Two of the more popular things to photograph are sunsets and sunrises. The colours are fleeting and lovely, and if done right, they can create quite a romantic mood.

The light is best for about an hour around sunset and again around sunrise. The sun’s rays passing through the earth’s atmosphere take on the gold, red, purple and cool blue hues that you don’t see at other times of the day, and those colours change moment by moment.

In fact, the best times of the day for most photographs is well before noon and again after dinner when the sun is at an angle in the sky. Around mid-day, the light is harsh and you’re better off heading to the shadows to get the shot.

This photo was taken this summer at Crescent Beach in Surrey, BC. It’s the first sunset I’ve photographed for years. Like a lot of photographers, when I started, I shot every sunrise and sunset I could, and I ended up with albums full of colourful shots. However, after a while they all started looking the same to me, and I lost interest in taking that kind of photo.

Lately I’ve been noticing sunsets and sunrises again, and I’ve made a point of getting out earlier and staying out later to play with my camera. That’s much easier in the winter, but there are fewer clear skies to take advantage of here on the wet coast at that time of year. In some ways that’s good – perhaps I won’t be overwhelmed with pretty sunset photos this time around.

What I’m trying here is to show some depth in the photo with the sunset, a foreground object (the boat) and something in the middle (the cloud). Not sure if it works right for me, but it’s a start.

There is a bit of memory lane in the photo too. The boat reminds me of the Cal 20 sailboat I had when I lived on Vancouver Island. It was a small, but rugged little boat that took my ex and I around the gulf islands for a few years back when.

It can be fun to remember those times.

I remember a time, long, long ago, when everyone went to the Stanley Park Zoo. Of course, that zoo fell victim to the anti-zoo crowd many years ago, but in my childhood, I sure learned a lot about animals there.

The Vancouver Zoo out in Aldergrove, is the closest thing we have to a public zoo now. It’s quite commercial, but has a good selection of native and tropical animals on display. I guess I’ve known about it for years, but last week marks my first visit. I think this guy wondered what we was doing there…

It won’t be my last visit. Not only was it fun, it was educational. I’d forgotten how big lions, tigers, baboons and such are. It also offered several photographic challenges in terms of fencing, light, people and such. It offers a chance to practice a number of photo techniques in a somewhat controlled space. If I ever get out in the wild again, the skills will come in handy.

My buddy and I went around noon – not the best light for anything, but we shot a few frames and some came out ok. I haven’t seen his yet, but mine are now in the Flickr stream.

I’ll probably pick up an annual pass and go a few times in different light and at different times of the year.

Fun stuff.

I make it a habit every June to buy myself a birthday present. This year, I included a sympathy gift for the last few months as well.

Of course, that means I spent too much. But it was for a good cause, honest 😉

During the July long weekend  I went into Photoexpert in Delta to price out the new Pocket Wizard flash controllers for Nikon .

I just went in to price them, honest…however I ended up purchasing a full set for one camera and two flashes. Of course if I buy a new flash, I’ll have to buy another one of the PW controllers too, but what the heck. I’ll worry about that when I get there.

 The system consists of:

TT5 Flex Controller – these send and receive radio signals from the flash or camera

MiniTT1 Controller – can be used in place of a TT5 on camera, but just transmits the signal

AC3 Zone Controller – lets you control the amount of flash in 1-3 zones, e.g. one full power, one at half and one off.

We’ve been waiting for the Nikon version of this for a year or so. They took some time to get the Nikon Creative Lighting System TTL settings to work like they should, but in the end, the system seems to be getting great reviews.

And…what’s a bunch of flashes without a softbox to modify the light? Ergo, the second part of my July extravaganza…a Strobez Softbox Mini/Max kit.

The kit includes an 18”x18” softbox for modifying the light, a flash mount, and a stand and case. The softbox is small, but I’m sure it will be useful at times to soften the harsh light from the flash.

Next step? I’m reading a book by flash guru Joe McNally called Hot Shoe Diaries. It’s about his use of Nikon flashes (usually in multiples), and I expect to learn some tricks from that.This is going to be fun.

Well, for the first time in a month or so, I was able to get out for some photos. Nothing too strenuous, but a trip to the park seemed easy enough.

So it was off to Bear Creek Park in Surrey. With all the kids and parents that are usually there, it’s no often I get a chance to roam through the playground with my camera. But this time I was early enough, so I caught some shots of the area.

I found some appropriate public art in the water park. I liked the fish (salmon) swimming upstream (on the pole) and the bear searching for supper. Both were on separate parts of the water park, and you can see the spray nozzels for the pipes the figures are mounted on.

There were a few signs of spring in the park, but I was surprised at how few. I expected some daffodils and crocuses would be showing definite signs of life by now. Oh well. Soon.