Gramma & "Pa"

I just got back from a visit to the town where I grew up. I went to visit my grandparents and a dear friend who lives there... but I was also met with cold and snow! I know snow in March isn't surprising to most of Canada, but as an adapted West Coast Wimp, I was less than impressed by the white stuff. On the bright side though, it gave me a great excuse to stay inside and lounge around visiting.
Growing up, I think I spent half of my time at my grandparents' house... my mom always says that they helped to raise my brother and I. I have very fond memories of their house and of spending time with them.While there, I managed to take about 1 and 1/2 rolls of film on my Pentax K1000 (which was actually my Grandfather's camera before he gave it to me... along with every other camera or video camera he had in his house - in his attempt to get rid of some "junk"). I have yet to get them developed, but will soon... in the meantime, here are pictures that I took of them a few summers ago when I first got my Olympus.
I love my Gramma & Pa so much, and I am so fortunate to have been so close to all of my grandparents.
Though it is over 10 years since my other grandparents passed, I still miss my Grandma & Bubba every day.

Pink Shirt Day

Today is Pink Shirt Day... a day to support anti-bullying campaigns, to spread the word that we want a world free of hatred and discrimination. In honour of Pink Shirt day and my devout belief that we will see the disappearance of homophobia within our lifetime, here is my pink.

Love is louder

Architectural Era Mash-Up

I am completely fascinated by the architectural eras mashed together on the Vancouver General Hospital property. The very distinctive styles of varying decades seem to just meld together to the point that it is hard to distinguish where an original building ends and a new addition begins. This is not because they have managed to string these buildings together seamlessly, but rather because they are so strangely jammed together that it is hard to picture how one could have conceptualized such a "renovation".
Unfortunately I don't know if I was really able to capture the disjointedness of these buildings very well here, but if you are ever in the neighborhood, just look around and try to pick out all the different decades (kind of like an architectural eye-spy... "I spy with my little eye some hideous 70's design structure").
All photos taken with my Olympus Pen F.

Public Art Perspective

I spent the day at the Burnaby Art Gallery with my grade 6 class, and was inspired by hearing my students talk about meaning in art. As well, they worked on collaborative art using mixed media (including photography!) in small groups which was a wonderful process to observe.
Over the holidays I spent several afternoons wandering around the seawall in the sunshine and came across several pieces of interesting Public Art. I love to photograph public art. It feels like my own little art collaboration in a way. The artist creates interesting pieces, and I get to then come along and look at them from different angles, perspectives, and framing to create something new.
All of these photos were taken with my Olympus Pen F

I have no idea why this near-life size tank model sits in an empty lot next to the Olympic Village, but it's juxtaposition next to the beautiful water and downtown view has a clear message.

These chairs are by a French Canadian artist (I believe). I took a photo of this chair because I love the inscription - "Faire semblant de toujours" or "Make believe to always"... and the cyclical nature of it means that it can be read around and around (you know, like the song that never ends!)

Unfortunately since it was the last frame in the roll, the far edge was cut off (hence the odd shape). 

This giant bird can be found smack dab in the middle of the new Olympic Village. It is so strange to see something that is normally so small and cute, looking so massive and scary. I like the angle on the first picture, but the perspective of the second with the car and real bird flying in the sky.

P.S. Another beautiful day this weekend means that I have 2 new rolls of film waiting to be developed and will be posted soon.
P.P.S. My apologizes to anyone who now has "The Song that Never Ends" stuck in their head.

Frost

A good frost that lasts throughout the day is a rare sight during the Vancouver winters, and although I hate having to scrape it from my car windshield in the morning, I love the way it looks in the sunshine. I get nostalgic thinking about cold, crisp, winter days growing up in the Rocky Mountains.
Frost on the seawall adds a whole new element of interest! Especially when the temperature from one side of an object to another is enough to melt the frost or not; creating a natural line that is visually quite interesting. I also like the natural blue hue the combination of frost and water gave to the shoreline rocks.
All photos taken with my Olympus Pen F, using expired Polaroid ISO 200 film. No digital altering.

Oooh that satisfying click

Since I have been contemplating moving my blog space, I have been holding off on posting, thinking that I would be changing soon and so I might as well just wait until the new blog is set up. Well, I recently got back the roll from my Olympus that I have been trying to finish off since the break, and I am so excited about some of them that I can't wait to post.
When I got back from visiting my family over the winter break, I came back to a Vancouver filled with bright, sunny days and clear, crisp weather. It was time to get back outside and start snapping photos. In a previous post, I shared a few photos taken during those lazy sunny days that were taken with my Canonet 28 and some expired Polaroid brand film.
Well, I have developed the habit of having a few rolls of film on-the-go at the same time in different cameras, and sometimes even venture out armed with more than one of my beloved babies (a heavy habit to carry around for the afternoon, but amazing for learning about my different cameras!). These photos were also taken with expired Polaroid brand film, on the same sunny day, but with my Olympus Pen F instead. The differences in taking photos and in the final results are interesting. My Olympus is so much easier to focus and to adjust and it has such a satisfying click when I take a shot. In this respect, the Canonet pales in comparison to the Olympus. And though the Canonet is unpredictable, from time to time it does turn out a few gems (simply because they are so unique).
Now I usually try not to use photo software, the fact that I am at times using unpredictable films, that I get my photos scanned directly to cd at the local drug store (which takes away any expert colour adjusting in the development process), and that I am still learning, means that from time to time I do like to do a simple "revive colour" with photofiltre. It's like my digital darkroom that gives me a little more control over the creative process. I refrained myself from using any photo software on these (other than cropping them out from their half-frame companions) because I wanted a true comparison between the Olympus and Canonet shots. My own personal library will feature mostly the colour revived versions to compensate for the expired film.
 - it's funny how the thing I loved so much about the expired film on my Canonet is the thing that I feel takes away from the photos on my Olympus.

Also still accepting suggestions for blog space names... cause anything I can possibly think of is already taken - including (just for the fun of it) betterthanakickinthepants.blogspot.com seriously!

Take me Home, Country Roads...

Every time I go back to Alberta to visit Jeffrey's family, I can't help but sing that song. They live in a rural prairie area where golden tones rule and the sky seems to go on forever. When we first started dating, we always had the debate: Mountains vs. Prairies (me being from the Rockies, him being from the Flatlands). I could never understand how flat could be beautiful... that is until I visited his hometown. There was a point when we were riding our bikes out of town into the farmlands and I was literally stopped dead in my tracks by the vastness of the sky! I never understood just how small the sky could make you feel and how awe inspiring that openness could be.
Now don't get me wrong, I will still choose mountains over prairies any day of the week, but I certainly have a new found appreciation for the beauty of those prairie skies. These photos were taken on a hike over the Thanksgiving long weekend. Although there aren't any sky shots, they certainly captured those lovely yellow tones. All photos taken with my Olympus Pen F.

Happy Birthday to a wonderful man!

Happy Birthday to my best friend, my future husband, and my favourite photo subject...

I love you! 

P.S. Why are you so darn photogenic?!

Ol' Jack Frost

The snow has long since been washed away by the typical winter rains here in Vancouver, and with it, my Christmas spirit. That one weekend of fresh snow really put me in the Christmas mood, but somewhere between all of my different "to do lists", the mood has faded. But luckily the pictures remain!! (And the to do lists have at least gotten shorter).
These shots were from later in the day on that first snowfall, when the sun came out and began to melt away my winter wonderland. All shots taken with my Olympus Pen F.

P.S. I got a very exciting birthday present yesterday, which I will share more about soon :)

Whimsical Winter

A few weekends ago, I happen to wake up very early on Saturday morning to see that overnight, the first snowfall had covered the city. Now, in Vancouver we don't often get snow this early in the year, and if we do, it doesn't stick around for long. The untouched fresh snow got me all giddy like a kid on Christmas morning... so of course, instead of crawling quietly back into my cozy bed and enjoying a much needed and deserved "gros matin" (sleep-in), I sprang into bed, waking up poor snoozing Jeffrey, chattering all the while about the snow and how I just had the impulse to grab my camera and go for a walk in it before the world woke up and disturbed it. To my surprise, Jeffrey simply laughed and responded "Actually I saw the snow a few hours ago and thought about waking you up to do exactly that" (This is why I love this man!!).
So that is what we did. Threw on some warm clothes, snapped up our cameras (me with my Olympus Pen F and him with his Pentax K1000) and set off to wander this winter wonderland in the darkness of the early morning. It felt so whimsical and magical to be out enjoying the quiet, snow covered streets, while everyone else was warm in their beds.

Eventually our fingers got cold and our bellies began to grumble, so we stopped into a cozy retro 24-hour diner in our neighborhood to warm up and grab some grub (and to snap a few pictures of course).

By the time we left the diner, the sun was coming up and the rest of the world was waking up. Our little secret rendez-vous in the wee hours of the morning had come to an end, and it was our little secret. :)

Sorry about the quality of the interior and early morning shots, I am still figuring out shutter speeds in low lighting.