some tweaking and make some changes to it.

From last Summer:

2005-01-29T23:39:00.000-08:00

Last summer I was wandering around the beach late one afternoon with my camera. I noticed this woman crafting some jewelry and necklaces et cetera. I looked at the stuff she was selling and I ended up buying one of her hand made men's necklaces. It's nicely made. I sat and chatted with her for a while, and she said she's visiting from Mexico. Most of the clothing she's wearing she made by hand.

Here's a photo I shot early last summer. I was setting up the camera on a tripod when I noticed this really nice spot of reflected light on the ground. Just as soon as I'd noticed it, a person on a bicycle rode by, so I took the shot of their shadow. I rarely do abstract photos, and this one I really like:

I may have posted that one before, but I reworked it in black and white.

Here's a shot from last spring while I was in Fort Langley with some friends:

I hope the weather improves here soon, because it's really been a long time since I've been out on a good photography adventure. Lately every weekend has been bad weather. Also, my car is broken down now, so it's a little harder to carry all my gear around with me.

Good Bye Johnny Carson

2005-01-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

You were a funny, funny man, and you made a lot of people laugh! Take it easy on the other side.

Flashback to last September

2005-01-22T23:04:00.000-08:00

I know. I haven't updated my blog in a while. It's just because it's been raining here so much that I've not had the camera out at all. I can't stand the rain. There's been so much rain here, that it's making me crazy.

I've been going over some older photos on my computer tonight, and I found this one from last September. I've converted it to black and white:

In other news:

Some of my fri ends have been getting hit with swarms of digital locusts. It's really weird. They move into a blog, eat like pigs and make a lot of noise, then they move on to the next unsuspecting blog. Bloody hell. Now I think I've seen everything.

I do have some photos from about two weeks ago, that I'm considering posting. That when it was about minus 10 degrees celcius outside. I went over to the lake near my home and it was frozen. I took some photos of the ducks and a few geese there, and I gave them some food to eat.

Today's little creatures at the feeder

2005-01-12T20:03:00.000-08:00

The weather was nice today. It was sunny, and warm enough to start melting the snow. There were several different animals at the feeder today, including this pretty little fellow; a Male Western Rufous-sided Towhee:

They're really interesting birds to watch. They like to feed on the ground, and they kick up leaves and things with their feet. Just like chickens do. (Not for eating, Bingo!)

Here he is, making his calling sound. It's like a soft, "eeeeeeee" that ends with a question mark. Hard to explain, you'd have to hear it.

Here he is taking flight:

Of course Mr. Squirrel was there too. He's really enjoying the mixed seeds.

There has also been a male and female Varied Thrush eating here at the feeder. I would love to get a good photo of either of them, but they are very shy and elusive. I'll keep trying though, maybe I'll get lucky.

My TV Died

2005-01-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

It actually happened about a month ago, but I only got around to throwing it out to the dumpster today. For the past year or so, it had a funny green bar at the top of the screen when it was on. After a while I didn't really notice it anymore; until a few weeks ago, when I turned it on. It let out a loud shrieking noise, then the green bar on the top of the screen moved to the middle of the screen. The shrieking sound intensified for a moment and then the green bar became a thin,(but extremely bright) green line. Then it went out, and that was the end.

Poor TV. I bought it way back when I first moved to Vancouver. That thing lasted a long time considering all that it has been through. Now it's in TV heaven. Darn thing was expensive too.

September 1991
to December 2004
R.I.P.

Today's Chickadees

2005-01-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

I bought a bird feeder on the weekend, and I set it up yesterday. Today there were some nice chickadees feeding from it. I love watching birds. Here's some shots from the feeder today:

Snow at the Lake

2005-01-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

We got snow! I'd be even more excited about it if I hadn't spent the last two days shovelling it at work. Our department is in charge of snow removal from all the important public areas, like the Library. So I'm feeling a little beaten up, but it'll pass.

But it's Saturday, so I'm free today. I went over to Burnaby Lake to take some snow shots. Here's one of my favorites from today:

That bird on top of the bird house is a Female Belted Kingfisher. She's beautiful. I wish I could have gotten closer to get a good shot of her, but my original intention for this shot was just the bird houses with snow on them.

The 85th Annual Vancouver Polar Bear Swim 2005

2005-01-04T23:37:00.000-08:00

Here they are, the photos from the Polar Bear Swim. It was really fun to watch. These people must be insane!

While the crowd was getting ready to charge, a few celebrities showed up. That's Sponge Bob, and I think the other guy is Shazam or Captain America. I'm not sure:

Some penguins lined up for photos:

And there was a gladiator as well:

There was at least one human pyramid going on:

The first people to jump in (aside from some guy who just couldn't wait any longer and crawled under the tape) were some Vancouver City Police officers:

Then Santa (or nearly Santa) went for it:

Some of the people anxiously awaiting the icy, cold water plunge:

And then finally, the crowd bursts through the tape and they all dive in:

And quickly back out again:

This was a nice moment:

These guys were hilarious!:

There were a few Vikings in the crowd as well:

A lifeguard looks on:

The crowd was massive that day:

And I'll close with one more Viking:

What a blast! I'm already looking forward to next year's Polar Bear Swim!