Raging Waters

The title of this post is from a thrash tune by the band called "Testament". Part of the song's lyrics go:

"Our ship sailed on through the violence-bearing sea

Not knowing of the danger waiting there in store for me
We wound up all in mayhem, the vessel tossed and turned
The compass that had led us, we watched it slowly burn"

This guy is definately brave to be in such a small craft in waters such as these.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I know I shouldn't laugh at this, but everytime I see this picture, I start snickering at what might be going through this woman's head.

I can think of a number of things, none of them are family friendly to publish, however, which only leads my mind further along and I start laughing uncontrollably.

This Is Not A Submarine

Everytime these guys went under, I wanted to rush out there and help right them, but just as I was getting ready to put down the camera, they'd pop up like a cork.

I swear, the things people do for fun! ;-)

Down We Go!

Here, for example, is the aforementioned crazy (or possibly very brave) kayaker doing an intentional dive into the rapids. Although it's not pictured, he went upside down in just a few seconds, to be carried away by the river, only to upright himself and repeat the process.

I imagine he does this for fun, much like birds that swoop down in front of cars, and not because he's barking mad.

The Lazy Days of Summer

Birds singing, children laughing, crazy kayakers taking on the rapids, all the usual things you find on a hot summer day.

Down by where I work is the main river bisecting the city, yesterday I went down there to catch the long shadows playing over the water and hoping to catch something of interest.

And behold! A group of kayakers came screaming through the waves, practicing flips and turns and navigating the rocks.

I wish I had a sharper lens (I accept paypal!) but it will do for now.

Statically in Motion

This image isn't PhotoShopped, it's taken with a slow shutter speed (1/50th of a second). What you have here is one butterly sitting quietly on a leaf (no doubt the male) while another bounces frantically around (most likely the female) complaining they will be late for the sale at Macy's.

Intelligence

Entomologists claim that butterflies are highly intelligent, despite (or in spite of?) their fragility. This picture perfectly illustrates this, as you can plainly see the butterfly is reading a cookbook, no doubt entitled "How to Serve Man"

Cyclobe

Cyclobe = meaning one tailed butterfly. Well in my mind anyway. Ok so that word play didn't work....

...Ok, so, moving on-

A local botanical gardens is hosting a butterfly exhibit where they fly around freely in a large section of the main building. An airlock lets you in an out (and prevents them escaping into the world to mete out unimaginable horrors, ok well not really, I don't think they've got any plans to breed Mothra anytime soon) and beyond that, you can stay as long as you want (or can stand the heat inside a greenhouse, and regular misting anyway). No backpacks so I stuck with my 50mm dedicated Macro on my Nikon D1x.

Somewhere Different

A different location in downtown. I think it says "Lemonade", and before you ask, no, I've no idea what the artist was trying to say, or represent. Alien Greys would be my guess, but don't quote me on that.

Lips, Incorporated

Same area, same wall (it was a big wall) and a bright spot in an otherwise dull downtown. I guess I shouldn't say dull, just too familiar , as I work downtown and tend to overlook the details whle I'm down there.

I'm pretty sure the artist wasn't the same as the other images, but nothing was signed, and the styles looked different enough. But I could easily be wrong.

Eye See You

Ok, another bad pun. What can I say? I'm on a roll. Same area as the last one. I'm not sure what this is, but I'd like to have it on my wall in my living room.

Bird's Eye View of Things

Ok so that was a bad pun, sorry about that. Went walking around town this morning, as a photoshoot I'd had lined up fell through. One of the places I'd been before (see Richmond By Night elsewhere in this journal) has undergone a "makeover". The next three pics I'm going to post, are examples of this. Judging from the quality of the street art, it was sanctioned by the city, which I approve of, as the area was just one of many doing nothing but being dead space.

More Friends!

A dear friend and local artist that I have colaborated with has set up her journal as well. I encourage all my visitors to drop by her place and say Hi!
http://heartsongstudios.blogspot.com/

Into the Storm

On Sunday, I went to a Flying Circus show. Great fun was had watching WW1-era biplanes swoop and loop and buzz around.

I was using my longest, sharp lens, a Tamron (eh, what an I say, I'm broke) 28-200mm at maximm length. I was initially concerned I'd not have enough reach and have to do a lot of cropping, but I am happy to say I didn't have to do that.

During the event, a storm swept in and although it skirted by, it did present some excellent background, as you can see here.

Animals

On the same farm was a foal in care of its mother. Being respectful of the area, I waited for one of them to look at me. Taken with my favourite lens, the versatile 17-35mm.

Afternoon sun, Nikon D1x.

A Return to Form

I haven't been shooting much in the way of landscapes lately, I've been doing my people practice. But this weekend I went horseback riding and the area was too good to pass up.

It helped, of course that the "golden light" was nearly upon me, so I waited a few, and here is the end result.

It reminded me why I liked shooting landscapes so much, it's very peaceful to look at.