Monday, July 13, 2015

Vancouver, Part 1

As mentioned in the last post, the first morning after arriving in Vancouver we had an overview tour of Downtown.  I didn't know what to expect upon the visit, but I wasn't expecting how incredibly modern it is.  Historic architecture is smattered about, but so many of the buildings are tall, fancy and glassy.
H.R. MacMillan Space Center
One of the places most recommended to me was Granville Island.  Granville Island is located on a peninsula across from Downtown.  It has a huge public market, bars, restaurants, shopping, theater companies, art galleries, and the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.  Tons of photo op spots, but also tons of people.  
The flowers on this trip were INCREDIBLE.  The Granville Island and its Public Market was just the start.
Oh, the Hydrangeas!  
Standing at the public market looking towards the Burrard Bridge over False Creek
Brazilian artists "Osgemeos" painted these silos at the Ocean Concrete Granville Island site.  The artists are internationally known for their public space art.  
My favorite neighborhood in the city was Gastown.  It is Vancouver's oldest neighborhood - probably why I liked it - founded by "Gassy Jack" John Deighton.
The Gastown Steam Clock was built to cover a steam vent in the 70s.  
Dinner at the Lamplighter might have been the most delicious meal of the trip.  
The Europe - Hotel built in 1909, designed after the Flatiron building in NYC
It's important to notice how gorgeous the sky was in these photos.  As the wild fires flared up, the sky went from blue to gray, and then to yellow by the time we left for Victoria.  There were 185 forest fires burning when we left on the ferry.  A good sky makes for a good picture as far as I'm concerned.  The remaining posts will show the sky get progressively worse, along with my photos.  

11 comments:

  1. Your photos are very very good indeed.

    yes I had read someplace that many of Canada's cities have taken on that aspect. It seems they didn't go nuts between 95 and 08 and had solid and steady growth. And, nor did they go nuts investing on vanity projects. All of which meant the middle of the cities had a massive face lift in the last 20 years. Kinda like LA in the 50-60s and Dallas in the 70s.

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    1. Thanks.
      And they're STILL building the high-rises. It was hard to get back far enough to get them all in the camera frame.

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    2. That's where a Samyang 14mm f2.8 comes in. Then with the crop that becomes a 21mm field of view which will get in most. Are you getting the bug ?.

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    3. Yes, that would have been NICE. I actually started the day with my 55-250 as most of the time when traveling I find I want to get closer, not farther away. Within a few minutes I changed that out and put the standard lens which got me back as far as 18.
      I enjoyed using it this time, having had some time to play around with the manual settings before the trip. I was also glad it worked this time. :) It was SO crowded in most spots that I struggled setting it up in manual though. I tried my best in most cases, but sometimes, by the time I adjusted my settings, someone was walking right into my shot0 actually most of the time someone was walking into my shot. There were a few times I just gave up and turned it over to auto. But I'd say 90% of the shots were in manual, and maybe 50% of those were decent. :)

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    4. Oh, don't be too fussed about being in M all the time. I think it's better in the long run though for your active controls become muscle memory quicker if you are doing it yourself. But there are times when you simply don't have the time or conditions.
      Say if you were at your beloved LA Lions, then putting the ISO to auto and set to 3200 and in Av mode will get you pretty good shots. You simply won't manage it otherwise in those conditions, and no one can.
      Oh, on your lenses, you must multiply the millimeter by the crop factor, so 18mm x 1.5 =27mm. They are only 18mm on a full frame camera.

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    5. I did find editing them was far easier in manual than auto though. Or maybe it was RAW. :)
      The auto ones seem to always have too much light, blowing out a lot of areas. Where in manual, even if they're on the darker side, they're easy to lighten up and keep all the color.

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    6. Yes, the AUTO on the dial probably render Jpeg files and you'll not edit them as you can a RAW file. Initially the RAW looks dull, but you have the ability to really be creative and make them your own.
      Auto ISO is in the settings menu I believe. And it really useful in that type of indoor sports venue, and with the big lense.

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  2. Love getting this pictorial tour!

    Those hydrangeas are gorgeous (all the flowers, really).
    I really like the painted silos, too.

    I'm going to have to come back later when I have more time to view all these more closely...

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    1. I know, don't you just love them!?!? The hydrangeas had me gasping. The bushes were overflowing with flowers like I've never seen before.

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    2. Makes my lone bush with its blooms here and there kinda pitiful looking!

      That building designed like the FlatIron building is such an iconic shape. I've seen it featured in so many movies and TV shows!

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  3. I love peonies! How gorgeous are they? And those Hydrangeas? Stop the truck with the fabulosity! : )

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