I had lots of fun with my camera, a polarizer, and some decent lighting to make some interesting shots.
This sailboat was actually wind driven. There was no motor on this one.
This next ship was a model of a Canadian destroyer. Some cool features: two spinning radar dishes, a Sea King helicopter whose rotor blades could spin, and the turret on the front not only turned, but also had a 35 shot magazine and could fire pellets!
I think my favourite was this aircraft carrier. Very detailed and lots of fun to take pictures of.
This working sub could actually dive below the surface and motor around a bit. I wondered how he controlled it underwater since radio waves don’t travel so well through it.
The octopus ride made for some fun once it got moving. Long shutter, small aperture, low iso, lots of blurry goodness.
I like the simplicity of bokeh shots, so I tried that out for a bit. There were quite a few throwaways, but I had a couple I liked.
Now we have seen them many times before and love our Snowbirds, but this year I was disappointed by the show. We were late getting to the park, and then we realized that there were going to be some trees in the way. Add on top of that the Snowbirds were performing down low, and we didn’t really see much. It also seemed rather short.
I still got a couple shots off though.
Some old buildings in the area were perfect for taking texture shots.
I happened to come across an open house for the UBC Blue Whale project. There are still in the process of getting this huge skeleton ready for display, but there was lots that was ready to be viewed. This was an amazing animal and its size cannot be described easily. The section in the photo below was likely around 20 feet long and there were a few more sections before it. Then the massive head.
There were few flowers in the industrial area, but I still managed to find some.
The kids had a fun time and the picnic lunch was well received. We stopped by the nature house and explored around inside. Elliot liked using the microscope that projected up onto a TV.
I had fun taking a few pictures along the way. All the pics are available here.
I still took pictures, but I didn’t get out for dedicated photoshoots. I still want to do that more.
I am still proud of the pictures, and still proud of my photography. My skills definitely came in handy when we visited New Zealand for 4 weeks. I came away with many stunning pictures that I will always cherish.
2009 also saw me get a new camera body. Again something that could have stimulated more photography.
What held me back? I was enjoying my young family too much. Weekends became family time and evenings are busy.
What do I want to do for 2010? I honestly don’t know. I’d like to try and get out shooting more. The kids are older and a little easier to take care of. Perhaps there will be more free time.
Barring that I will continue on like I did for 2009 and making the most of what comes my way. That is the great thing about photography, everywhere you go there is potential to make a great picture.
January
While on a photowalk in Napier, New Zealand I spied this jumble of nets and fishing gear. The colors and randomness attracted me.
February
Again in Napier I could sense a grand sunset was forming. I jumped in the car and drove to the opposite side of the bay we were on and was treated to something truly spectacular. I desperately wanted to do this sunset justice. I recomposed many times, but I think this shot shows how all encompassing the sunset was.
March
A walk in the local dog park. The honey bee provided some entertainment for me as I followed it for a bit hoping I could frame it on some of the flowers.
April
There is a massive cherry tree in our backyard and when we moved in I hoped that the blossoms on it would be worthy. Seeing this tree decked out in blossoms was pretty amazing.
May
Messy stinky dogs. I love them. Digger, you are such a photogenic dog.
June
A carnival was in town for the Oak Bay Tea Party. This is a shot of the midway.
July
Canada Day fireworks. Good fireworks shots are hard to come by. Next year I think I will try some composite shots and see how they turn out.
August
The house we moved into had the largest lavender bush I had ever seen. In bloom the aroma was almost overpowering. So was the sound of all the bees.
September
A sunset from my Mom’s house. The trees here frame the sunset nicely and add some depth.
October
I think this is one of my favorite shots of the year. My kids looking out over the water. They were both hopping off the fence at random times so getting them both like this was challenging. You can’t see what they are looking at which add to the mystique of the shot.
November
I did a photo shoot at Beacon Hill Park in November. I had just learned I had been laid off and thankfully I had my camera with me that day. Instead of heading home I headed out on a photoshoot. There weren’t many flowers out, but I found thousands of these mushrooms growing in all sorts of flower beds.
December
This shot is stretching it a little, but I didn’t take many pictures in December.
Bonus Shot
This was taken in October up in Nanaimo at my Mom’s house (similar location to September’s picture). This is a beautiful sunset that feels lighter than the September shot. The lightness of the sunset is tempered with the boldness of the tree.
On boxing day I went into a Chapters and spied several books that I would love to read if I had the free cash and the free time.
Yesterday I was in Munro’s and spotted a couple more books that looked interesting:
Googled: The End of the World as We Know It
Yesterday I was also in Lens and Shutter perusing.
I fell in love with the Gary Fong flash diffuser sets until I saw how big they were. Huge. I then looked at some other diffuser options. I ended up finding the diffuser I wanted at a reasonable price, but they didn’t have the one I needed for the Canon 430EX.
I also spied a wonderful new camera bag. The Crumpler $7 Million Home. Looks awesome, and I think it would hold my gear more comfortably than the current bag I have.
What’s the point of typing all this up? To remember for later. If when I have a job and I have some spare cash I still think I want these items, I now have it recorded what they were.
This morning I tweeted about the double rainbow over Victoria. Here are a couple pictures I captured of it too. Very nice. Thanks to Sox for letting me know about it. I was in the basement working and would have missed it without her phone call.
