Old stuff

New and shiny is all very well, but old stuff often makes for more interesting photos. There's texture and imperfections that add interest to the object.

Weathered wood in particular just gets better and better looking. I could go back and photograph much more of this wharf. At the same time, I was thinking of when it was much newer, and in constant use. People put a lot of work into all sorts of projects here, and for some of them, they suddenly became uneconomic after decades of use, and that's the kiss of death.

I wonder how much of the stuff that we as a society are working on, will still be here a century from now? Things like a wharf, a railway, or stone buildings, endure past a day or a season. Software comes and goes. I'm used to the idea that I might start on a project, the team and management all filled with enthusiasm, then reality sets in.

I'm fine with the idea that sometimes I get told to go away and they don't use the software or mothball it. I know several of the projects I worked on are no more, the ones and zeros that were organized with so much love and effort are now scattered to randomness. It was a bit of a twist to have the software go away, while I stayed. It was an effort to bite my tongue when they talked about an issue, and I knew the unappreciated answer was, "project x was doing that."

Anyway, enjoy the weathered wood and steel. I'm working on photos taken from a train. Somehow, today, looking at the raw photos, they don't live up to what I saw with my eyes, at least not yet.

By comparison, these are quite new, done only a few years ago.

The beach had some rocks. -ironic understatement!-

After the steampunk museum and wandering around in that area, we went back down the coast a little to stop at one of the most famous beaches in the photography world.

Contrary to what you might think, the beach is not empty. There were 3 tour buses of people on the beach when we arrived. Fortunately they all disappeared while I wandered around thinking about composition, and light.

That's why we don't typically do tours. I'd hate to be someplace, wanting to be somewhere else, and even worse, wanting to stay while the tour bus operator wants to leave without me.

The light was kind of flat, but some Lightroom magic brought some contrast to the clouds. We planned for low tide, but that's a bit too low. The rocks want a bit of water around them for photos. Getting there mid to low tide would be better, and the best time is at sunrise. One does the best one can. Lots more coming!

Giant semi-mutant lilies, and stuff

We were off to a local farmer's market in the morning. Part of it was under cover in the walkway of a railway station. Part of it was in the parking lot. One of the live music acts was under a tent, the other was out in the rain.

Digression 1: It was raining, but most people didn't seem to mind. This is another place where it rains warm. It takes some getting used to.

Digression 2: In the getting used to department, I'm still sometimes turning on the windshield wipers when I'm trying to signal a turn.

The quality on offer was excellent, but I think you have to get there early to get the best selection. We didn't think we were particularly late, but they were beginning to pack up when we got there.

From there we strolled around town a bit, admiring the stone buildings, and dropping in on a few stores. The book stores are amazing! Pity that anything I buy I have to carry around for a long time.  Plus, mostly if we are not out and about, we're eating, or sleeping, or I'm editing photos and writing my blog. That doesn't leave much time for reading.

We've got tickets booked for a scenic tour tomorrow (Sunday, if you're keeping track.) High tea in a castle on Monday. Then a travel day, then we've got two watery tours booked. Generally we've avoided doing tours, but sometimes one simply must. I'll rant a bit about tours when I talk about what we did after the museum.

So, the backlog. Right now there are 173 photos edited that have not been blogged. That's not counting a big pile (several hundred) not yet edited from yesterday after the steam punk museum.

One of my gardening photography rules for the trip was that I wasn't going to shoot anything that can grow in Calgary. Well, poop. So much for that. Lilies, for example. They are HUGE here! Seriously, taller than me, bigger than my head huge! So how can I not?

Attn Susi!

Back to editing...

More steampunk and area

It's not just a steampunk museum. The whole town seems to have adopted the steampunk motif. These ones below are from the museum yard. Yes, you can play with it. So much fun!

A tourist took this of me.

Just behind the yard I found this old stuff that looks like it had been dug out of the sea.

There's a playground not far away, photos of that coming soon, many starring Linda! Stay tuned.