Science World in False Creek, British Columbia, Canada

Featured in a couple local blogs/articles and by popular demand, I present to you a wallpaper version!
I hope the Mac users can appreciate the new ultra high resolution for their new 27′ screen

Mac’s New Resolution 2560×1440 | Widescreen 1920×1200 | 1080P 1920 × 1080
Fullscreen 1600 × 1200 | Netbook 1366×768 | Mobile 800×480

I was scrolling through Revscene this morning and I found a post by Kevin that had me moved. Needless to say, this photo and story was to powerful to be hidden from public eye. I shot Kevin off a msg and explained that I wanted more views and readers; he agreed.

As quoted,

I was on the bus to PNE to pick up my Olympic Accreditation pass when I saw Mike sitting outside a grocery store at Hastings and Nanaimo. What caught my eye was how he was hugging his dog, Blue.

I made a mental note to come back and talk to him and perhaps get a picture. Just seeing him from the bus, I got the feeling he was interesting and had a story to tell.

I approached him and said that I had $5 which he could either have or I could buy him something to eat. He took the money instead, showing me a cut on his hand that he needed some medicine for. His hands were in pretty bad shape, all beat up and arthritic. I asked him to tell me his story, his life, how he is where he is now.

Mike used to live in a high rise downtown on Robson St, where he had the life. This life was sustained through drug dealing and stealing, but he had it good. With money in the bank, nothing worried him. Until the day that karma caught up to him …and everything went downhill. From high to low, when he became bankrupt and lost all his money, he actually felt… peaceful. No longer did he have any burdens or worries to stress about, which is ironic he said, for someone who is homeless.

Now he just has his dog, Blue, a mix of Rottweiler & Blue Heeler to keep him company. Blue is now 7.5years old, and he got her when she was just 3years old. His eyes were set on her since she was just a pup at 6months old though, and he kept begging the owner for years before she relented. She’s a cutie and was definitely spoiled over the holidays, just look at how big she is!

Mike is super friendly and you can tell he has the smarts to still set his life back on track. All the locals in the neighbourhood know him, saying hi to him as they walk by. Even this cute girl stopped to buy him some Church’s Chicken.

Sometimes, these conversations with strangers are the best and most heartwarming.

Edit: When I have the time, I want to print this out and give it to Mike. Please hold me accountable to this!

Kevin Wu
Flickr

Because I was just helping out with lights and setup, I took this time to take a more journalistic approach to my photographs instead of a final look. Enjoy

The others are from Michael’s camera. I only took the photos treated them in the same style

Teaser photo from Sundays shoot at John Casablancas International Modeling and Talent Agency

Mel and I stayed the night at Hotel Pearl Palace were we enjoyed a peaceful breakfast up on their patio. Recommended by many travel sites and tourist if and when staying in Jaipur, do it here!

Ali was our driver for today. We met him the night before when he picked us up at the train station. He had a package available for us if we decided to go with him. At first we took his offer because the price seemed ok with us, but later into the trip we really found out how much people were really making on a monthly basis and this guy was doing really good for himself as a driver. The service was ok, we missed a couple spots on the map, I’ll get to that later, but when he found out he wasn’t getting a huge tip with his already high prices. It was like he didn’t even know us anymore once we paid him -- pretty disappointing.

Today was a bad day to be a tourist on a schedule in India. The passing away of a government official led to the closing of all palace, and temples entrances. We had to made due by cutting out the city palace, Jaigarh Fort and Nahargarh Fort.

Galtore

One can easily reach Galtore from the city by taking local buses, rickshaws and taxis. Located just 15 kms from Jaipur it lies in west of Amber. Here you can find Cenotaphs with typical Rajasthani Carvings, but they weren’t all that impressing. Don’t have a lot to say for this place except good luck with the steep climb if you’d like to see a view of Jaipur from this area -- make sure you bring lots of water

Jai Mahal (Lake Palace)

Built in the 18th century by Madho Singh, ruler at the time. Another monsoon would’ve helped to replenish the scares shallow lake on the day of my visit. Now abandoned and closed to visitors, the causeway which use to reach the temple has also disappeared. It’s still impressive and in past times must have been a peaceful retreat for the rulers and their families. The palace has beautiful chatris on either end and the garden doesn’t look like it’s doing to bad.

Monkey Temple (Galwar Bagh)

A bit aways from the city, the Monkey Temple can be reach roughly 20 on foot. Apparently there are supposed to be 5,000 monkeys in this temple, but I have my doubts about that. Watch for your belongings because once the sun goes down the monkeys get aggressive and gang up on tourists -wasn’t willing to take a chance anyway. You can see monkey’s everywhere, they climb everything, swim in the pool, groom themselves and even yell at each other from time to time. You many pick up food from the guard for a small tip but get ready to get jumped. The only thing fascinated about the temple is that it’s surrounded by sharp cliffs extruding from around it. It’s a temple, and there are monkeys -- what else do you need?! Take one home, dress him up in a butler outfit and train him to get you a beer. On the way back the sunset presented us with a beautiful overview of Jaipur. As we snapped a couple photos I decided to film a part of my trek back down.

Welcome to India -- wasn’t that just the strangest thing you’ve ever seen! Animals have rights too, they can do whatever they want! Ya you heard me, ANYTHING! Disregard my commentary, lol

The day was over and Jaipur was accounted for. As we got ready for our 8 hour overnight train ride to Udaipur, we found the sleeper class wasn’t exactly what we expected.  Makes sure when booking this class, that you have your own blankets because it gets really cold! We learned the hard way!

I’ve always focused on using post processing to provoke an emotion from the viewer and not to fix mistakes which could’ve been avoided during the shoot.
What’s a photo without a story? – a static image told only by composition, timing  and post processing.

The first photo which went out last year is straight forward, like it just came out of camera. There was a few minor tweeks, but nothing significant.

With some extra care, you can change the look and feel dramaticly. Doing so, you get more of a retro look which you may have seen back in the early 80’s.