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.

Macaulay Point Sunset

Fleming Beach

Fleming beach is a small cove on the western side of Macaulay Point. It is protected by a breakwater and the small docks are used by sport fishermen.

Macaulay Point Sunset

I want to start using what photographers call the golden hour just before and after sunset and sunrise. I just came in from Macaulay Point in Esquimalt where I took the photo above. Here we are looking south towards the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula in neighboring Washington State, USA.

Evening Walk

I went out to take some photos today but it was so cold I just turned around and came home. So, here's another from the archives, almost exactly 5 years ago this week. It's one of my favorites and was a part of a calendar a few years ago.

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

The Everything Photo

I have a bad photography habit that I am trying to curb - I usually try to get everything into one shot, as in the photo above. Note the nifty period lamp and the hanging flower baskets, the Legislative Assembly Buildings, the Inner Harbour Lower Causeway, The Inner Harbour crowded with the boats of the currently running Classic Boat Show. And those are just the main items - there's other things there to distract your attention too. I suspect this habit harks back to the days of film when taking photos was an expensive activity and one naturally strove to get as much into each photo as possible. I've made rules for myself such as there should only be a single subject for each photo, and I try to follow them. But still when I come home from a day's photography I always find at least a few of the "everything" photo. It's a hard habit to break.

Night Market - The View

As well as music, the night market on Ship Point Pier has all sorts of crafts and arts for sale and services like massage too, but whether you buy anything or not, while you browse you can enjoy the view. It always looks pretty good but is especially magical just as the sun goes down and the lights on the legislature begin to twinkle.

Dusk

The days are getting shorter (sigh...) but the light is so beautiful at the end of these hot August days that it's okay. - Fern

Subtle Sunset

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

West Bay Sunset

Those of us who live here are very appreciative of our clean, clear air. We sre seldom bothered with any kind of smog or air pollution. However, one result of that is that we do not very often have those spectacular dramatic sunsets and sunrises that are experienced elsewhere. So, I was particularly pleased to be out on the West Bay Walkway yesterday evening when this colorful sunset took place.

Best of 2015 - 2

Here's a favorite photo from June of this year.

Looking West...

...towards the Metchosin Hills. Saxe Point Park sunset.

Sunset at Fisherman's Wharf

Houseboats and pleasure craft catch the last rays of the sun at Fisherman's Wharf.

Sunset on the Inner Harbour Causeway

Victoria is usually sunny and warm during the daytime in summer but evenings are generally cool enough to require a sweater or light jacket (unless you're a teenager). Nevertheless, every summer there are a few evenings when it's warm enough after sunset to tempt me out. Usually they occur in July or August but Saturday night was an exception. It was hot all day and the heat lingered on past sunset. In the above photo the Legislature is just catching the last rays of the setting sun. The photo below is the view with just a slight turn to the right. Victoria's hanging flower baskets are in peak performance mode.

Fleming Beach Sunset

There is a small bay on the western side of Macaulay Point. It is called Fleming Beach. Its breakwater provides a sheltered mooring for sport fishermen and a great place to enjoy the sunset.

Saxe Point from Fleming Breakwater

The Saxe Point panorama posted last week shows a few of the houses facing Saxe Point Park. Above are a few more such houses further around the same point pictured in the panorama. I always enjoy the contrast these houses provide to their rocky location.

Sunset

Autumn's changeable weather often results in sunsets more dramatic than usual in Victoria. Here's one looking over the Inner Harbour towards Songhees Point.

Just Because

"Taking pictures is savoring life intensely every hundredth of a second." - Mark Riboud

Red-letter Day

A couple of days ago Fern and I went to Macaulay Point at sunset to capture the full moon rising over the city. Unfortunately the rising full moon was hidden by a low bank of cloud. Nevertheless, the sunset was dramatic enough to make the trip worthwhile. But what really made the day for me was the little dim, blurry photo to the right, taken after sunset. It's not a clear photo but it's clear enough to enable identification of a bird that is new to me. This is an adult male Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata). Despite the poor quality of the photo the distinctive head markings identify this bird clearly. When even the Surf Scoter was no longer visible I turned the camera to the skyline to capture the lighted dome of the Legislative Assembly Building towering above the houses of James Bay.