Worth a Second Look 7

Here's another of my favorite photos, from August 2011. I think my original remarks on this photo are still the best caption:

As adults we often forget that "play" can be deeply serious and satisfying. It's not only running and jumping and giggling, important though those are. Play may involve deep concentration that is a kind of practice for the most important work we will do later in our lives. One of the most fascinating aspects of beach-watching is to see how often this environment induces this profound level of contemplation and purposeful activity in children.

Worth a Second Look - 4

I've taken many photos of these huge floating hotels while they are moored at Ogden Point or entering or leaving the harbor but I think this is my favorite. I took it in May 2011. There was lots of snow on the Olympic Peninsula mountains that year. I like the contrast between the bright mountains in the background and the dark rocks of Work Point in the foreground and the way these two features frame the huge ship.

Bokeh

I mentioned in a previous post the term "bokeh". For the non-photographers among visitors to this site, "bokeh" refers to the out-of-focus areas in a photograph, the blurry areas. I like nice crisp images but lately I've begun to appreciate the blurry parts of the photo as well. Different lenses produce different kinds of blur, some more pleasing than others. One of the reasons I like this Helios lens I've been using lately is because of the bokeh it produces. In today's photo I've thrown caution to the winds and used bokeh to more accurately express the experience of a hot summer afternoon in the Italian Garden at Hatley Castle, the way one is thrust into an overpowering profusion of shapes and colors. Wikipedia has a good article on bokeh HERE.

Karen Hough

Karen Hough is a veteran busker on the causeway I first photographed in 2009. I've not featured her since because she generally only appears in the evening and I usually visit the causeway in the afternoon. I was happy to sit and listen to her on the weekend because her repertoire and sound is such a refreshing change from most other buskers. The sweet and mellow tone of her French Horn really adds something to Broadway classic tunes such as South Pacific's "Bali Hai". She plays classical music as well as popular and it's always a pleasure to see and hear her.

Special Tree

I've confessed to my favorite wildflower so, while I've not thought about it much, I suspect the Garry Oaks that are so distinctive a part of this place are my favorite trees. They are so wonderfully and irrationally gnarled. And, whenever I go to Highrock Park I always end up pausing when I see this particular oak. There's something about how it grips the rock it grows out of and how it is always silhouetted against the sky that makes me stop and appreciate it.

Savannah Sparrow

Sparrows are probably our most common local bird. There's lots of different kinds of sparrows and they have a large urban presence. While not flashy, they have their modest charms and this Savannah Sparrow, taking a rest from the wind on the West Bay Walkway one day caught my eye and resulted in a photo that remains one of my all-time favorite bird photos.

Moss 2

This is a different kind of moss from that posted yesterday but it is also very common though more likely to be found on fallen trees as it is pictured here.

Figures in a Landscape

When I lived in West Africa I was always interested in local people's reactions to my photos of Canada and my family and friends there. Striking photos of the Rocky Mountains, the wide prairies, and emerald green lakes would be thumbed through without a glance unless there were some people visible. Then I would be asked who those people were and what they were doing.They were not interested in scenery at all unless it had some people in it and then they were only interested in the people. For me that marked a very significant difference between West Africans and Canadians. West Africans were much more interested in people. Years later, I noticed in traditional Chinese landscapes, those ones of misty crags and winding trails, there are almost always a few small human figures visible somewhere. I know it's a subject that has been much discussed by graphic artists and I am not likely to add anything new or profound to the discussion. All I want to say is that I too like small figures somewhere in a landscape if possible. As well as adding scale, they add meaning to the picture just by their presence. This photo is also intended to give a glimpse into our weather lately. Though the sun often breaks through and lets me take a few bright pictures, we've mostly been getting windy, rainy days like this. Yes, it's definitely spring but as the saying is "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." We haven't got to the lamb part yet.