John Harvey Photo

January 2016

Go to Slide Show Smaller Images The Cold and Dark time of the Year


Sunrise from the Cypress Lookout

I've seen a video of fog rolling out of Vancouver in the morning.  It was shot time lapse from up high.  I wanted to try and do the same thing.   Sunrise was around 8am.  I woke up early, drove up to the lookout for 6:45am and started shooting.

Bridge Sticking Through CloudsSun Rising Behind Baker

There were a few surprises.  First, it's really bright two hours before sunrise.  I had no problem seeing the city even an hour before sunrise.  Second - the city is really close to the lookout.  I brought my long lens just in case, but my 80-200 had no problem covering the scene.  Lastly, processing the video turned out to be a huge job.


 

Claira Attends Cadence's Birthday

Cadence is Claira's classmate in her daycare program.  We were luck enough to be invited to Cadence's 4th birthday at the 6 Pack Beach in Richmond/
Mitchell Island.  The warehouse has about a foot of sand laid over an area large enough for about 5 volleyball courts.  The sand isn't that warm (it's hard to warm such a large space) but it was fun enough to run around in bare footed.  Cadence's parents brought huge balloons which all the kids loved to throw around and play with.

Claira Picking Up BalloonClaira Trying To Catch BalloonClaira Looking How Far She Threw Her Balloon
 

Barred Owl at QE

The kids have gymnastics on Saturday afternoons next to QE park.  I used to just read stuff on my phone to pass the time but in December I figured out there was enough time for a walk in the park and then discovered a Barred Owl that seems to wake up at the same time in nearly the same tree every Saturday.  This week I went out for another walk to see the bird.

 
Barred Owl Over The ShoulderBarred Owl With Talons

Nara Attends Everett's Birthday

Everett is in Nara's Kindergarden class.  His family seems to have invited the whole class to his birthday party at the Point Grey Community Centre.

Nara In Ride In CarNara Launching Kids EatingUp Goes The Rocket

Christmas lights (in January!) and VanDusen

New this year, VanDusen left their Christmas lights up and you can get in for regular admission.  Since we are members, that means free admission which works really well when you have kids with a reasonably short attention span.

Lit Up Lake FrontCandycane Style Light StandsClaira Making Funny Faces
Octopus Stole The Mermaids Bra
Hands down, my favorite display was the "Octopus stole the Mermaid's Bra" section.  I pointed it out to my wife and promptly hear "ahh - right!" from people around us - I think many people didn't even notice what was going on.  The obviously Christmas stuff (Santa in lights, the grinch, gingerbread men and houses) is popular, but I got a real grin out of the undersea area.


So much of good photography (and portraiture) is light and there are plenty of great lighting setups at the light show.  In the pre New Years show, they have thick crowds and the many of the paths blocked off - on the January weekends the crowds were thinner and the barricades were more "random".  Because people can visit the garden during the day in January, they have to move the barricades to let daytime walkers through.  On our night, not all the barricades were reset (and some were blocking legitimate paths) causing crowds of people to walk down unlit paths only to find a barrier to them rejoing the lit area.  The confusion made me smile.

Nara On APhoto WalkNara And Claira With The Focus TrickClose Inspection Of AString Of Lights

The Vancouver Boatshow

Nara And Claira In The Pool
A few years ago I took my Dad to the boatshow with the kids.  My dad happened to be in town, the boat show is close by and in younger years he talked about getting a small boat on a trailer for some boating on a nice day.  My dad wasn't so much into the boats at the show but Nara had a great time playing in the paddle boats.  Fast forward two years, Claira is as old as Nara was and I had the kids for the morning so we went to the boat show!

Nara Rowing ForwardClaira In Her Paddle Boat

We got to the stadium closer to 10am so Nara and Claira had the pond to themselves for as long as they wanted.  Of course there arms aren't going to last forever but they did have a good time rowing around the indoor pool.  This year the boat show had a bouncy castle (size extra large, with an ocean theme!) so the kids went for jump in there too! 

Huddling Together On The Way Out
Super bonus this year, we got a slot on the free boat rides.  The boat rides are put on by a local sailing club and a boat rental firm.  The trip was a free run around false creek, roughly overlapping the course the water taxi's go.  There was no sales job, but the captain did answer questions about sailing and how to get on the water more.  For me it was more of test of if I or Nara would be sea sick.  Both of us passed with flying colours!


Stoic FacesGetting Ready To Take Photo Of Two BridgesNara Looking At Cement Plant
 
I do feel a bit guilty that I didn't look at a single boat, but I did get infected with an idea: "It's not how big your boat is, it's how often you use it".  Words I agree with.

Photowalk (Birding) at Stanley Park

There is a beaver house at Stanely Park and I really wanted to see a beaver.  The Stanley Park Ecological Society runs "Beaver" tours some evening but I figured I just do it myself - go out to the pond and wait for sunset.  Claira was napping, sunset is around 5pm, I took Nara and we went for a drive!  Our first stop was the lighthouse.  No beavers, but you do sometimes see interesting birds and behavior.

Male Common MerganserFemale Common Goldeneye
 
Male Bufflehead With Reeds Behind
Next up, Beaver Lake.    We parked, walked in and looked for a beaver.  Too early.  We watched the ducks (mostly Mallards and Wood Ducks) and spotted a single black and white male Bufflehead in the crowd.  So we waited and watched.  Nara had her snack and fed the ducks.  We waited some more.  Just as sunset getting strong, we noticed three eagles came in and got the ducks all excited.  We didn't see any strikes, but I did see an eagle land on log and take a drink of the lake.  The eagles perched in trees.  More waiting.   The sun set.  No beaver.  We went home for dinner.

Bald Eagle With Wet FeetMale Bufflehead In Sunset Light

Nara said she had a good time - she made a model of the beaver house with mud, rocks and sticks.  Maybe we will see a beaver another time.


 


Candycane Style Light Stands
Tags: lights, night, VanDusen
Nara In Ride In Car
Person: Nara
Tags: play gym
Claira In Her Paddle Boat
Person: Claira
Tags: boat, paddle boat, Vancouver Boat Show
Male Common Merganser
Species: Mergus merganser (Common Merganser)
Tags: bird, Stanley Park
Nara Looking At Cement Plant
Person: Nara
Altitude: 2m (6 feet)
Location: Go To...
Bridge Sticking Through Clouds
Location: Go To...
Tags: cloud, fog, sunrise, Vancouver
Stoic Faces
Nara Rowing Forward
Person: Nara
Tags: boat, paddle boat, Vancouver Boat Show
Getting Ready To Take Photo Of Two Bridges
Tags: photographer, Vancouver Boat Show
Nara Launching Kids Eating
Person: Nara
Close Inspection Of AString Of Lights
Person: Nara
Lit Up Lake Front
Tags: lights, night, VanDusen
Nara On APhoto Walk
Person: Nara
Nara And Claira In The Pool
Person: Nara
Tags: boat, paddle boat, Vancouver Boat Show
Bald Eagle With Wet Feet
Species: Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald Eagle)
Tags: bird, Stanley Park
Claira Trying To Catch Balloon
Person: Claira
Tags: balloon
Up Goes The Rocket
Person: Nara
Male Bufflehead With Reeds Behind
Species: Bucephala albeola (Bufflehead)
Tags: bird, Stanley Park
Barred Owl Over The Shoulder
Species: Strix varia (Barred Owl)
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Female Common Goldeneye
Species: Bucephala clangula (Common Goldeneye)
Tags: bird, Stanley Park
Nara And Claira With The Focus Trick
Person: Nara, Claira
Male Bufflehead In Sunset Light
Species: Bucephala albeola (Bufflehead)
Tags: bird, Stanley Park
Claira Picking Up Balloon
Person: Claira
Tags: balloon
Huddling Together On The Way Out
Person: Claira, Nara
Location: Go To...
Tags: bridge, Vancouver Boat Show
Claira Looking How Far She Threw Her Balloon
Person: Claira
Sun Rising Behind Baker
Location: Go To...
Tags: sunrise
Barred Owl With Talons
Species: Strix varia (Barred Owl)
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Claira Making Funny Faces
Person: Claira
Octopus Stole The Mermaids Bra
Tags: lights, night, VanDusen
Tags: bird(5), Stanley Park(5), Vancouver Boat Show(5), boat(3), sunrise(3), paddle boat(3)
People: Nara(10), Claira(7)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > January 2016

Leave a Comment

Some HTML allowed: <b>, <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>, but most isn't.  Text length is limited.  comments from first time authors will be reviewed before being posted. comments with swearing or painfully poor spelling will probably be rejected.


Last Modified Sunday, January 29th, 2023 at 12:12:16 Edit
Copyright and Contact Information.