Panos to Politics: Where have you gone Ralph Klein...

HDR Pano of Kelowna from West Kelowna

Went out early this a.m. to try and capture some Kelowna scenes, while taking advantage of some nice light, which has been conspicuously absent for the past few months - resulting in a dangerously low supply of vitamin D in Okanagan region pharmacies.

I tried out my HDR Illumination at a vegetable stand that featured an old truck serving as a sign post. This time on top of the green gelled flash, I added an LED flashlight to the mix for some light painting effects.

My efforts were hasty as there was a large and aggressive Doberman-esque animal making me feel less than welcome, so I moved on to another subject.

Four wheel signage. HDR, plus flash, plus light painting

I traveled across the lake to West Kelowna and knew what I wanted, but wasn’t actually sure where to find it. I ventured through a residential area on top of a mountain until I found a perfect panoramic view of Kelowna, bridge and all.

Took some Pano HDR, which is a bit of a cumbersome process as I take 5-7 vertical shots of each section of a 4-6 section pano. The real fun is in post production where I attempt to piece this together via Lightroom and Photoshop. Any given panoramic can involve upwards to 48 separate images fused together to make one composite.

I achieved what I wanted, plus further advanced my knowledge of some of the best photo op spots in the city.

I have also been busy preparing for my booth at the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce Business Expo tomorrow. Since moving here a year ago, business has been slow, as Kelowna is just figuring out there was some sort of recession thing going on.

University Rugby Sevens: The boys are back...

Brothers in arms. Christian (left) and Jonathan

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About 16 years ago, my oldest son Jonathan - about five years old at the time - was playing with his younger brother, Christian, two years his junior. I watched from an upper room in our Edmonton home as the two played a nice game of Sonic Hedgehog, or some variance thereof.

Jonathan beckoned Christian to go to the house and fetch him a particular toy. A moment of familiar servitude that those who did not fall in the proper birth order, are destined to live with for perpetuity. Christian scurried to the house and within minutes came out proudly displaying Jonathan’s requested item.

“You idiot!” Jonathan sensitively exclaimed to his impressionable younger brother. “You brought the wrong toy! Do I have to do everything myself?”

Paul Henderson? Never heard of him...

“Never heard of him,” was the sad and revealing reply of the teenage employee when I asked him where the Paul Henderson Exhibit was going to be set up.

The initial line of questioning was even a little more presumptuous, asking where the “exhibit” was going to be located, since, according to the posters plastered around the arena where this young cashier’s sports store was located - I assumed it would be tantamount to asking a Parisian where Notre Dame Cathedral was.

When that drew a blank expression, I apprehensively expanded the inquiry to drop the Henderson name into the equation, which of course now would surely trigger an immediate and clear understanding of the inquiry. But, then he delivered that shocking response that officially made me come to a life altering revelation; I was old.

Salmon Arm and U17: From ecstasy to agony

Salmon Arm fruit stand. HDR plus green gel illumination.

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 Nestled in the southern interior of BC, Salmon Arm is very much a microcosm of its big brother Kamloops, about 100 km away. I say this with little research, just my initial perception of this quaint little railway town located on the shores of the Shuswap Lake.

Like many smaller communities, it appears it too is feeling the wrath of the global recession, with its primary source of export, Forestry, having one of its sawmills shut down a few years ago.

Also like many smaller towns, the people are friendly and polite, and more than likely, many of the youth probably can’t get out of there fast enough after graduation. Not a slight, but a population depletion fact that afflicts many small towns.

Salmon Arm is more of a town that one might do some summertime activities or stop for a Timmies on your way through, not necessarily stay for a few nights. However, that is just what we did last weekend as my youngest son, Matthew, was invited to a U17 Regional Hockey tryout for the BC Cup, held next month in, yes, again, Salmon Arm.

This was an invite only collection of the best 16 year old players in the Okanagan, vying for the right to be selected as one of 20 players to represent the region at the BC Cup in mid-May. From there, only 10 players are chosen to represent BC as part of Team Pacific - a compilation of the best from Alberta and BC.

Matthew had a very good camp, scoring a few goals and using his speed and size to impress the evaluators enough to choose him as one of the 12 top forwards to move on. Unfortunately, the euphoria turned to agony a few short hours later as Matthew had to undergo emergency surgery to stop the progression of a serious injury called Compartment Syndrome.

Valentine’s In NYC. And Meeting no Ordinary Joe...

Central Park sunrise

Top of The Rock

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Getting my wife a Christmas gift is truly a stressful experience. She always says she “doesn’t need anything,” which of course is code for “don’t disappoint me...”

I usually run out to the 7-11 late on the 24th (just kidding, they close early) to pick up some special little something, but this year I thought I would really knock her socks off and purchased box seats to Andrea Bocelli at the MET in NYC performing the day before Valentine’s. I arranged the flight, hotel and picked up premium tickets via Stub Hub, which I believe cost more than the entire aforementioned.

The ambiance of the MET was spectacular. Men in sharp Armani suits and ladies draped in some type of endangered fur worth more than our house. My wife looked great in her evening attire and I looked somewhat put together in my suit, which I’m pretty sure I wore for my grade 12 grad.

All The Lonely People...

Must clean those cuticles...

Couldn’t have staged this better. During our Valentine’s retreat to NYC, while my wife was shopping - yes, apparently there is other things to do in NYC than take photos - I sought refuge in Washington Square where I came across some incredibly interesting individuals just soaking in the warm afternoon winter sun.
They seemed to arrive one after the other, but I believe they were total strangers. Their clothing and casual demeanor could not have been choreographed better. It was like a scene from a movie...

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Sunday afternoon in Washington Square

Making a fashion statement Lincoln Centre

Vancouver HDR

Canada Place sunrise

Olympic Flame Cauldron, sans the barbed wire fortification that greeted visitors last February. A true embarrassment and insult to all those people visiting from around the world who most likely had much more historically significant and ancient structures in their own backyard that are not cordoned off from the public.

During our recent visit to our son’s Engineering Graduation Ceremony, I did my obligatory extremely early a.m. photo mission to some of the landmarks of this former Olympic city.

Having lived near Vancouver (White Rock) for seven years, I can safely say that when the sun is out (a rarity) and the light gives shape and dimension to the steel of the city buildings and the natural beauty of the mountains and ocean, it is easily one of the most spectacular cities in the world. Now, about the traffic...

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View from Westin Bayshore, Vancouver

Lions Gate Bridge early morning rush hour