Red Deer Farmer’s Market

Every Saturday morning 150-200 vendors start setting up their tents and wares around 6am. Of course I am just barely opening my eyes at that time, but as soon as I realize morning has come I start looking forward to heading down to have a look around. I love going down down to have a sausage on a bun or a breakfast sandwich and a coffee or two. On cold mornings the coffee keeps my hands warm as I wander up and down the isles of goods all arranged in what each vendor thinks will grab the most attention and hopefully a sale. Most times I am at the market with my wife Laura and two boys, Thomas and Alexander and we sometimes don’t purchase anything other than our breakfasts and hot drinks. Other times we find a deal on some fruit or we spot a trinket that is impossible to live without. I snagged a great deal on some LP’s a few weeks back (55 for $20)! Laura loves to visit a homemade soap vendor and the boys almost always get some mini-donuts and/or a sno-cone. We usually meet half a dozen people we know, so of course there is some chatting. This morning I brought along my small digital camera to make some images and was excited by all the possibilities. I shoved an extra battery in my pocket and started to look for things that caught my eye. After making maybe 15 images the battery died, so I grabbed the second one and inserted it only to find to my dismay that it was also dead. I was quite disappointed as I was seeing so many more things to make images of, but the market runs for 5 or 6 more weeks, so I’ll be bringing my camera with me each time to find more!

 

[Panasonic GF2, Panasonic 20mm f1.7]

 

 

Tinges of Pink

Pink, magenta, purple, whichever you think works best! The same day I got the “Bits of Blue” images I also acquired a few that fit the warmer palette of pink. The first image maybe is a bit subtle, but I really like the tiny roses and scattered rose petals adding just a tiny specks of colour.

 

 

 

 

 

[Leica T, Leica 18-56mm]

 

 

Blue Bits

A bit of blue found during my lunch hour stroll near work yesterday. It’s fun trying to find a series of images that are tied together by a colour, and I do like this blue!

 

 

 

 

[Leica T, Leica 18-56mm]

 

 

Western

I found a great review on the Leica T camera that you can see here. I’ve really started to enjoy using this camera, even with it’s few hiccups. I quite like the colours coming off the sensor and the sound of the shutter is sooooo Leica, not to mention how good the camera looks. It’s rather refreshing to see a new camera design that isn’t a retro design.

 

 

[Leica T, Leica 18-56mm]

 

 

Textures Around the Block

Once again I took out the Leica T with the very useful 18-56mm lens. I love the versatility of this lens, but could see the use for a high speed f/1.8, maybe f/1.7 normal lens in the 45mm to 50mm range. I know this isn’t super high speed, but it would be enough while keeping the physical size small. Anyway, off I went around the block from work and literally these images are all made within about a 100ft from my office, as were the first batch I posted a few days ago, except the flowers. I had one issue happen to me with the camera when it completely locked up and I was forced to extract the battery and replace it when all was good again. It has only done that once so far and will almost certainly get addressed with a firmware update.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Leica T, Leica 18-56mm]

 

 

Leica T

Nothing like having the Leica rep drop by the shop and offer to leave the new Leica T camera for me to play with for a bit. I immediately went for a walk around the block and wow am I ever enjoying this camera. It is carved from a solid block of aluminum and the screen on the back takes up the whole back of the camera and is a touch screen just like an iPhone. In fact this thing looks like it could have come out of an Apple factory with it’s complete minimalism of 2 dials and a shutter button and clean lines. The image quality appears to be very nice too. I am looking forward to doing a lot more with it shortly, but the few minutes I’ve used it so far are making me a happy camper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ Leica T ]

 

 

False Creek Yacht Club / Granville Street Bridge

The False Creek Yacht Club’s building had it’s grand opening May 5th, 1990. The building was designed by Bing Thom Architects and construction commenced in the spring of 1988.

 

 

 

On February 4, 1954, the current Granville Street Bridge, costing $16.5 million, opened. This is actually the third bridge at this location. The first was a wooden structure completed in 1888 and opened in 1889, and the second made of steel in 1909. A million cars would cross over the bridge in its first month. The city of Vancouver funded the bridge itself. It crosses False Creek and Granville Island, connecting downtown Vancouver to the Fairview and South Granville neighbourhoods and shopping districts.

 

 

[Sony RX100 III]

 

 

Silver Sea

Another fine condo/apartment building along the waterfront of False Creek in Vancouver is this one, named “Silver Sea”. It sits almost under the Granville Bridge and is right across the water from the fabulous Granville Island Market. A 3 bedroom 1840sq/ft furnished apartment rents for $7900/mth, so maybe not one I’ll be booking anytime soon!

 

 

[Sony RX100 III]