Shoal Point Decorative Motifs

One of the things I like about old buildings is that often they have details whose only purpose is to delight the eye. Modern buildings are generally well finished but lack those decorative little grace notes on the corners and edges. The condominium development at Shoal Point in James Bay is a fine exception to this as can be seen in this selection of images from the decorative cement work there.

This condo is directly across the harbour from where I live so it has inevitably appeared in some other postings, here and here. If you want to live in Shoal Point you must be pretty well-heeled. There is currently a one bedroom for sale at $479,000. (Actually not as expensive as I had imagined.)

Not everybody likes this building. Click here for a another point of view.

Shoal Point Condominium

I've posted other photos of the Shoal Point Condominium in the past but usually as it is seen from the Inner Harbor. Here's what it looks like from the other side. This is one of those buildings that people either love or hate. I wish all our condominiums had so much eye appeal.

Best of February - Shoal Point at Dawn (February 2013)

Sunrise and sunset are great times for photographers. Unfortunately they also tend to be cold times so I miss out on a lot of good photos. However, occasionally I do get out early and am almost always rewarded by photos such as the one above. This was taken looking towards Shoal Point from the Songhees Walkway below Rainbow Park.

From Songhees Point - 2

Yesterday's post was a photo looking eastwards from Songhees Point. Above is the view looking westwards. The large building is the Shoal Point Condominium complex.

Westsong Walkway Revisited

We finally arrived at summer this last week, with genuinely hot and sunny days. Here's another favorite view of mine, taken from above the Westsong Walkway looking across the harbor towards Shoal Point. I've posted photos taken from this spot before but I like this one particularly because it has one of those lovely great cruise ships in it, visible at its Ogden Point berth. You can also see a whale-watching excursion boat (small and yellow) in the right center of the photo, another characteristic of summer in Victoria.

Victoria Clipper

While I have indicated the Victoria Clipper in other photos, I have not featured it in the past so here is a photo that shows one of the Clippers entering the Inner Harbour. That's Shoal Point on the left and Work Point on the right. The Clippers are high speed catamarans that carry passengers between Seattle and Victoria. I traveled down to Seattle last August on one and I recommend it highly. It takes about 3 hours to make the trip, depending on the weather.

Dawn II

Yesterday's photo was taken from Songhees Point, one end of the Westsong Walkway, the other end of which is Westbay Marina in Esquimalt. Today's photo was taken from the same place at the same time but facing more westerly towards the houseboats and fishing boats of Fisherman's Wharf. That's the Shoal Point Condominium in the background.

Morning Fog

Fog rolled in from the Strait of Juan de Fuca this morning and obscured Shoal Point and James Bay. This photo was taken about an hour ago from the viewpoint in front of the Swallows Landing condominiums above the West Bay Walkway.

Shoal Point at Dawn

Shoal Point Revisited

Here's a view we've seen before, in part because it is very close to where my street meets the shoreline, but also because I like it. It often ends up as the "test" shot when I want a sunrise picture because I find it difficult to get out of the house when it is still dark. Consequently, the earliest sunrise pictures I have are almost all taken from this spot. What I was particularly interested in here was how multiple polarized filters (2) affected the dawn colors.

Shoal Point

After looking at some recent photos here a commenter asked if the sun ever shines in Victoria. January has been a very gray and cloudy month but the sun has come out a few times and given us some glorious sunsets.

Shoal Point at Sunrise

Here's another shot taken yesterday early in the morning. This is a 30 second exposure.

Love? or War? or Simple Propinquity?

It's lichen time of year!

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I am in some distress this morning since Blogger has apparently arbitrarily decided to change its interpretation of photo resizing so that the procedures I normally use to post photos here no longer work. What's worse is that the changes they have made are retroactive, meaning that most of the photos I've posted for the last three or four years now look like they were shot using the bottom of a coke bottle for a lens. Take a look at yesterday's photo of Shoal Point which I posted partially because I was pleased with what a sharp, clear image it was. Click on it to see the larger version and you will see how crisp it is compared to the murky version Blogger is now producing for the default image. Well, I'm looking (and have asked Blogger) for a solution to this but it doesn't look good.... (Today's photo is posted using Blogger's new method and it looks OK. My main concern is the last 1000 photos I've posted here that all now look terrible.)

Telephoto Fun

This city has a nice location lying at the foot of the towering peaks of....Just a minute there buddy, this is Victoria. See the red roof and spires of Craigdarroch castle on the right and the Shoal Point Condominium on the left. (Click the photo to see a larger version.) Where did that humongous mountain come from? The photo was taken from Albert Head Lagoon Regional Park using a 300 mm telephoto lens. The vast peak in the background, while it is occasionally visible from the city, is never so large as it appears in this photo. Its immensity is because of the foreshortening effect of telephoto lenses. The further away something is the more it is enlarged in proportion to closer objects. The mountain is Mount Baker in Washington State, about 130 kilometers (85 miles) distant from where I took this photo.

Vic West Sunrise

Once again, while the rest of you were still drooling into your duvets I was early-birding it before sunrise to bring you this morning's fresh photos. Actually, the doctor has ordered more exercise so I went for a walk early to get it over with and discovered all sorts of lovely things I have not shown you before. This sculpture is part of a beach installation by Rich Rico. That's the Shoal Point condominium in the background there, with Fisherman's Wharf just to the left of it. Below is a video of Rich Rico that shows a bit more of his beach creation.

Shoal Point

Here's another archival shot from January 2010. This was my early exploration of long time exposures - this one was a 30 second exposure in the pre-dawn darkness. At the time I was quite pleased with the result and now, from a distance of 7 years, I still like this photo.

In the Mist

These foggy, misty shots continue to interest me - what I like about this one is the diminishing contrast as the eye moves from the foreground to the background and the way the Shoal Point Condominium seems to float or hover in the background.

Wintry

Well, our snow is all gone this morning but winter's not relaxing its grip much. Here's a view from the West Bay Walkway looking towards Fisherman's Wharf and some of the resort hotels near Shoal Point.