Thursday, November 30, 2017

Life On The Edge

The edge of a Seaspan chip barge that is. Harbours provide a safe haven for more than just boats, and Sea Lions have been
making the Catalyst mill harbour a haven for many years. The mill crews have never been impressed - these beasts
are loud, smelly and very dirty.


Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Man At Work

The man here is working on the end of the ramp of a barge/tug combo making its way into the Catalyst mill harbour
for a pick-up and delivery. He's one of the deckhands on the Stormaway V, a tug working out of Campbell River.
The photos are a backwards sequence.

It's a much better job in the summer. These raw cold, wet and windy days we've been having are not great days
to be working on the water. The snaps were taken Sunday.






Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Steller's Jay

Steller's Jays are a close relative to the well-known Blue Jays of parts east, but we don't have the Blues
and they don't have the Steller's. To my mind, one of the best looking birds of the coast. The reference
material says they can be enticed with peanuts, but for whatever reason, they always disdain mine.
And I have tried, and tried.


Monday, November 27, 2017

Ceramics VI

Bill Boyd Bottle Vase
For the 6th entry in this on-going series featuring the work of west coast potters I'm showing four
pieces by Bill Boyd of Galiano Island. Boyd has been a potter since 1970, but since he discovered
zinc-silicate crystal glazing in 2002, he has done nothing else.

Bill Boyd Bottle Vase
These pieces are small, the bottle vases are the tallest at 8 inches, but some of his large free-standing
pieces and wall hangings run to almost 2 feet, and are priced accordingly.

Bill Boyd Vessel
These are crystal-glazed porcelain, fired at very high temperatures. Each piece is different, and can not be duplicated,
making them unique works of art. To say I like them would be understatement.

Bill Boyd Lidded Vessel


Sunday, November 26, 2017

Looking Forward

With all the rain and cloudy skies - and more to come if we can believe the weather prognosticators - it may
seem like we'll never see Vancouver Island again. Yet once this rainy season passes into the cold days of
January through March our old familiar view will be back. For non-residents, that's Rebecca Rock on the
horizon, and for skiers, that's Mount Washington, the high peak to the left.
The photo dates from early 2012.


Saturday, November 25, 2017

The Cape Caution

I've posted her photo here before, several times. I really like the look of that red and white on the water, so I'm sure I'll
be taking many more. This shot, with the typical autumn fog obliterating the view of Vancouver Island, dates from
2015, and is one of the favourites among my Cape Caution photos.
It's definitely a better photo than the one below, taken a scant few weeks earlier.




Friday, November 24, 2017

Rain Forest

From the archives : a walk along Suicide Creek Trail. The weather this last week leaves no doubt that we
are in the Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion. Rain, rain and more rain.



Thursday, November 23, 2017

Rounding The Bend

On the boardwalk at Inland Lake - another photo from mid-afternoon on Monday.


Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Sun And Cloud

Mid-afternoon at Inland Lake on Monday, after the morning rain cleared and gave us some sun.

I normally do both a landscape and a portrait mode shot when I do scenery,
so for this scene I'll show both.


Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Bald Eagle

With the horrendous weather lately I'm having to dig into the archives, so here's one of
my favourite Bald Eagle photos. A classic pose on the rocks of the South Harbour breakwater.


Monday, November 20, 2017

Ceramics V

The fifth in this ongoing series featuring west coast potters is a stoneware tea set by Meg Buckley. She was a
potter for almost 50 years, since 1980, till a recent retirement, on Salt Spring Island. Her studio on the Fulford
- Ganges Road was well know for her functional ware in this speckled oatmeal glaze. As she's now retired,
the next time I drop - and break - the lid to that sugar bowl, I will no longer be able to drop into her
Salt Spring gallery to replace it.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Looking Back

Long-time Powell River residents will remember back to February 1975, when 4 rail cars of poisonous liquid chlorine
disappeared from a barge on its way to the local paper mill. The Chieftain III was the tug towing the barge to Powell
River on the evening of Feb 18, in a storm. When dawn broke the following morning the crew noted that the 4 rail
cars were missing. So somewhere in Malaspina Strait, between Glower Point near Gibsons and Powell River,
there still sit 4 rail cars of potentially catastrophic chlorine. Many, many thousands of dollars have been
spent looking for them. In 2004 government scientists said they "might" have located the rail cars, but
they're not sure. After 40+ years of rusting on the bottom there is still no consensus on how
dangerous they really are - estimates run from "very" to "not at all".

These days the Chieftain III is mostly used to haul log booms to the south, in this case, yesterday, to the
bluffs at Gabriola Island, opposite the Harmac pulp mill south of Naniamo.


Saturday, November 18, 2017

It's Not Just The Canadas ...

... that are fouling our parks and playing fields. Their cousins the Snow Geese are lending a hand.
These "helping hands" were busy at the JP Dallos soccer field. It's a mess. 


Tuesday, November 14, 2017

A Sad Commentary

 It says something about the state of our world that even in our semi-isolated little city, population
12,384, where you can't leave town without waiting for a ferry, the local RCMP felt
the need to have a fully-armed officer, C8 tactical carbine and all, on station at
the Remembrance Day ceremony on Saturday.

Monday, November 13, 2017

On A Sunday Morning

This archive photo of 3 lads out on the water on a Sunday morning has been one of my favourites for a good while.
That may be because it reminds me of the days of my long-gone youth, when we did this on the St.Lawrence
River, among the Thousand Islands. Taken in early autumn, so just slightly out of season, and so
long ago that these teens are now grown men.


Sunday, November 12, 2017

Ready For Winter

Lost its spots and grown a heavier coat, ready for its very first winter.

And not to worry, mama was nearby, just out of the frame.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Friday, November 10, 2017

Those Dull Drab Days

Those drab, dull days, when it's difficult to find a photography subject.
Normal temperatures for the first half of November are somewhere around 10°C so the 3 to 5's we've been
having the last while have been decidedly cool. Add in a breeze, and dark threatening skies and it feels
more like mid-winter than mid-autumn. And definitely not a nice time to be on the water. Which is
probably why the Seaspan Queen was the only boat on the chuck Tuesday, other than our ferries.


Thursday, November 9, 2017

Ceramics IV

Continuing the series featuring ceramics by BC potters, for those days I need a blog post. This tea set is
by Anne Byrne, of B's Pottery Studio on Salt Spring Island. This is a celadon glaze, which she uses in a lot
of her work. For many years B's Pottery has been a fixture at the Salt Spring Saturday market at
Ganges, which is where this set was purchased.


Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Henderson House

The very first home built in Powell River, it was built by the Powell River Co. for Dr. Henderson,
and deeded to him as incentive to become the new town's first doctor. Construction on the
house started in 1910, right next door to, and the same time as, the first hospital. For some
time it was the only privately-owned home in the company town. It was restored as a 
community heritage project for the city's centennial celebration.
An archive photo, from Fall 2011.


Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Search and Rescue

Sitting at the lip of the Cormorant's bay.
One of the SAR CH-149 Cormorants from Comox was practicing maneuvers with our local CCGS Cape Caution
one day last week. I watched them winch down 3 SAR personnel, from the Cormorant to the deck of the
Caution, not an easy thing to do in the wash from that propeller.

Hanging by a thread.
Note that he - or she - is wearing a full wetsuit,. Even aside from maybe going in the chuck, that's a lot of
wet thrown up by the Cormorant.

Still hanging, but ...
And I will readily admit that whoever it is on the end of that cable, they have more nerve than I do.

,,, getting closer.
The Caution has a 14' beam, which is not an overly large target.

And the eagle has landed!


Monday, November 6, 2017

Gold, Rust and Green

At Cranberry Lake, looking toward Lindsay Park. I posted a similar view last year; this
year the colours are a few weeks earlier. We don't get the bright colours they do
in parts east, but the coast has many other blessings to compensate.


Sunday, November 5, 2017

Beyond My Means

Waterfront property that is. The backside of the houses on Willingdon Ave.


Saturday, November 4, 2017

Practicing

I think it safe to say that one does not expect to hear the sound of a lone French Horn
while passing through the park at Willingdon Beach, yet there it was.

On investigating, I must say I concur with our musician - when you have time off work
and need to practice on a gorgeous autumn day, what better place than the
Amphitheatre at Willingdon. Though he did say it was a little cold on the fingers.



Friday, November 3, 2017

Duck Lake Vistas

The view at Duck Lake last Sunday morning. Top, with an 85mm lens, below, with a 35mm. This is my church on a Sunday.




Thursday, November 2, 2017

At The Weir

To escape the fog in Westview on Sunday morning I headed inland, and made my
first stop at the Haslam Lake weir, where the lake drains into Lang Creek.
This has been, and remains, one of my favourite scenes, I've taken photos here
several times and will probably do so again. 


Wednesday, November 1, 2017

More Fog

The weatherman said "foggy patches" for Saturday morning, but the reality was a thick
blanket across the coast that spread a good bit inland.
This is the Upper Willingdon pathway.