Nice View!

Sometimes in the course of a building project I find myself in forbidden places. It's kind of hard on the camera gear, climbing up a construction crane but once on top it's a great view. There I met Gary the crane operator who really likes his job. Thanks, Gary.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Biking

As we could not make it to the Rich Juryn bike trail
dedication day recently, we thought we would go out there today. Rolled into the parking lot and got out of the Jeep to ask a hiker where the Rich Juryn trail was. Through force of habit locked the doors with my remote. Walked over 100 feet to the trail map and was studying it when "honk ... honk ... honk!" pierced the serene air. Tried to ignore it as I thought, "This will be over when some alarm resets in a minute or so!" Then I realized it was my Jeep as Clare tried to open the door without me deactivating the alarm. Fumbled around for the remote and not having deactivated it much before, proceeded to press the wrong button a few times. There were two or three other parties around. In a moment of utter frustration I muttered ##@!*$%# which seemed to set off the teens and the Dad parked next to us to the same *##$%@# as the sister shut the door on her older brother's arm. Clare in the meantime is glaring at me. OK, I shouted to all within earshot ... "I am so sorry ... let's everyone enjoy this great day."

A woman got out of the same car as the hiker was at and I looked over ... Cindy! ... "Hi Bob", she says with a familiar look. It was Brian, Cindy and their new baby girl, Chloe. "I am sooo terribly embarrassed and sorry ... blah, blah, blah!" I pleaded. Brian says "Forget it." Cindy, was on the CFMI Rock 101 Ski Team with Rich, Jill, and us back in the really great party days. Cindy and Brian just got married last winter. We had to talk for quite a few minutes before heading off on our bikes. Turned out to be a great day although we will have to bike the Rich Juryn trail another day!

My Answer to a Photo Question Asked in 2004

"My personal opinion is that digital is the way to go if your style requires that you take lots of photos such as at family reunions, sports events, etc.

Also it is very easy to show and share the photos you take, digitally. For
example some of the ones you saw, can be put to CD or emailed to a lab and printed to 8 x 10 size. Also with digital you can try out new techniques, angles, composition, etc. and all the expenses incurred are not actually film related. You do have to lay out some money initially and if you are a pro it seems that there is always something to upgrade to. Digital cameras are not as trusty as my old mechanical ones and seem to last around 3 years for me. Film still has a nicer look in print, to it as digital has a video look to it. Most people cannot see the difference unless side by side comparisons are done. If I was still using film it is doubtful that I would have shot as many images at the track meet (say 300+/-). Conservatively speaking when I use B & W film, it costs me $1.50 at least, every time I press the shutter, good decisive moment shot or not. A digital photo job is not any cheaper for my clients, it's just that the costs are transferred to other areas, but they do get more bang for their buck."

"However if you contemplate a scenic view intensely and know what kind of
result you want then film (transparencies) are still viable. Other factors
to consider are...what system is your old camera? If it is Nikon then the
lenses are still usable on a newer Nikon digital. I use Canon and have to
have the newer lenses. There are other niggling factors about digital
imaging that will surface if you get involved in it, but on the whole it is
very acceptable to me anyways. I shoot Commercially, 80% digital and the
other 20% is say 4 x 5 film and 2 1/4 and 35 mm B & W film for fine
portraiture presentations and artful stuff."

"So my advice is to keep the 35 mm film camera for B & W stuff and backup and
invest say $2500 to $3000 for a digital slr and zoom lenses if you have that
budget or just buy a Canon Powershot Pro1 for $1000.00 (or a lesser cheaper
model) and a couple of 512 mb flash cards and use it for snap photos and
volume. You do have to take care of them remember, as they are computers.
That is the thing that really bugs me in this disposable era, as I am a
slave to the military/industrial complex and it's self propagating
existence. Eve Arnold once said, "The tool in Photography is not the camera,
but the Photographer" or something like that so if you love taking pictures
then use whatever camera you have and use it a lot (my comments)."

Regards,

Robert

Interesting Aerials of Home

VAG

We have a new Chair of the Vancouver Art Gallery, David Aisenstat (Lt.); Kathleen Bartels, Director; George Killy, Outgoing Chair.

Cruise and Flying Fish Fotos

We are back from the S.S. Millennium. Great time and now time to diet!
Going to the Vancouver Art Gallery for a session tomorrow ... click!

Cruise Ship Wall Photo

We are going on a short cruise from Vancouver to Seattle. This is a photo of the same ship (Millennium) we will be boarding in an hour. The actual photo is about 2 feet x 7 feet in size. I took it last month from the Capilano 100 building.

Objets d'art

I was pleased that the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery) had me take some shots at the closing of one of their biggest exhibitions ever, the Monet to Dali exhibit. Here are some snaps.

Construction "Art" Photography?

I have a client who periodically has me go out and photograph various architectural/building projects for them. The latest assignment is to photograph a busy, dirty, noisy, large, prestigious construction project for them in a creative way. Well, I approached it with an open mind and dirty clothes. The analogy of a building created with form and style and a piece of granite in a sculptors hands came to mind. Also it was suggested a monochromatic approach may be in order and I agreed. Here are some samples and readers comments are accepted. (That way I'll learn something!)

Bears and Bikes at Whistler

I read the paper this a.m. about a black bear who tried to eat a fisherman over on Vancouver Island. It got me thinking about a fun thing we did a month ago at Whistler Olympic Nordic Centre. Some friends told me about the long grade down from Hood River along the Columbia River gorge for a distance of 10 miles. They said on a bike on a warm summer evening it was awesome. So I thought the 10 km, 5% grade down from the Nordic Centre would be fun.

I got some fairly good bear shots closeup too. Question is, can anyone tell me if these bears are grizzlies or just big black bears with sun streaked hair? Also, could I have outrun them downhill on my old Diamondback bike?

Robert (Bob)

Lifestyle Photos

I like doing what people call "Lifestyle Photos" because it motivates me to get out there and do activities that most other folks do in this beautiful part of the planet. That would include the range of walking the seawall to hanging off a rock face (ok, only shooting them) to skiing double black. The best part is the challenge of capturing an image that is good enough to use in the business world. It sounds gratuitous but I have to make a living somehow. Here are some recent samples.

Whistler Home Interiors

Can we do some nice interior shots for your project?

Architectural Photos

Aquarius Exterior
(for Concord Pacific, Inc.)


















Aquarius Townhomes in Yaletown, Vancouver, B.C. (for Concord Pacific, Inc.)

Whistler Mountain Ski Club

This is a post about the Whistler Mountain Ski Club of which our family have been members for 5 years. We originally joined to enable our now 15 yr. old son to ski race in what we think are some of the best conditions in the world.

I ended up being the (un)official photographer of the club after looking at some of the other "Vollie" positions available. We are having our annual ski swap fund raiser coming up from Oct. 10th to 12th, 2008 at the Blackcomb base. The public is most welcome and encouraged to come out and pick up some great skiing and boarding bargains.

Tour of Hope

Well that was a great start to Tuesday. The Terry Fox original Ford van has finally made it to the North Shore!
Chris Carter and his spouse Rebecca, along with the vollies from Scotia McLeod and friends did a great job to organize and serve Tim Bits and coffee to morning commuters, right to their cars. We had Mayor Mussatto and others doing the serving and the police did a great job with traffic management. Chris has a large number of friends and associates from various past sports and careers and when he gives a call we all chip in.


Terry's brother Darrell showed me that great Canadian icon the van, which looked like it was off the showroom floor and must have had some good craftsmen keeping it that way. Also another great Canadian icon, Rick Hansen (yes Rick, an icon) took the time from his busy schedule to attend. We Canadians think of the two marathoners in the same thoughts so it was nice to hear Rick's thoughts about the Marathon of Hope again. Good luck, Darrell on your Tour of Hope!

R.K.

September 9, 2008

Hello to all folks and welcome to our new site dedicated to all things Whistler and beyond.
Right now I have to run out and photograph my good friend and client Chris Carter, who is hosting the arrival of the Terry Fox van at his offices at Scotia McLeod in North Vancouver, B.C.
We will be back to talk about what we hope to do at this site.

Robert (Bob)