Just Another Sunset in Victoria

It’s been over a month since my last post… I’m back at H&R Block setting up offices. These past couple weeks have been super hectic – working 10+ hours every day. I was pretty exhausted, but I’m glad all the offices are up and running now.

Last Friday was my first “slower” day so I decided to finish work early and go take some pictures because it’s been a long time. I was trying to figure where I could shoot a sunset. After a few minutes, the Gorge Rd Trestle came up to mind. It’s right by my place, so I got home, ditched all my stuff, grabbed my camera gear and headed out the door.

I’m still testing out this post-editing stuff… But the more I do it, the more I realize how much it enhances a picture. I really like seeing my progress as a photographer and how much it’s changed. It’s great! I’ve even included a HDR picture in there just for fun.

I hope you all enjoy these!

HDR – 10mm, F4.0, ISO 200

Christmas 2012 in Victoria

Finally getting into the Christmas spirit! My friend and I decided to go for a walk downtown to check out a few Christmasy things that happen in Victoria. It was a beautiful day in Victoria. It wasn’t very cold for a December day. So off we went! I love all the different lights around the place. Victoria definitely puts some effort into it.

First stop was to find free parking…. Soooo we ended up parking at Ogden Point and decided to take a stroll out on the breakwater. The sky was doing awesome things, and there was a pelican around the area which is rare around Victoria.

Next stop, gingerbread houses at the Laurel Point Inn. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this. We got there, and I was blown away! Wasn’t expecting the gingerbread houses to look that amazing! The people must have put so much time in making them. It was awesome! And it smelled amazing there!

The next one was one of my favs.

So much detail!

After the gingerbread houses, we walked over to the Empress Hotel to check out the Festival of Trees that they have every year. Pretty much a company goes in on a tree and they decorate a tree together.

Yes, that’s a really big gingerbread castle!

Mandatory reflection shot.

Afterwards, we just wandered/drove around town for a bit while taking a few pictures here and there.

And there you have it… A glimpse of what Victoria looks like during Christmas! Thought I would post a bunch more pictures because I haven’t been updating very often.. But hope you all have an awesome Christmas and New Years! Feel free to drop me a line any time!

Canada Day 2012

Hope you all had an awesome Canada Day! I stuck around Victoria and decided to hang out downtown. I love it here especially when big holidays like these happen – everyone is wearing red and white, downtown is packed with people, roads are closed so you can wander freely, live music, and so much more! It’s always a great time hanging out here on Canada Day. Here’s some proof:

Pretty good spots for watching the fireworks! Patiently waiting as the skies are getting darker.

I don’t know how every year, the fireworks get better and better. Maybe I just love fireworks, and how loud it is, the different colours, and the rumble you can feel in your chest. It almost seems magical. Can’t wait for next year’s fireworks display!

Butchart Gardens in June

Matt and I had annual passes to the Butchart Gardens. Throughout the year we kept saying “yeah! Let’s go to the gardens!” But we would either be really busy or we’d forget about it. Since our passes are nearing the expiry, we decided to finally go. Matt’s friend, Shane came along too. It was his first time at the gardens, and I think he had a good time!

The weather wasn’t the greatest, but it was great to us because:
a) cloudy days = great shooting conditions
b) not crazy busy

Here’s a shot from the lookout point in the middle of the gardens. It was awesome!

Some of the old equipment. The Butchart Gardens used to be a limestone quarry. It’s really hard to believe that it went from that to a beautiful garden.

Shane’s first carousel ride EVER. It was magical.

The venue where they have live concerts everyday during the summer.

What can I say? I love symmetry.

I also love reflection shots.

One of the few roses that are trying really hard to bloom. It’s still too early for 95% of the roses.

This next shot is near impossible to take on a nice day because usually it’d be filled with A LOT of people.

Japanese gardens!

Not sure what it is, but I really like this shot. Maybe because of the tree? The colours? I don’t know.

So here’s hoping I’ll be able to visit the gardens at night because that would be awesome! And maybe catch a fireworks show in the summer.

Week 51 of HDR Project: Christ Church Cathedral

Welcome to the second last week of my 52 week HDR project! This week I decided to check out the Christ Church Cathedral on Quadra St. I love the architecture of the building, and the inside is just beautiful! See for yourself.

PS. I LOVE symmetry

10mm, ISO 400, F4.5

10mm, ISO 400, F4.5

10mm, ISO 200, F9

10mm, ISO 200, F7.1

 

First Jewellery Photography Project

My brother came back home to Victoria for just over a month, and during that time he decided to help my parents update their website. They own a jewellery store downtown called Vanessa Jewellers. They do everything from repairing jewellery to designing your own jewellery. But anyways, my brother asked me to help take pictures for the website. So on January 7th, my brother and I went down to the store to take some pictures.

This was my first time doing this kind of photography. I have never used any lighting or anything before, so I was pretty curious as to how the day would pan out. It was definitely an interesting experience. For part of the shoot, we used a reflective black sheet of acrylic, and boy does that thing attract dust! And the camera picked up every piece of dust on the sheet too. So after a day of shooting, a lot of Photoshopping had to be done afterwards. I edited the pictures as quickly as I could so my brother would have some pictures to work with. A few weeks after the shoot, my brother put together the site and now it’s online! I must say I was really impressed how well it turned out.

Below is a glimpse of what the site looks like. So go ahead and click on the picture below to go to the site, or go to
http://www.vanessajeweller.com
. Any comments/feedback would be great!

Week 46 of HDR Project: Snow Day on Mt Tolmie

Once snow hits Victoria, all hell breaks loose. I drove my car to work, and once I got there, I thought to myself, “I should have stayed home”… So after an hour or so into the work day, I decided that it’d be best to try and get my car back home and get my co-worker to drive around town because he has a truck. I got stuck on my hill, so it took two people to push it up (THANK YOU!). Afterwards, we went up to Mt Tolmie for lunch. It was a great view because the whole city was covered in snow, and there were barely anyone at the top of the mountain.

10mm, ISO 200, F10

10mm, ISO 100, F6.3

Hope you all drive safely out there! Don’t be a douche!

Week 45 of HDR Project: Victoria Library

It’s been a while since I’ve been into this library (Victoria downtown branch). But I still remember going here when I was a kid. They’ve done a bunch of upgrading to the insides, but the courtyard…. It’s still the same which is pretty awesome. There’s this cool metal sculpture by George Norris in the middle of the courtyard. I’ve only seen this thing rotate once or twice in my life. Besides the sculpture, the acoustics are pretty cool. One day I’d love to record something in there. Once in a while you will see a musician playing music here. It’s great!

10mm, ISO 200, F4

10mm, ISO 200, F8

Week 35 of HDR Project: More Fall Pictures

It’s Fall, and the leaves are changing colours. Too bad a lot of trees in Victoria are coniferous, so it was really hard to find a place where there’s lots of colour. Matty and I drove around the back roads and found a few spots. This is Fall in Victoria.

11mm, ISO 400, F8

11mm, ISO 400, F6.3

Random Pieces Here And There…

I’ve been taking a few pictures here and there, but never have enough for a full post. So I’ve decided to just wait until I have a decent amount of pictures before posting. So I guess here they are:

When I went to Beacon Hill Park one day, I went to the petting zoo. When I walked up to the peacock, he opened up his feathers! It was absolutely beautiful

Went to Patricia Bay to do some shooting as well. I really like it when clouds do cool things. I also enjoy shooting pictures with my Sigma 10-20mm. I LOVE to play around with space :)

The next pic is a mural I’ve driven past a bunch of times. I keep telling myself I need to take a picture of it… After a few weeks, I’ve decided it was time. I really like the artwork and the style

The last few pics were taken from today. I’ve noticed for a while now that there’s this ring around the sun. But today there was a ring AND another rainbow thinger just above it. Could anyone explain the ring and/or the other thing?

Today was such a beautiful day! Summer is close!! Then I’ll be out and about more often with my camera! :D