Good Day Sunshine

Everyone seemed extra cheery today under this glorious sunshine. Extra smiles all around out on the town today. Even Ati was taking some extra time sunbathing . . . Enjoy this winter warmth Kelowna!

Fun in the Sun

Kelowna. Sandy beaches, plenty of sun and a beautiful lake for swimming. I love living here.



Canon MkIII, Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L, @48mm, f2.8, ISO 100

POST - Adobe Lightroom, Photomatix (HDR), Noise Ninga, Adobe Photoshop CS4

Baby Bump Party

Last night Sarah and I were privileged to get out to Dor’ann and Grant’s baby bump party. These guys are great friends of ours and it is wonderful to see them so happy and excited.





Thanks for a great evening everyone!

Connected to the rest of their beautiful family.

Chasing the sun

Here in the Okanagan we’ve been wallowing under a phenomenon called valley cloud. Many days without sunshine . . . Depressing. However, it is escapable! Just a half-hours drive up into the mountains you break through and into the sunshine! Sarah, Echo, Ati and I took some time to get out and soak in some rays, chase each other around on the ice and do a little fishing. Sure, it isn’t quite like flying south, but it feels good just the same.

Time well spent

Holidays and family.
Smiles and laughter.
Love you all.

Delightful

Sarah and I had the great pleasure of spending the long weekend with some family and friends. Thank you all for such a wonderful visit.

Been travelling – San Francisco and Berkeley

Brother Brian is working hard at his PhD from University of California, so I took a few days to visit him and tour the cities in the area. Touring the area mostly by foot; we had some great fun and a few laughs. Thanks Brian, keep up the good work there at Cal!

Home to Grandmothers

A vacation of family; Sarah and I are both very lucky that we have had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with our Grandparents’ as we have grown. Each of our Grandfathers’ has passed on but we are fortunate enough to still have all of our Grandmothers with us.


Many giggles and great stories later we are back home and thankful for having the opportunity to spend just a few more moments with our loved ones. Thank you so much Grandmas’, Mom and Dad and all other members of our family that took the time to visit. Thank you.

April in Kelowna?

Sarah and I have returned from our vacation to find fresh snow in the Okanagan - a beautiful white cover confusing us, the flowers and especially the songbirds.

Renos

For the past couple of days the camera has been idle, allowing the shovel to come out. Gardening season is on its way.
Also, a trowel seems to have found its way into my hands. It has actually been calling for some time – today I started to listen. Tiling work in Linda’s home - mmmm, heated floor!

experiment on still objects

Whenever I try to sit down with one of our pets to work on some extra lighting schemes they always end up turning playful:




Now I will be the first to say that there is nothing near wrong with this, in fact, quite encouraged – however, repeatability can be problematic. Therefore . . .
From this happening over and over I have found that, though really quite uninteresting, Batchewaung’s play toy (or any still object) can be much more co-operative:

from the file labeled Paradise

25 cm of fluffy snow fell from the Okanagan sky last night; today, a wonderful treat at Big White. I love this time of the year in western Canada, we'll call it seasonal diversity. It is spring in the valley bottom with flowers creeping out of their winter slumber; winter in the mountains with storms often giving the biggest snowfalls of the season.

A few snapshots taken today with my little Canon point and shoot:

Spring is Springing

Here in the Okanagan Valley, spring is on the way. Red-winged blackbirds are already out staking their claims in the marsh near my home.



This afternoon, we (our friendly dogs and I) got out to staking some of our own claim. It was a beautiful sunny day here. Echo, Ati and I got outside and enjoyed some open air and dry ground.

New strobe

Last evening I was playing around with a new studio strobe when our cat, Batch (named after Batchewaung Lake in Quetico Provincial Park) trotted in and settled in on our couch. Because I asked politely, he decided to let me work with him. He even let me put an extension onto my lens and work at very close range. The new light seems to be working perfectly. Batch's eyes and nose seem to be working perfectly as well.





(no cropping - these are how they came out of my camera)

Beautiful blue skies

What a beautiful day here in the Okanagan - a warm blue sky day that was just begging to be skied. Sarah and I cruised the day away at Big White. Warm sun, soft snow – what fun!