Today myself and another from the photoclub got out for a shoot. We went to the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society which from what I rememebered had some very interesting older vehicles, but also lots of other stuff.

When we arrived we were greeted with a lot of people, and some tents set up. It turned out that there was some picnic thing for local kids happening at the same time (despite what their calendar of events on the website said).

Despite the amount of people, and the distractions, I had great fun with there, and spent a lot of time with an old firetruck. I probably could have spent 3 hours taking pictures at the society, and I will make sure I/we go back some time.

All my pics are here.

I completely forgot to post about the last Photoclub meet on Mar 18. I couldn’t think of anything more original, so we met at Beacon Hill Park. The weather was decent enough, and there were a lot of people out. The petting zoo was quite popular.

The cherry blossoms were still out, but not much else for flowers.

The ducks were having a great time though.

The rest of my pics are here.

Tis the season for pumpkins, so what better destination for a photo club? Today we met at Michells Farm market and headed to the next field up the road, away from all the patrons of the u-pick pumpkins.

The shooting conditions were glorious. Nice sunshine, blue skies with some clouds here and there, and lots and lots of orangey pumpkins on the ground. I chose 10 am as the start time knowing we would miss the nice sunrise light, but that was OK. The light turned out to still be pretty good. Not too harsh, but enough to give some good shadows. The dew was still on the pumkins, and as you will be able to tell, I was enthralled with trying to capture droplets of water.

After attaching my polarizer (to try and enhance the colours and minimize reflections of the dew), I set out to capture what I was seeing.

While we were shooting, a van pulled up to the edge of the road and watched for a bit. They were there for close to 10 minutes I think. No big deal, some people are curious about photographers. Next thing I know this van drives down the driveway of the field, then across the field itself. I was surprised and confused. At the other end the doors opened and everyone got out. They turned out to be pickers, and were harvesting some of the pumpkins.

Later I noticed that just next to us was an airstrip for model aircraft. Barry wandered over to take some pictures there and chatted with one of the guys there. Barry asked if it was OK if he took pictures, and the guy muttered something about it being no problem, but the planes were grounded because the photographers were in the way! The photographers (the rest of the group) were just packing up. As I was waiting for the last person to finish her roll, another guy from the flying club came over to talk to us about where we were standing. He didn’t care that we were there, just that past a certain point in the field, we were in the way of their landing strip and it wasn’t safe. 🙂 I let him know that we were just packing up anyway, so we would easily get out of their way.

All in all it was a very fun shoot. Got a little wet and muddy, but I am very happy with my shots. There was a lot of pictures to take there.

Pics are here.

Gorgeous sunny day for the photoclub. Too bad I was the only one there. It was awesome to get out and enjoy the day. Sun, slight breeze, camera, and some tunes (listened to my iPod for a while). After shooting for a bit, one other person showed up, and I ended up taking a small break and talked with him for a bit. Had’t seen this particular person in over a year.

The location was Lampson Street School. Picture taking went well. The challenge wasn’t the location, but the sun. Harsh direct light, creating harsh shadows, cool blue textures, and dappled light from the abundant trees. Still it was great to get out for a bit and leave home stuff behind. Get out, enjoy the sun, breathe the clean air, relax, and think creatively.

Controlling the depth of field was hard sometimes since lowering too far would create an overexposed shot. Raising the f stop to get the correct exposure would not give the shot I wanted.

In the end I am not 100% thrilled with my shots, but I am a little rusty, and I am happy with the results. My biggest hangup with shooting is remembering to examine the scene through the viewfinder, and ensure that it is what I am aiming for.

This shot is an example of that. I should have moved the camera closed to the cement pillars to remove the green background. I love the depth of field being only the first pillar. I tried having more pillars in focus, but I didn’t like the results as much. I like this shot, but for me to love it, I would have to get rid of the green.

The rest of the pics are here.

Last October the photo club met at the Esquimalt Roundhouse to take some pictures. The conditions on that day were less than ideal. It was cloudy and slightly rainy, making shooting a pain since we were having to cover our cameras when not in use.

Today was the last photo club met again to redo the shoot at the Roundhouse. Technically we weren’t supposed to be there, but we are careful and watched where we went. On arrival today there was a train starting to leave, and a couple workers getting it ready.

At first I was kind of ticked since I assumed this was going to mean the end to the shoot. Waiting a few minutes, one of the workers waved at us. Hmm, maybe the shoot wasn’t off after all. The 2 workers never seemed to really care that we were there.

A shooting we went.

The conditions were a little better this time around. It was a little chilly, but at least the sun was out. I think I managed to capture all new shots this time which is great. That location is chock full of possibilities. Pics are here.

Today was the first meeting of the photo club in 2006. The destination was the Sooke potholes. We car pooled out there, and parked right next to the remnants of the failed resort. The river was raging. I had only been there once before during a summer, and the river had a gentle flow. I took a few shots of the river, was fascinated by some exposed re-bar, and was enthralled by a rusty tank.

I had a great time at this shoot. I felt inspired, and had no trouble seeing pictures. The above picture took me many tries to finally nail it. I found it very interesting that I could see the picture I wanted in my mind, but each succesive failure to meet it, pushed me to keep trying.

When all was said and done I had capture 89 shots. Filtering through them at home I was very pleased with my shooting on the day. Great start to another year of photography.

Pics are here.

Saturday was the last meeting of the photoclub before Christmas. How time flies. We met at Mount Doug Beach, and when I say we, I mean myself and one other person. Neither of us were really into shooting either. It was cold, and early. My plans was to be there to catch a beautiful sunrise. The whole week leading up to the shoot there were gorgeous sunrises.

As I got ready for the shoot, I realized that we were going to miss the good light, then while in transit I watched the sunrise fizzle. Nada, nothing. Disappointing. Since we were there we chose to give it a shot and see what happened. Can’t say I am overly thrilled with any of my shots, but here they are in all their glory.

The Esquimalt Roundhouse. I drive past this place almost every day. It is something I see so often, yet I have never taken pictures there. I can now cross this off my list of places to shoot. The photoclub met here this past Sunday for our latest shoot. Even though I can cross it off, we have to go back. The shooting conditions weren’t that favorable. Cloudy sky, slight wind, misty rain, and below optimal temperatures taxed me a little bit. I am not 100% pleased with my shots either. I wasn’t feeling too inspired. We’ll just have to go back (the other people from the club agree on this one).

Esquimalt Roundhouse pictures are here

The latest meeting of the camera’s was last night at McNeil Bay here in Victoria (this is located on Beach Drive). It was an interesting place to shoot, but since the tide was up so high, there was no beach to shoot on. With a little difficulty we were able to get onto the sand in an area that wasn’t about to be submerged. Add in the gusty wind, and it was definitely a night for the tripod (which I made good use of). I am quite happy with a few of my shots. I wished the colors of the sunset weren’t the drab grey. Oh well. Just before we were going to pack up and leave, I spotted a cool grate and an interesting green door. My shots of the door didn’t do it justice.

Pics are here.