photography

God Only Knows…

I’m not religious.  Or spiritual.  It’s not that I’m particularly anti-religion, I’m more a-religious, but I can definitely appreciate some of the positive things that have come out of religion – Johann Sebastian Bach stated that all of his music he created for the glory of god.  There is a lot of music that I love that was created for that reason, from the aforementioned Bach to Mahalia Jackson and Stevie Wonder.  I also love the architectural, artistic and engineering feats that people have built for their god, and I love photographing it.

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I really enjoyed taking photos of these mosques in Sarajevo.  Where I’m from we don’t have a very big Muslim population so there aren’t very many mosques.  I would have loved to have entered and seen/photographed what it looked like on the inside, but sadly it was closed.

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The above photo is of a statue of Jesus (obviously) located at the front of the Catholic Cathedral in Sarajevo.  Again, closed to the public.

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The photo below is the inside of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  I had never been inside of an Orthodox Church and there were no photos allowed, but the kindly old priest made a concession for me.  He explained to Ma, Pa and I why the entire interior of the church is adorned in paintings of the icons, why there were no pews, the main differences between Orthodox and Catholic.

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I’m excited for my upcoming trip to Germany, where I will be taking more photos of religious buildings!

Ryan and Cris

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So, I don’t photograph people.  Not posed photos at least.  But when my close friend Ryan and his fiancée Cris asked me to take some photos for them, I thought, why not?  Ryan is one of my top-tier friends, the upper echelon of my circle of friends, the exclusive group of few who see the real me.

I met Ryan my first year of high school.  We were in band together and I was immediately attracted to him, not just because he’s my “type” (tall, dark and handsome) but because he was devastatingly funny, supremely charismatic and profoundly intelligent.  We grew closer throughout high school and drifted apart somewhat after graduation, only to rekindle our friendship in our 3rd year of university.

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After graduating from university I foolishly made the decision to get married and Ryan and I lost contact all together until about five years after my husband and I had split (probably about 8 years since we had last spoken) I added Ryan to Facebook and we started messaging.  On one of his trips to the mainland (he had moved to Victoria) we decided to meet up for cake and coffee and it was like no time had passed.  Ryan was the happiest I had probably ever seen him, he was finishing up on some carpentry classes and had started maybe sort of seeing a girl that he had known for quite a few years – Cris.

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He and I pretty much poured our hearts out to each other in some of the most cathartic conversations I’ve had in a long time – we shared about our battles with depression, anxiety, ennui, and crisis – and ended up sending each other funny videos that we watch when we start feeling edgy.  Ryan soon made the decision to move back to the mainland, much to my delight to be closer to his family and Cris (and me, as I like to think).  He talked about how their relationship was progressing and how I should meet her.  He told me how into music she is and that she’s bright and warm and kind.  I was interested in meeting her as I had met several of Ryan’s previous girlfriends, and a lot of them were of the dramatic type, to put it euphemistically so on one of our White Spot get togethers Cris came too.

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We talked about classical music and fashion and things like that.  I felt completely at ease with Cris, as if I had known her for a long time.  I remember leaving dinner thinking to myself, “she is the most normal, grounded girl Ryan has ever dated”.  Ryan and Cris moved in with each other and Cris spent more time hanging out with me and Ryan on our get togethers.  Cris was so easy to get along with and Ryan’s eyes flashed whenever he spoke about her.  There was never any doubt in my mind that the two of them should be together.  It got to the point where Cris and I have become close friends and text between the two of us.

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When Ryan told me that he was thinking of buying a ring, I immediately thought, “yes.  This is the way it should be”, which is counterintuitive to my natural reaction of marriage, which is “RUN”.  Ryan and Cris had a private proposal and have set a date for an intimate and what will I’m sure be beautiful ceremony in December.

Photographing these two was not only fun, but natural.  I didn’t feel contrived.  The whole process was easy, thanks to Cris’ natural beauty and ease of being and Ryan’s infectious playfulness.  You’ll definitely be seeing more of them in blog posts to come.

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It Makes Me Mellow

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

 

Croatia (Part 3: Split)

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Split.  Split is very cool.  The main attraction of Split is Diocletian’s Palace, the retirement home of Roman emperor.  Mountains on one side, Adriatic Ocean on the other, palm trees aplenty!  We stayed at a pansion whose owner may or may not have been some sort of Croatian gangster named Ivan.

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Split was pretty laid back and super interesting.  The only part that I found particularly cheesy was a ‘reenactment’ of some sort of proclamation by the Emperor himself (some schmuck in a toga).  You better believe that those bedazzled, be-visored cruise ship tourists got their iPads out for that one.  One of the many things I liked about Split was that you were never too far from the sea.

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The Mediterranean climate proved for some lovely, bright sunny photos, and the ancient architecture a perfect model.

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It’s amazing to me to be able to photograph real, authentic, ancient bits of history and architecture, like this pillar, an original feature made from red marble native to the region.

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I like to try and imagine what some of the areas that are in disrepair would have looked like in its glory days, like the above tower used to have a domed roof, according to historians.

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On a more personal note, I got spend my 31st birthday within these walls.  I got some delicious pizza, Croatian cream cake and liquor, thanks to the generosity of our host Ivan.  Definitely one of the cooler birthdays I’ve had.

Croatia (Part 2: Korcula)

 

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Korcula, Croatia

The second part of our Croatian adventure was to the island of Korcula.  Korcula is a sleepy, beach-y island, much quieter and humbler than its glitzy neighbour Hvar.  We wanted to go to one of the Dalmatian islands and seeing as Ma, Pa and I are all pretty introverted, we chose the quieter island.

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The island ended up being a vacation within our vacation.  We’d met back up with Pa on our last day in Dubrovnik and decided to take it easy on this tranquil rock.  As you can see, the waters are just as beautiful and inviting as they are outside of Dubrovnik.  IMG_8031

The climate was Mediterranean – warm, some palm trees, rocky and the architecture Venetian – lots of red tiled roofs.  Korcula was fun to photograph because of not only its stunning natural beauty, but because of the whole laid back feel there.   The locals love to talk about their maybe native son Marco Polo and you can visit his perhaps birthplace.  It wasn’t too crowded so you weren’t rubbing elbows with everyone like we were in Dubrovnik and not cursing every clueless selfie sticky-carrying doofus who ambled into your shot.

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Like Dubrovnik there were plenty of laneways and staircases, just without the people, so you could get mysterious shots like this one.  I often think back to Croatia and if I had to choose only one part to go back to and spend more time, it would be Korcula.  Maybe.

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Croatia (Part 1: Dubrovnik)

Croatia is becoming a pretty popular travel destination, and for good reason.  One of its most recognizable cities is the walled fortress called Dubrovnik.  Ma, Pa and I travelled there in September 2014 as part of our month-long sojourn to the Balkans.  The first day and a half that we were there Pa was holed up in the Klinika Ortopedia in Sarajevo having 13 screws put into his elbow while Ma and I explored the city.

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Dubrovnik was really fun to explore.  There are all sorts of laneways, staircases, doorways, the kind of adventure that you crave when you’re a kid.  It’s also a photographers dream (when you’re not overrun by cruise ship tourists).  Every lane is different, a plethora of different colours, shops, lights, people.

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The walled part of the city is a peninsula that juts out into the blue-green Adriatic Sea.  I felt like I could not get enough photos of the water.  Don’t get me wrong, I love B.C. but the waters of the Adriatic were like nothing I had ever seen.  They were so clear and enticing.  We were drawn to the outer parts of walls, not just because of the bountiful gelato shops, but because the sea was there.

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The sea is a fantastic combination of being calm and playful.  A decent amount of wind makes it perfect for sailing and the smooth bits make it ideal for sea kayaking.  I like the way the water hits the rocks, like an aquatic firework.

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Croatia mostly identifies itself as catholic, but inside Dubrovnik’s walls are several different churches of different christian denominations including eastern orthodox and, as seen in this wedding here, jesuit.  Although I don’t identify as being “religious” or theist or deist of any kind, I do love photographing churches and I enjoy the grandiosity of this scene.

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When we were exploring we came across this: an open gate framing a green palm frond and the wall with painted blue letters “Buza ->”.  I like the mystery behind what’s on the other side of this.  A balcony?  A walkway?  Maybe nothing.

What’s on the other side of this doorway is a steep staircase leading down to a bar perched precariously on the westernmost tip of the wall where you could enjoy an overpriced beverage in a plastic cup.  Worth it.

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Somewhere Beyond the Sea

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

Like A Bird on A Wire

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The Story: Vancouver has a lot of parks, and one of them, Queen Elizabeth Park, has a great feature – The Bloedel Conservatory.  The Conservatory is home to a plethora of different flora, fauna and finches (as well as other birds).  I sat in one bird-heavy area for a few hours and got some good shots of all different varieties of finches, a couple of pheasants and some cockatiels.  If you haven’t been there, you should head of up there for a fun and relaxing afternoon.

Why I love It: This little guy is just so friggin’ cute.   He looks so fat and happy, like he has a smile on his little face.  I also really like that I was able to achieve a nice creamy bokeh in the background.

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The Story: The Lower Mainland has a pretty fantastic cherry and plum blossom season in the early spring time.  Ma and Pa have this plum blossom tree in the front yard that they planted when my sister was born 34 years ago, and although it blooms very briefly, it is still a beautiful display of vibrant pink puffs.  It attracts some of the local bird life – mostly chickadees but sometimes when you’re lucky and patient, you can spot a hummingbird or two.

Why I Love It: This little guy was fussy.    Every time I would get remotely close he would zip away, so I had to be super stealthy and super patient to get even this close.  In this shot I like that his wing is fully extended and that he looks frozen and still in the air, although he was buzzing all over the place.  And seriously, how cute is he?

 

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls

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The Story: Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia seems to be photographed by everyone all the time these days, and there’s a good reason for it – it’s absolutely breathtaking.  It’s 16 terraced lakes connected by a series of waterfalls.  Part of the reason the water is so clear is because there is no mud – the chemical makeup of the area turns all the mud/dirt in the water into limestone, making so the water cannot be muddied.  This was my first view of the lakes, and I couldn’t get enough.  I seriously took about 200 photos of the lakes and waterfalls.

Why I Love It: This is not the typical Plitvice Lakes shot, but I feel like it’s still incredible.  My favourite part though is the colours – red, orange, yellow, green and blue feature in this.   And I really want to dive into the pool at the bottom.

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The Story: A lot of natural beauty can be found in the Howe Sound area.  One day my girlfriend Brit took me and her boyfriend (and my good friend) Kurt on a tour of her old stompin’ grounds in Squamish.  She took us to the estuary, downtown Squamish and then to Shannon Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in British Columbia.  There is a pretty little hike up to the falls and along the way is more little streams and waterfalls.

Why I Love It: This isn’t the main part of Shannon falls, but I thought this little waterfall was really pretty.  I love that you can tell how clean and clear the water is, how smooth the rocks look, just unspoiled nature.