The other day while sorting out the various memory cards I have, I came across one that was getting a bit roughed up.  My Canon XSi (EOS 450D) takes SD (secure digital) memory, though I do tend to use SDHC (secure digital high capacity) cards more because of their large capacity allowances. I haven’t used very many cards, but I do remember my first one was a Kingston 4GB SDHC Class 6 card. I think I got it pretty cheep at one of the big box stores near by. Perhaps one day we might see a Fry’s up here in Vancouver? I can dream right?

While I was down in San Diego I stopped off at a local Fry’s. I’m sure people out there (especially American’s) know what Fry’s is all about, I’m sure there are Canadians who know about them too. For those who do not know who or what Fry’s is. They are a gigantic electronic store that seems to dwarf our big box shops such as Futureshop or BestBuy. At the time when SDHC was first coming out, the larger 4GB and 8GB cards were almost $100 CDN, though while I was browsing the toys at Fry’s they had 8GB SDHC cards for $20 USD. Not a bad price so I picked one up for myself. I also picked up some cheap SODIMMs for the company laptop I was using too.

Anyway, the 8GB card that I purchased a couple of years ago has now broke. First the outer casing broke near the contacts, but I could still use the card. Recently the “lock” switch broke off in the protected position, I couldn’t fix it nor could I make the card writable. I also noticed that the outer casing split, so I just crack it completely open.

It is amazing how they can manufacture the memory (the large black chips) to fit right up against the edge of the PCB. The second photo is a reverse-macro shot of the memory. The memory card itself is the brand Patriot for those who are curious. I should look at getting some higher speed SDHC cards (if they exist) for my camera. It is not much fun when my camera blinks “Buffering” to me during sporting events and I miss some what-could-have-been cool shots.

If  I do plan on upgrading my camera (be it the Canon 5DMkII or the Canon 7D) and I will have to look at getting back into Compact Flash (CF) cards. Though, I will invest in a few 4GB high-speed card for that though.

I still have one 4GB Kingston SDHC as well as a 16GB Kingston SDHC cards. Typically I just stick to using the 16GB, which gives me roughly 900 RAW photos. Do I ever need to dump those photos? Sure do, I seem to be trigger (or is that shutter?) happy!

What sort of brands of camera memory do you typically use/buy?

Black-Capped Chickadee

Chestnut-Backed Chickadees

The nice thing about getting up early and heading over to Lost Lagoon is that there are more critters out and about. The tourists aren’t scaring them off too much. I stood around in the same spot for a good 40 minutes just taking photos of the various Chickadees, Towees, Red Wing Black Birds, Finches and whatever else decided to hang out in the small area of trees south of the Lagoon. Everytime a jogger came by, or someone with a dog, the birds would take flight. The moment they were out of sight (the other people), the birds all came back. At one point, the Black-Capped Chickadee (1st photo), actaully landed on my camera lens (the 70-200). That would have been a cool shot, but a bit tricky for myself to take!

I had a couple of ladies point out a Raccoon to me (not that I’ve ever seen one right?) They thought it would be cool to take photos of, so I did. The little bugger wasn’t too timid of the two ladies as it walked right up to them. They shoo’d it away though. At least they weren’t feeding him.

There is something about the Lagoon that keeps drawing me back to it. Perhaps it’s the hope to see a beaver (which evidence around the lake supports there is one near by), or the River Otter I saw a few months back. Perhaps I just like the amount of birds that call it home and like to pose for me and my camera? Who knows, it is just a fun little portion of Vancouver I like to visit as much as possible.

Perhaps it’s just the beauty that the Lagoon provides all year around. Who knows, but if you haven’t been out to Lost Lagoon, I recommend heading out that one on a nice day. The trail around the Lagoon isn’t long, but there are many little photo oppurtunities along the edge of the water.

The weather was great on Tuesday but for some silly reason I didn’t manage to make it out to the Vancouver Aquarium as I originally wanted to. I ended up heading over there yesterday, though the weather was a bit grey looking. The majority of the exhibits in the aquarium are indoors, so I guess that doesn’t really matter, does it?

My first memories of the Vancouver Aquarium were way back in the days of being little. They had a sort of zoo section outside the aquarium itself that was home to various reptiles, monkeys as well as polar bears. In fact the polar bear enclosures are still there, just overgrown with vegetation now. In those days, the Vancouver Aquarium was home to some Orca (or Killer Whales) but they were eventually phased out and the water habitat was reconstructed for belugas, dolphins, harbour seals and other marine animals. Though I am not entirely sure what happened to the stellar sea lions as they were not there.

The inside though is made up of a few larger sections; Tropical, Coastal and Arctic exhibits. So let’s get to the photos I took this trip!

The Tropical section is probably my favourite section of the aquarium. It’s home to many species of fish, mammals and reptiles.

Sea Turtle, similar to that the one Jack Sparrow lashed together with hairs from his back!

Pygmy Marmoset. The photo doesn’t really show the size of this little guy but he couldn’t be much larger than my hand.

Various birds live within the tropical section of the aquarium. Just be careful walking around, as you could get pooped on.

The two-toed female sloth is a pretty cool sight, if you find her. This time around she was slowly making her way around the area. Normally when I have ever gone to the aquarium, she’s hiding up on a ledge among the jungle foliage. It was a great treat to see her out and about.

There is a ton more things to see in this area. Though sometimes it is hard to photograph the critters behind the glass, especially the fish.

The Coastal waters  is a pretty cool section of the aquarium, it is dedicated to the coastal waters off of our province. Various water habitats set up depending on where they are located on the coast. It is pretty cool to see the diversity of ecosystems our coast line offers.

Though, all I seem to have walked away from are photos of the various jelly fish. I was happy to see the octopus out and about. I don’t think I have ever actually seen him as he is hidden in the rocky area of his tank.

The Arctic section seems to have been renovated lately and update. As I write this post, I feel as if I missed out on taking photos to better explain the exhibits renovations but it’s pretty cool too. Though I could swear they made the underwater viewing section of the beluga tank smaller. With the amount of families and children there I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos of random people around the area.

The aquarium also has a section dedicate to frogs and other amphibians.

Outside is where the Dolphins, Harbour Seals, Stellar Sea Lions (not currently present), Belugas, as well as those cute Sea Otters are located. On rainy days this portion of the aquarium makes for some wet people, but on the none rainy days, it is pretty fun to wander around.

My photos of the Dolphin show did not turn out as I would have liked them too, and I didn’t want to hang around for the Beluga show. Though the Sea Otters kept me pretty entertained for a while.

The more I write this post, the more I think about what other photos I should have taken. This just means I will have to go back and do all my photos over again and spend more time being camera geeky. Perhaps I’ll go again soon, though the $22 entrance fee is a bit high, I should have bought the annual membership for $58 that way I can go back anytime I wanted to.

I should also look at picking up at circular polarizer for both my 50mm f1.8 lens and my 17-40mm f4L lens as it would have helped reduce the glare from the glass. Or as least I would hope it would help reduce it a bit.

I’m not sure what a photographer’s greatest moment can be, but for me it was the feeling I got from having my first photo published, well being asked for a photo in which would be published in a book. Not only was that a cool feeling, receiving the book in which my photo was published is even better!

I received an email from a publisher asking me about a particular photo that they wanted to use in a book about the history of snowboarding, the bonus? Ross Rebagliati was writing it! If you are from Vancouver, or even Whistler, Rebagliati is a pretty big name in the world of snowboarding. Who else has a park and a ski run named after them?

Off the Chain: An Insider’s History Of Snowboarding

Now I’ll be honest, I haven’t finished reading the book, but I am really enjoying the information that Rebagliati has put together as well as his journey through snowboarding. The ups and the downs. It is cool to find out how my favourite sport came to be, starting out with modified pieces of wood similar to surf boards and skateboards, to what influences the design of snowboards today.

“With Ross as your guide, you’ll tour with the sport’s best riders, drop into the wilder side of snowboarding culture, and find out what really happened in Nagano as Ross won, lost and regained his Olympic media. Along the way you’ll check out video shoots, navigate the backroom dealings behind the sport, and hit some of the world’s best boarding destinations. Strap on your board, throw caution to the wind, and get ready to rip in the refreshingly candid and lavishly illustrated Off the Chain: An Insider’s History of Snowboarding.”

Even though I have only read the first few areas of the book, it has been some great reading. With aspects like, how the sport came to be and where it will go in the future, some history of Jake Burton and Tom Sims and more. I can’t wait to read more into where Ross Rebagliati’s career took him and how the whole Nagano Olympics went down in regards to his Gold medal.

Enough about that, more about the photo they used!

That’s right, signed by him too! This will definitely be something I keep forever!

There is my photo (page.112)! The caption above tells who the four riders are, where they are and that I took the photo! That’s pretty cool, well for me anyway.

This is the original shot, well the one I uploaded to Flickr that got their attention. Boardercross (SBX) is pretty cool event, but unfortunately we did not win tickets to the event during the 2010 Winter Olympics. At least we got to see the same competitors at Cypress though. Cool nonetheless!

If you want to check out the book at your local book store here is the info:

• Title: Off The Chain: An Insider’s History of Snowboarding
• Author: Ross Rebagliati
• ISBN: 978-1-55365-487-2
• Publisher: Greystone Books

What’s next for my photography? Who knows! It’s a start right? With the up  coming winter season perhaps I can have more oppurtunities for photos such as the ones I took up at Cypress Mountain or at Whistler. Though it looks like it might have to wait until the 2010 Winter Olympics are over.

So here’s to me wishing for more of my photos published in cool projects such as this one! I can toot my own horn right?

Doing some maintenance on the Saltspring Air float plane. Not entirely sure how many planes are in their fleet but I know of at least this one. Not only do they run charter flights they also do tours! Perhaps one day I’ll get to have them give me a tour!

Now I’ve been really enjoying the Canon EF 17-40mm f4L lens I purchased last week. Oops, yes I did end up buying a lens and so far the IQ (image quality) on it is just superb!! I’ll have to write a post with full-sized images so you can see the clarity of this lens, if you cannot tell from the photos I have uploaded anyway. Oh, the above photo is of the Westin Bayshore in Coal Harbour.

The Nova Spirit. Not sure who owns this massive boat, but it’s moored in Coal Harbour for long periods of time. I do like the distortion the lens created with this, in fact, I tried to get it to purposely do the distortion!

Yes, it is fall outside and the leaves are still changing colours, well for the ones that are still on the trees anyway. Our weather has been kind of weird lately but it does allow for some nice photographs.

In the news today it seems that there have been various Olympic security drills happening around the downtown area of Vancouver. Including the Vancouver Police Department doing water drills around Canada Place.

Yup, that’s the Bay on the corner of Granville and Georgia. Decked out in some Winter Olympic banner action. In fact, a few days ago I saw a woman wearing that sweater you can see in the left side of the building, that exact same pattern. What do you think of this year’s Olympic Wear? Why isn’t Root’s doing it this year? Oh well.

Yup, I accidentally took a photo of my foot while heading to the Vancouver Public Library. I thought it was cool, and converted it over to the Black and White side of things.

Hung out at Robson Square for a bit. They are putting in some crazy LED lights and working on the rink. It will be fun when they put ice on it again so people can go skating.

Ah yes, the typical sight outside the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery) on the Robson Street side. People just hanging out doing what they do. The guy standing on the stairs on the left was talking to his buddy earlier about having the cops crush his dope and put him in hand-cuffs. Ah good ol’ Vancouver! How do I know about this story? He was telling his buddy as I walked behind them for like 3 blocks. Thought desaturating the photo a bit made it look more, something or other.

Last photo, Granville Street itself. They hope to put the trees they took out on either side of the road back in, I’m sure they will as it looks a little bleak without them. It is getting quite close to being complete, which is nice. Seems like forever since they started the project. I should head back in the night to take photos of the neon lights of places such as the Orphium, the Vogue and others.

Guess that’s about it for this round of photos. Perhaps today (which is tomorrow from when I wrote this), Robyn and I will head out for a little walk around the Stanley Park seawall.

Today has been an interesting day. I was originally set to get my stitches out this morning but the waiting list at the clinic to see the doctor was a bit too long so I canceled my waiting spot. This allowed us not to stress out over the wedding rehearsal that we were attending today in Yaletown, which was good. Don’t worry my stitches are coming out later this evening.

I won’t post any of the photos from the wedding rehearsal as they didn’t turn out well. Then again I could always use practice right? Granted, I’m a tad shy and didn’t take nearly as many photos as I probably could. Good thing I’m not a wedding photographer right? Perhaps I can work on the introvert part.

During the lunch that was spread out before us (and boy was it delicious), the clouds parted and the sun shone down upon us. Hoping that the break in the rain would last long enough for a walk home, I mentioned to Robyn that it would be fun to walk home so I could take photos along the way. So we did just that.

The colours in the neighbourhood are amazing. The blue sky with clouds also adds a nice touch too.

It seems a small group of people were on a photowalk. They also all had Canon Digital Rebels. Not sure if they were T1i’s, XSi, or even XTs but it was kind of neat to see everyone using the camera and lens.

Yaletown is home to concrete and glass buildings. I always thought they looked pretty cool, I tend to like the concrete jungle.

The colours of fall are pretty cool in Vancouver. Bright oranges, yellows, reds with the occasional greens can be seen all over the downtown core.

The lovely Burrard Bridge. The few bridges we have in Vancouver, to me, are always fun to photograph from various angles. I plan on hitting up the south seawall around Granville Island, False Creek soon to get different perspectives.

Following the seawall towards the West End. The first photo is of the False Creek Ferry dock that services the areas around False Creek (duh). The second photo is directed towards the Inukshuk with Stanley Park in the background.

Okay, this is our neighbourhood; English Bay. The trees are turning nicely to their fall colours, with a lot of leaves already on the ground.

Of course, what photowalk is not complete without a proper HDR photograph? I really loved how this one turned out too. 3 hand-held exposures processed in Photomatix and then tweaked a bit in Lightroom. The reason why I like HDR photography is that it helps show what the camera cannot capture in a single photo. I believe, it helps with showing off an environment in which the human eye can understand better than the electronic sensor on a camera. I also believe that broken up clouds help out the HDR effect too.

For those of you who visit here frequently (I thank you), do you notice anything a bit different with my photographs? Perhaps they are a bit more on the wider angle than my typical photographs? I might have a post coming up explaining this better soon.

Looking to meet up with some local photographers? A group of us are getting together on Sunday Night (Oct 18th, 2009) at round 7:30PM on Granville Island to do a night time photowalk! You should come join us (weather permitting)! Check out the event on Facebook! And yes, you don’t need a digital SLR type camera. Just a smile and a point and shoot is good enough!

It is nice that we only live roughly 2 hours away from Whistler, BC by car but those times where we want to stay a day or two we’re always looking out for a great accommodation. The price has to be pretty good too as it can get quite expensive staying a night or more in Whistler.

A quick look over the Whistler/Blackcomb website provided us with Last Minute Deals. I wanted to book a hotel room for the night for while we were up in Whistler for the Araxi Hell’s Kitchen Finale Party but didn’t want to fork out an arm and a leg to do it.

On Whistler/Blackcomb’s website they have a section for 2 types of accommodation deals; Miguel’s Picks and Last Minute Deals. The special thing about these two types of deals they have in place, is that you do not know what hotel you are booked at until after you have booked your duration of stay. One of the Last Minute Deals that was listed was $59/night for a 4-star hotel. Not bad for a night in Whistler right? We have typically payed $99->$159 per night are various locations in the Village.

After I confirmed my reservation and entered my details I found out which hotel we would be staying at for the night; the Mountainside Lodge. The Mountainside Lodge is located behind Whistler Village near the Pan Pacific at Skier’s Plaza. It is also about a 5 minute walk from Araxi which would be great, as the weather is starting to dip near the freezing levels.

I told Robyn which hotel we would be staying at and she was a bit concerned. Her and her friends stayed recently at the Mountainside Lodge and they were less than impressed with it. I was a bit worried, but a night could hurt right?

When we arrived at the Mountainside Lodge and I went to check in I was greeted by one of the nicest and friendliest front desk people ever. The check in process was quick and easy, and I also got an upgrade to a loft suite. Amenities such as a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and even an in suite sauna!

The living area has a gas-fireplace, flat-screen television, ample seating, fold out bed. Did I mention it is air conditioned too? Granted, you probably don’t want to use it during the winter months.

The dining area is spacious and comfortable. The kitchen is a great addition to this loft room. It has a range oven, dishwasher and refridgerator. Mountainside Lodge also includes some excellent silverware and flatware. Some places we have stayed at have had sub-par flatware and silverware, not to mention pretty shoddy cookware. The Mountainside Lodge includes great cookware too! Even their glasses looked of great quality. Robyn and I were both quite impressed.

Not the greatest photo but the ground level bathroom is nice. The first level bathroom also includes a nice jetted soaker tub with shower. To help soothe those achy muscles after a long day on the ski slopes no doubt!

The loft is pretty cool and in Whistler I have always enjoyed the loft-suites. Here a very comfy queen-sized bed allowed us for a great sleep after the Araxi Hell’s Kitchen party. There is also a smaller flat-screen television that can be watch from the bed, for those who do that sort of thing.

Now the loft portion also has an en-suite bathroom, a non-jetting soaker tub, as well as its very own en-suite sauna! Not very often that a hotel room has its very own sauna, pretty cool huh?

Overall we really enjoyed our stay at the Mountainside Lodge and we will definitely book with them again when we come back to Whistler to ski and snowboard. If all the rooms are similar to the room we stayed at, we would recommend people to check them out and consider them for their stay in Whistler too.

Most people I know have heard of the reality television show Hell’s Kitchen, right? Who doesn’t love watching Chef Gordon Ramsey throw hissy fits if the beef wellington is under cooked? Well this season’s of Hell’s Kitchen, the winning chef will get their spot at the fine dinning restaurant Araxi up in Whistler, BC. Yes, the same Whistler that is home to the 2010 Winter Olympic games, also the same Whistler than Robyn and I enjoy going up to for some ski and snowboard action.

We recently got to attend the finale party up at Araxi with thanks to Robyn’s luck! She won Miss604’s contest which was a 1 + guest prize for the finale party, I of course being her guest! Robyn was totally excited as she never wins anything. A great early birthday present for her right? I booked our 1 night accommodation at the Mountainside Lodge and we set out for Whistler and the Araxi with thoughts of scallops and more!

When we got to Whistler we checked into the hotel and wandered around the village as we usually do. We noted that Araxi as being set up, what we didn’t know was what to expect once we were in side for the evening event.

When 7:00PM rolled around we headed out into the chilly evening towards Araxi. Spot lights flooded the village and a lineup was seen in front of Araxi.

The closer we got to the front, we realized why it was taking so long to get into the restaurant. Ariel, Dave, Kevin and Tenille were outside with people getting their photos taken as the guests filed into the building. We made note how much happier Kevin looked at this time than the other chefs. Though our vote was still for Dave, that one armed bandit!

Once we got into Araxi, it was filling up fast. We met up with Rebecca and John near one of the many large screen LCD TVs that were set up around the restaurant. There were no tables in sight, just a lot of people standing, drinking wine and socializing.

I guess Robyn and I were both expecting a sit-down type dinner. The Hell’s Kitchen event was more of a social gathering with various wines and hors d’oeuvres. Did I mention that there was an open bar?

The food itself was pretty good, but we were expecting to have menu items. I guess this means Robyn and I will have to come back up to Whistler and have dinner at Araxi. I know Robyn was looking over the Araxi Three Tier Seafood Tower, so we might have to hit that up too.

Out of all the photos I took, it looks like I missed getting Kevin’s photo as the 4 chefs moved around the restaurant during the final episode. Too bad, he’s a pretty cool guy too!

The moment Dave walked through the door, the crowd in the restaurant went pretty wild. There were some people who seemed to have been shocked at this but it seems like the majority wanted Dave to win. I also think he will fit right into the Whistler life too.

On a photography note, I am a tad disappointed with my photos from the evening. I opted to leave my flash behind and just use my 50mm f1.8 lens, but even at ISO1600, photos didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked them. Trial by Error right? Next time I go to an event indoors my flash is coming with me no matter how large it is!

Want to see more photos of the Araxi Hell’s Kitchen finale party? Check out John’s Flickr set for the event. Pretty impressive with his new Nikon D90!

I did know I wanted to head towards the downtown core of Vancouver, though I went my typical route and change it up ever so slightly once I got past Coal Harbour.

As you can see, I did travel quite a bit by foot around our little city. Even though the route map above shows 11 photos, I did manage to take a few more than that, but nothing really worth noting.

Photo #1

Photos #2 & #3

Photo #4

Does anyone know why they are building pilings off of the new Vancouver Convention Centre? Are they going to be mouring Cruise Ships next season there?

Photo #5

Photos #6 & #7

It is pretty cool to see Robson Square back open for use. There was some sort of Square Dancing happening. I remember when our Dad took us ice skating there.

Photo #8

This is pretty neat, the building at the corner of Georgia and Howe, across from the VAG has this massive Canadian Flag over it, though it wraps around the corner of the building. The reflection off the TD Tower sort of removes that wrapping and gives the illusion of the whole flag, well almost. Wonder if that was done on purpose?

Before I headed into Yaletown, I stopped off at PitaPit for some “to go” lunch as well as a quick stop off at Leo’s Cameras. I wanted to ask about their Rental terms as I wanted to play with the Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L lens. They require a creditcard as a deposit (the price of a new lens) and unfortunately since times are a bit… tough financially for me I could not rent it out today. They did have one in stock though for me to rent! Darn!

Photos #9 & #10

A quick pop over to Yaletown. I love the old buildings that have been converted into business space, lofts and whatknot. I can see why the businesses were upset about the dumpsters on the streets due to construction. Temporary though, but a bit of an eye sore. Couldn’t get a decent shot of them in the roadway though. Photo #10, above, will be home to various large screens during the 2010 Winter Olympic games. They already have set up fences it seems.

Photos #11

The above sculpture was relocated to Sunset Beach to make room for the “A-MAZE-ING Laughter” display at English Bay. It kind of looks like washed-up boat wreckage, or left over construction material. Oh well.

After a few hours walking around, my rear end is a bit sore. It was a nice walk, even though the sun was shining there was a cool breeze throughout Vancouver.

Tomorrow is hanging out with family day. First breakfast with Mum, my little sister and my brother. Perhaps a bit of golf or something and then it’s off to our Dad’s place for some Turkey Dinner! Wishing Robyn could join us, but unfortunately she’s been scheduled to work all long weekend.

What are you getting up to for this Canadian Thanksgivening long weekend?

There are some pretty cool things to see when you’re in Sea World; dolphins, sharks, sea lions, penguins and more. Though when I was there, the Manatee exhibit was being renovated.

What trip to Sea World would be complete if you were to miss out on Shamu?

At the time I went, I think there were 3 or 4 whales, of them was Shamu. Shamu never seems to die and lives forever! I think at one point the Orca that the Oak Bay Marina (in Victoria, BC) was sent down to either the Sea World in San Diego or the one in Orlando, Florida to be Shamu.

I would love to go again and this time be able to take Robyn with me. It was a bit expensive though as it cost me $70 USD to get into the park plus the $10 USD for parking my rental. The cool thing about that pass is I could have come back anytime later that year for free entry. Another cool thing I found out while I was there, is that San Diego residents get a great discount on visiting not only Sea World but other San Diego attractions. Why doesn’t Vancouver have something like a resident discount card? I guess our Aquarium doesn’t cost $70USD per person though eh?

All the above shots were taken with my Canon SD750 compact digital camera. I wonder how I would do now if I were to take my current camera gear down with me and my extra year and a bit of experience?

You can check out the other Sea World photos I took over on Flickr as well!