Johnson Street Invaded by Naked Zombie Mannequins

Nothing I can say tops the headline. The only clue I'll divulge is that I LOVE reflections....

Old Town - New Lens

I've been neglecting Victoria's downtown lately because my daily rambles have been taking me down the Westsong Walkway more often. However yesterday was such a beautiful clear, sunny day that I decided to try out a new (used) lens on Johnson Street. Above is lower Johnson Street, part of what is called "Old Town" because it is the area near Fort Victoria that was earliest settled. Most of this area was built in the 1860s.

One of the advantages of a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera that will accept legacy lenses is that one can try out many different types of lenses without spending a great deal of money. Today's three photos were taken with a lens that cost $23 and I am quite pleased with it. What I look for is how sharp the lens is - I love nice crisp images; how well it reproduces color and contrast, and how well it operates mechanically. This lens performs well in all these categories and is a nice mid-range zoom (28-70 mm f3.5) that will probably become a favorite in my camera bag.

Legacy Lenses: When I refer to "Legacy lenses" I mean lenses that were produced for older style cameras - film cameras or early digital cameras. My current camera is a Sony Alpha 550digital single lens reflex. It uses any of the Sony lenses and, since Sony bought Minolta, it will also accept any of the Minolta AF lenses or third party manufacturer lenses made for Minoltas. I also have an adapter that enables my camera to accept any lenses with M42 mounts - widely used, especially for Pentax film cameras. There are several advantages to using legacy lenses. They are often very well made lenses using high quality glass. They are now much reduced in price because the cameras for which they were originally made are no longer in use. An added advantage of Sony DSLR cameras is that the image stabilization mechanism is in the camera body rather than in the lenses as with Nikon and Canon cameras. This means one can use older lenses and still have the benefits of modern image stabilization (anti-shake) technology.

Censored Cigars

On the corner of Johnson and Store Streets just opposite The Swans Hotel is the Goodfellas Cigar Shop. All their windows are papered over with these signs in order to comply with the Tobacco Control Act, which limits the way tobacco products can be advertised, displayed and sold in British Columbia. The act also defines areas where smoking is prohibited. Smoking is essentially prohibited in all public indoor locations (restaurants, bars, stores, malls, office buildings, etc.) Generally, anyone who wants to smoke must go outside. What kind of restrictions on tobacco do you have in your country?

Downtown II

This intersection is at the bottom of Johnson Street. Coming in from the left is Store Street. On the right when it leaves the intersection it has become Wharf Street. Behind me as I took the photo is the Johnson Street Bridge. The building on the left is Market Square. On the far right is the Salvation Army building that houses their thrift store and provides other social services to people in need. Further up Johnson is the colorful Paper Box Building and arcade. Yesterday's photo was taken on Yates Street, one block over from Johnson Street, on the right.

Paper Box Building

In yesterday's post about Michael Williams I mentioned that he had received awards for his restorations of downtown heritage buildings. Here is an arcade in the Paper Box Building that he restored in 1988. this is one of two joined arcades that link on the ground floor of the building. Below left is an interior passageway between the two arcades. On the right is the Johnson Street entrance to the second and main arcade.Below is the exterior of the Paper Box Building.
One of my favorite City Daily Photo Blogs today celebrates its six month anniversary. If you haven't yet visited there, I recommend you check out Willits Daily Photo. Congratulations Elaine!