Favorite Coffee

A walk at Thetis is one of Yoshi’s favorite past times. Yesterday Sox and I got to walk Yoshi together, which is something we haven’t done in quite a while. There was a threat of rain in the clouds, but with our coffee in hand we kept warm. Yoshi kept warm by running about, exploring, and sniffing.

There was no wind so the lake was calm as can be. It was surprising the number of people we came across, just out for a walk. Any weather can be walking weather.

Apparently any weather can also be swimming weather. For a dog at least.

Color Relaxing

Last weekend Yoshi and I did a bit of a walk through Oak Bay. It is such a gorgeous time of year. I know we don’t get the same type of color in our trees as the Ottawa area, but it is still beautiful in its own way. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and we had an hour to spend just wandering aimlessly.

We stopped for a coffee in the village and sat outside and enjoyed the sun. Wonderful and relaxing.

Blood Cycling

Tonight I learned something. It isn’t anything exciting, revealing, or even that important. It barely registers as interesting. Tonight I learned that Ed Bain is also a blood donor.

I had just finished my 36th donation when he came in for his. I was eating cookies (ooh, some new options were available), when he came in and got in line.

Gotta say that he is looking thin and trim. I suppose cycling over 1000 km’s will do that to you.

My donation went extremely well. It flew by and before I knew it I was done and out of there.

Fall Yellow

Today definitely felt like Fall.

Heading out to the car this morning the air was chilly, and the car was _covered_ in pollen from the local trees. It took me quite a while to clean the windshield enough to see. The washer fluid flowed yellow off the car.

Driving to work I could see lots of leaves littering the ground. Every where I looked the trees were shedding their leaves.

Then today at work the wind picked up and swirled the leaves every which way. It was pretty incredible. I headed out to see if I could find a leaf devil, but was stumped in my search.

It was an enjoyable day for sure.

Numbers Disappoint

Last night I had a ticket to go see the Victoria stop of the “Power in Numbers” tour. The bill was Sum 41 and Finger 11. I think I was more excited to see Finger 11, over Sum 41.

When we arrived we headed to the floor only to discover the noise we heard was not either of them. Instead it was Die Mannequin. Not a good sound, so we immediately went for a beer. A ridiculously priced, piss poor Budweiser. $7.50 for a plastic cup of Bud? Yeesh.

When Finger 11 took the stage I was pumped. They didn’t disappoint. Their set was powerful, and filled with lots of songs I knew. Their energy was through the roof and they put on the best show I’ve seen in a very long time. The two guitarists were amazing, but they were also funny to watch. Their antics were hilarious. At one point, one of them was spinning around, and caught the amp cord and yanked it out. It took him a couple seconds to figure that one out. I love watching bands that have fun on stage.

Sum 41, were ok. I liked their music, but it seemed like the sound setup was off for them. Too much bass was drowning out the lyrics. The lead singer Deryck kept trying to get the crowd to sing and be interactive. This is something that Victoria crowds _cannot_ do. In any event, it got on my nerves, and I just wanted them to sing and get us pumped up that way. I just never got into their performance.

I was glad I went, if only for Finger 11. Their performance was awesome, and the next time they come I will definitely be going. I just wish they were the headliners, and not the opening act.

View Distinct

Sox, Sprout, and I took Yoshi for a walk at Island View beach today. It was chilly at first, but it warmed up when the sun started to break through the clouds.

Sprout had a great time walking by himself.

He also allowed us to carry him a little bit.

It wasn’t the most gorgeous day out there, but I found quite a bit to take pictures of.

If you have noticed a distinct lack of Yoshi pictures, well, I wasn’t able to get any. He was running around most of the time. He didn’t get a walk yesterday, and more than made up for it today. Lots of fun.

There are a few more pictures here.

Classic Shots

A classic line from one of the Austin Powers movies is right after taking a bunch of pictures he tosses the camera and says …. “And … I’m spent”.  That could have been me yesterday.

I signed on to shoot a wedding yesterday, and with the rainy weather, it turned out to be pretty difficult shooting conditions.  The ceremony was inside a tent, and it was pretty cramped quarters meaning I couldn’t get to the locations I wanted to be to get the shots I wanted.  The guests were all seated too, which meant that I would be in their way while I was standing for taking my shots.

The family and wedding party shots had to be done indoors due to the rain, and I did OK with that, but was definitely out of my element.  I need more use with the flash before I do more shoots like that.

In the end though I got some good shots that I am proud of, but
I certainly lost my creativity when I started to get tired.  That is something about the photoclub, is that I never have to push myself.  When I am done taking shots, I can stop.  I couldn’t stop yesterday until I had my list of shots done.

I also underestimated how long things would take, and didn’t get enough time with just the bride and groom.

On the upside, it was a very valuable learning experience.  The location was gorgeous (Cowichan Bay), the people were wonderful, and the ceremony was beautiful.  I am going to take some notes and squirrel those away in case I shoot any more weddings.