Affinity Lo Pro Bike Frame & Kevin Bacon?

The best bike pics are when they're locked-up, and I came across a pretty rad one chained up on Dunsmuir and Burrard while testing out a new camera. I was just about to take a picture until car traffic cluttered up the background. I hate when that happens but I patiently waited for traffic to clear. Just when I was about to get my shot the owner hastily returned back to his bike while picking up a call for his next pick-up or drop-off. This could either be good or bad. Will he pose for me or not? Obviously he did...

Lululemon's The Lab: Voyeuristic Future

If you've walked down W.Broadway at Cambie, you probably noticed this unusual "factory" in this very expensive retail space: The Lab by Lululemon. If you look at the first image, you would assume this was a factory in Asia...or at least a factory in a factory part of town. Instead, I'm shooting through a retail window in a higher end retail space. West Broadway and Cambie is not cheap real estate. You can tell by the neon lighting on the sidewalk to know this isn't the factory district of Vancouver. 

Check out the link to see what its all about, but I thought it was a pretty unusual use of high end retail; but a very cool concept of sharing factory and retail space to sell custom clothing. It reminds me of what restaurants are doing with their open kitchen design, but with clothing!! 

P.S. I had to wait around a while before there was no one walking across my picture. There's a bus stop right in front, and often people are lined up almost right to the window...

Upcoming Camera Review: FUJIFILM X-E1

Ok the secret is out...well it wasn't much of a secret I guess.  The kind folks over at Fujifilm Canada has graciously loaned me the all new Fujifilm X-E1 with the standard kit lens for review.  I have 3 pages of notes so far, and I'll put together either a short preview or a full review in the next week or two.

What I can say about my testing process is that it will be more like Luminous Landscape and not like DPReview.  I don't care about pixel-peeping or a run down on every single feature and how fast or long things take in milliseconds. As a camera nerd I don't mind knowing those things, but I want real world tests, not what it can do in a lab or a very controlled environment.  Don't you find that you skip to the end of a DPReview 20 page camera test to the "conclusion" section anyway, since that's what counts the most: the opinion of the tester?

NEW FEATURE FOR 2013: CAMERA REVIEWS

I rarely post without an image, but I thought I would just give all my followers a heads up about an upcoming feature of my blog: camera reviews! For those of you who've noticed, in every post I've always labelled which camera/lens I've used.  Why? Oh, I don't know, I guess I'm kind of a camera equipment nerd and I want to know what I shot with, and hope some other nerd cares too. I collect old cameras (Minox spy, Polaroid Land, Minolta XD-11's, Argus, Ricoh GR1) and I enjoy shooting with all types and formats. On my honeymoon, I brought 2 SLR bodies, 4 lenses and a point and shoot. On another trip, to Japan, I dragged my Polaroid Land camera with a few boxes of 667 and 669 film, and still had 2 SLR bodies, 3 lenses, point and shoot, and a medium format camera (Fuji GA645)!! My wife is very understanding...

Dream Job= Shift.Urban Cargo Delivery

A few posts back I spoke with Aaron at Whole Foods who was wearing a Charlie Noble Global Delivery hoodie. I thought it was a real company deliverying food on bikes, but it wasn't...although the hoodie was cool. Yesterday I was walking through Gastown and look what was driving past me: Urban Cargo Delivery. What do they do? They deliver Bites on Bikes!!

Old Building Infested by Moss-Like Posters

Have you noticed the moment a building is abandoned or ready for demolition, advertising posters immediately appear? In nature, moss, fungus, mold signifies of an abandoned or neglected building or structure.  In the city however, advertisers appear to move quicker and is a better indicator of a building not in use (you can see the moss slowly trying to catch up by working its way along the bottom and along the trim...) These old buildings are used as frames for  these glitzy new posters, breathing new life and function to these soon-to-be discarded structures. It is this juxtaposition that captures my attention...

289 Abbott Street or Alley in Vancouver?

As I walked through Gastown in Vancouver, I blinked and almost missed 289 Abbott Street. I assumed the difference between a street and an alley is that on a street, you could get two cars to pass, but you can't with an alley (I know there's more to it than that, but you know what I'm saying...).  On this street, you can barely get two people to pass without walking sideways, and on top of that, they line it with plants in huge buckets. Is that to reduce unwanted traffic?!  If I was the business at the end of this street, I would use huge 6' vertical letters running all the way up the wall so customers could find me. If this is the street, I'm afraid to go around back and look at its alley!!

PS. Cool clock, top left...but too bad it's not working!!

Charlie Noble Delivery at Whole Foods?

While grocery shopping, this employee walked past me wearing his black Whole Foods apron and matching Charlie Noble Global Delivery hoodie on. I asked him when did Whole Foods start a bike delivery service and who's this Charlie Noble dude?  

Try Looking Up and Shoot Buildings!!

Walking downtown, I love shooting up at buildings. I love manipulating my view point by pointing my camera straight up while walking from one corner of the intersection to the next, trying to create the best angle. Shooting upwards is great because you rarely have any obstructions: people, cars, trees, wires, etc. You also get to play with perspective, easily changing the entire image by just tilting your camera this way or that...shooting horizontally, it's alot harder to do this!!

Hong Kong Bike Riders Ride Head-On!!

These previously posted pictures from Hong Kong highlight the fact that many ride against traffic instead of with the traffic. I was told it's because they believe it's safer for them, since they can see the cars coming at them, so they can avoid an accident. If they went with the traffic, they feel that they can't see cars creeping up from behind... hmmm, what do you think? Safer or more dangerous?