Sock or Sleeping Bag?
As I have previously mentioned, I am surrounded by dolls and textiles. Once again my surroundings come together in strange ways. While I was shivering in the wind storm next to Sahsima yesterday, this doll Min was being far more sensible. She hijacked my wife’s knitting project, insisting it was a sleeping bag and not a human sock at all, and that besides, a girl needs to keep warm.
Sahsima Storm
1/20th
On Friday southern Vancouver Island experienced the first of the winter storms. Winds on Harling Point were a steady 50km/hr (30 mph) with gusts to over 60km (40 mph), according to our local weather station, maintained by a neighbour who lives across the street from the Chinese Cemetery. We get stronger winds than this, but the first of the season always seems to have more bite and to be fiercer than the numbers would warrant. Though it was windy, there were periods of sun so I was off to the waterfront to see how Sahsima looked. I have posted about Sahsima before – it is a large glacial erratic in the intertidal zone which, according to the oral histories of the Songhees First Nation, is a transformer stone. Its name translates into English as Harpoon Rock and the story is on my earlier post. I have been photographing it ever since I got my DSLR in the summer as it has many personalities depending on the weather. The post linked to above shows Sahsima in calm sunny summer conditions with a seal splashing on the smooth sea. Today is another story and thus another personality of this rock.
First Nation War Memorial
Earlier this week I posted about the “World’s Tallest Totem Pole” in Beacon Hill Park. When I visited the pole last weekend I was particularly struck by a small plaque on the steel structure which supports the pole. It memorializes the First Nation’s war dead from the two world wars. A suitable post for Remembrance Day on 11/11/11.
Glenshiel Corner
One morning last week I was doing a drop off in the parking lot behind the Royal BC Museum in Victoria and was taken by the lighting on the south face of the Glenshiel building. Built as a hotel in 1908/1909, it has long been a residence for senior citizens. There is a brief history of the building here. It has many interesting details when looked at closely.
Cloud Hole II
Last Sunday I shared a story about standing around shivering waiting for light that never materialised – I am learning that is not really an interesting story to photographers, it is just too everyday. Anyway, I ended up with a shot that I really liked, but could not have expected, of two layers of clouds and blue sky. Today’s picture is the distal end of these holes in the clouds – a spotlight on the water in front of Trial Island, off the south end of Vancouver Island.
World’s Tallest
Time for a change from the more abstract photographs I have dwelt on in the past few posts to something more tangible, even if deeply imbued with symbolic meanings. I don’t know about you, but I am one of those people that are repelled, rather than attracted, by claims of the world’s mostest something or other. For this reason I have never had a close look at “The World’s Tallest Totem Pole” which is located in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria. The pole is tall, apparently 127 1/2 feet, but these days is not nearly the tallest; there are others over 170 feet tall. Camera in hand, I had a closer look at the pole than I have been inclined to do for decades. It is far more three dimensional than it seems from a distance and so I am glad I finally had a close look. And the fresh paint is crisp, the colours interesting. These pictures present some aspects of pole, and of the nearby bronze and granite plaque that tells the story carved into the pole. On Friday I will present another aspect of the pole which I have never heard mentioned before.
Monkey Puzzle Abstraction
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I have been really enjoying other people’s abstract photographs, which have inspired this, my first venture, into abstraction. In some ways I can’t bear to go the whole way, thus many images are anchored to something recognizable. I don’t know enough (or really anything) about composition, which is inhibiting. Thus, these pictures should be considered. in some senses, ‘juvenilia’. Fortunately I am long past the normal juvenile hypersensitivity to criticism. So, your comments will be much appreciated. My son’s advice, expressed in general terms, is that I need some classes in composition and I would agree. These images are mostly what feels right when I was cropping macro shots of monkey puzzle leaves. One or two of them I am not completely sure do feel right. And the top one might look better rotated 90 degrees, but that went against the grain so I did not publish it like that.
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burnt embers 