A Favorite View

Here's a view to which I often return, downtown Victoria as seen from Songhees Point. Here we are looking at the oldest part of Victoria, where the original Fort Victoria was built and where the oldest extant buildings still line Wharf Street. It's a picturesque view that encapsulates much of our history.

A Learning Experience

Photography is a fascinating hobby. I've taken several hundred thousand photos over the last 5 or 6 years and I am still learning more about the art every day. I mentioned last week that I have been experimenting with Pentax Takumar "legacy" lenses. They are called "legacy" because they are left over from the days of film cameras. Most of the Takumar lenses I have are 40 to 50 years old. Fortunately their metal and glass construction ages well. They mostly come from the time before autofocus and autoexposure so they are nearly fully manual - not quite in that although I set the aperture and focus manually, I am happy to let my camera choose an appropriate shutter speed. Lately I've been experimenting with de-focused backgrounds, mostly using these Takumar Lenses. This technique is widely used by photographers to isolate and accentuate the subject of the photo - particularly portraits. I can't say as I've got it under control yet but here are a few examples of the technique.

West Bay Marina Float-Homes

There are two locations in Greater Victoria where houseboats are moored. One is Fisherman's Wharf - a main tourist destination in James Bay. Houseboats there tend to be a bit funky and relaxed and tourists and locals are free to wander the "streets" and gawk at the romantic dwellings. The second location is West Bay Marina, pictured above. The tone here is decidedly different, much more up-market. This is NOT a tourist destination - in fact the owners protect their privacy with locked entrances to the wharves. However, it is still possible to walk around the edges and enjoy the wonderful shapes and colors of these float-homes.

Light and Dark

When the sun hits the wet pavement the reflected light is intense. - Fern

Westsong Walkway

Here's a little different view of the Westsong Walkway that goes from Vic West to Songhees Point (just off screen to the right). This photo was taken from the RV Campground on Work Point.