The Real Victoria?

Regular visitor JoJo yesterday asked an interesting question about whether those of us who live here consider the Inner Harbour to be the "real Victoria" because of its summer tourist focus. I think it's as real as any other aspect of the city. To be really literal, the Empress and the Legislative Assembly Buildings are not imitations of some other famous buildings. They are the original buildings that were erected here (i.e. not fakes). Likewise the Causeway - it's not an imitation of something else. And while the rest of Victoria may not be as striking or attractive as the Inner Harbour, Victoria doesn't have any huge simmering slums or ethnic ghettos hidden away in remote parts of the city. Like any city, Victoria has its share of social problems such as homeless people and drug addiction. That such problems are not very extreme here seems to me to be mostly a matter of luck rather than an enlightened citizenry or government. But for whatever reasons, for most of its residents this city is a pretty good place to live.

In any case, as my tip of the hat to reality-mongers I offer this photo from my archives (July 2010). Unlike most of the photos I publish here, it is completely unedited. Aside from re-sizing it for the web there has been no re-touching or photoshopping. This is the way it came out of the camera. It's a pretty nice place, real or not.

Floating Palace

I decided that one thing I can do to see things freshly is go out at different times of day. This photo was taken just after sunset, by which time I am normally at home and settled into a film or a book before bed. The subject is not new - this is the cruise ship Celebrity Infinity, which I have photographed during some of its earlier visits. To me these cruise ships always look beautiful but at dusk they look even better.

Snow Light

Something I've never noticed before is how the light changes when it snows. This photo was taken around ten at night during quite a heavy snowfall. You can't see the flakes falling because of the long exposure (30 seconds) but what is remarkable is that one can see anything at all under heavy cloud at that time of night. Yet the yard was nearly as bright as if it were under moonlight. My only explanation is that it is the city lights reflecting off the low clouds and the snow as it is falling and also bouncing back off the white snow below. Whatever the reason, it's a lovely soft light.

The photo above is my back yard. Even in the photo below, taken shortly afterwards out front, the snow seems to soften the normally harsh street lighting.

Inner Harbor after Sunset

More night photography. It's been warm enough the last few days to tempt me out at night and it is fascinating how the same old scenes look new and different when the sun goes down. Here's a shot of Victoria's Inner Harbor that I took about an hour ago.

Night Photography

Victoria's Legislative Assembly Buildings are lit at night so I thought they would make a good subject for my first attempt at night photography, although they've been photographed like this about a million times.