stopping in spuzzum.

There are no shortages of places to explore in the general vicinity of Vancouver, BC. Lucky for me, I was able to fit quite a lot in over the course of my eleven days spanning from Christmas Day to just past New Years. Sometimes my explorations simply took me past interesting places, but didn't grant me enough time to actually stop and wander on foot. Spuzzum was one of those places. We almost drove straight through it without stopping, but I'd seen something worth a second look, so Jeff diligently turned his truck around and we made a few laps on the side streets as I instructed him to slow or stop whenever I spotted a photo I'd like to take. This tiny church sat on a corner and felt like it was straight out of a storybook with it's cute little steeple and snow-covered steps. How could I resist?

don't go chasing waterfalls.

I know that this is completely unprecedented for me, but I decided to post another one of my "assisted self portraits" from my trip to Canada last year. Using the same technique as my previously posted photo…I got all my settings and framing worked out and then stuck my camera in the hands of my buddy Jeff, who had hiked up to the waterfalls with me. As you can see from the photo, I was ill-prepared wardrobe-wise for hiking. This year, I plan to be better equipped. At least I was fashionable, which makes for all-around better artsy self-portraits like this.

stopping in canada.

I did a project last year with a friend where we took weekly self portraits and posted them every Friday. Sadly, it tapered off and I was unable to post a few of my favorites that I took for the project while on a trip to Canada. I'm gearing up for another trip up north again this year and was reminded of those shots. This is my favorite of them. I actually made my friend Jeff pull off the highway to explore this little area for some photos. I'm glad I did, because I walked away beaming that I'd gotten my shot. Since I was without a tripod or remote, I chose all my settings and got my framing all worked out and then set the camera in the hands of Jeff to act as a human tripod and he shot off a few rounds before I decided he'd probably gotten something usable. I can't wait to see snow again. My soul is ready for some real winter.