The Wonderful Art of Dale Chihuly
I have been a huge fan of Dale Chihuly for many years. He is a glass artist from Tacoma, Washington (USA) and now has an amazing gallery in Seattle called Chihuly Garden and Glass. I don't have too much time to ramble on about each piece, each one can speak for itself. His incredible versatility and technical execution makes each piece special. I hope to own a few of his works one day.
A bunch more photos from the trip. Click any image for a bigger version.
And one photo from our journey back. Some random pub in a town I no longer remember.
A Visit to Mumbai, India - Part III
This is the third group of photos (part 1 and part 2).
One day I decided to book a tour with Bravo Bombay (reviews), run by Hemali Talsania. Hemail is great, and put together a great tour for me and a couple that joined us. Hemali's knowledge of the city is great, and her English is excellent. We went to several spots that I wanted to visit, here are a few photos from the day.
First, I was picked up in a van by a driver. I didn't take the Mumbai Local this time, and after two journeys on the crowded train it was nice to get driven around in an air conditioned van. The accident with the motorcycle was just part of the adventure. On our way down the driver asked if I wanted to take the sea link, having read a bit about it I agreed that we should. The Bandra–Worli Sea Link, or officially the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link, is a new bridge and freeway that links western and southern Mumbai. It's a great route saving a lot of time but it's tolled so it is virtually empty. In the city (where there is no toll) the traffic is snarled but the freeway is wide open. Maybe it will get more use over time. I know, not a great photo but I took it through the window of a speeding van ;)
One of the first stops was Dhobi Ghat, a huge (world's biggest?) open air laundry. This facility washes an absolute mountain of laundry every day from all over Mumbai. A few photos from the laundry.
This is my favourite photo from the set, just a little kid going about his day.
Next on the agenda was Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, or Victoria Terminus. An amazing building with incredible detail. Worth a visit if you are into architecture. Unfortunately, the interior was not nearly as amazing as the exterior.
At the university, there is a replica of London't Big Ben. It's actually a very good replica, though sadly I could not get any closer than this as it's behind locked gates.
When you take a close look at the faux Big Ben, you can see the Indian touches compared to the original.
A popular tourist spot, the Gateway Of India. One of the few places we visited where there were a lot of tourists and people pushing their wares. I was somewhat of a celebrity being one of the only tall white guys around. Several people asked to take their photo with me, first time that has happened.
Everyone in the group received a blessing (for a small donation). It was nice.
We visited a Hare Krishna temple, and listened to the chants. A nice spot and interesting religion.
The Mahatma Gandhi Museum, full of interesting artefacts. The most powerful and memorable were the letters to Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill.
Outside the museum, I met a charismatic and friendly tour guide who I chatted with while waiting for my group to finish up. Smartly dressed, he was happy to pose for a photo. For some reason he reminds me of Eddie Murphy.
Close to the harbour, we saw a fishing boat coming in. A little helter skelter but definitely interesting.
The harbour itself.
Hemali, our tour guide (far right) and the couple who joined the tour. Maybe they will see this one day (if so leave a comment ;)
After the tour, I did some of my own exploring. Here a vendor is selling strings of flowers. These were being used to decorate cars for a festival.
A family I ran into, they were great and the boy holding the dog asked me a million questions.
My favourite photo form the trip. This old guy was sitting in a flashy metal carriage when I approached him. He didn't speak English, but nodded and smiled when I asked him if I could take a photo. His weathered skin and the detail in the carriage make the perfect subject for a black and white photo.
In the evening, and very close to my hotel, I ventured down to the beach to view the Vijayadashami Hindu festival. There were thousands of people on the beach, and every group had a sculpture which they end up throwing into the ocean. Note the sun in this photo. Due to the air pollution most sunsets in Mumbai looked like this during my visit.
Some well dressed chaps walking their well groomed dogs.
A vendor selling grilled corn, smelled great.
As happened several times, kids approached me when they same me taking photos and asked to have their photo taken. This boy was curious, asked some questions, and posed for a shot.
Soon his friends all ran over and started to clown around, it was great fun.
As the sun set, even more people started to show up.
Literally by the truck load.
And the festivities continued.
A sacred cow all dressed up for the party. Though tired after a long day, I'm glad I made it down for the party.
The next day, I decided to visit Dharavi, a massive slum in the heart of Mumbai. This slum is well known as it appeared in the popular movie Slumdog Millionaire. Despite the term "slum", this is a huge industrial center for Mumbai. Recycling is common, as is creating goods for export. I was very surprised at how many small factories are in operation in this area. My guide in the slum Shailesh Jethva who operates Mystical Mumbai, if you are in the city and want to tour Dharavi I highly recommend Shailesh. He knew almost everyone there and took me to many interesting spots in the area. Photography is not appropriate in most parts of the slum, so I respected the custom.
This shot is from the bride over the rail tracks as you enter the slum, the district us huge and without a guide you are certain to get lost. Depending on who you ask, there are about one million people that live in this slum, and the population density is just staggering. A worthwhile tour if you are not just into the popular tourist destinations.
One of the factories we visited with several embroidery machines at work.
My guide, Shailesh.
That is all the photos I'm posting from Dharavi. If you want to see more you just need to visit for yourself. On my way back to the hotel, I decided to take a walk on the beach which, just one day earlier, held thousands of people for the Hindu festival. The beach was littered with remnants from the celebration, including all of the religious idols which now lay discarded. I understand the need to celebrate but it's tough to see the impact on the environment following such celebration.
Sunset over Juhu beach. I'll return to Mumbai soon.
A Visit to Mumbai, India - Part II
I took a lot of photos in Mumbai, this is the second group. You can view part 1 here.
I decided to head to the south part of the city to explore the area. Leaving the hotel the security guard posed for a photo. Hotels have strict security since the terrorist attacks of 2008.
I have heard some crazy stories about the "Mumbai Local" train. During rush hour, it's one of the most crowded trains in the world, people are hanging off the sides. The staff at the hotel told me not to ride it, it's not for tourists. A tour guide I hired said "you are taking the local? I don't even ride the local". With those sentiments, I knew I had to ride it :)
I decided to ease my way into it, my first trip was off-peak, and it was quite pleasant. There are no doors on the train, and it stops for only a very short while at each stop. For my second trip, I booked the cheap fare during rush hour. That was definitely entertaining and highly recommended for anyone looking for some adventure. The mass of humanity that steams off a train at each stop is crazy, and somehow you need to push your way though that to get on board. Good times.
My destination for the day was the Chor Bazaar. "According to popular legend, if you lose anything in Mumbai you can buy it back from the 'Chor Bazaar'." You can literally get anything here, it is one of largest flea markets in India.
This aisle was full of garlic. It smelled amazing, not overpowering at all. The guy sitting on the ground was peeling cloves, that is what he does most of the day.
At one point, I walked past a school. The kids were just leaving and a few of them come over to say hello. They spoke very good English (they all learn it in school) and they started asking me a lot of questions while showing me around. They wanted to pose for a photo, but at the last second all ran away leaving just one.
These guys had a good laugh.
Venturing outside of the market after a few hours of exploring, I decided to just stand on a street corner and look at the interesting people streaming by. [Click any image to view bigger.]
There are interesting people everywhere. I'm not even sure what this gentleman is selling, but he looks sharp. If you know what this stuff is, please post in the comments. Update: Thanks to Sandhya for letting me know via the comments that this gentleman is selling Singhara (Water Chesnut/Water Caltrop) seeds.
Another friendly character, spoke no English but was happy to pose for a photo.
Some of the local animals. Fresh mutton? No problem. Want to buy a rooster, they have that too.
Sidewalks in Mumbai are not quite up to Canadian standards.
A few more interesting sights and people including a fruit and vegetable stand.
On more than one occasion kids ran up to me and wanted to pose for a photo. Very curious and very cute.
A shave on the street.
I'm not sure this is up to WCB standards. It was amazing to watch these guys climb bamboo scaffolding with no harness or other safety equipment.
One of the slums on the beach. Despite the conditions, children will find a way to entertain themselves. Here they made a kite and they seemed to be having a great time.
A well dressed gent at a street market.
Finally, my dinner. Curried goat, roti, and a local beer.
A Visit to Mumbai, India - Part I
My trip to Mumbai, India was an eye opening experience. In a way it was what I expected but at the same time I wasn't always prepared for what I saw. India is clearly a developing nation but in many ways behind other third world countries I have visited. I know that India is becoming a technology center for many global companies, it has a quickly developing economy and is on the verge of rapid industrialization. However, when you walk the streets and talk to the people you don't see much evidence of that. There are obviously many wealthy people in India, but there are far too many that live on the street below the poverty line.
While it's true that many people are poor and live on the street, all of the people I met were warm and accepting of my presence. Some were guarded at first but if I asked for directions, to take a photo, or just how their day is going they would all flash a big smile and do their best to help me out. Those that spoke English were eager and willing ask where I'm from and how I like the country. Some engaged in conversation and other just said hello and posed for a photo. I'm wouldn't get the same reception if I walked the streets of Vancouver (my home town). People in Vancouver are often self-centered, indifferent, or paranoid you are running some scam and do not engage strangers to the same level.
The people in India are also very spiritual and tolerant. They are a blend of many religions (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and others) often obvious by their clothing though there is no visible tension between them. They celebrate festivals and openly practice their faith. Many also believe in the concept of Karma which is present in all of the religions. Because of this, there seems to be an environment of safety and I did not ever feel threatened during my visit. I walked in many different areas of the city, alone, as an obvious outsider and didn't feel unsafe at any time. It may have been luck but I can't say that I would do the same in other large cities around the world.
My experience of India is limited to one city, Mumbai (Bombay). Other cities may be drastically different, I really don't know. I hope to visit other parts of India some day to see for myself.
Exploring On Day 1
My first day in Mumbai was just spent exploring the area I was staying in, Juhu. Juhu is an affluent suburb of Mumbai where many Bollywood stars live however if you plucked me from Vancouver and dropped me in Juhu I would think it far from affluent. There are obviously many poor people living on the street and there is garbage littered everywhere. The waterways I saw were extremely polluted, looked almost like blank ink and filled with trash. Juhu Beach unfortunately isn't much better being covered in garbage, and both animal and human waste. For a country so blessed with natural beauty and resources it's a real shame to see it treated so poorly.
Part of the problem is the population explosion in Mumbai. I have heard estimates that put the population between 20 and 24 million people and all those people need to live somewhere. Combined with the fact that Mumbai is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the world, you essentially force people to live on the street or in slums. These places often have no sanitation, garbage collection, or even running water. The garbage and waste is simply dumped into the environment and it is clear that nature has paid a heavy price.
Juhu Beach, not every area is this littered though there is no area that is clean. One thing to note is the smog in the background, air quality is not very good either. At the end of the day, my eyes started to hurt and I attribute this to the air pollution.
People getting a ride across the water, if you saw the water you wouldn't want to get wet either.
One of the ways the people who live on the beach support themselves is by growing methi (fenugreek) crops. These are grown on the sand of the beach, watered with salt water collected from a nearby pool, and harvested as sprouts for sale in the local markets.
The pool where water is gathered, dug below the ocean water level so always full.
The water is carried in large plastic jugs, sometimes a long way.
One of the locals harvests his crop. He saw me walking around the area and taking photos, he waved me over and asked me to take his photo so he could see it. He also told me how he grows the crop and about his life. His English was basic but we managed a short conversation. He has spent most of his life on this beach.
Behind him, an extremely polluted body of water. I'm assuming it is a river, but it barely has any flow. I saw people defecate into this water, and in another area people were using it to wash off. It's no wonder that tropical disease thrives here. When you combine the poor sanitation, very high population density, heat and insects you have the perfect recipe.
I saw a lot of dogs, cats, and other animals roaming around as well. They get by on what scraps they can find, most do not appear to be in good condition.
The various beach shelters are rudimentary at best.
When you see how little some people have, it makes you rethink your needs and wants. This image in particular has stuck with me, it seems even a slight breeze would be capable of wiping out what little this person has.
Behind the beach, you can see how bad the water is. While I sat in this spot, I saw people throwing garbage into the water and it was a soup of debris.
Despite the pollution, life still does exist in and around the water. I saw birds walking around in the water trying to catch whatever may be present. Also, crabs live in the mud and carry on as usual. Nature is certainly resilient.
The people carry on as well, despite the trash a game of cricket is being played (I saw cricket being played everywhere, and by everyone. It is another religion in India).
If you are not playing cricket, you are probably playing football (soccer).
On more than one occasion, young couples courted each other on the beach apparently oblivious to their surroundings. After a while, I think the trash just blends into the background, it becomes the norm.
Part II of the trip available here.
Nikon D800 Autofocus Repair Testing - The Sequel
This is the third time I'm posting about the testing of my D800 autofocus system. The first time was not long after I purchased it, just to see if it had the problem. I found that it did have the problem, and I sent it to Nikon for repair. When the camera came back, I tested it again. Initially I thought it may have been fixed, but further testing showed there was still a problem.
During this time, I also purchased LensAlign and FocusTune to help me more accurately fine tune my lenses and camera, but also to help me quantify the results. When I tested my lenses, I noticed that the recommended fine tune values for three of my five lenses was +20 (the highest possible). This suggested to me that the actual sharpest fine tune value may be even higher than than, but the scale does not allow further adjustment. Said another way, if the fine tune is at the maximum value, the calibration is not within spec for the camera/lens combination. I decided to give my D800 and my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G, Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8D, and Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 to Nikon along with my results to see if they can fix the left autofocus problem plus calibrate the camera for the three lenses.
I finally received my camera back, and had a chance to test it with two lenses. I tested with the 24-70 and the Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Micro VR (this lens didn't go to Nikon). I did not fine tune the camera and lenses before testing, this is how Nikon sent it to me. I used the same test procedures I outlined previously, with a small twist because I now have FocusTune to help me out. The results here are all RAW conversions (the only adjustment I made in Lightroom was to convert to grayscale). I shot in RAW+JPG (L/Fine), I shot a manual focus control shot for each of the five focus test points tested (center, top, bottom, left right - all at the farthest AF points). Between each autofocus test shot, I defocused away from infinity and took five shots for each focus point. I then loaded all of the JPG files into FocusTune and for each focus point I found the SHARPEST result from the five samples, so the results here are the best shots from the group.
One thing to note, last time I sent the D800 to Nikon the work order showed "ADJ FOCUS SYSTEM" and "ADJ AUTO FOCUS OPERATION". This time, the work order had:
[box]
B2
Service Repair Rank B2
Repair
RPL O-RING
CLN CCD
FIRMWARE UPGRADE
GENERAL CHECK & CLEAN
RPR ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT
[/box]
It is worthwhile to note that I was not having any problems with my D800 outside of the autofocus system, I'm not sure why they replaced the o-ring and worked on the electrical system. I see no mention of them even looking at the autofocus system.
Lenses Tested
AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G
AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
Test Results
The grouped results for the 105mm lens, 100% crop under the autofocus sensor tested.
Apologies that some of these are dark, I didn't want to make any adjustments so they are presented straight from the camera with no editing. I don't see any major issues here, the focus system seems to be fairly consistent between all of the points. Here is a closer look at the 105mm left side results.
I would say this is fine, doesn't quite match the manual focus using live view and 100% zoom but I don't think phase detect AF is ever going to be as good.
The grouped results for the 24-70mm lens at 24mm.
Here, the left side AF sensor is clearly softer than the others in the group. Here is a bigger version of just the left side results.
The grouped results for the 24-70mm lens at 70mm.
Once again, some softness on the left side. Bigger version of 70mm left side results.
I would say it's not as bad as the 24mm left side test, however I would not say this is acceptable performance. The lens works fine at the other focus points, here are details of the performance at the center focus point at 24mm.
The 24-70mm center focus point at 70mm.
Both of these are completely acceptable and would not give me any reason for concern. However, the left side AF sensors continue to give me grief. I'm not sure if it's the lens or the body though, because the 105mm seems to focus fine at the left side. I'll try to test with my 50mm f/1.8G to see how it performs, and I'll post the results here when I'm finished.
Update, April 2, 2013
The grouped results for the 14-24mm lens at 24mm, center and lower AF points are good, others soft.
The 14-24 @ 24mm L5 sensor detail.
The grouped results for the 50mm, again center and lower AF points are good, others soft.
50mm L5 detail, not terrible but could be better.
In general, the whole AF system seems to be a little off. Fine tune won't fix this as the various AF points don't correlate to each other in how far out of focus they are. If they were all equally off, fine tune could fix that. Some, such as the center and lower (C, D2) AF point are excellent, others (such as L5) are consistently off. If I fine tune, I'll be throwing off the good ones.
Lynn Valley Hike - North Vancouver
I took a very short walk in Lynn Valley just after Christmas, it was a break from shopping hell. I went to the suspension bridge, then down to twin falls. I also wanted to try out the 10-stop ND filter. Results are promising, looking forward to trying a bit more of this.
D800 Autofocus Repair Testing
[box type="info"]Update April 1, 2013: Testing after the second repair attempt by Nikon is now online here: https://photokaz.com/2013/04/nikon-d800-autofocus-repair-testing-the-sequel/[/box]
[box type="info"]Update January 20, 2013: Initial testing showed changes to the focus performance and I thought the slight softness in some shots could be fixed with fine tuning. After more testing, I could not get consistently sharp results from fine tuning. I had to set my fine tuning for the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 lens to +20 and that still didn't result in good performance. My AFS 50mm f/1.8 and AFD 80-200 f/2.8 lenses also had to have +20 of fine tuning. I dropped off my camera and the three lenses with Nikon last week, told them the problems and said I wanted everything repaired. I will once again post my results when I get the camera back.[/box]
[box type="info"]Update February 9, 2013: Got my camera back from Nikon, still waiting for my 24-70 lens. Some testing with the 50mm f/1.8G using FocusTune is not looking promising :([/box]
I made a previous post about the issues my Nikon D800 had with phase detect autofocus, my test charts clearly showed a problem with the left side AF sensors. I dropped off my camera at Nikon and it came back with the following info.
[box]
B2
Service Repair Rank B2
ADJ FOCUS SYSTEM
ADJ AUTO FOCUS OPERATION
FIRMWARE UPGRADE
CLN CCD
GENERAL CHECK & CLEAN
[/box]
So it looks like Nikon actually did make a fix, though I have heard some people had cameras returned with B1 service repair but I'm not sure how they differ. Today I decided to do some testing on the 'fixed' camera to see if it was any better. Same test procedure as before, same Siemens Star test chart. I only tested the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens as that more obviously showed the problems before. Below you can see the results for the lens at 24mm, ISO 100. Top row is Live View manual focus (reference), next is Live View autofocus (to test contrast detect AF), then two rows viewfinder (phase detect) autofocus tests. The VF AF 1 is racking focus to the closest setting before letting autofocus take over, VF AF 2 was a rack to infinity.
Disregard the differences in white balance, the right test chart was closer to a different set of lights. Focus should not be affected overall, and shows relatively consistent operation left, center, and right.
I repeated the test at 70mm but this time didn't test Live View autofocus. Here are the results.
As before focus looks to be consistent, if not perfect, between the three tested points.
Finally, putting together my previous test charts with the updated tests shot today. Top row is Live View manual for reference, next row is the viewfinder autofocus tests before the fix and third row are the tests after the fix. This should clearly show that the fix worked. One thing to note is that the autofocus, even after the fix, is not in perfect focus however I hope that autofocus fine tune can fix that.
Nikon D800 Contrast and Phase Detect Autofocus Testing
[box type="info"]Update April 1, 2013: Testing after the second repair attempt by Nikon is now online here: https://photokaz.com/2013/04/nikon-d800-autofocus-repair-testing-the-sequel/[/box]
[box type="info"]Update January 20, 2013: Initial testing showed changes to the focus performance and I thought the slight softness in some shots could be fixed with fine tuning. After more testing, I could not get consistently sharp results from fine tuning. I had to set my fine tuning for the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 lens to +20 and that still didn't result in good performance. My AFS 50mm f/1.8 and AFD 80-200 f/2.8 lenses also had to have +20 of fine tuning. I dropped off my camera and the three lenses with Nikon last week, told them the problems and said I wanted everything repaired. I will once again post my results when I get the camera back.[/box]
[box type="info"] Update August 23, 2012: I finally had a chance to do some critical tests of my fixed Nikon D800. I can say that Nikon did fix the problem (still to be tested), I have posted updated test charts here.[/box]
[box type="info"] Update July 30, 2012: Picked up my D800 in Richmond today. I did some 'off the cuff' testing, hand held without a test chart. It seems to be fixed though I won't know for sure until I set up a proper test procedure again. I won't have time to do that until next week but will test again and post my results.[/box]
[box type="info"] Update July 20, 2012: Nikon has confirmed that the camera arrived in Toronto. They provided a service order number and a link to check the status, unfortunately the page is 'under construction'. I hope that means it is just offline for a fix as I haven't visited the page before.[/box]
[box type="info"] Update July 18, 2012: I dropped off my D800 at the Nikon repair center in Vancouver (Richmond) along with my test results. They said that the high end bodies get shipped to Toronto, and I'll be without the camera for two to three weeks. Not fun, but worth it if they can fix the issue. If it comes back the same or worse I won't be too happy about it.[/box]
After reading several posts about the 'left autofocus point' problems of the Nikon D800, I decided to test my own camera to see if it needed repair. Thom Hogan outlined a test method in his July 16, 2012 post and I decided to follow that method to test my camera, with a change. Initially, I developed a test target as per Thom's suggestion but it led to problems so I did a second round of testing with the classic Siemens star.
Some notes about the camera and test
- I have a camera purchased in Canada, it was very early in the release cycle so call it an 'early run' camera.
- I used two lenses for the test, the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G and Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8.
- I have not made any changes to auto focus fine tune.
- I used a Really Right Stuff TVC-33 carbon fiber tripod and BH-55 ball head to hold the camera.
- All exposures shot in RAW, converted to jpg to display here but no sharpening, lens correction, etc. was added. I only changed white balance and exposure to more easily compare things. I also cropped to make comparison easier. Everything managed with Adobe Lightroom 4.
- The lenses did not have any filters installed.
- Camera had distortion control turned off.
- Shot at the widest aperture (f/1.8 for the 50mm and f/2.8 for the 24-70) and ISO 100. The 24-70mm was shot at 24mm.
- Camera was leveled using the built in leveling tool and a three-way hot shoe level.
- The camera (sensor plane) was about 6.5' from the wall.
Test Results - 50mm f/1.8G
Top row is Live View manual focus, second row is Live View AF, and last two rows are viewfinder phase detect AF. The 50mm does show less detail in the left AF sensor. Note, bigger versions of these test images are below, this is just a summary.
Test Results - 24mm f/2.8G
The 24mm lens shows a much more severe left AF issue.
This is a tedious exercise to both shoot and post. I did it twice as my first test chart didn't yield useful results. My D800 does suffer from the left autofocus problem when using phase detect autofocus with the two lenses I tested. It will need to go to Nikon to get repaired.
Here is my test setup, in case anyone is curious.
Here are the full test patterns and should be in the same order shown above.
If you want to download the test chart I used, you can do so here.
Siwash Rock at Sunset
I was waiting for a nice sunny day in Vancouver as I wanted to get out to photograph Siwash Rock. This basalt stack is the only one of it's kind in the Vancouver area, and I wanted to catch it when high tide was at or near sunset. This is an HDR image created from several exposures.
And a shot I took with my iPhone 4S as my D800 was taking the 7 bracketed shots for my HDR above.
And a few more shots from that evening including some fun with a neutral density filter for longer exposures.
UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research
Last weekend, my wife and I paid a visit to the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research (at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver). Despite having lived in Vancouver a combined 35 years it was the first visit for both of us. We were very fortunate because one of the volunteers, Dana, took us for a private tour as no one else was there for a tour when we arrived. He spent several hours with us, taking us first on the Greenheart Canopy Walkway, which is a series of bridges and platforms in the trees. It's a bit wobbly, but fun at the same time. Also, you get an interesting view from up there that you don't often see. The canopy system is hung from the trees but is done in such a way that it doesn't harm the tree, it's rather amazing actually and the only one of its kind in Canada.
There are a lot of vines in the garden, from all over the world.
It's not all plants and flowers.
Though there are a lot of beautiful flowers as well.
They also have a big garden with all kinds of edible things.
Including the most interesting way to grow fruit. These trees are trained to grow at an angle and only have branches in one plane. Because of the angle, the tree bears fruit much sooner than they would otherwise. Also, they are very easy to pick being no more than six feet high, some only a foot with branches parallel to the ground. I wish I remember what this growing style was, if you know please leave a message in the comments below.
UPDATE: The technique of training trees in this manner is called Espalier (thanks to Wendy Cutler!).
In one section, they have plants from all of the continents including a lot of desert varieties. Apparently there are fire ants too, though I didn't see any.
There is also a section of the garden dedicated to plants used in the medical field. This sundial is in the middle, accurate though doesn't adjust well for daylight savings time :)
We found this interesting bee hive, which was a temporary art installation. The solar panels provide energy to open and close it daily.
Finally, there is a fantastic water fountain the garden located in the amphitheatre. It was designed by William Pye who installs these amazing water sculptures all over the world. I'll have to go back to get more photographs.
Dragon Boat Spring Sprint in Vancouver
What a great day for some dragon boat racing. Since my wife is on a team, I went down to take some photos and enjoy the nice weather. Spring Sprint is a warm up to the big Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, which is in mid June. The boats are smaller, only 10 paddlers instead of the usual 20 and the distance is substantially shorter as well. Still fun to watch, especially when you can soak up the sun after the miserable April showers.
The races are held in False Creek with downtown Vancouver as the backdrop. Hard to find a nicer venue than this.
The staging area is right beside Science World.
Some shots of the action.
Organized chaos.
Shelter Dogs May 5 2012
Another set of dogs from Vancouver Animal Control, you can see others here. As always, you can see the animals available for adoption from this shelter by visiting their PetFinder page or just drop in at the shelter.
The three puppies on this page are very cute and friendly, they all tried to crawl into my lap as I was taking photos. They have the most amazing crystal blue eyes I have ever seen! But first, this young German Shepherd. Playful and energetic, loves to play fetch.
Now the puppies!
For anyone curious, this was the fist time I shot dogs at the shelter with my Nikon D800. I used the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 lens but I think next time I'll try a 50mm f/1.8 prime. Overall, I have some learning to do with the focus system of the D800 but it is producing great images.
My first images with the Nikon D800
My D800 finally arrived, charged the batteries and headed out with my dogs the next morning. Resisted the urge to photography my keyboard, floor, ceiling, and anything else boring just to play with it. Tried to make the first frame count!
I want to mention that I'm not that happy with the grip of the D800. I have big hands, XL gloves, and it seems small to me. I may just need to get used to it, but it is smaller than I expected. It's not comfortable in the hands, especially with a bigger lens on the body. I may have to buy the grip, which is not something I wanted as I like the size of the body as it is. I'm going to shoot it without the grip for a while, see if I get used to it.
Some people have posted on various forums that their D800 came with a few hundred shutter actuations. I checked the shutter count on my first frame, it was showing "2". Maybe they do a test shot at the factory?
This is the first frame from my camera. I didn't set all of the settings I should have, but it is what it is. Shot using the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8, auto ISO, aperture priority mode. Processed from 14-bit lossless compressed raw in lightroom. Not the best, but I'm happy with things so far. My dog Cedric, who is always an unwilling participant since there are more interesting things to do at the beach than sit around. And yes, I can see my reflection in his eye.
Any my second shot, same settings. This time of my dog Jammie.
Flower shots below are shot on a sturdy tripod, Nikkor 105 f/2.8 VR, 2 second timer, 3 second exposure delay, live view focus. Processed from 14-bit lossless compressed raw in lightroom. Better, happy with the first samples as I know they will get better from here.
The full resolution jpeg (18MB) can be seen here. The detail captured by the camera is amazing.