It’s been hot in Vancouver lately. Like, unbearably hot. I’m not one of these people who thrives in the heat. I melt into a miserable little puddle, waiting for the chill of the fall air to move in. The other day, we had a beautifully cloudy respite:
White Rock
I love taking photos of chaos. I love when the shot is busy, lots going on. I love lots of colours, details, movement. I find taking calm or placid scenes challenging because they are a lot less forgiving than the busy ones. The shot has to be perfectly level and the light optimal. I’m lucky that because of where I live geographically I get plenty of practice, at least for calm ocean/water shots. Above is in White Rock, a wealthy suburb of Surrey. It’s hopping in the summer with a great pier and a strip of restaurants (Uli’s being a personal favourite) but in the winter it’s much more subdued and serene.
Howe Sound
Howe Sound is a lovely, calm inlet north of West Vancouver. This was taken somewhere between Lion’s Bay and Squamish. Both the weather and the sea were calm that day, a typical West Coast October. Not too cold but definitely not warm. The ocean isn’t quite a completely calm piece of glass, but still flat enough that it was a bit of a tricky shot to get right.
Mount Triglav National Park, Slovenia
We took this peaceful scenic detour through one of Slovenia’s most iconic landscapes (Mount Triglav is on their flag) towards the end of our trip there. First of all, Slovenia is awesome. The people were warm and generous and the natural beauty was absolutely gobsmacking. Go there. Anyway, this was the typical view of our drive – shades of green and yellow, quiet, bright. Manicured hayfields and alpine homesteads dotted the landscape. Some of the stress of driving in a foreign land (temporarily) melted away.
Row boating in English Bay
Like I’ve previously mentioned, I love the sea. I was born and raised on the west coast of Canada, so going to the beach has been a staple activity of mine since I was a kid. Also, Ma is a sailor, and both of her parents were sailors so I feel like some of that love is in my bones. That’s probably why I have so many shots of the ocean and why I love photographing it so much. It’s very colourful, temperamental and unpredictable. Profoundly dramatic.
This is the Pacific from when Ma and I went to Ucluelet last year. We were both totally gobsmacked at the awesome power of the wild Pacific, the energy of the waves on the rocks, the sea spray, the colour of the sky reflected on the water. Also technically speaking, this was the point in the photography journey where I stopped relying on Canon’s fantastic “Creative Auto” setting and started shooting on Manuel so that I could learn “on the job” as it were about adjusting ISO and aperture.
Here is the Adriatic Sea from Zadar, Croatia’s Marine Organ. I love the way the water would climb up onto the concrete steps, splatter and retreat, different every time. No two waves are the same. The blazing red sun had just set leaving this pastel palette over the landscape. I laid flat on my belly to try and get as far down as I good, and I’m happy with how those other photographers are reflected in the puddle.
I love that the ocean also has reflecting power, sometimes glass, sometimes a funhouse mirror. I love that the Lions Gate Bridge’s string of lights is reflected in the harbour, and although slightly distorted, still beautiful. I feel like the Pacific Ocean here is mysterious, inky and secretive, not letting us know what is going on in its depths.
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