Len's Photoblog

Trying Wordpress

2010-05-20T20:05:00.000+08:00

I've been having issues with Blogger recently, so I'm trying out Wordpress to see what it's like.

I kinda like it, although it will take some time playing with it to really make a decision.

Until further notice, all posts will be made to my new blog at http://lenlangevin.wordpress.com/

I hope to see you there!

Taiwanese Hospitality

2010-05-19T15:15:00.002+08:00

A couple locals who befriended Wendy and me at a little restaurant.

After spending time in Taiwan and Mainland China, I often wonder how Asian visitors to Canada or America find us as hosts. When was the last time you approached people on the street looking at a map and asked them if they need directions? Have yo ever walked up to a table of people speaking a different language and tried to start up a conversation, regardless of whether you spoke that language or not?

If you're like me, the answers to the above questions are "never" and "no."

I've mentioned the hospitality of Mainland China in previous posts, but it's even more pronounced here in Taiwan. We've been here a month and we've already lost track on the number of times people on the street have offered us help without a request from us. It will happen when we're reading a bus schedule, or looking at the subway guide, or standing on a sidewalk looking at our map.

"Hello! Can I help you?" is something we've heard many times since arriving in Kaohsiung. On one of those occasions Wendy and I were trying to get our Taiwanese cell phone numbers. This is incredibly easy in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China, where you just hand a vendor the equivalent of $20 Canadian and he gives you a SIM card with a local phone number. It's a little more involved in Taiwan. When looking for a cell provider office, we stopped at a TGI Friday's where we knew the staff spoke English and asked for directions to a place where we could buy a SIM card. The host gave us directions and even wrote the name of the place in Chinese so we knew what sign to look for. We didn't have any luck finding the place he told us about and we kept retracing our steps, thinking we had missed the place.

As we walked by TGI Friday's again, one of the hostesses who was getting off work noticed we were still looking for the Taiwan Mobile office. She looked at the address we had and realized the first guy gave us directions to a location that had moved. This young lady had difficulty giving us directions we could understand, so she actually went out of her way and took us to a store...then she actually stayed and did the interpreting for us!

Getting away from receiving help on the street, I'm even more impressed with basic hospitality from locals who just start talking to you out of the blue. This often happens in a little mom-and-pop restaurant that doesn't have any English menus or pictures of what they sell. These are the places where I try to muddle through in my survival Chinese skills and hope to hell I get what I think I just ordered. If I can't get through with my Chinese skills, I usually end up in the kitchen, pointing at ingredients and playing charades trying to demonstrate how I want the stuff cooked.

In those situations, someone in the restaurant - sometimes the owner, other times a customer - will come to our table and start a conversation, usually beginning with "Welcome to Taiwan. Where are you from?"

They usually only speak a couple words of English, and more often than not, the "where are you from" part is in Chinese. I muddle through with the little Chinese I have, often referring to the Chinese-English phrasebook in my pocket, and before you know it, a few other locals have joined us at our table and we all share a few laughs on how we butcher each others language.

Broken English or broken Chinese may not be the most effective way to communicate, but never underestimate the power of either of them!

Taiwan: China, but not China

2010-05-16T11:45:00.006+08:00

One of many building-sized billboard in downtown Kaohsuing

Taiwan is a bit of an oddity. To the Taiwanese, it is an independent country called the Republic of China. To the Chinese, it's a province of the People's Republic of China. To the rest of the world, it depends on how your government recognizes each place. During the height of the Cold War, most of the world recognized Taiwan as the Republic of China, completely ignoring the Godless Communists of Mainland China. The list of countries that officially recognizes Taiwan as the Republic of China shrinks daily, thanks to the Mainland's economic clout and massive pool of cheap labor that other countries want to exploit. To further confuse matters, countries that move their official recognition to Mainland China still maintain "Economic Trade" offices in Taiwan. These offices are actually embassies in disguise because if you recognize the Mainland as "China," it cannot also recognize Taiwan as "China." Because of that, Mainland China has all most of the world's embassies while Taiwan is home to a very long list of trade offices. Basically, it's a huge diplomatic tap dance that tries to keep everyone happy.

The Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung

Despite the political/diplomatic quagmire and the complex history that makes Taiwan what it is today, it is still Chinese in culture, with a few differing cultural characteristics which makes the Taiwanese markedly different from their Mainland counterparts.

To further illustrate this, a brief history of Taiwan is necessary. After being colonized or conquered by a few different countries over the centuries (the Portuguese and Dutch claimed the island at different points in history), Taiwan ended up under Japanese control for 50 years from 1895 to 1945. After the Second World War, an international tribunal determined that Taiwan should be returned to China (Mainland China, that is). This was a bittersweet moment for the Taiwanese. Although they were controlled by a foreign government, Taiwan prospered and developed well under Japanese rule while Mainland China remained undeveloped. Making matters worse, Taiwan was handed back to the Mainland while the country was in the midst of the civil war between the ruling Kuomintang party and Mao Zedong's Communist forces.

When the communists defeated the Kuomintang on the Mainland, Chiang Kai Shek and the remainder of his forces fled to Taiwan where he stubbornly entrenched himself as the President of the Republic of China. Rather than following Chiang to Taiwan and defeating him there, Mao let Chiang operate in Taiwan. Unfortunately for Mao, the rest of the world was slow to recognize his government as the People's Republic of China. That basically brings us to where we are today.

Wendy at the top of the Dragon Pagoda

If you have ever spent any time in Mainland China, the differences are often subtle - much like the differences between Canada and the US. The Taiwanese are more worldly. They don't live behind the Great Firewall of China, so they have far more contact with the rest of the world - and none of the Mainland's propaganda. Taiwan has a well established middle class, so the spread between rich and poor is not as evident in the Mainland. The Taiwanese are more polite than their mainland counterparts (you can really see the Japanese influence come through here). They bow like the Japanese, politely stand in line or take a number, speak quieter...the list goes on. This is not to say the Mainland Chinese are impolite - they just have a different set of values regarding what is polite. One thing the Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese have in common is they will kill you with kindness and hospitality.

For the visible differences between Taiwan and China, Taiwan is much cleaner. The cities seem more organized (from an engineering/infrastructure standpoint), the driving is less crazy (but still very chaotic compared to Western standards).

A colorful 22-meter statue of the God Xuantian, which houses a Daoist temple.

Going to the other end of the spectrum, Taiwan is more "Chinese" that Mainland China in some ways. Unlike Mainland China which was plundered of its historic architecture during the cultural revolution, Taiwan is home to countless pieces of classic Chinese architecture - temples, pagodas, courtyard homes, etc. It's difficult to walk any distance here in Kaohsiung without passing a temple of some sort.

So that's my take on Taiwan so far. It's only been a month and we've only been in one city so far and I'm sure I'll discover more differences and similarities as time goes by.

For more photos from Kaohsiung, go to http://www.facebook.com/lenlangevin#!/album.php?aid=427709&id=850395130

Frenetic pace of Guangzhou construction

2010-04-18T13:38:00.002+08:00

When I lived in Guangzhou from 2002-2005, there was a joke going around that if you took a three-hour river boat tour/dinner cruise, the city's skyline would change by the time you got back.The joke wasn't all that far from the truth, either.

Well, believe it or not, the pace of development in Guangzhou has gotten even hotter in the past five years. When I left, GZ had two subway lines. Five are now running with a sixth scheduled to start in May. A few more major interchanges and expressways were added making a trip through the city very fast. Before 2005, a taxi ride from the train station to my school area always cost around 50 RMB. Today you can get pretty much anywhere in the city for 35 RMB. It's a good thing I didn't try to haggle with the taxi driver when we got in. I'd have happily paid 50 RMB for the trip.

Much of the current construction is due to the 2010 Asian Games which will be held in GZ in November. In addition to a multitude of new venues, roadways and attractions being build specifically for that event, most of the city's buildings and neighborhoods are going through a massive renovation. I was in neighborhoods I used to regularly visit and could not recognize a thing - partly because of the new buildings that had popped up, but mostly because every other building was covered with scaffolding and green netting.

All the new construction is getting rid of neglected old neighborhoods and replacing them with shiny new ultra-modern glass and steel structures that dwarf most buildings in North America. The most recently completed building is the GZTV Tower which overtook Toronto's CN Tower as the world's tallest free-standing structure.

With all the new developments obliterating older neighborhoods, it is refreshing to see certain old structure being protected. The Chinese have a saying that "the new won't come unless you get rid of the old," and the country has lost a lot of historical structures because of that. The cultural revolution didn't help matters much either. Guangzhou has no shortage of ugly Mao-era that really need to be bulldozed, but it's also a 2,800-year-old city which should have a lot more historical structures than it does.

It was great to see that the 400-year-old Chigang Pagoda still standing in the shadow of the new GZTV Tower. Although the grounds to the pagoda are accessible, the area is not maintained and the building itself is not open to the public. It does, however, look like the place will be going through a major refurbishing as the area surround it is somewhat cordoned off and a building that was once a restaurant now only houses a caretaker for the area.

Another place we visited was Liu Rong Si, or the Six Banyan Pagoda Temple. Liu Rong Si was originally built in 537 AD, then rebuilt in 1097 and 1373 after being ravaged by fires. The current 1373 structure that still stands was restored in 1900 and is an extremely popular temple to visit - for locals and tourists alike. A Buddhist monastery is on the pagoda grounds and visitors can watch the services led by monks. When I last visited the temple in 2005, tourists were able to enter the pagoda and visit each of the nine floor. Tourist traffic must be taking its toll on the building as it is no longer open to visitors.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the city, new buildings are built to look old. In one subdivision, a replica of Beijing's Summer Palace Pagoda was built at the top of a mountain an houses a popular restaurant and tea house.

Guangzhou has long been an industrial centre of China that really didn't have much going for it as a tourist destination, nor did it have much visual appeal, architecturally speaking. That has changed dramatically over the past 10 years and Guangzhou's skyline easily rivals that of Shanghai, New York, Chicago or London.

On the down side, Guangzhou is still the buckle of China's industrial belt and the air quality is among the worst in the world.

The city may have a great skyline, but it can be difficult to see on most days.

Chen Clan Temple - Guangzhou China

2010-04-09T09:22:00.005+08:00

On our first full day in Guangzhou, one of my former students and her husband took us to one of my favorite spots in the city - Chen Jia Ci, or the Chen Clan Temple. It is also known as the Chen Family Academy....I don't really know why it has a couple of different English names, but "Academy" is a far more appropriate term to use that "Temple."

The place was originally built as a family temple and a sanctuary for family members to study, but is now used as a traditional/folk art academy and is considered one of Guangzhou's top tourist attractions.

According to one of the official tourism sites, here's some history about the academy. "In the late of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a man named Chen got the third place in the highest imperial examination and had conferred upon him a distinguished office title which made the Family Chen well-known. Later someone suggested that all the Chen's families raise money to build a temple to sacrifice to the ancestors and encourage their offspring likewise to study hard. Therefore, the temple was finished in 1894 with the money donated by Chen's families in 72 counties of Guangdong Province as well as some overseas members of Family Chen.

"The temple is a compound complex consisting of nine halls, six courtyards and nineteen buildings connected by corridors, all separated by walls from the outside world. A pair of stone drums in front of the entrance door, measuring 2.55 meters (about 8.36 feet) in height and two colored drawing pictures of door-god of four meters (about 13 feet) height are said to be the best in Guangdong.

"The compound was constructed in the traditional Chinese symmetrical style and the main hall, the Juxian Hall is in the center of the temple. Juxian Hall was once a place for clansmen to assemble before the establishment of the temple and now it is used as an ancestral hall. In front of the hall is a stone gazebo surrounded by stone balustrades. In the hall there is an exquisitely carved folding screen which is an excellent example of woodcarving."

The top photo is one of the many corridors in the complex that connects the different buildings. The bottom photo is one of the stone lions at the entry. The lions signify power and are there to keep evil and misfortune away.

The temple was somewhat pillaged during the Cultural Revolution. Most of the contents were burned, but the structure itself miraculously escaped demolition. If my memory serves me correctly, the building were used as either a factory or a slaughterhouse during the cultural revolution and it fell into considerable disrepair. Since then, the all levels of government in China have been spending a lot to restore the place to its former glory. There is currently a very large construction project going on in front of the Academy that will give the place a massive courtyard-styled entry way. Both Wendy and I are looking forward to a return trip to Guangzhou to see the changes. We suspect that most of the construction should be finished by November when Guangzhou hosts the 2010 Asian Games.

For Wendy's take on the Chen Clan Temple, check out her blog.

Riding High in Hong Kong

2010-03-28T18:33:00.005+08:00

If you're ever in Hong Kong, try to make your way to Ngong Ping, which is on Lantau Island, away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong proper. And if you go to Ngong Ping and take the cable car, make sure to spring the extra cash for the "Crystal Car" which has a glass-bottom floor that gives you a gut-dropping view of the ground below you - about 200 feet below you in some places. In the above photo, my wife Wendy looks like she's sitting on a floating bench as our cable car approaches the landing dock near the Hong Kong airport.

The cable car ride from Ngong Ping to the landing dock is about half an hour long and the views are spectacular in any direction. For those who don't like heights, you can also get to Ngong Ping by taking a ferry and bus or hike up the mountain following the cable car lines. You can see a bit of the path in the photo above.

Once at Ngong Ping, the main attraction is a giant Buddha and a Buddhist monastery. You will also find some hiking trails that will take you up and around the many mountains in the area. We didn't do any of the hiking, however, as we were still suffering from the jet lag.

Soon....back in Asia

2010-03-02T08:09:00.000+08:00

We'll soon be seeing this view from the Star Ferry in Hong Kong!

We're down to our last few days in Nanaimo before Wendy and I fly to Toronto on to visit her family for a while before heading to the wonderful city of Hong Kong.

I really look forward to being back in Asia. That's where I first became interested in photography, and when I look at my photos from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, I'm quite disappointed in them. It will be nice to have a chance to get some better shots of places now that I know what I'm doing with a camera.

This photo of the Hong Kong Convention Centre is among the first digital photographs I ever shot. It was back during the 2002 Chinese New Year celebrations and I had just bought a digital camera in Kowloon. Straight out of the electronics shop, I walked down Nathan Road and hopped onto a Star Ferry to Hong Konk Island.

Crippled jeeps and beer-drinking pigs - a day on St. Croix

2009-12-01T05:25:00.001+08:00

Never underestimate what you’ll find in a public bathroom when vacationing in a Caribbean paradise

Being travelers who prefer less touristy things, my wife and I always look for activities that don’t draw the crowds like the glass-bottom boat, dinner cruises or excursions on pickup trucks converted into open-air taxis – all tourism staples on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things - we just prefer to zig when others zag.

Ironically, it was in the bathroom while waiting to get on a glass-bottom boat to the snorkeling Mecca of Buck Island Reef where we spotted a poster offering our kind of trip – an off-road jeep tour to locations few tourists see. Making things better, the maximum group size of four was perfect for us and the couple traveling with us.

With a small armada of modified jeeps, Tan Tan Tours takes intrepid tourists off the beaten track into the heart of St. Croix. Tours begin in Christiansted, a charming seaside town with cobbled sidewalks and narrow old-world streets dominated by pastel-colored Danish colonial architecture dating back to the early 1700s.

Although we started with a "safety briefing," that briefing also informed us of a beer cooler conveniently strapped to the jeep’s front bumper and the consumption of alcohol in a moving vehicle is not illegal in the Virgin Islands – driver excluded, of course.

With that nugget of information under our belts, our first stop was a gas station that sold beer and ice. With the cooler full of beer, our off-road experience began with the roar of the engine and the pffft of opening beer cans.

Just before going off road, our driver Carl stopped to show us the company’s namesake – the tan tan tree. As the company’s motto goes, "Where the tan tan trees grow, we go." And the tan tan grows everywhere on St. Croix, much like the Scotch broom covering Vancouver Island. Like Vancouver Island’s Scotch broom, the tan tan tree is an invasive species choking out native vegetation despite attempts to eradicate it.

Going off road anywhere on the Virgin Islands can be a bit of a relief. Sure, you’re bounced around like a bingo ball and low-hanging branches tend to whip passengers in the head and arms, but you don’t have the disconcerting feeling of driving on the wrong side of the road. The Virgin Islands use left-hand-drive vehicles but you drive on the left as in England. Despite a week of driving a rental car on St. Croix, oncoming traffic from the right still had the effect of migrating your heart into your throat. Being on the left and knowing you’re in the right seems to only work when speaking politically.

But I digress. Back to the off-road experience.

Leaving the paved road, we began ascending a very steep rocky hill. Shortly thereafter, the jeep started lurching and making weird noises. We stalled a couple of times and then discovered the accelerator was sticking. Despite the mechanical difficulties on a remote mountain road, we never felt stranded or in danger. Our driver was very experienced and in constant contact with the office via walkie-talkie. Besides, how stranded can you get on a small island?

Carl jerry-rigged the accelerator cable and we continued toward Goat Hills summit, which offers incredible views of the surrounding aquamarine Caribbean Sea and neighboring islands of St. John and St. Thomas. The jerry-rigging, unfortunately, didn’t hold and we stopped on a plateau about halfway up the mountain. As Carl attempted to fix the problem while communicating with a mechanic back at the base, we cracked open more beers, checked out the views and took a few pictures.

Carl decided it wouldn’t be safe to continue up the mountain and arranged to have a mechanic meet us at a nearby resort. We limped our way down the mountain and got to the resort – stopping once to let the engine cool. While Carl waited for the mechanic, we perched ourselves at the beach-side bar and ordered a round of Painkillers – a concoction of dark rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juice all topped with fresh-grated Grenadian nutmeg. The drink is ubiquitous throughout the Virgin Islands, but originated in the 1970s at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke Island in the British Virgins. Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar are worthy of a story on their own, but if you ever find yourself in the Virgin Islands, not making a trip to this tiny island and famous bar could be considered vacation sacrilege. It’s worth a day trip just to see how the Soggy Dollar got its name.

Once again, I digress.

As we polished off our Painkillers, Carl announced the jeep was fixed and it was time to hit the road. Four more beer cans went pfffft and all was good in the world – but not for long. Minutes later the engine started making a very loud clacking and produced a smell that usually precedes an engine rod pushing through the hood. Carl pulled into the next service station, radioed the office and ordered a different jeep. Minutes later a new jeep arrived and with it, Max – our driver for the rest of the day.

All this fun and action and it wasn’t even noon yet.

After a lunchtime pit stop at a palm-studded beach, we returned to the mountain trails, stopping at the ruins of a sugar mill abandoned since the early 1800s. Walking through the structure’s remains, it was difficult not to think of the slave labor that built the mills and sustained the Caribbean economy for a few centuries. At the same time, it was easy to see how much the world has changed, especially with the rise of Barak Obama whose image is emblazoned on the t-shirts of many locals a full year after his election.

From the sugar mill ruins to our next stop, the jeep was in 4x4 low most of the way, traversing trails with deep gullies between the tire tracks. Navigating these gullies formed by runoff from frequent tropical rains meant our jeep was often precariously balanced on two diagonally opposed wheels.

It was worth every hair-raising moment once we got to the beach at Annaly Bay. A short hike along some pretty rugged coastline brought us to a massive tide pool filled with warm Caribbean water, sheltered from the surf by a huge rocky wall. It was also free of any other people. According to Max, the tide pools are only visited by their clients and a few other adventurous tourists who take the 4-km hike from a nearby resort. Rarely is there more than a half-dozen people at the tide pools at any given time.

We spent at least an hour in the tide pool just floating in the super-salient water, watching the colorful tropical fish and listening to the surf crash on the rocks between us and the open ocean. Had the day ended here, we’d have gone home happy, but there was more.

Backtracking past the mill ruins, we eventually reached the aptly-named Mahogany Road, lined for several kilometers by huge mahogany trees with their branches creating a massive green tunnel leading into the island’s rainforest and our final stop for the day – the Montpellier Domino Club.

Looking at the club’s construction, it’s difficult to believe this long-standing bar and restaurant is in the buckle of the Caribbean hurricane belt. This dirt-floored, open-air structure is basically a bunch of posts holding up a thatched roof that looks like it would blow away in a stiff breeze. Despite its haphazard appearance, it has wonderful atmosphere and serves up killer ribs, roast chicken, johnnycake and a rum-honey-spice concoction called the "Mammawanna." Unlike the painkiller, Mammawanna ingredients are closely guarded by the club’s affable owner and drink inventor “Miss Norma” whose wide smile defies her incredibly tight lips.

The food, drink and rustic ambiance, however, is not the Domino Club’s main attraction. That honor belongs to a couple of beer-drinking pigs. Yes, you read that correctly. I said beer-drinking pigs – and I’m not referring to the hygiene of any undesirable customers.

These are true porkers who guzzle cans of non-alcoholic beer fed to them by tourists who line up to pay $1 admission plus $2 per can of brew. Taking the entire can into their mouths, the pigs create an explosion of suds with an initial chomp, chew until they can’t squeeze out another drop of brew then spit out what’s left of the can.

In all our travels, the jeep tour was one of our most enjoyable experiences, even with the mechanical problems. It ranks right up there with the shark diving we did in Hawaii and visiting an indigenous family in the Ecuador Andes. My wife and I are in our mid 40s, but the off-road tour made us feel like teenagers again. We did all the things we weren’t allowed to do. We rode in open vehicles without seatbelts, consumed alcohol in a moving vehicle; we laughed and screamed as we bounced over the bumps, we fed beer to pigs.

We had a blast – and no one lost an eye.

Become a fan of my book!

2009-08-18T23:58:00.001+08:00

Help me spread the word about my book - Through Len's Lens - by becoming a fan of the books Facebook Page.

With Christmas only 4 months away, now would be a good time to start making a list of everyone you know who would like this book as a gift!

Through Len's Lens on Facebook

Nature's Fireworks

2009-07-27T03:58:00.000+08:00

I had planned on going to a fireworks show in downtown Nanaimo last night, but this weird storm cell came through about an hour before the show started. From our place, it looked like the downtown area was going to get some major rain, and I really didn't feel like taking pics in a downpour. So instead of going downtown, I stood on the deck and took in the spectacular show Mother Nature provided.

She actually provided two spectacular shows last night. From our back yard, we got this lighning show and from our front yard we got one of the most beautiful sunsets ever (I'll post that pic later).

In hindsight, I should have gone downtown...it would have been really cool to get fireworks and lightning in a single shot....

I really have to thank my wife for helping with this shot...she is absolutely incredible at anticipating when the strikes will happen. I'll eventually post a shot she got - seven bolts in a single exposure!

If you have a moment, please vote for my book, Through Len's Lens, for Blurb's PhotoBookNow Peoples Choice Award.

My book needs your vote!

2009-07-25T08:31:00.000+08:00

If you have a moment, please vote for my book in Blurb's PhotoBookNow contest.

My art is now available at Red Bubble!

2009-02-13T04:07:00.000+08:00

Check out my new storefront at RedBubble. My photos are available as greeting cards, posters and prints.

Biblical Sunset

2009-02-10T14:50:00.001+08:00

Whenever I see a sunset like this, I expect a booming voice from the sky to say something profound. It never happens, though.

Will it win???

2008-09-25T02:05:00.001+08:00

This photo is a finalist in the Nature Land Trust of British Columbia's photo contest. The winners will be announced on Friday, Sept. 26. I have my fingers crossed!

House for Sale

2008-08-15T01:33:00.001+08:00

It's time to move on to a new adventure, so our house is up for sale. This shot was taken in the spring and we have since put on a new 30-year roof and a new asphalt driveway, so the place is in tip-top shape. More info and photos are on my personal website.

Dinner Cruise

2008-06-12T07:45:00.000+08:00

A dinner cruise yacht passes along Chicago's "Gold Coast" as the sun sets on Lake Michigan.

Recovering

2008-06-10T01:04:00.001+08:00

I had knee surgery on June 4 and have been in recovery mode since then....A comfy sofa, a blankie, a laptop and the computer network aided in my recovery...oh and the camera too.

Home Again

2008-06-10T00:58:00.000+08:00

I seem to have forgotten about this site...not really sure why....anyway, here's another shot that made it to the #1 spot on Flickr's top 500 and ended up getting thousands of views one day. This was taken in the northern part of Nanaimo along the beach below Icarus Road. I called it Home Again because it was the first shot I had taken after being in Chicago for a week.

Evening Drama

2008-05-02T23:11:00.000+08:00

I uploaded this shot to my Flickr site on Sunday, April 27 and it somehow got to the #1 spot on Flickr's top 500 "Interestingness" factor. That led to almost 6000 views in one day and resulted in the sale of four prints - which will grace the walls of a Midtown Manhattan apartment!

This shot was taken just below Bayshore Drive in the Hammond Bay area of Nanaimo.

Marina Cutie

2008-04-23T23:25:00.000+08:00

I originally posted this in November 2007, but I'm reposting because I just got word that this photo is one of seven winners in the Spirit of Cowichan BC 150 photo contest. I don't know what placement or what prize yet...I get to find that out on May 3 when the official announcement is made.

This photo was taken at the marina in Cowichan Bay, BC. The little blue and yellow boat just jumped out at me and begged to be photographed.

UPDATE - MAY 3: Meh...I should have known better than to get my hopes up. I thought I may have gotten the grand prize in this contest, but I only got an honorable mention. Oh well, the HM was worth 50 bucks.

Chicago River

2008-04-17T08:17:00.001+08:00

New and old architecture lines the Chicago River. To the left is the new Trump Tower, which will be amont the world's tallest buildings once completed. In the background (with the spire/steeple) is the historic Chicago Tribune Building.

Cloud Gate - Chicago

2008-04-11T00:22:00.001+08:00

The Cloud Gate - a stainless steel sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park - is more commonly known to the locals as "The Bean." Millennium Park and The Bean in general is one of my favorite spots in Chicago.

God has left the building

2008-04-02T04:46:00.001+08:00

This is the interior of the Butter Church, the exterior of which is in the previous posting.

The Butter Church

2008-03-27T00:41:00.001+08:00

This old stone church on native land just outside of Duncan in Cowichan Bay, BC is known at the "Butter Church." It was built in 1870 and got it's name because it was funded by the sale of butter from the church's dairy.

Rocky Point

2008-03-20T08:22:00.001+08:00

Clouds move in on the rugged coastline of Galiano Island.

Dramatic skies

2008-03-10T10:59:00.000+08:00

For some reason, I've been playing with black and white lately. This is a view of the Cowichan Valley from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan, BC.

Life and Death

2008-03-07T07:20:00.001+08:00

I wanted to go up to the summit of Mt. Prevost to take some shots, but I got three-quarters of the way up and found the road to the summit was still covered in a lot of snow....I was feeling a little dejected at not being able to get to the mountain top, so I ended up stopping at this cemetery on the way home. This was originally an HDR image, but I thought it was too vibrant considering the subject matter in the background. I ended up with this instead.

Mt. Arrowsmith

2008-02-27T01:56:00.000+08:00

Wow...I've really neglected this blog in the last while, haven't I. Oh well, it's not like there's anyone looking at this.

My birthday was on the weekend and my girlfriend surprised me with one of the best gifts ever. She chartered a light plane to fly us around the island for an hour. Mt. Arrowsmith is one spectacular site.

It's a good thing my GF's birthday isn't until July....It's going to take me at least that long to come up with a cool gift idea for her.

Any suggestions?

Natural Pedicure

2008-01-29T04:14:00.001+08:00

Just think of all the money I could save on pumice stones if I lived in Hawaii and could go down to the Punaluu Black Sand Beach every day and rub my feet in the sand!

Chillin'

2008-01-27T08:32:00.001+08:00

I'm just hangin' out in my hammock at a private beach at Kua Loa Ranch on the east side of Oahu.

After the dive

2008-01-25T07:45:00.001+08:00

Once we came out of the shark cage, it took at least an hour for Wendy and me to wipe the smiles off our faces.

Snorkle babe

2008-01-24T07:37:00.001+08:00

This being my first attempt at underwater photography, I was quite surprised at the amount of light there was. Other than some slight cropping and resizing, this pic is pretty much untouched with PhotoShop. I couldn't believe how well the eyes came through the goggles. This pic was taken in a shark cage off Oahu's north shore.

Into the drink

2008-01-23T07:56:00.001+08:00

This surfer on Oahu's north shore is about to taste the Pacific.

Personal Postcard

2008-01-18T09:25:00.000+08:00

I had this idea to create a personal postcard when I was in Hawaii, but I had no idea whether it would work or not. I almost got what I wanted, but it would have been better if I could have been on a beach that wasn't affected by streetlights. In any event, this didn't come out too badly. It's a good thing Wendy was there to do the backwards writing with the flashlight...I never could have done that.

Aloha everyone...it sucks to be home!

Butchart Gardens

2008-01-04T00:55:00.000+08:00

If you have never been to Butchart Gardens in Victoria at Christmas, I can't recommend it enough - especially if you are into night photography. My parents were visiting for Christmas and I took them there for dinner on Boxing Day. The dinner was just as spectacular as this view.

Who are you talking to?

2007-12-14T02:41:00.001+08:00

A couple of guys chat on the ferry - at least that's what the shadow looks like.

Ribbit

2007-12-06T05:53:00.000+08:00

I found this little guy sitting on my doorstep when I walked out of the house yesterday. He's lucky I didn't step on him!

Some days I wanna shoot myself

2007-11-29T16:03:00.001+08:00

Multiplicity

2007-11-28T17:27:00.000+08:00

This multiplicity thing seems to be all the rage with a bunch of people on Flickr, so I thought I'd give it a shot. At least I had someone to talk to at the top of the mountain.

How far would you go for a pic?

2007-11-24T07:18:00.000+08:00

OK...I really didn't go that far for this pic. In fact, I can see my house from where I'm standing. that being said, I can also see Mount Baker, the Sunshine Coast, the Saanich Peninsula and most of the southern Gulf Island. I love being on the Mt. Prevost summit.

Altitude

2007-11-23T00:09:00.000+08:00

The peak of Mt. Prevost (altitude about 2500 feet) received a dusting of snowon Monday. I finally made it up there yesterday afternoon.

Radiance

2007-11-20T14:00:00.001+08:00

This HDR stuff is amazing. I'm loving the results I'm getting. This is another shot from Port Renfrew.

Storm's a'comin'

2007-11-14T16:15:00.000+08:00

Within five minutes of taking this pic at Big Beach in Ucluelet, I was being hit with horizontal rain.

Dragan Face

2007-11-09T18:38:00.001+08:00

If you've ever seen the work of Andrzej Dragan, you'd see that Kip here has a great character face - perfect for "draganizing."

Rough hands, soft touch

2007-11-09T18:33:00.001+08:00

I took this shot of my friend Kip at a gig in Mill Bay a while ago and pulled it out because I've been learning a Photoshop technique to emulate the phenomenal photo artist Andrzej Dragan.

Heading for the sea

2007-11-09T02:20:00.001+08:00

Below the lower falls at Little Qualicum park

Littlel Qualicum Falls

2007-11-07T08:01:00.001+08:00

I'm kinda hooked on this HDR stuff. Here's a shot of the upper falls at Little Qualicum Park. I'm actually not sure if I like the HDR effect in this kind of environment as much as I liked the sunset shots....but I'm still learning.

The circle of life

2007-11-03T00:11:00.001+08:00

A salmon heads up stream early in the spawning season at Goldstream Park near Victoria. I'm hoping to make it down to Goldstream again this weekend. Maybe there will be more activity this time.

HDR Colors

2007-11-01T00:51:00.000+08:00

Here's another HDR composition from my day at Port Renfrew

Walking by the sea

2007-10-31T00:38:00.001+08:00

Hikers take advantage of the low tide at Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew. This is an HDR (high dynamic range) image that was made from three photos at different exposures. I just started playing with HDR on the weekend and I absolutely love the results. I have an album of HDR images from this day out on my website.

2007-10-26T14:20:00.001+08:00

The Capitol Building is probably the most recognizable piece of architecture in Washington DC and is often mistaken for the White House, which is much smaller and almost invisible as it is dwarfed my most other buildings in the city. This shot of the Capitol was taken from the National Art Gallery's sculpture garden.

I'd like to buy a vowel...

2007-10-22T11:48:00.001+08:00

It looks like The Examiner in Baltimore could use a proofreader for the sign on their building.

Vietnam Memorial

2007-10-16T05:59:00.000+08:00

Tourists walk by the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. The obelisk in the background is the Washington Monument.

Speeding through sunset

2007-10-11T21:43:00.001+08:00

If there was ever a time I didn't want to be driving, this was it. I was driving from the Delaware coast to the DC area and got to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at sunset. Since I was on the bridge, I couldn't stop or turn around so I just grabbed my camera and started shooting. It's a good thing, because by the time I got to the other side of the bridge, the sunset was pretty much finished. I got this at about 60 mph.

Baltimore Harbor

2007-10-10T04:53:00.001+08:00

Baltimore's Inner Harbor is probably the city's top tourist destination.

Just like the commercial!

2007-10-06T01:48:00.001+08:00

I was walking from my hotel to the Baltimore Convention Center this morning when I noticed the AT&T billboard and the building in the background. It was just like that TV commercial AT&T is running now.

Back in the news!

2007-10-05T10:30:00.001+08:00

The City of Duncan Totem Photography Policy - the one I've had a bee in my bonnet about for the last couple of months - is back in the news today.

The Globe and Mail ran a story about it today. Check it out.

Every time a story on the issue runs, the city just looks stupider and stupider.

I have since found out that the story ran in the Winnipeg Free Press, the Lethbridge Herald, The Vancouver Island Business Examiner, Imaging Insider, Arts News Canada, Shaw TV, A-Channel Victoria, Global TV Victoria, CHEK TV Victoria and the Western Canadian News Photographers Association.

From the bow

2007-10-03T16:31:00.000+08:00

The sandstone cliffs of Gabriola Island from the bow of an 18' Whaler.

Sunset arrival

2007-10-03T08:29:00.001+08:00

A cruise ship approaches Vancouver as the sun sets. This was taken from a BC Ferry crossing from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo.

Golden moment

2007-10-02T02:58:00.000+08:00

I got this on the same evening as I shot "Evening Cast." I stopped at this lake at the perfect time just before sunset and caught the wonderful glow of the early autumn colors.

Shooting the shooter

2007-09-26T06:22:00.001+08:00

Deddeda Stemler, on assignment for the Globe and Mail, shoots me for a story the Globe is doing on the Duncan totem photo policy. Last I heard, the story is supposed to run in the Wednesday, Sept. 26 issue. It was a great pleasure for me too meet Deddeda and I learned a fair bit just watching her in action. She has a great portfolio online at www.deddeda.com.

Contre Jour

2007-09-26T00:55:00.001+08:00

I love shooting against the sun. This was on a boating trip from Nanaimo through the Gulf Islands on Saturday. For those of you who are wondering, "contre jour" translated from French means "against the day." It's a photographic term used for shooting into the sun - or any main light source, for that matter.

Stupid

2007-09-19T12:26:00.000+08:00

There's absolutely nothing wonderful about this picture. It's just that every now and again, you see a sign that's so stupid it just begs to be shot. You'd think that if the term "hand brake" is going to be used in a sign, a more appropriate icon would have been used. I like to thank BC Ferries for providing me with this laugh.

Evening Cast

2007-09-14T01:27:00.001+08:00

A lone fisherman casts a line into Bear Lake at sunset.

More arts insanity

2007-09-11T08:40:00.001+08:00

Artists in the Cowichan Valley should be absolutely livid. First the City of Duncan adopts an unconstitutional policy on photographing the Totems and now the Festival of Murals Society in Chemainus is asking North Cowichan Council to exercise a bylaw to remove an "unauthorized" mural, pictured above.

Since when does art have to be authorized by anyone? Beyond that, what kind of bylaw could the Municipality of North Cowichan possibly have that would have supremacy over our Charter of Rights?

Item 2b of the Charter - the section on fundamental freedoms - states everyone has "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication." This is such a fundamental right that it is second only to the freedom of conscience and religion.

If the FOM Society doesn't want to sanction the new artwork because it doesn't follow the town's historical theme, then fine; don't authorize it. But to ask the municipal council to remove it is nothing short of asinine. It's also an insult to artists and even a bigger insult to those who fought to preserve our fundamental freedoms.

Moving away from the issue of fundamental freedoms, how does the FOM Society define historical? By definition, anything in the past - whether a millisecond or a millennium - is history. How a mural celebrating the inception of the mural project 25 years ago cannot fit into the historical theme is absolutely mystifying.

If the FOM Society is truly concerned about its image, it should be far more alarmed about the returns you get with an internet search for "festival of murals society." The top result on both Google and Yahoo is muraltown.com with the following description: "The Festival of Murals Society is a not-for-profit society that promotes and maintains the upkeep of the famous murals of Chemainus, British Columbia!." If you go to muraltown.com, you will find links for payday loans, online poker and dating sites such as hornymatches.com, but absolutely nothing about murals. Muraltown.com is registered Mark Curtis of Chemainus Marketing. Ironically, the name Mark Curtis also appears on the FOM website as the society's immediate past president.

Kudos to North Cowichan Mayor John Lefebure for saying it's unlikely council will take action on the FOM request. With our municipal politicians attempting to play in the federal sandbox and tinker with issues like fundamental freedoms, one would think that all other municipal issues - like line painting on the roads and pothole repairs - have all been addressed and resolved.

UPDATE: Sept. 12/07

I see the link to Muraltown.com now actually goes to a site pertaining to the murals. At first I suspected someone read my letter to the editor, but since the paragraph identifying Mark Curtis was edited from the letter, I have to assume he was tipped off by a reporter at the News Leader.

Here's a couple of screenshots of what the site looked like prior to today. If you can't read the text, click on any image for a full-size version.

lml

Totems? What totems?

2007-08-31T04:37:00.001+08:00

Bwa ha ha ha ha! Does this contravene the City of Duncan's totem copyright policy? (see previous post for original photo.)

Sue me, City of Duncan

2007-08-27T05:23:00.000+08:00

Here's another photo I took of the totems in Duncan. I did not - and never will - ask for permission to take the photo or to publish it. After sending my letter to the editor and city council as mentioned in my previous post, I was interviewed by a reporter from the Cowichan News Leader and a story about my reaction to the City of Duncan's totem policy requiring authorization for use of images of the totems appeared on the front page of the paper (much to my surprise).

Even more to my surprise, I've gotten requests for interviews from Shaw TV and the CBC! The interviews haven't happened yet, so the coming days should be interesting.

Not to my surprise, Coun. Paul Fletcher, chairman of the city's totem committee sent a letter to the editor calling my concerns "downright silly."

If defending our basic right to freedom of expression is "downright silly," then call me completely stupid because I'm not letting this go. Being called "downright silly" for defending our fundamental freedoms by someone who is not only a professional photographer, but also firmly planted on the left end of the political spectrum is absolutely mystifying.

The city's policy on photographing the totems is wrong on so many levels. As I have stated before, the Copyright Act clearly states it is not an infringement to photograph permanent displays of public art. That alone renders the city's policy useless. Going beyond that, Coun. Fletcher said in his letter that city council "is fully within our rights to control how best these images are used." Wrong again, Coun. Fletcher. Since I'm not infringing on your copyright by photographing the totems, you have zero control over how I use my images of them because the Charter of Rights guarantees me freedom of expression.

Coun. Fletcher's letter to the editor says the simple intent of the policy is "if someone has a project that would result in significant profits we would very likely consider a surcharge or fee to help pay the costs of maintaining and building our public art collection." If that is indeed the intent, it's not reflected in the wording of the policy which states, "the use of the totem images in any form requires approval from the City of Duncan."

Regardless of how well-intentioned the city is in adopting this policy, it's still fundamentally wrong and unconstitutional, and I come right back to the copyright act to demonstrate that.

By the way, this posting is in clear violation of the city's policy as it is written. I challenge the city to do anything about it.

Below is my letter to the editor in response to Coun. Fletcher.

With all due respect to Councillor Paul Fletcher, Section 32.2 of the Copyright Act states:

(1)"It is not an infringement of copyright . . .

(b) for any person to reproduce, in a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematographic work

(ii)a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship or a cast or model of a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship, that is permanently situated in a public place or building;"

What part of this does Coun. Fletcher and the Totem Committee not understand? It doesn't matter if the city holds copyright on the totems. They are a permanent public display and it is perfectly legal to photograph them without permission.

If Coun. Fletcher thinks, as he stated in his letter to the editor, our copyright law is "notoriously week," that's too bad. It's the law nonetheless and a municipal policy doesn't trump federal law.

My objection to the policy not about taking photos. It's about trampling a basic freedom guaranteed by our Charter of Rights. As someone who lived in a communist country for three years, I am very sensitive to the protection of basic rights and strongly object to anyone trying to restrict the rights of others. We live in a country where you can wipe your butt with the Canadian flag, call it art and be fully within your rights to do so as long as you are not breaking any other laws. As reprehensible an action that may be, I will defend someone's right to do so.

In presenting 32.2 of the Copyright Act, I believe I have adequately demonstrated the city's policy is completely toothless and plain wrong. I challenge the city to show me any section of the Copyright Act that would support its policy.

Regards

Len Langevin
lml

Taken without permission

2007-08-16T01:05:00.000+08:00

Both Duncan newspapers this morning heralded the disturbing news about the newly adopted City of Totems Copyright Policy.

According to the stories that ran in the Citizen and the News Leader, the policy states the City "holds the copyright policy on the totem collection," and that "the use of the totem images in any form requires approval from the City of Duncan," and "Furthermore, the City of Duncan reserves the right to levy a copyright charge on a project-by-project basis."

I have no doubt the city holds copyright on the structures, but the policy disturbs me because it appears to be in contravention of the Canada Copyright Act which clearly states it is not against copyright law to take a photo of any architectural work, or a permanent piece of public art.

Photography of Buildings and Public Art

Copyright Act, 32.2. (1): It is not an infringement of copyright

(b) for any person to reproduce, in a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematographic work

(i) an architectural work, provided the copy is not in the nature of an architectural drawing or plan, or

(ii) a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship or a cast or model of a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship, that is permanently situated in a public place or building;

I applaud the city for wanting to control its copyright of the totems, but this policy clearly oversteps its boundaries, infringes on our basic freedoms and borders on extortion. As much as I believe in protection of copyright, I am very much a defender of personal rights and freedoms. Since it is not against the law to photograph public art, permission is not required to take photographs and no one can be prevented from doing so.

Below is a letter I sent to the Mayor and Council as well as to the editors of both Duncan newspapers.

Totem copyright policy oversteps boundaries, borders on extortion

Dear Mayor and Council ,

Although I applaud anyone for protecting copyright of their intellectual property, the newly adopted City of Duncan Totem Copyright Policy oversteps its boundaries. The policy is saying we now have to ask for permission to do something we have every right to do – a right guaranteed under federal law in the Copyright Act.

It is clearly stated in the Copyright Act that it is not against copyright law to take a photo of any architectural work or permanent piece of public art. Section 32.2 of the Copyright Act states:

(1)"It is not an infringement of copyright . . .

(b) for any person to reproduce, in a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematographic work

(i)an architectural work, provided the copy is not in the nature of an architectural drawing or plan, or

(ii)a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship or a cast or model of a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship, that is permanently situated in a public place or building;

Under The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we are all guaranteed the right to express ourselves through photography (or any other art form). We furthermore have the freedom to publish the artwork we take. With rare exceptions under the Security of Information Act which covers arsenals, military installation and other items of national security, anyone can take photos of anything in public, without permission, and it is not against the law.

To take the matter even further, the policy – which essentially prevents anyone from doing something that is fully within their rights – borders on extortion. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, section 346 states

(1), "Every one commits extortion who, without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or violence induces or attempts to induce any person, whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything or cause anything to be done."

If the city truly wants to exercise its copyright of the totems, it should be creating (or commissioning artists to create) calendars, postcards or ornaments of the totems and marketing them rather than putting up barriers to photographers who may or may not be creating any of the afore-mentioned items.

City Hall receiving permission requests to photograph the totems does not mean a policy was required. Based on copyright laws, the answer that should be given to anyone requesting permission is "you are fully within your rights to photograph any public art."

Regards

Len Langevin

lml

Ghostly

2007-08-11T06:52:00.000+08:00

I love playing with long exposures and putting myself into the pic.

Big Dipper

2007-08-08T22:43:00.000+08:00

I spent part of the holiday weekend at Salmon Beach (near Uclulet) which has no electricity. With no street lights to spoil the view, the stars really stand out on a clear night.

Fair Fare

2007-07-31T04:58:00.001+08:00

I've been on the road for the past week or so; this is my first posting in a while. This pic was taken at the Westerner Days fairgrounds in Red Deer. A fair just isn't a fair unless you have a corn dog as my daughter and nephew can attest to.

Blues Man

2007-07-17T04:04:00.001+08:00

Tom Lavin of the Powder Blues band cuts into a guitar solo during the band's performance at the Downtown Duncan Festival last week. I saw Powder Blues back in '86 at a bar in Creston, BC and got a pic of Tom in almost the exact same pose and facial expression. I wish I could find that pic.

Before the Splat

2007-07-15T15:53:00.001+08:00

This guy looks like he's about to smack face-first into the pavement, but he was just doing some break dancing moves (do they still call it break dancing?) in a parade.

Obsessed

2007-07-15T10:11:00.001+08:00

My kid thinks I'm obsessed - just because I take pictures of my shadow when riding my bike. Kids - what do they know?

Cute Kid

2007-07-14T06:18:00.001+08:00

I couldn't resist getting a shot of this little guy at an outdoor concert in downtown Duncan. I didn't know who he was, but it ends up he's the son of my neighbor's co-worker.

Remnants of a shower

2007-07-12T11:27:00.001+08:00

The morning sun has yet to get to these droplets left over from the previous night's showers.

Insomnia

2007-07-11T15:37:00.001+08:00

What do you do when you can't sleep. I go looking for things to shoot. This is downtown Duncan at 3 a.m. It will never be mistaken for New York.

Distraction

2007-07-11T01:16:00.001+08:00

Despite the beautiful sunset that was unfolding in front of me, I found myself fascinated by this spider web.

Patience

2007-07-10T13:34:00.000+08:00

The above shots were taken about 25 minutes apart from the exact same location, just with the tripod head moved slightly for the second shot. I was about to give up on getting any color in the sky and leave, but a call on my cell phone delayed my departure by a few minutes. After the call, I looked back and quickly set up the tripod again.

Air Time

2007-06-30T06:54:00.000+08:00

One of the shots I got from an evening at the skateboard/bmx park.

Shooting tourists

2007-06-29T00:09:00.000+08:00

The last time I was on the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver there was a pod of Orcas just beyond Active Pass, so the whale watching boats were out in full force. Unfortunately, the pod was too far from the ferry's path for me to see anything (even with my 500mm lens), so I shot the tourists instead.

Morning Dew

2007-06-27T00:37:00.000+08:00

The early-morning dew drips down the leaves in my friend's garden.

Silver lining

2007-06-26T03:58:00.001+08:00

Every cloud has a silver lining, but it's not too often that you can actually see it. This is a view of a passing downpour over Kootenay Lake, shot from the cabin where I stayed for a few days.

Kootenay

2007-06-21T21:02:00.000+08:00

From my friend's cabin along Kootenay Lake, the early-morning views are absolutely spectacular - especially on a day like this when there isn't a ripple in the water and the sun has just crested the mountain behind me.

Stunt Dawg

2007-06-14T03:24:00.000+08:00

I don't know who this young fellow is, but he really gave me a lot of opportunities to practice action shots at the loacl skateboard/BMX park the other evening.

Too Late

2007-06-12T05:00:00.000+08:00

I was playing around with my homemade light box the other day and this is what I ended up getting.

Couple of sunsets

2007-06-11T12:01:00.000+08:00

Would you beleive these shots were taken from the same place on the same evening? The top shot was taken about 45 minutes befor the bottom one. The top shot uses a 112mm focal length while the bottom is at 18mm. These shots were taken at Cowichan Bay looking toward Duncan and Mt. Prevost on Thursday evening.

Ow...Ow....Ow

2007-06-09T08:05:00.001+08:00

I haven't been posting much lately because I haven't been shooting much in the past week. I had knee surgery last Wednesday. This is what one of the three incisions looked like a couple days after the operation.

Future Plumber

2007-06-06T03:42:00.001+08:00

These kids were enjoying a hot spring day at Chicago's Millenium Park and I couldn't help but notice how the kid on the right has the potential to be a plumber some day.

As I was taking these pics, I was approached by a park security guard telling me I wasn't allowed to take pics of children. Knowing my rights, I told him I could photography practically anything I want in public. He went away without further incident.

There seems to be a paranoia about photographers out there, so make sure you know your rights when it comes to photography.

For Canadian laws, there's a great resource at Ambient Light.

American attorney Bert Krages also has an excellent outline of rights in the United States.

I have printed off the pages at the above links and keep them in my camera bag.

Beautifully mundane or mundanely beautiful?

2007-06-01T02:27:00.000+08:00

I saw this old pail being used as an ashtray in front of a grocery store in Chemainus and it seemed to be asking me to take its picture. The bottom pic is how it really looks, but I also converted it to B&W just to see what it would look like. I like them both for different reasons, but I'm not sure which one I like better.

Use what you have

2007-05-29T11:40:00.001+08:00

I went out to take pics of the sunset, but the view was spoiled by the houses in my neighborhood. If I had tried to go to another location, the sunset would have been over by the time I got to the end of the block, so I just shot the reflection in side of my car.

The top of Hancock

2007-05-27T14:45:00.001+08:00

Later on Monday, I was at a function on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building. It was a bit hazy, but at least there was a view. The talles building in the background is the Sears Tower.

What a difference a day makes

2007-05-27T14:29:00.001+08:00

After an incredibly frigid day on Sunday, the temps on Monday shot into the mid 80 - and the skies cleared so you could see all the way to the top of the Hancock Building.

Head in the clouds

2007-05-27T14:22:00.000+08:00

I haven't posted for a while because I've been in Chicago for five days. When I landed there on Saturday night, it was about 70 degress. By Sunday morning the temp dropped to about 40 and didn't recover much during the day. I almost froze my butt off walking three blocks to my conference centre, which was just across the street from the 96-storey John Hancock Building. The clouds were so low, about one-third of the building wasn't visible from the ground.

Anniversary of sorts

2007-05-19T11:15:00.000+08:00

I'm doing a double posting today because I just realized today is a bit of an anniversary for me. It was a year ago that I was diagnosed diabetic. Upon finding out, I had to make some pretty serious changes in my diet. It wasn't easy at first, but as you can see, the diagnosis was probably the best thing that happened to me.

For a healthy diet - and to also lose weight, I recommend the Low GI (glycemic index) Diet. There are several books available through Amazon. Look for titles by Rick Gallup, Helen Foster and Jennie Brand-Miller.

Note: Photo on right is Copyright Sandy Stewart. Photo on left copyright is unknown.

Hog Wild!

2007-05-19T01:58:00.001+08:00

I caught this guy on a hog as he cruised by one evening.

Lesson in communication law

2007-05-16T22:57:00.000+08:00

The guy driving this car needs a lesson in communication law - and I'm providing that to him free of charge right now. If you know him, please send him the link to this blog.

I was out taking pics last night and decided to try my hand at panning shots of traffic - mostly motorcycles and the odd car that caught my eye. I had taken several pics when this guy turned his car around, came up to me spouting terms like "invasion of privacy" and demanded I erase the pic from my camera because I didn't ask his permission to take his picture.

I told him I didn't need his permission to take his picture and I wasn't going to erase it. He threatened to call the cops and also to sue me. I told him to call the cops and his lawyer, adding I would wait for the police to come. I'll spare you the details, but the exchange went on for quite a while before he eventually went away.

Here's what this guy needs to know

I am guaranteed the right to express myself through photography, and I have the freedom to publish the photos I take. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees my right to take photographs of anything. With rare exceptions under the Security of Information Act, I can take photos of anything or anyone in public, without permission, and it is not against the law.

Don't just take my word for it. Here's what the Charter says:

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 2.b):
freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 7.:
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

As for the Privacy Act, it protects personal information submitted to the government from improper use or distribution. It does not apply to photography.

Here's the pertinent point from the Act:

Privacy Act, 2.:
The purpose of this Act is to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a government institution and that provide individuals with a right of access to that information.

Here are a few other points this guy needs to know.

I cannot be fined or charged by a private citizen, property owner, or security guard. These people do, however, have every right to sue me if they believe I have done damage to them.
Nobody can threaten to destroy my camera, lenses, film, other property, nor can they threaten me with physical harm. Nobody can actually destroy my property, forcibly delete photos, expose your film, or harm me. Police can not interfere with my lawful enjoyment of my camera. If anyone harms me or damages my property, I can sue them under civil law to recoup the damages. I may even be able to file criminal charges.

Criminal Code, 264.1 (1) ("Assault"):
Every one commits an offence who, in any manner, knowingly utters, conveys or causes any person to receive a threat
(a) to cause death or bodily harm to any person;
(b) to burn, destroy or damage real or personal property;

Criminal Code, 430 ("Mischief"):
Every one commits mischief who wilfully
(a) destroys or damages property;
(b) renders property dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective;
(c) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property; or
(d) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with any person in the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property.
Nobody can force me to delete photos (with the exception provisions under the Security of Information Act.) According to the Canadian Copyright Act, my photos are owned and copyrighted by me, for my lifetime, and 50 years after my death. My photos are my private property. Willful destruction of private property falls under Criminal Mischief.

Copyright Act, 6.:
The term for which copyright shall subsist shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, be the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and a period of fifty years following the end of that calendar year.

Copyright Act, 10.:
(1) Where the owner referred to in subsection (2) is a corporation, the term for which copyright subsists in a photograph shall be the remainder of the year of the making of the initial negative or plate from which the photograph was derived or, if there is no negative or plate, of the initial photograph, plus a period of fifty years.
(2) The person who
(a) was the owner of the initial negative or other plate at the time when that negative or other plate was made, or
(b) was the owner of the initial photograph at the time when that photograph was made, where there was no negative or other plate,
is deemed to be the author of the photograph and, where that owner is a body corporate, the body corporate is deemed for the purposes of this Act to be ordinarily resident in a treaty country if it has established a place of business therein.

Criminal Code, 430 ("Mischief"):
Every one commits mischief who wilfully
(a) destroys or damages property;
(b) renders property dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective;
(c) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property; or
(d) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with any person in the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property.
Nobody can report that you broke a law to the police when you have not, or make false statements to discredit you during an investigation, according to the Criminal Code.

Criminal Code, (Misleading Justice) 140.(1):
Every one commits public mischief who, with intent to mislead, causes a peace officer to enter on or continue an investigation by
(a) making a false statement that accuses some other person of having committed an offence;
(b) doing anything intended to cause some other person to be suspected of having committed an offence that the other person has not committed, or to divert suspicion from himself;
(c) reporting that an offence has been committed when it has not been committed;

Criminal Code, (Extortion) 346. (1):
Every one commits extortion who, without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or violence induces or attempts to induce any person, whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything or cause anything to be done.

So there's the lesson in communication law for my friend in the car. I know there's a lot of information in the post, so let me summarize with one salient point.

I don't need your permission to take your picture.

My thanks to Ambient Light for making my legal research rather easy. Ambient light focuses on Canadian Laws. For American laws, visit attorney Bert Krages' site.

Ironically, I probably would have deleted this pic once I got home and saw how unspectacular it was. Instead, I now have a reason to publish it.

Before and after

2007-05-15T01:55:00.000+08:00

You gotta love PhotoShop. The above image was my first trial shot of a sunset. It's terrible. The background is way overexposed and the foreground is quite underexposed. After playing around with it for a while in PhotoShop, I managed to come out with this. I probably over-did it, but it's really easy to get carried away when experimenting. Click on the pic for a larger version.

Concord prototype

2007-05-14T13:07:00.000+08:00

This swan landing on Quamichan Lake reminded me of watching the concord jet landing at Heathrow many years ago.

Coming in

2007-05-13T14:31:00.000+08:00

I tried my hand at catching birds in flight today - and discovered it's not an easy thing to do.