That means at least another 6,000 or so photos to go! I thought I’d post a couple of my favourites here today. The top photo is a sunset over the Fraser River in Quesnel, B.C. The second photo is the Rocky Mountaineer tourist train taken half-way between Williams Lake and Quesnel.

I have a particular obsession for macro photography and I especially enjoy taking pictures of plants, particularly flowers. I normally enjoy taking photos of wildflowers most, but there are certain domesticated flowers I’m fond of, such as the irises we’ve moved with us from B.C.

I think I like taking pictures of wildflowers because of the thrill of finding an unusual specimen in its natural environment. I like to wander in the wilderness or forgotten places searching for these flowers. I may be the only one ever to witness a particular flower in its fleeting beauty. I can be a little annoying as a hiking partner if I’ve got my camera.

Tips for photographing irises. Check out more of the wildlife and flowers in my yard.

Admittedly, it’s partially due to my participation in Empire Avenue, a kind of social media stock investing community/game. The more active you are, the higher your stock value will get.

There’s nothing wrong with having a little motivation. Sometimes we forget about things that are important to us and in recent years I’ve gotten away from writing and photography, at least on a personal basis. I still write professionally, but it’s not always the same. You certainly don’t have quite the same freedom.

I’ve been documenting some major family events recently, such as my uncle’s memorial service in Spokane, my daughter’s graduation in Williams Lake and my son’s grade 9 farewell from a Catholic junior high.

I’ve been putting as many photos as I can up on Flickr. As I say in my profile, my Flickr account isn’t so much a gallery of what I’d consider my best work, but more online storage of photos I have taken. I weed out the truly bad ones.

I know I’ve got lots of good photos in there, but I really don’t take the time to tinker with them in Photoshop as I see many people doing. My Flickr account certainly doesn’t function as a resume of my best work in hopes someone will randomly wander by and offer me a job as a professional photographer. I’m a little ways off from that.

I think my Flickr account is more of a documentary of my life and those around me, for better or worse. I also have been trying to get other family members to connect to my account if they’d like to download any of the full size photos so they can print them themselves. That’s been more of a chore, which is a shame because I think that Flickr functions pretty well as a hub for family and friends to share photos.

Colour accuracy

One of the issues I’ve always had with digital cameras is colour accuracy. It can be so tough to accurately capture the colours you’re seeing. I shot a set yesterday that I wasn’t too happy with, looking at the camera. I was pleasantly surprised when I loaded them onto my computer.

The colours of the flowers in my photos are very close to what I was seeing. That makes me really happy! If you look at my photostream in Flickr, you’ll see a lot of flowers. I’m a bit obsessed by them, but I prefer wildflowers and it’s better when they’re in their natural setting. I do have a few DVDs worth that I still have to upload too.

Sunsets and sunrises are another of my favourite photography subjects. It can be tough to get the colours just right there too. I don’t like to have to Photoshop them to get the colour correct. I prefer it to come out of the camera looking as it should.

I’ve been using my digital camera for four years now and I would say I’m reasonably accomplished, but I still have a lot to learn. I just bought a flash a few weeks back and that’s a whole other area I’ve got to learn.

I would like to try doing portraits with studio lighting eventually. I don’t want to be a pro, but I want to give it a try.

New camera equipment

As for equipment, one of my favourite kinds of photography is macro photography, so some type of macro lens is in my future. I would like a good quality wide-angle zoom, like a Canon 28-70mm f/2.8, but a Canon 24-105mm f/4 is another one I’m considering.

I have a 70-200mm f/4 already, and the 28-70 would be nice to cover the range. I thought a 24-105 might be nice for the overlap.

Eventually I’d like to get a full frame sensor body like a Canon 5D MkII. Then I’d be able to do some video also. Once I’ve done that, I’ll invest in a good wide angle lens.

I don’t plan on doing any of these things any time soon. Still undecided and I’ll invest in more lenses before I buy a new body.

Any suggestions on what lenses might be better or other lenses I hadn’t considered?

My uncle Jerry in his younger days. One comment I remember someone made was along the lines that while he didn't have the grades his brothers had, he had better parties.

In my life I’ve found that I need to be reminded of some things occasionally. I had a few of those reminders recently.

I took a trip with my brother and my mom down to Spokane, Washington for a memorial service for my uncle. I hadn’t seen my uncle in a long time, nor had I talked to him. You know how you just get busy in life and kind of forget about simple things like this.

I am glad I made the trip down to see relatives, some of whom I have no memory at all, but they remember me when I was waist high. I don’t remember Spokane at all. I think it’d probably almost been 30 years since I’d last been there.

It was nice to be able to travel with my mom and brother and talk with them for an extended period of time that I really don’t get to do very often anymore. We travelled from Edmonton through the Crowsnest Pass to Cranbrook and down through Sandpoint, Idaho. We then travelled from Sandpoint, through Coeur d’Alene and on to Spokane.

I hadn’t realized it was such a short trip that could easily be made from my home in one slightly long day. I had no memory of any part of Idaho, but I was really amazed by it. It is rugged, beautiful country, and the people there are great.

Surprises

One of the many photos I took of the memorial park where my uncle is at.

I recently visited Lacombe, Alberta for another memorial service. I was reminded of its downtown in each US community we passed through. Turn of the 20^th century brick buildings are in abundance, and it tends to give those communities a warmer, friendly feel.

Spokane especially had a plentiful supply of these historic brick buildings. I wish builders would put that amount of work into buildings today. It’s rare to see a building these days you could describe as ornate.

While Spokane did have these buildings, and many 30s and 40s era houses, I was quite shocked to see the decay there. I saw many houses that were boarded up with overgrown yards or generally not maintained.

I was puzzled by it because I’m not used to seeing that. There is a bit of that in some areas of Edmonton, but nothing compared to what I saw in Spokane.

I’m at a loss to explain it. I know the economy is tough in the U.S. right now, but this level of decay spans many, many years. I don’t know much about the economy of Spokane, but I suspect that it’s probably been tough for a while.

I didn’t see much of that in Idaho though, as we seemed to have travelled through a fairly prosperous resort and agricultural area. My mom had wanted to stop in Post Falls, Idaho because she remembered a large area of outlet stores.

An example of one of the buildings in Spokane. It's not all run-down, and I'd like to visit the rest of this beautiful old city.

On our way back home we stopped in Post Falls to stay at a hotel before shopping there the next morning. It’s a good thing we talked to the hotel clerks and drove through that shopping area. There were perhaps ten small shops open in the large strip malls that paralleled the road. It was shocking to see that amount of commercial real estate sitting empty.

I did love Idaho though. The area around Sandpoint is beautiful. I love the quaint town and if you’re into the outdoors, Sandpoint offers a lot from fishing to skiing. If I were to live anywhere in the U.S., I could see it being here.

Reminders

The Panida Theatre in Sandpoint, Idaho. It's a U.S. National Historic Monument.

I was reminded that I have a big family, which I am not able to see very often, but I should make time to see. Not having kept in touch with so many of them makes me sad. Life has a way of filling your time with a lot of activities far less important than keeping in touch with your family and friends.

I am lucky to have so many family and friends that care for me, and I care for them, no matter what happens. In the end, family and friends are what matter most.

My hope is that I’ll be able to spend much more time in the future visiting family and friends and not just keeping up with what they’re doing on Facebook.

Comments:

1. Paul Says: December 23rd, 2008 at 2:39 pm I agree 100% about the tires. I’ll be shopping for a new vehicle soon, so it’s not worth the investment on this car, but wow…what a difference good tires make. Takes a lot of the stress out of driving.Great pics, also!
2. Alain Saffel Says: December 23rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm Paul, thanks for the comment. It’s surprising how many people don’t drive on the right tires. It endangers everyone. Quebec had the right idea about making snow tires mandatory.I hate driving in vehicles without the right snow tires. My truck is like that, which is why it tends to sit in the winter. Right now I can’t afford to buy the rims and tires for it either.Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. You can check out my Flickr account too. I’ve got the widget on the page here for my Flickr account.