For those already wanting for warmer weather… here are a couple of shots I took when Chris and I decided to head to Stanley Park to take a few shots this past spring.

I’m particularly happy with the shot of Chris. I think it portrays her with a confidence and competency in a hobby she enjoys.

I’m also particularly happy with the shot of the robin. The multitude of small branches made it impossible to use the autofocus… so I had to go manual. Very happy with how it turned out.

The last two, well I was lucky as heck. The first presents the setup. As I was looking around I saw a Canada goose come in for landing. I JUST managed to train my camera on him and pull the trigger on the shutter as he slid-in for landing. I think I captured a neat moment there.

Wow, the more I go through my computer files… trying to sort the mass of data that I have the more I find shots that I have taken but have had no time to process (digitally of course). Here are a couple more that I took at Shannon Falls this past summer.

The first is a zoomed-in shot of the falls themselves. I chose settings that permitted a slightly slower shutter speed to give a light blurring to the waterfall. In my experimenting in processing I found the black and white rendition moved me most.

The second is also near Shannon Falls. On our way back to the parking lot to leave the sun started coming over the mountain and fell rather strikingly on leaves by the creek. They really stood out and I tried to capture that.

… ’tis the season and we’ve got our tree up. Probably been up about a week or so. I thought some might be interested in what we have in our home. It’s an artificial tree (sorry, but I just not interested in the work and effort of a real one) and I tend to like to keep it relatively simple. Lights and ornaments but no garland.

Anyhoo, I thought it would be neat to take a few closer shots of some of the ornaments. A couple of cartoon based ones, Mickey and Mini (from Mum) and a Santa (again from Mum).

I just read a story on CBC’s news website Please Login or Register to see the link..

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I found what I read disgusting, both the story and some of the comments people where posting. If anyone is curious about my view on the matter, here is what I had to say and posted:

“The result of this vote and the nature of some of the comments on this story pain my heart. I feel it speaks sad volumes on the state of acceptance of different cultures.

For those that make the argument that it is to protect one’s culture… I would be curious to know if you feel the same way when Québec makes moves to protect its culture? In many cases, I would guess the answer is no. I bet most of those would view Québec in a dim light. For the record I’m a French Canadian, and I feel Québec’s nationalist bend is not in the best interest of Québec. I feel much of it is routed in bigotry and has no place in a “Just Society”.

Le vote éthnique, hein Parizeau? Disgusting!

For those that feel that Muslims are catered to too much, I would remind you that Islam has a long and proud tradition, just as Christianity and Judaism. Yet we have no issue with celebrating Christmas, Easter… nor do we have any issue with antiquated traditions like Thanksgiving. Principally only celebrated in Canada and the US.

How about those lazy Canadians, wanting a day off on their country’s birthday?!

Cultural makeups of countries and regions change with time… just ask the Sumerians and Babylonians. I suggest people get used to it and find a way to respect it and appreciate it. There is no reason for Muslims to be made to feel that they and their culture are not wanted. At least to my atheist sensibility.”

I know it’s short and quite flippant, but too bad that’s how I feel.