Red Bull Soap Box

The Red Bull Soap Box Derby was here but is now gone. The crowds at the event made me wish that I had left earlier to watch man's attempt at art and speed burn down the a hill in Kitsilano. The course contained a hill, for momentum, a jump for air and style points, and cross over section, for hair raising crashes. I also wanted to test out how fast camera could react to said hair raising speed.Ok now that I have talked this event up there were not any crashes that I saw as I was half way up the hill. The Jump acted more as speed bump creating possibly 1-2 inches of air. Although there was on crash that involved a turkey racer which was caused from inexperience at the wheel or the driver possibly eating the shell of the vehicle as the smell of paint fumes and sun surprisingly smell like turkey. In retrospect I do not know if paint fumes and sun smell like turkey it is just a leap with in my imagination.


Here are some photo's of the day's events:

Jon Lenin: living in a submarine.

Celebrity sighting (maybe not): Gordon Campbell shows how he beats the carbon tax

The Shark: this soapbox racer was the well done and carried alot of speed, probably added weight in the nose i.e. Cool Runnings. But there was nothing cool about this race as the Great white shark racer won hands down.

The closest race of the day:

All in all I enjoyed my afternoon in the sun but left feeling that the soapbox races were a hyped up to be something that they were not. Overall my goal was to see how fast my camera could react and found out that about 3 frames a second is not that fast and that timing is everything. But hey it was beautiful afternoon to shoot some photo's which beat sitting inside and watching reruns of the sitcoms of years past.

Deep Cove Hike

This hike is perfect for a picnic on a glorious sunny day. The local of the hike is in the sleepy town of Deep Cove which is located East of the City of North Vancouver. The hike is located on the Baden Powell trail. This section of the Baden-Powell trail if continued on will take you on a trek to Lynn Canyon, Which is much longer and,according to the information I have read, is rated between moderate and difficult. The length of the hike that my wife and I did was just over 1km and was a good work out. There were alot of people on the trail a majority running it which was border line insane if you are not in peak physical condition. The trail was well maintained with markers every five steps it seemed. For sections that were too steep for a trail stairs are in place. Below in the graph is a representation of the trail, not completely accurate as I used my GPS for elevation. The elevation gain is about 100m which may not seem like much but 100m of 1100m which works out to a 9-10% grade as generalization of the hike.

Graph: Trail Representation


There are also 5-6 bridges which you cross which I found entertaining, not sure why but I did.The whole hike, to the viewpoint, is in the forest and you are surrounded by massive Douglas Firs
Once you reach the view point you are greeted with a smooth rocky outcrop which has stood up to the erosional forces of water,ice,wind etc.

Photo: Looking South across the Indian Arm towards Burrard Inlet:

Deep grooves,striations, can be seen in the rock out crop which points to glaciation and ice being the main erosional force.

Photo: Striations in the rock out crop.

In the striations and depressions in rock outcrop wind and water have transported and deposited sediment which has allowed for short grass and some other plant life to grow.

Photo: Plant Life

Photo: High above Indian Arm
Overall this was an enjoyable hike not to long but not to short perfect for an afternoon.

Long Exposures

These pictures have been taken within the last year and are my experimentation with open shutter speeds of 30 sec. The photo's start with Lake Osoyoos looking north towards the U.S./Canadian boarder. The next three photo's are from Fort Langley, followed by a series from downtown Vancouver, finally three photo's from my recent trip to Waikiki Hawaii.




Lake Osoyoos from 11:00pm at night




Fort Langley: Bedford Channel Bridge (west):




Fort Langley: Park Bench with some interesting lighting.



Fort Langley: Bedford Channel (east)






The next set of pictures were shot on a cold night -2 (Celsius) about -8 with windchill lots of fun especially when one is not dressed correctly for the elements.


Vancouver: Kits Beach









Vancouver: Stanley Park, Lions Gate Bridge

Vancouver: Burrard Street

If you are wondering how I did this here you go. Long exposure zoomed in to the full extent then when the shutter is open zoom out this will draw the light straight back.

Waikiki: Kuhio beach

Waikiki: Parking Garage



Waikiki: Kalakaua Ave.

Cherry Blossoms

These are some Cherry Blossoms from the tree in our front yard. This is the second time I have posted these pictures due myself deleting all my posts by accident. So if you have seen these already enjoy them again as a reminder of the wonderful spring weather we had or did not have depending on your view.


This picture was based on perfect timing as the breeze just about made the whole shot a blur.

Random Pictures

This is my bobble head turtle that keeps my company on my 40min commute to work. I was playing with the movement of the turtle along with the colour contrasts.



I asked the turtle if it was a Mexican or Mexicant (quote Johnny Depp from once upon a time in Mexico)
Obviously the turtle fell over so I assume it was the later, Mexicant.

Ahh the greatest game to pit people against chance and skill, Stock Ticker. Exactly like the stock market as you can reap dividends of high oil and curse those terrible industrial stocks as they tank into the abyss along with your blue, pink, yellow,white and green currency. Do not worry your investments in Bonds will save you as the low risk low reward will indubitably win the game.

Cuban statues this was my first attempt to manipulate light with a dark room and candles lit.

The Big City

If you don't know this already, you will soon find out, that I enjoy the urban environment for many reasons. One reason, the main reason is that it is human kind interacting with the environment and using some creativity to show who lives here. This has been happening since the earliest cities, monuments, architectural design and city planning, using the surrounding environment as there canvas and designing the landscape to act functionally so that those who interact with it daily can move through with ease.
So here are some pics from around the city, enjoy.


English Bay:

Inushuck down by the Bay

Arc Monument:

Sun Dial:

Downtown:

Mural of a Master and his Apprentice:

Vancouver Library:

Chinatown:

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens:

Protector Lion:

Common Sight in Chinatown:

West Han Dynasty bell (Topper)

Queen Elizabeth Park:

Plant Bubble:

Photo Sesion Statues: