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This week’s composition: a trio of mushrooms on a decaying log. Winter hikes on Saturna have led me to accumulate lots of close-ups of the forest floor. The textures are amazing, when you start to pay attention! I think this one is Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor), but I couldcertainly be wrong… This mushroom is quite common around here. In China and Japan, T versicolor is used as an adjuvant in cancer therapy…
My 2012 resolution consisted in not making resolutions. Most of my past resolutions involved eating better, sleeping more and getting a lot more exercise. Most of those resolutions were abandoned fairly quickly, or followed sporadically. So, in the spirit of keeping things simple, no silly resolutions in 2012. Seriously, though, I resolved to work on my photo skills. Once a week - on Wednesdays – I’ll post a picture to mark my progress on the path of ”eye-training”. Here is the inaugural pic. This 2 CV was parked in front of a café terrasse on Avenue du Mont-Royal, in Montréal, last summer. I loved that cheeky saturated green! It cheered that whole side of the street. I especially liked the statement in the back window: “Ceci n’est pas une voiture … c’est un art de vivre”. A little bit like Magritte’s “Ceci n’est pas une pipe“…
Still wandering on Saturna island, staring at the ocean and at the horizon. Mount Baker, in Washington state, iis often visible across the Georgia Strait. It occupies the horizon with great aplomb… Its height (10,781 feet or 3,286 m), makes it the third highest in Washington state. According to its description, this is a young and active stratovolcano… I keep in mind that this volcano is about 60 miles away, as the bird flies… and I know that I live in a very active zone, seismically-speaking. Check out this Government of Canada page on earthquakes in Southwestern British Columbia… The first picture was taken at Russel Reef on the North side of Saturna, on a clear day. The second shot was taken from the ferry leaving Saturna at sunrise …  Mount Baker, WA  Mount Baker in the middle, viewed from the ferry leaving Saturna at sunrise. On my trips to “town” (Victoria), I often take an hour or more to explore. This time, I went to Island View Beach Park, in the Saanich peninsula North of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Not only is this a beautiful shoreline park, but to get there, you travel through a productive rural area – where I often shop for vegetables in the summer and fall. The picture below was taken in the fall, and shows fields of cabbage. The land gently rises to a vantage point, then back down to the shore. Once you get to the park, there is a beautiful long view over the water… There are usually quite a few people walking their dogs at the water’s edge. That Friday morning, the light and clouds were especially beautiful. And then, I am always surprised by the treasures that show up unexpectedly through my lens. The textures of a ripened seed head of Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) in the shrubbery leading to the beach, and decaying bull kelp (Nereocystis lutkeana) rolled up on the pebble beach by the wind…
   I regularly go to Vancouver Island for provisions, and on some of those day trips, I set a little time aside for aimless wandering. Camera in hand, usually. Here is a mini-report, in pictures, of one of those winter days, around Victoria, BC. Last November, I went to see the salmon run in Goldstream Provincial Park, a few minutes outside Victoria. This is one of the locations – really close to the city – where you can watch salmon answer the call of nature. On the day of my visit, last November, the fish were there in large numbers, like an unending line up, going upstream. Waiting for them, lots of gulls, herons, and a bear – if you believe the sign posted at the gate… Click on any image to start the slide show, or PickLens (below) for a larger view.
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Copyright © 2012 Andrée Fredette - All Rights Reserved |
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