WHISTER SKIING 2016
Whistler in March. After four years of no fresh snow in January, Alice and I decided to give March a try. Our long weekend in February provided the proverbial mother load of snowfalls, over 60 cm in 48 hours. Hope abounds!
Over the years, Whistler has quite literally become a second home for us. I'm sure that we have not visited anywhere in the world as frequently as we have Whistler. And now that Maximillian is living just "down the street", the visits are piling up.... four times since last September.
Other than wanting to visit our son as frequently as possible, what is the magic that Whistler has over my soul? For years we would take the bus from Vancouver to Whistler; winding its way up the Sky to Sea Highway. It was a yearly ritual that filled my heart with joy. The bus would make its long slow trek north; it became a bookmark for our yearly pilgrimage.
Other than wanting to visit our son as frequently as possible, what is the magic that Whistler has over my soul? For years we would take the bus from Vancouver to Whistler; winding its way up the Sky to Sea Highway. It was a yearly ritual that filled my heart with joy. The bus would make its long slow trek north; it became a bookmark for our yearly pilgrimage.
This is a journey of epic beauty. With my headphones on, listening to something on my iPhone that would take my mind to the place where my skiing dreams reside. I can only describe this journey as my own personal "happy place". The years where snow filled the treetops were the very best; promising days of skiing bliss ahead
In recent visits our journey has now included a Hertz rental car, not a bus ride. If we could only figure out how to get Bluetooth to work in the rental car I'd have the chance to play two of my epic Whistler travelling CD's; Josh Rouse's 1972 and Nashville. I've asked myself "why Josh Rouse?" and frankly, I've no idea. It just came to be. Some things in life you just have to accept.
In recent visits our journey has now included a Hertz rental car, not a bus ride. If we could only figure out how to get Bluetooth to work in the rental car I'd have the chance to play two of my epic Whistler travelling CD's; Josh Rouse's 1972 and Nashville. I've asked myself "why Josh Rouse?" and frankly, I've no idea. It just came to be. Some things in life you just have to accept.
In recent visits our journey has now included a Hertz rental car, not a bus ride. If we could only figure out how to get Bluetooth to work in the rental car I'd have the chance to play two of my epic Whistler travelling CD's; Josh Rouse's 1972 and Nashville. I've asked myself "why Josh Rouse?" and frankly, I've no idea. It just came to be. Some things in life you just have to accept.
The latest chapter in our Whistler tale was one of the very best. Lots and lots of snow, some crazy weather that covered just about everything from fresh snow, hail, rain, clouds, sunshine, Maximillian being with us and of course our wonderful friends from Whistler, Melbourne and Manchester who we get to see far too infrequently.
The skiing season is now officially over for us, all we have left are the memories, some pictures and a fast fading whistler wind burn that will soon disappear. Until next year folks.
SHOT WITH FUJI X100T + IPHONE 6
BANG POWERLIFTING
This was my first ever power lifting meet. It wasn't really on my radar to attend but I bumped into Meg at Hooked yesterday in Kensington Market and her and Barbara my sister-in-law were chatting about it. Meg was in the meet and what the heck, it seemed like a good way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday morning.
I arrived around 10:30 and the event was well under way. An energetic crowd was gathered around one of the big contraptions used for dead lifting. Early morning power squats were on the menu. Not for the first time was I grateful that I was a spectator on this day and not competing. Those were some crazy heavy weights
The meet included folks from Bang Fitness's power lifting team - a group I know little about other then their names are written on the blackboard with their weekly best lifts and a I believe at least one and maybe more gyms from the Toronto area. I noticed some of the participants had the same t. shirt "uniform". They get extra point for that.
As usual I felt a little self conscious walking around with a camera, but after a while I realized the focus is on the participants and I felt comfortable going where I wanted and taking whatever pictures I wanted. This was really a fantastic opportunity and I wanted to make the best of it. I did want to take some pictures with a telephoto angle but I realized as soon as I left the house this morning that the zoom lens in my bag was actually my 14mm wide angle lens. Oops. Lesson learned. I did take a bunch of images the last 1/2 hour with it and I actually really like the perspective the wide angle gave.
All in all it was a terrific couple of hours. I hadn't really thought anything about the power lifting club at Bang before but I can see it can be an addictive sport. It's like a whole sub culture behind the scenes. The nice thing is everyone is rooting for each other, there's a great amount of camaraderie and I think it must be a great way to measure your progress. And no one was happier after a good lift, or consoling or offering a bit of advise after a failed lift then Paul Hynes the power lifting coach. Good one Paul.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-E2, XF14MM F2.8, XF35MM F1.4
COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR
Saturday, February 13, 2016 was indeed a very cold day. The car's digital temperature readout said -25ºC but it felt more like -35ºC. Not that I know what -35ºC feels like but really, after a certain point it hardly matters. It was cold. Very very cold.
The day before I had a training session with Patrick Laroque, one of the most talented photographers in Canada, perhaps the world. He's also one of a small group of people who are official Fuji X-Photographers; ambassadors for the Fuji X series of cameras. Patrick is helping me to become a better photographer, to "see" better and to try to make something of my limited skills.
I've recently started getting assignments from Patrick. This week, lucky me, was the theme of Winter. Patrick asked me to find the art in winter. I knew where the temperature was going and figured this was the needed jolt to get me out of my comfort zone and out with my camera on a day where it would normally be safely tucked away in the warmth of my house.
So here's the thing I learned, the Fuji cameras are made mostly out of magnesium dies cast bodies. This is a wonderful, light metal that is very strong. It also gets unbelievably cold in these conditions. After 10 minutes it's like carrying a solid piece of ice.
So my early morning walk didn't last too long. About 15 minutes tops. But it was a beautiful start to the day. Later we would all venture to Kensington market for our weekly shopping. Everyone was seriously bundled up for the task. We Canadians are a hearty bunch. No need to let a little arctic chill ruin our day.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-E2
BERLIN + HAMBURG
We visited Berlin & Hamburg in December/January 2015/2016. It's now August 2017 as I'm writing this. The memories from this trip are still vivid. This is the great gift of photography, in an instant you can be taken back to another time and place.
As I'm rummaging through these I know I would process them differently today; quite a bit differently. But I'm reluctant to make any changes. It's like time stamping, once it's done it's done. 2-1/2 years later I'm very happy with the images in this post.
Berlin is a great, fun city to hang out in, notwithstanding the sobering visit to Sachsenhausen, the infamous concentration camp outside of Berlin. I think I would have preferred a warmer time of year but in some ways it was perfect. Our trip to Hamburg was capped with a visit with my old friend Shane who I hadn't seen in many years. We're both quite a bit greyer then the last time we met, but time has stood still in many ways and the sign of a true long lasting relationship is one where the conversation flows as easily as the day we met.
SHOT WITH FUJI X100T
