Archive for December, 2008
Once in a while we get a “real” winter in Bellingham. This is one of those years. We’ve had several days with lows below 20°F and snow that’s stayed around.
Today I drove out to Whatcom Falls Park to photograph the falls and the stone bridge in the snow. We’d had another 4-6 inches of snow overnight and the temperature was still in the 20s so the conditions were perfect. I spent about an hour around the falls shooting from as many vantage points as I could safely get to. One of my favorites is to look downstream at the bridge from the top of the falls, which is the view here.
I also photographed the falls from on the bridge, and from streamside downstream from the bridge. I have a nice photo from that vantage point from the snow of Christmas 1996 which was published on a calendar for Towner Press a few years ago. I have a large print of that one available for sale if anyone is interested.
After warming up with a bowl of soup at home, I headed north to VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver for their festival of lights. The roads were a bit messy, but I made it without difficulty, only to find a sign on the entrance saying the lights had been cancelled for tonight because of the weather. I got there about 3:45 and the garden closed at 4:00 pm, so I had only a short time in the garden. They had a few of the lights turned on, so I got a handful of photos before I had to leave.
It was snowing the whole time I was in Vancouver, so the streets and roads were in worse shape on the way home, particularly on the Canadian side of the border. Hopefully I can get back up to VanDusen for the lights while there’s still snow on the ground as the display there is very nice and well worth the trip.
December 21 2008 | Bellingham and Gardens and Photography | No Comments »
Winter arrived in Bellingham yesterday, with blowing snow last night and temperatures dropping from our typical mid-30s and low-40s down to the teens. Then the sun came out, so I decided it was time for a walk along the Railroad Trail to Whatcom Falls Park. The round trip distance is something like 8 miles, which makes for a nice Sunday afternoon stroll. It was definitely too icy for me to want to take a bike ride.
I put my new iPhone in my pocket, set to play music through Pandora, and headed out. Sidewalks and trails were icy in spots, bare in some, and just packed snow the rest of the way. The wind was still blowing, but I was bundled up against it. I started out a bit cold, but by the time I got to Barkley I was toasty warm and took my gloves off. I carried my Canon S70 camera in my pocket in case I came across anything interesting.
I don’t know the history of the building in the photo above, but I’ve liked looking at it every time I walk or bicycle the trail just east of the I-5 crossing. With the low afternoon sun accenting the weathered wood and peeling paint I just couldn’t resist.
There were lots of people out on the trail — walkers, joggers, a few on bicycles, and a couple of parents pulling little kids on sleds. Dogs of every size accompanied their humans, too.
When I got to Whatcom Falls Park there were several people on the stone bridge enjoying the rushing water of the falls. A couple of other people were also taking pictures. I used the bridge as a tripod, resting my camera on the railing so I could use a slow shutter speed and blur the water. There’s always a lot more water flowing over the falls in the winter than in the summer, so they look fuller and more exciting.
This time of year I don’t do a lot of photography, so it was good to get out and exercise my shutter finger as well as my legs. I don’t think it would atrophy from disuse, but there’s no reason to take that chance. Periodically I think I should discipline myself to make at least one photo each and every day. I’m pretty focused, but I haven’t made the daily photo a habit. Perhaps that should be my New Year’s resolution.
December 14 2008 | Bellingham and Fitness and Photography | No Comments »
