Lightning over Pillar Lake

I am back after a wonderful weekend with friends at Pillar Lake. Pillar Lake Resort is a quaint little gem hidden between Salmon Arm and Falkland. Steep treed hills surround the narrow lake and the small cabins are built right on the edge with a great view of the lake. It was SO refreshing going for a swim after having spent the past week in the heat and smoke in Vernon. The smoke was also a non-issue at Pillar Lake. Here are couple of shots of the lighting storm from Saturday evening.

Terrace Mountain Fire

The Terrace Mountain Fire near Fintry continues to grow. Here is a quote from castatnet.net:

The Ministry of Forests Incident Commander expects the Terrace Mountain Fire to continue to grow. Tim Ewart says the fire, currently estimated at about 2,000 hectares, is burning out of control. The fire grew by about 700 hectares Wednesday and Ewart says with ideal conditions and ideal fuel supplies, the fire has the potential to move 30 metres per minute. "Worst case scenario on this fire right now is it could potentially could move 15 kilometres in a burning period," says Ewart.

In this posts are picture taken in Vernon on Wednesday July 22nd.

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Hazy Tuesday

We are feeling the effects of the forest fires in the area. The fire at Fintry fire is closest to us and the winds have changed over the last couple of days so the area is now engulfed in smoke. This morning we also have ashes in the air. I shot this shot clip at Kin Beach last night.



View a larger version here.

(Tech talk warning)

I shot the video as a bit of test after upgrading the firmware for my Canon 5D II. The latest firmware 1.1.0 upgrade allows for full manual control of aperture, shutter speeds and ISO settings when shooting videos. As a photographer this upgrade is crucial as it give much better control over the depth of field. The video is shot with two lenses, 85 1.2L II and 300 2.8L IS, and mostly at max aperture.

Kim and Ben's Wedding

The Okanagan dished up with perfect weather for Kim and Ben's Wedding. The ceremony was at one my favorite spots in Vernon, The Mackie House. This old heritage house and park is located right next to Kalamalka Lake and is the perfect setting for a wedding. After the ceremony we ventured on to the Illahee Inn, another gorgeous spot right on the lake. The magic moment for me however was the first dance, which took place on the deck at Paddlewheel Park in the sunset. Congrats to Kim and Ben. It was fantastic being part of your big day.

As soon as my husband and I met Morten and his wife we knew immediately that we wanted them involved in our wedding. We were impressed not only by Morten's mix of candid and posed photos, but also by his outgoing personality. On the day of the wedding, I felt completely at ease as Morten ensured we got all the pictures we requested and then some! When we received the final edits of our pictures, my husband and I were absolutely amazed. I am so thankful that Morten was there for our special day because his pictures truly captured the happiness that will live in our memories forever.

Kim & Ben

Lots more to see from Kim and Ben's wedding via this link.

Please follow the link for Prices and Options for our Wedding Coverage.

Fintry Forest Fire

I spotted the huge white cloud of smoke from the Fintry fire right from my deck. I headed out with the camera and came home with these shots. In the first shot look carefully for the parachuter.

More shot via the link.

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Kelowna Forest Fires

11.000 people have been evacuated in the Westbank area due to three forest fires raging in the area. So far 9 structures have burned down. While Vernon had lots of smoke yesterday from the fires it completely cleared today as the winds had changed this morning. The photo shown above is a view from Vernon looking south.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC LX-3

It would seem almost odd that I would get excited about a point and shoot camera like the Panasonic Lumix DMC LX-3 but here is why I cannot wait to start shooting with it. When you carry your SLR camera and several of lenses around with you almost daily at times you can get fed up with the weight and the scene it can create. Quite often I just want to travel light and yet I really do not like it when I miss out on a good photo opportunity. After reading several reviews and and after I've played around with the LX-3 for a bit in the store I bit the bullet and ordered one today.

One of the strong points of the LX-3 is the wide 24mm equivalent f/2.o lens. It is a Leica lens and test pictures that I have seen look very promising. I will follow up in the near future with an update.

Osoyoos Desert Half Ironman

The Osoyoos Desert Half Ironman was on the agenda for this past weekend. This race was a bit smaller and more relaxed that the other two ASI events I have covered in the past month. Osoyoos is a stellar spot for an event like this. The athletes were in for a challenging bike ride and a run taking them along the water front. It was hot as expected but a thin cloud cover and a light breeze saved the day. I only saw a few athletes in need of medical attention after the event, most of them dehydrated our just downright exhausted from the heat. All in all it was a great experience.

Osprey

I recently returned to the secret osprey hangout with Henrik and Mark. It was a stellar evening and perhaps because these birds know about my short attention span we were rewarded with some action very quickly. We arrived right at supper time.

Two Weekends - Two Cities

A week ago I was walking the streets of Seattle and then this past weekend I had a chance to do the same in Vancouver BC. It is always a joy to stroll through a city with your camera to capture buildings, textures, people and famous sites. I grew up in a small town of 7,000 people and now live in Vernon with a population of about 37,000 so it is great to feel the buzz of the city every now and then. If they could only find a way to eliminate cars and the ever increasing problems with traffic in the larger cities it would actually be an appealing place to live.

A few of shots from Seattle and more via the link:







And a few of shots from Vancouver and more via the link:

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Ventura

We were at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver on Canada Day for a great soccer game. The Women's Whitecaps Team faced Ventura from California. The Whitcaps opened the scoring after just two minutes of play and won the match 3-1. We were at Swangard with the Vernon U-14 girls , who are in Vancouver playing in the provincials soccer tournament. 

More shots from the game via this link.