Japan revisited

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

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

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

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

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

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.