Sunset Skyline

The reason I was out on Macaulay Point a few evenings ago was not to catch the sunset, although it is a good place to do that, but to catch that big harvest moon we had a few nights ago. I wanted to photograph it rising over the city,somewhere near the center of the photo above. As you can see, it's not there. I'll explain why in Monday's post.

Old Town From Songhees Point

I went down to Songhees Point a few days ago to try out a new time-lapse photography capability. This is one of my favorite views of the old town and it is also a very busy part of the harbour. We are looking across the harbour towards Wharf Street. The time lapse worked well but is a little too fast so I need to do it again before I share it with you. In the meantime, here is a still photo I took at the same time.

Help!

Every year I put together a calendar for friends and family, of photos I have published on this blog for the last year or so. However, it's always difficult to make decisions about which photos to use. I sam hoping visitors to this blog will help out. Every day for the next few weeks I will publish two or three photos from a given month and hope that comments and choices made by visitors will help me make a final decision which photos to use in this year's calendar. As an incentive, I will offer an online downloadable/printable file of the calendar to anyone who helps me make a choice. Below are my favorite January 2016 photos: Which one do you prefer?
Snowdrops

Skyline

Sunset

Subtle Sunset

I am enjoying these subtle sunset colors because they look so warm in comparison with daylight's grays and dark greens.

Twilight

On the same evening as yesterday's photo here is what the city skyline looked like after that glorious sunset.

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

I am resisting buying a rain protector for my camera but the rain has been so persistent these days it is difficult to take photos for fear of drowning the equipment. Oh well, we're only a few days away from the winter solstice on the 21st, an important milestone for me. I always feel a sense of relief when we are heading back to warmer weather, moving closer to the sun every day. Although the weather won't likely improve appreciably until March, after the solstice it seems like we are on the downhill run to spring.

Autumn Sunset

September was summery but With the advent of October it became clear that autumn has arrived. The air is thinner and the wind is cold and blustery. One is surprised by long shadows in what seems like mid-afternoon. Here Victoria's downtown catches the last slanting rays of the setting sun. This is the view from Songhees Point.

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.

Skyline

All that rain we had in January has done a good job of washing the air clean so that when the sun comes out now everything looks crisp and shiny like it's brand new. This shot of Victoria's modest skyline was taken a few days ago from the West Bay Walkway in Esquimalt.The ducks in the foreground are Buffleheads.

Pre-Spring

Lately the weather has been in a mode that seems to be very characteristic of Victoria. It is cloudy and dark in the morning, perhaps with a bit of rain and wind. Then around noon it blows clear and the sun comes out and it evolves into a splendid afternoon. This has been the pattern the last week or so and it makes for very clean, clear air. The sun is still so low that there are stark shadows but there is more color in the environment and that plus the bit of added warmth this week makes it seem like spring is just around the corner. This photo was taken from the West Bay Walkway near Sailor's Cove.

Skyline

Our weather has warmed up for the last few days with the return of the damp gray skies. Here's a shot from earlier this week when the sun was shining. This was taken near Songhees Point (that's the rocky point on the left) on New Year's day. Lots of Victorians were out walking around enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

Telephoto Fun

Lately I've been enjoying my longest telephoto lens. It's a 500mm reflex lens and is most useful for birds. Yesterday's posted photo of the Hooded Mergansers was taken with this lens. These birds were so far out in the water that with the naked eye I could do little more than guess at their identity. Yet thanks to modern technology I was able to capture the relatively sharp image I posted. Today's photos were both taken with the same super telephoto lens and I selected them to show the kind of distortion that comes about with long lenses like this. In the photo above, of course, the sun is about 10 times bigger than it appears in reality. It's a great effect- it makes it look like a blistering hot morning in mid-summer instead of a cold autumn sunrise. The photo below is more of a curiosity for locals to consider. In the foreground is the shoreline from Saxe Point (on the left) to Macaulay Point (on the right) with Fleming Beach and Buxton Green closer to the middle on the right. Where it starts to get weird is what's further back - many of Victoria's trademark buildings in apparently odd locations and looking larger and closer than seems possible. If you look carefully you can see Craigdarroch Castle, the Rocklands water tower, Christchurch Cathedral, the Empress Hotel, the Legislative Assembly Buildings, the Sussex Building and others.

Sunrise Over the City

A short walk east from where I took yesterday's photo, Sailor's Cove widens out into the broader reaches of the Inner Harbour and provides this view of Victoria's downtown. One commenter yesterday mentioned the fog that came down later in the day. At dawn this fog was little more than a low-lying cloud but it provided enough interference for the sun's rays to allow this photo of the sun as it crept above the city skyline.

Swallow's Landing

I am happy to share with you today my new favorite view of the Victoria Skyline. This is taken from the terrace of a pair of condominiums called "Swallow's Landing," overlooking the Matson Conservation Area along the West Bay Walkway. I'll tell you a little about this project tomorrow. For those of you who might be interested in yesterday's seal pup, he was there again today and I was a little better prepared with an 80-200mm zoom lens. Some of the people using the walkway are concerned that he is sick or wounded when they see him lying on the cement like this. Wikipedia, however, assures us that when not hunting or feeding, harbour seals like to pull themselves out of the water and rest on convenient rocks. To me he looks very happy and healthy and it is a treat to see him dropping off to sleep, losing his balance and snapping awake again.

Almost

This view of Victoria from the top of Cairn Park is our most city-like skyline. From here, Victoria almost looks like a real city, though its skyline is still quite modest. I think there's actually a city bylaw that is supposed to prevent buildings taller than about 20 stories...perhaps one of my more knowledgeable visitors will correct me....

Nice Clouds

Yesterday's fog has blown away and left us this beautifully clear air and these lovely puffy cotton wool clouds.

Skyline

I've been avoiding posting any photos of Victoria's skyline because it doesn't really have a big city skyline, I guess because it isn't a big city. However, I think this skyline (which includes most of downtown) is actually quite a nice eclectic architectural mix.