Postcard

While browsing through the archives I came across this photo of the MV Coho, the car ferry that operates between here and Port Angeles in Washington State, and was struck by how much it reminds me of a fifties postcard - something to do with the slightly washed out colors. It's also taken from an unusual vantage point - Macaulay Point. The rocky foreground is Work Point. Beyond it the Coho is moving through the entrance to the Inner Harbour.

Telephoto Fun

Lately I've been enjoying my longest telephoto lens. It's a 500mm reflex lens and is most useful for birds. Yesterday's posted photo of the Hooded Mergansers was taken with this lens. These birds were so far out in the water that with the naked eye I could do little more than guess at their identity. Yet thanks to modern technology I was able to capture the relatively sharp image I posted. Today's photos were both taken with the same super telephoto lens and I selected them to show the kind of distortion that comes about with long lenses like this. In the photo above, of course, the sun is about 10 times bigger than it appears in reality. It's a great effect- it makes it look like a blistering hot morning in mid-summer instead of a cold autumn sunrise. The photo below is more of a curiosity for locals to consider. In the foreground is the shoreline from Saxe Point (on the left) to Macaulay Point (on the right) with Fleming Beach and Buxton Green closer to the middle on the right. Where it starts to get weird is what's further back - many of Victoria's trademark buildings in apparently odd locations and looking larger and closer than seems possible. If you look carefully you can see Craigdarroch Castle, the Rocklands water tower, Christchurch Cathedral, the Empress Hotel, the Legislative Assembly Buildings, the Sussex Building and others.

Infinity

I mentioned before that much of Victoria's prosperity depends on tourists. Many of them spend a few days here while cruising on a ship such as this, the Celebrity Infinity. It carries about 2,000 passengers. I took this photo this afternoon from Macaulay Point in Esquimalt, a suburb of Victoria, just as this big ship was turning to enter the harbour.