Whistler, Snowboarding, Fashion?

Another backwards portrait of my wife posing with her new Park Pickle snowboard, jacket and colourful pants!! It's funny how people choose the most insane colours and patterns when skiing or snowboarding up in the mountains, even though they may be more conservative fashion-wise in normal work/school/social life.  Snow is the perfect canvas for colourful, over-the-top fashion, but how crazy can crazy get? I saw bunny ears, clown outfits, huge leprechaun hats, and jackets that looked like they ran on batteries! I needed shades because of the bright fashion, not because of the sun or the snow.  What's my mountain couture? Black pants, black jacket, black helmet, black gloves...... I know, I should loosen up just a little bit right? Maybe I'll wear pink socks next time........
Captured on my iPhone, Hipstamatic, John-S lens and Blanko film.

Doesn't the snow and trees look fake?  I didn't heavily modify this image at all, except cropping, sharpening, white balance and contrast.  It really did look this 'dreamy' when we were boarding. The trick to shooting in snow is to exposure compensate by at least 1.5 stops to factor in the reflective nature of snow which throws off the metering.  It's also really difficult to snowboard and take pictures.  I think I may need to invest in a helmet cam? Sorry..... I can't do it!  I'm too old school. I guess.....
Captured on my Panasonic FX-50, snow-mode, iso 200.

Complex Canvas for Corporate Graffiti Art

I noticed professional graffiti art on the side of a building next to an empty lot, nothing special.  Looking closely, I noticed it was Corporate Graffiti, for Scion cars.  

As I backed up, I noticed the random wall was actually the side of a small, boutique Scion dealership downtown.  Makes sense.  But I noticed something unusual about the building wall.....

The wall is totally uneven!!  The bottom is almost 2 feet out further than the rest of the wall!!  But from the side, you would never no it.  Pretty good job corporate graffiti artist guy or gal!! Even the red brick was coloured in (see other pics).  Notice the complex brick pattern that makes up the main part of the car drawing!  That's not easy to do. At least I don't think it is........

Vancouver Shoefiti

Shoe flinging or shoe tossing has it's own name now, shoefiti, as in graffiti with shoes.  I took this shot because I liked the way the shoes were silhouetted by a dramatic and cloudy sky. 

My Wife, the Queen, and Her Eyes

I've always admired my wife's ability to paint with a brush; whereas me as a photographer, I can only paint with light.  I took drafting and commercial design, and I'm a CS5 designer, but to hand paint or draw, it's still magic to me.  While a painter works at adding detail to a canvas, a photographer usually tries to remove or crop detail out from his or her digital canvas. 

After taking this picture, I cropped, blurred, removed colour, and added a heavy vignette along the parimeter, all in an effort to isolate and focus the viewer's visual onto the Queen of Hearts' eyes.  My wife is trying to do the same thing, but doing so by adding detail and focus onto those same eyes.  I like this picture because my wife's body, head and hand all create this frame in which we see through to get to the eyes of the Queen.

Rainbow after the Rain

After a solid 3 hour ride in the beautiful sun, I started heading home. Just then, it clouded over in minutes and started to pour rain soon after.  I stopped under a big tree hoping it would stop shortly, and it did after only a few minutes.  As quickly as it clouded over, the sun burst through the clouds as soon as it stopped raining and a rainbow appeared.  I quickly took this shot as another rider blew past me.   And notice the rainbow coloured houses too. Perfect timing.

Gas Pump Skeleton

Like most organic structures, even gas pumps have a skeleton, an outer skin or covering, and inner organs that makes it all functional. Seeing it all striped naked and skeletonized, it looks sad and forlorn.  Yes, it is but a machine.  It doesn't have feelings.   Unlike juke-boxes, nobody really collects old gas pumps. Good bye 1960-70's gas pump. 

Real Life Munster's Home as Your Neighbour?

I was riding through a heritage home area in Vancouver (Commercial Drive and Hastings) and was appreciating the 100 year old homes. The above home is very typical of this area: beautifully and tastefully restored.  I even like the original brick/stone street surface (although it's not fun riding over).

Another example in the same neighbourhood, below. See the beautifully restored home on the left? Now look over to the ready-to-be-condemned-home on the right. It's almost as if it's made to look bad on purpose, like for a movie or something.  If this isn't a joke, imagine this was your neighbour? Man oh man!! I wouldn't even know what to say.......

Before taking this picture, I had to wait for a group of high school kids to move, as they too were looking at the Munster home, pointing, laughing, in shock, and taking pictures......

Orange and Green

I've been seeing orange and green in combination everywhere lately.  Even my recent post of the whale painting on a dumpster; if you notice the company logo, it's orange and green.  Many sports teams from basketball to hockey use these colours in combination as well.  It works most of the time. 

The picture above, at first I didn't notice anything weird about the matching colours. But then I realized even though the colour scheme is similar, the truck doesn't belong to the retail store that it's in front of.  The truck is carrying fruit, and the store sells meat. It's just a coincidence that their colours match.  The next building over also happens to be an even brighter and deeper orange. The building next to it? Yes, a faded green.......

Then, on my way home at the end of my bike riding afternoon, what do I notice near my house? Yes, of course! An orange and green house!!!  

What's next?! We shall see....

Whale found on a Trash Bin?

I love traveling through backstreets and alleys to find things to take pictures of.  I noticed this hand-painted dumpster in a downtown alley.  Since the brand sticker is on top of the painting, I'm to assume they either commissioned it, or found it too beautiful to paint over.  Either way, don't you think all dumpsters should have paintings on it? Or at least a vinyl wrap, like they do now with post boxes and other ugly public devices and monuments? Another way to beautify our environment, even if it's just the alley.

Is Astoria Hotel next to a Farm?

 

I love riding my bike and taking pictures.  It's the best way to see one's own city, hands down.  You can hit 20-30 spots in an afternoon, something you can't do with a car, public transit, or walking. It's also a good way to see things we may never see if we stayed in our cars. An example?

I've driven past this spot a hundred times in my life, and I've never noticed this urban garden next to the Astoria Hotel.  No, not the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, but the Astoria Hotel in the DTES of Vancouver , the poorest neighbourhood in Canada.  The Solefood Urban Farm Project has done a really good job making this a functional farm, as you can see by their website.  

Photographically speaking, I took this picture to emphasize the extreme juxtaposition between these two worlds, even though this contrast is no longer as such in more and more major cities around the world. I took some pictures without having to shoot through the fence, but the fence really worked photographically as a cool border between the enclosed city garden and the reality of the DTES on the outside.

The Backward Portrait. Weird or Cool?

Wife walking ahead of me in Tokyo...I like her new purse.


Cool dressed letter carrier... I like how tightly she has her waist belt, making her jacket more dress-like


Jeremy and his super cool Porter Japan man-bag


My wife getting ready to carve up 7th Heaven on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler

I don't know what it is, but I like shooting people from behind. Why? I think it draws the viewer into the picture more doesn't it? You wanna see their face, you want to know more about them. Imagine walking behind someone in public, and they look so interesting from behind (an awesome jacket, cool pair of shoes, bright socks, classy purse (or man-bag), or just well put together over all!!), making you want to catch-up and get a glimpse of the face to put the entire equation together.

My pictures were all taken with permission of course, which makes it not creepy. Maybe I'll start a new fashion photography trend? Backside only? The cover of Time? Wedding Portraits? Drivers License? Look, even the Sartorialist is doing it!!

I've posted the latest one of my wife as well as the last few I've done most recently just to give you a feel for what I mean about the draw of the backward portrait, and perhaps at the end of the year, I'll repost all my backwards portraits for your viewing enjoyment.

Spring Skiing in Whistler

My wife strapping in at the top of 7th Heaven on Blackcomb Mountain



I don't know what this is. Perhaps a garage for snowmobiles? Either way, I liked the stickers all along the top. Sort of like decal confetti. I like the guy's beard too.....


Groomed run. It was icy. It wasn't fun at all...... but visually, very cool....just after this shot, I had a horrible wipe-out. Landed right on my tailbone. It hurt deep inside. No kidding. Not fun at all. I had to walk it off......

Just a quick trip up to Whistler this past weekend. Snow was icy in the morning, and as the day went on and the sun came out, the snow became slushy. Not really complaining but just explaining spring conditions. I took a few cool shots though........

Sun Setting.....

Low angle sun and dramatic light this time of year. Shot in my backyard coming home from work on my bike..........

Big Ship!! Tiny Ship!!

With the news of the devastating earthquake and following tsunami in Japan, it shows how small and fragile we really are on this planet. I took this picture of this huge ship crossing underneath the Second Narrows bridge while being pushed by two tugs on the way home a few days ago. I remember thinking how huge this ship was, and how small and insignificant it made me feel. These ships are the biggest things humans can make that move, and it's quite impressive seeing it from above.

However, after watching the tsunami, and how it tossed ships similar to this like it was a piece of paper or something, we realize no matter how big or powerful a thing humans can produce, it's really nothing against the power of our natural world.......

Sign Shops in Japan

You would assume that since Japan has a plethora of unique signs on everthing and everywhere, that the sign shops themselves must look spectacular right? Huge floating neon signs, colour changing 3D spinning letters. Something awesome looking right? A sign shop should showcase what they can do, what they can build. It should attract attention? No? I've attached a picture of the sign shop I work at in Vancouver (well, North Vancouver actually).....



And here's a sign shop in Tokyo.....



I don't know. I'm a bit confused. The sign shop I work at is reasonably humble compared to some sign shops I've seen, but compared to this place in Tokyo, our shop looks loud and gaudy, while the shop in Tokyo looks so plain...... like a pair of disposable chopsticks...... hmmmm

More Bridge Pics...... I Love Fog......

I guess I should correct myself when I say 2nd Narrows Bridge pic (on previous post... and perhaps other bridge shots I've taken). These pictures are not of the 2nd Narrows Bridge ( aka "Ironworker's Memorial" ), but taken from the bridge, as I cross it every morning on the way into work...... the bridge you see here is a train bridge that crosses Burrard Inlet from N.Van and into a tunnel through Burnaby.

2nd Narrows Early Morning Fog

I was almost late for work, but I just had to stop and take a few pics. Again, I didn't have my good camera, so I didn't get the best of shots, but good enough...... I need to upgrade my work camera... my dream would be the Ricoh GR Digital III. I know, kinda overkill, but I just can't live with a bad sensored camera (1/2.5" size)..... maybe I'll pick it up in Tokyo in November.......

Ride Home

I happened to work a 12 hour day today, so I finished as the sun was setting. I usually don't get a sunset on the way home in the summer, unless I work unusually late (which was today). As per usual, I only had my work camera, so it didn't really do it justice, but you get the picture......

Fuji Track Bike

When I first heard of the existence of track bikes being ridden on the road, I was at first confused. No brakes, no gears, no coasting at all? How is this possible? Then I saw these insane guys in Tokyo, whipping in and out of traffic and pedestrians, and skid stopping with ease. They rode differently, they dressed differently (very cool), a totally different energy....I was hooked. I had to get one.... finally, I got one just over a month ago as a gift from my wife as an anniversary gift (thanks babe!!). She said for me to pick one out, so I picked a modified Fuji Classic track bike by Megadestroyer. I loved how it's all matte black and very low key. I don't like my bike too flashy, as it's only too easy to catch the eye of a bike thief.... I locked it up while I went for a haircut, so I did my usual double lock system as you can see (chain lock and u-lock).......

Bridge Pics and Equipment Debate

I'm facinated by cloud patterns. I love the big fluffy ones (aka Cumulus). Whenever I ride home and I see a bunch of clouds just hanging around, I stop and I take a picture.

I've posted 4 pictures, two are taken with my Minolta A200 camera, and the other with my Panasonic FX50. Both have similar pixel count, but notice the difference in over all texture of the images. Even though all pictures have been edited, they still have a distinct look, especially the grain pattern. I like the look of the Minolta (the top two pics) versus the Panasonic. There's too much smudgy noise reduction on the Panasonic pics..... too bad it was pouring rain when I shot with the Minolta (you can see where the raindrop hit on the first image), while the Panasonic got the killer clouds!! As mentioned earlier, my Panasonic FX50 is a cheap work camera, but is small enough to be on my hip whilst I ride my bike, so it's always ready to take a picture. My other cameras I have to pack in my bag and takes a lot longer to set-up before I can shoot.

The answer to my dilemma? Buy a better, smaller, work camera. Which camera? My dream would be the Ricoh GR D III. Next, perhaps the Canon S90. A reasonable option would be aused Panasonic FX35 or FX37. Sorry for nerding out on equipment....but you know what they say: Neither wise men nor fools can work without tools!!