In June I was a trip leader on an Arizona Highways Photo Workshop that began in the beautiful city of Victoria, the capital of the Canadian Province of British Columbia. Poised on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and with a population of 85,792 residents, it is a city one can easily spend a week in and not run out of things to do and see. We officially began our workshop at 2 pm on a Sunday. Between that time and our departure for Port Renfrew on Tuesday morning we hit a lot of wonderful places and barely scratched the surface of beautiful places to shoot. This posting will highlight what caught my eye in Victoria’s famed Inner Harbor and Fisherman’s Wharf.
Being the capital of the province of British Columbia Victoria is blessed with housing this beautiful structure, the parliament building, which watches over the Inner Harbor. If you want to shoot it without hundreds of people in the frame I suggest you get up early. This image was taken at 6:30 in the morning. It faces east so the light is perfect, no annoying shadows
We passed this ole guy and his dog each morning on the way from our hotel to the Inner Harbor.
On our way to the harbor we walked past this totem just outside a store. Totems are everywhere and they are quite beautiful.
Here is a replica of a traditional longhouse and totem outside oneof Victoria’s many museums, just down the street from the parliament building.
On the weekends you can take a carriage ride around the harbor area. These guys were lined up ready for any takers.
I believe Victoria is known for their gardens and if they aren’t, they should be. Flowers were everywhere. I found this lovely rose (and hundreds more) on the grounds of The Empress Hotel, overlooking the harbor. It rained the first three days on us but it made for lovely shots with the diffused lighting and raindrops on the petals.
I found this lone guitar case as I was walking around by the boats. I’m assuming the owner was on a nearby bench. The harbor was full of people when I took this shot. I had to wait a few moments for just the right time to have this appear to be all by itself. When you shoot, be sure to notice distracting things in your frame. If you don’t want them there either move yourself or be patient and wait for the frame to clear on its own.
This is another example of having to be patient. The flags atop the yellow water taxis caught my eye but i wanted the flags to be open at the same time. I set my camera on multi-frame shooting, waited for the wind to blow and fired the shutter. After several attempts I managed to get this image. I was happy with it so I moved on.
Nope, I don’t know the guy who has this tattoo. He was talking to another person I also didn’t know so, from a distance, I fired off one shot of his lower leg. I thought the lizard was cool.
Again, flowers everywhere. We found these on our way to Fisherman’s Wharf for dinner. It took us nearly three hours to do the twenty minute walk because we were shooting the whole way. On this one I focussed on the bent pink flower in the middle because it was different.
One thing I like about shooting on Arizona Highways photo trips is seeing everyone’s images, that are SO different, from the exact same locations. It is fun to hear people say “WOW! Where didi you see that!?!” and…”Where was I?” I have asked the same questions. It’s fun to capture details of things that most folks just walk right past. Here is an example, a spider web full of rain drops.
Again with the flowers. This one caught my eye because of the unique diagonal lines in the background and the splash of color from the flower. I could have made the lines the complete background had I moved a little to the left. Oh well, next time.
When we finally made it to Fisherman’s Wharf the weather was setting in. It was gray and threatening to drizzle and any moment. Our first sight of the Wharf was of these unique houseboats. Similar to ones I’ve seen in Sausalito, California.
These houses are fun to shoot.
Not sure this was a home but it was a floating building at the Wharf and I loved the colors.
The folks in one of these floating homes had a sense of humor. This dingy was moored between two homes.
This is a great shot of the boats at Fisherman’s Wharf with the weather settling in.
These fun, whimsical, critters were coming out of the side of a building as we entered Fisherman’s Wharf.
More details of houseboats.
Paddles on the side of a houseboat.
Two orcas made of plants riding a plant wave just outside the Empress Hotel.
So, when you travel, or just walk around your own town, look for details. Take the sweeping, all encompassing shots for reference but look for those details that most people miss. It’s pretty cool when folks ask, “Where was THAT?”
Next week we’ll explore some official gardens in Victoria so stay tuned!
Happy Shooting!
At some point in my photographic career I decided I needed a purpose for my images. I felt they needed to go somewhere besides my hard drive. Thus, the Kachina Photos photo notecard was born. With this idea in mind I became more focussed in my shooting. I began looking for details and patterns that would be interesting on the front of a blank notecard.
I didn’t want to have to worry about model releases so I tried to not capture any faces. The details, to me, can be just as interesting.
Most of these were taken as they were passing me on their way to the competition arena. They are also all jpegs. I shot these before I understood what RAW was. Now I know, but that will be a topic for another blog.
This is my favorite one of a person in the arena. Clearly I cannot use it for a notecard but thought I would share it here.
This is also in the arena. I took several panning shots hoping to catch this, action and the feeling of motion, in a still shot.
This mornings breakfast is a funny story. Ellen needs egg whites only. The egg dishes were coming out fried, one at a time, so we asked that the next one be cooked with no yolk. The look of befuddlement on the poor man’s face was…cute. He disappeared, only to reappear a short while later beaming with pride. The kitchen crew had come up with this as a solution: cook the egg and dig out the yolk. We wound up showing them how to strain the yolk out with egg shells and they were SO excited to learn this new cooking skill. It was awesome.
Here is where the food magic happened. This is the stove behind the stick wall in the kitchen hut.
Here’s Grandpa and Grandson. Grandpa is here visiting from another island with his wife. As it turns out the Guna women have maintained the use of traditional clothing and the men have not.
As we were visited a cayuco sailboat was passing in distance.
Once I asked to take pictures they warmed up to us. They wanted pictures of the grand babies, the two of them, we ended up doing a whole family shoot. It was sweet. I have their address to send prints.
Gramps sent his three year old grandson to the family hut to get rain sticks. Ellen had to make the tough decision of which one to get and use in her yoga teaching.
On this day we travelled to an island that had several islands near it It also seemed to be a popular location for sailboats. We snorkeled near a long reef that acted as a sea wall. There were waves exploding on it that you could see from the island. There was a large sand bar with a volleyball net on it and some amazing snorkeling where we just got into the current and let it take us along while we looked at all the sea life.
While we were out playing the guys were out spear fishing for lunch which was fish, rice and salad. The island was inhabited by a single family that ran a little store that sold…cold beer. It’s amazing how good one of those tastes on a hot day after much exercise. Lunch was amazing, watching them scale and filet the fish was like watching an artist at work.
After lunch we boarded our water taxi and went out to the area they were spear fishing, right behind the reef wall with the exploding waves. We saw lion fish, lobster, a sting ray and one guy saw a shark, My batteries died by then so I didn’t get images of the guys spear fishing. They were hunting for dinner. We followed two of them around though and appreciated the energy and expertise they possess in providing us with daily meals.
Here are our guys taking a rest on some hammocks while we finish lunch and take one more stroll around the island and a last dip in the sea.
This images shows a crew of surfers making their way to the water taxis lined up along the river bank. You can see one heading out in the right side of the image.
Some boats had one motor, some two. All were open air and most had a canopy overhead. Ours also had a plastic sheet that fell could be lowered down the sides as shown in the image above. That proved handy the morning we left as the splash worked perfectly with the wind and would have soaked us had our boatmen not lowered the protective sheeting.
There were also plenty of locals paddling in and out of the port in their cayucos, canoes dug out of the local Cayuco tree. Some of these boats actually had sails that could be hoisted to assist in crossing the ocean between islands.
It looks like this father and son team is heading in to fill water jugs.
Here is a water taxi approaching the mouth of the river. It is coming in from the islands.
We stopped at a neighboring island on our way to Naranjo Chico to pick up some plantains. This boat taxi was moored out away from the dock. It reminds me of a cowboy tying up his horse.
While waiting for the plantains I noticed some wee ones playing “out in the yard”? It looks like a one “car” family (the cayuco on the dock).
We arrived and got off the boat. This is an image of our “resort”. The hut to the left is for guests, the red roofed one is the dining room/kitchen, the two to the right are guest huts. Ours is the left one on the right.
We stayed here three nights. It was pretty cool having waves lap under our hut each night. Ellen is standing in the doorway of our front porch. Behind her is another door that leads to our humble abode. It was a single room with two beds AND a separate bathroom. Seriously, indoor plumbing. The walls let the breeze in between the sticks, it was heaven.
This is a view looking toward our resort. Look at the color of that water. Wow.
How iconic is THIS shot? Some of the best snorkeling I’ve ever done was right outside our front door. Hammocks were everywhere. I think they sleep in them. They, meaning the Guna People, live on the islands. There are around 365 islands in all but only 40 are inhabited.
This is the dock on the other side of the island. It took three minutes to cross the center of the island and get there. This side of the island is all grass and sand so it was great having the rocks and coral just outside of our hut for snorkeling.
This is the view down the beach behind our hut. Those palm trees in the distance are the far end of the island.
This is our resort’s dog. Dang, I forgot his name. Ruby? Maybe? He was sweet. We’d run into him all over the island. Here he is leaning up against the opening to the dining room. A couple of times we found him snoozing on our front porch.
Here’s the local school bus. A couple days a week this boat would load up with kids and they’d be ferried to a nearby island to attend school.
This was our personal taxi for the three days we were there.
Our resort was all inclusive. It included three meals a day and an afternoon excursion. Sunday’s excursion was to go to a nearby island and get a tour. It was very interesting. Here is a modern house as we pulled up to the dock. There were also huts.
Here’s another view, in a different direction, of less modern accommodations.
We were laughing as I was shooting at how my images would portray a ghost island as we were asked not to photograph any of the locals unless we compensate each of them. There were SO many, everywhere, that I chose to shoot in other directions. I think this is main street and it looks deserted.
Coconuts are an important commodity on the islands. On our own island we were asked not to pick any up and eat them but to purchase them from a native.
Clothes were hanging everywhere, all the time. I wondered if they just stored them on the line due to humidity instead of in a drawer where they would…mold?
This is one of the classrooms.
Our friend Claudia bought a bracelet from this lady. The other rule is, if you purchase something, you can photograph the artist.
We bought a mola from this beautiful lady, the mother of our island guide. Once I asked if I could take her picture she grabbed her grandbaby and wanted images of the two of them. It was really sweet.
Walking down the dock to leave I grabbed this shot of their transportation collection. I love boats.
This is a door to an old dungeon that has been renovated. This whole area is now up-to-date shops.
I love the texture and color of this wall, and the lone bench.
Architecture itself interests me. I love the design, patterns and texture of buildings.
And COLOR!! I LOVE color!! In this image I was caught by the bright red fencing against the light blue of the building and the grey skies.
And here, the juxtaposition of old next to new or at least revitalized.
More color. To the left is a building under construction while already revitalized buildings with great color are next to it. The corrugated metal that looks like a balcony is used to prevent construction materials from landing on folks below on the sidewalks.
Markets are one of my favorite places to shoot while traveling. They provide such great color and patterns.
License plates were a popular tourist item for sale.
This gentleman was entertaining folks form his bench near the market.
Molas, the official handicraft from Panama, are created with several pieces of cloth by the Kuna (Guna) People. These are the same indigenous people whose islands we visit later in the week.
Hats were also for sale…everywhere.
Awesome English translation.
We stopped at this brewery for a cold one. La Rana Dorada…The Golden Frog, named after an endangered amphibian.
We took a walk on this amazing trail that follows the highway on a bridge out into Panama Bay and around Casco Viejo. It’s like a green way with paths for biking, walking, running, plenty of park benches and greenery.
…and wildlife!
I love the simplicity of this image as well as the randomness of needing to put a palm tree in a pot on the sidewalk outside of a two-tone building.
This is a cart of a guy we passed on the way to the path over the water. Not sure he was selling or just collecting.
Kids are kids are kids, no matter the country. These boys, I’m assuming brothers, are holding the door, not letting the girls out. And there’s big brother, complete with ear buds, not paying the slightest attention.
This mask was outside a restaurant.
I also love transportation. These kids were playing in the street alongside moving cars!!
These cars were parked, I’m assuming for rent. Aren’t they CUTE?!?
And bicycles. I love bikes. Heck, who am I kidding, I love shooting EVERYTHING!
We ended the day with a drink and appetizers at this rooftop bar. This is a mural of a Guna woman.
