Left Coast Mama » camera

Public Art and Photography

Gwen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:57:22 +0000

Playing with aperture and the big red coil at Robson Square.

I am taking a photography class and I am enjoying (for the most part) being in a classroom again. I like that I am learning to control my camera and not always relying on the auto mode to get results. I don’t like that Kits high school still has their heat on and the lab is boiling, it makes the late hour 9:30 pm seem like way too late.

On Sunday morning I went on my first photography field trip and took a lot of photographs. I thought it might be nice to show you some of my favourites. During this exercise we were playing with aperture or shutter speed and the balance between the two.

The fountain in front of the VAG, fast shutter speed.

The same fountain with a slow shutter speed.

This is my favourite picture in the bunch. I love the way the water is crashing as the woman is trying to climb the rock.

Playing with shallow depth of field.

I love the way these colours look so close up. It is amazing that this is part of a flower mural.

I was inspired to keep taking pictures in manual mode at the HR MacMillian Space Centre. Too bad the fountain wasn't turned on.

I am glad that I am making the effort to learn more about our new camera before I head to BlogHer in New York this summer. I hope to take a million pictures and have some of them really work.

Things That Go Boom: Aidan Cam

Anthony — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 05:14:38 +0000

Perspective on the blast scene from an almost 3-yr old and his FP Digital Camera (as selected by Dad):

I think these are pretty good given the equipment he has to work with!

© 2008 Left Coast Mama | Permalink | 2 comments
Related: Aidan, all by myself, camera, Pictures, Police Incidents, Vancouver.

Christmas Holidays, in Review

Gwen — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 04:51:50 +0000

I am sorry for the lack of posting over the holidays, I have been busy and not busy at the same time. I am posting most of this review in pictures with some commentary. I cannot do so for Christmas day because with the excitement of the morning and the web-camming with the family back home in Nova Scotia we just plain old forgot to take pictures. Aidan did take some but we forgot to put the SD card in his digital camera so the first pictures he took got deleted. I will include some of the best shots from the next few days though.

All of us got a lot and Aidan really got the idea of opening gifts this year. He even helped Mommy and Daddy open our gifts. I think that this was a year to remember. Aidan was so excited without being greedy. He said several times over December, “I love Christmas Mommy.” He was so cute and helpful with all the advent calenders, books and the decorating of the tree. Aidan was happy to get the new toys but he loved everything together.

Now on to the pictures.

A Self Portrait.

The tree from the coffee table.

The beautiful and very happy garbage truck.

A toy Collage.

The VeggieTales Creche.

Various Toys on the table.

The Christmas Tree.

Mommy trying to keep a straight face. (The first one where he blinded me with the camera was deleted by accident.)

More from the coffee table. Aidan has already learned that you take better pictures if the camera is still.

Aidan poses for his own camera.

This is possibly my favourite picture of the bunch. Aidan sure loves his new garage. I love the composition.

The next set of pictures is the Friday before Christmas. We went out for Fish and Chips and then to VanDusen Botanical gardens for their Festival of Light. They decorate a lot of the garden and have music and lots of festive atmosphere. Aidan loved the lights especially when the trees were dancing. They have a large section that is timed with music to turn on and off. Lots of fun. I also decided to take the tripod this year and I spent my time getting pictures while Aidan and Anthony covered the gardens at a much faster pace. I think some of the shots turned out quite well.

I love the reflections on the water. A couple behind me kept taking pictures in the same spots just after I had taken a few. After the first few times I think it was a bit of a joke.

I really like the starkness of this picture.

I like the contrast here between the lit up tree and the lights in the distance.

Aidan and Anthony are looking at a sheep up high on a rock.

These are some of the lights that dance every half hour.

This is from the other side.

A little further along.

Another cool reflection on the water picture.

The last picture I was able to take before the rain really hit and the boy got too cranky. I wish I had more time to get a better picture of these trees. They were very pretty.

The next set of pictures is from Christmas Eve. We went to feed Tammy’s cats and then since we were on the North Shore anyway we went to Maplewood farms to run off some of the boy’s energy and give him a chance to see some animals. It was nice because there wasn’t a big crowd and Aidan could get close to a lot of animals.

We love the goats.

“Hug the goat Mommy. ” “Come back goat!”

Last but not least are a few pictures of Aidan just before bed getting milk and cookies for Santa and some celery for the reindeer.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Leaving cookies for Santa.

Happy New year everyone. Lots of love from the Wet Coast!

© 2007 Left Coast Mama | Permalink | No comments
Related: Adventures, Aidan, Anthony, camera, Christmas, Family Time, Gwen.

New Camera, My Favourite Subjects

Gwen — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:03:00 +0000

Something we hear a lot at our house: Anthony says, “Aidan, where’s Mommy?”

Aidan and Anthony, False Creek Elementary School

We went walking and stumbled upon a small playground one day. I brought Aidan and Anthony back here to play. I am not sure that Aidan liked his first time on a tire swing. It was funny seeing Anthony try to maneouvre in and out of it though.

Aidan did however love the slide. It was on a slight hill and he could, with our help, climb up the slide and then go down on his own.

Aidan went down a couple of times on his bum, but he preferred to go both up and down on his tummy.

Wow this looks steep. It is amazing what you can do with camera angles.

Too bad you can’t see all the dirt. He had a blast though. “Catch you later Grandparents.”

Tags: New Camera, Aidan, Anthony, Swings, Slides

Teething Again

Gwen — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:08:00 +0000

Aidan never does anything half assed. He is teething again. This time it is two molars and an eye-tooth. All. At. The same time! This doesn’t make for a restful weekend.

Friday night I was sure that Aidan would be asleep in no time because he was tired, a little bit frantic and he got up before 7 that morning. This usually means that he goes down really easily. Not this night. I am pretty sure that he woke himself at least three times before midnight. This was when we decided that tylenol, and some dimetap for the stuffy nose might be in order. While it may be really easy to give Aidan medicine when he is awake, when he is tired and has woken himself up a few time it is a disaster in the making. Aidan still had a hard time sleeping. It was about this time that we figured out how many teeth he was trying to get out at once. He woke another few times during the night and we were all exhausted on Saturday morning. About 10 am we refound the oragel. Aidan was quiet for a full hour. Sigh, why didn’t we remember it the night before?

Saturday we spent mostly looking for glasses for me. It is always difficult and the pair that I like best is $529 just for the frames. Most of the hip glasses are not for my face at all. They make it look rounder than it should and really much older than I want to look. I think I have a couple that might work but we couldn’t keep going with Aidan because he was very quickly becoming “Tantrum Boy.”

On Sunday we got up later than the day before and didn’t do too much. Well Anthony cleaned out the filing cabinet, shredded three garbage bags full of paper and file all the bills and other paper that was hanging around the front table and computer desk. Oh we also got our new camera. Anthony found a nice camera very much on sale and got it to replace our small digital camera that was lost/stolen from our luggage at Christmas-time. So I had a chance to play with it a little bit. I will be posting some pictures a little later. I am also planning to take some pictures of me in some frames. Maybe I can get some comments on which pair to get.

Anyway, after playing at the park, eating supper and a bath Aidan was very tired and went to sleep without a fuss. Keep you fingers crossed for a good night.

Tags: Teething, Sleep, Glasses, Camera