Photography

[KingOfPain]

The Comet Neowise photos are all single shots. NkMip Reflections and Super Natural are in a golf course, with the pond only 100ft from the club house.

I was worry the ambient security lights were too bright so I covered the bottom half of the lens partially during exposures. The security lights gave the vegetation the orange tint.

However, I chose to shoot the Perseid meteor shower at the same location. 

This is one I titled The Day The Earth Moved.

It is a composite of 450 photos over 3 hours.

I have no idea what that light streak along the mountain top on the left is.

The center of the swirl is Polaris. See if you can locate the big Dipper 

As luck would have it, NOT, I would have caught the entire fireball (the glow 1/3 down top right) if I had nudged my camera a hair to the right.

I was laying on the grass watching the show and saw 3 fireballs that night, and I was praying....








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[KingOfPain]

Pacific Coastal Ocean Drive

Seeing Griselda just posted some photos of her trip to Crater Lake reminded me of my road trip a couple of years ago. The Pacific Coastal Ocean Drive. The Pacific Coastal Ocean Drive is a breathtaking journey that begins British Columbia, Canada, and ends in California.

The drive is renowned for its stunning scenery, featuring cliffs, sea stacks, beautiful urban spaces, and the vast expanse of the ocean. The route takes you through dense green forests to gorgeous beaches all through the west coast. The journey offers a sense of unbelievable freedom and is a popular bucket list experience for many.

But let us start the journey from near the top of the earth, Alaska.

Title: sojourn
Humpback at Glacier Bay, Alaska





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[KingOfPain]

Skagway, Alaska to White Horse, Yukon

A little further north of Glacier Bay on the inlet is Skagway. Skagway was an important port during the Klondike Gold Rush, is now in operation purely for the tourist trade and runs throughout the summer months.
Wikipedia

The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class III 3 ft narrow-gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. The railroad began construction in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush as a means of reaching the goldfields....

Get rich quick scam: Around 100,000 prospectors made the initial trek to the Yukon-Klondike region, yet only about 30,000 people actually succeeded in completing the journey. This means that around 70,000 prospectors either died or turned back from gold-panning in the Klondike. Of the estimated 30,000 people who reached Dawson City during the gold rush, only around 15,000 to 20,000 finally became prospectors. Of these, no more than 4,000 struck gold and only a few hundred became rich.

The rugged terrain.
It isn't easy to take photos on a speeding train, and probably dangerous, especially when you are not inside the cars.


Much safer this way


The famous historic Red Onion Saloon, built in 1897
A historic saloon and brothel museum. After the gold rush, the building served many purposes, but the upstairs brothel rooms were never touched. Today, the staff dresses up as working girls from the late 1900’s, serving food, drinks and offering tours. But, some people from the past never left.




Quaint little tourist trap



Next stop Yukon...


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[KingOfPain]

Pacific Coastal Ocean Drive - Yukon, Canada

Tho not quite coastal, Caribou Crossing (Carcross), Yukon Canada, is just a ride away from Skagway on the White Pass Rail. Caribou Crossing was a fishing and hunting camp for Inland Tlingit and Tagish people. 4,500-year-old artifacts from First Nations people living in the area have been found in the region. It was also a station for the Royal Mail and the Dominion Telegraph Line, and it served as a communications point on the Yukon River.

This is as far north as I've ever been except when I worked in Northwest Territories as a teenage transience worker traveller.

Not much to see in an empty town except a few "preserved" old buildings and some transportation. This is the tourist trap downtown Carcross 


On the other side of the railroad track


How photographs lie.
In 1990 a fire destroyed most of the Tutshi. Today, the remainings of this tragic fire are on display. Looks like a fine boat that could be restored to its former glory



In Reality




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[KingOfPain]

Oh my god, all these works are amazing. I am curious, have you finished any course or you just learned everything by yourself?

Thank you!
I am a high school dropout who has to learn everything the hard way. I blame it on some early achievements and business opportunities. Not having any real ambitions and lacking directions in life, and thinking I already make more money than the teachers at 16... But I do love learning and got my grade 12 diploma years later, which of course turned out to be useless.


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[KingOfPain]

Pacific Coastal Ocean Drive - Juneau, Ketchikan

There really isn't much to see if you are just playing tourist. There are no famous landmarks or extraordinary scenery without going off the beaten path, in more extreme weather conditions and time to explore. However, there are many epic experiences to be had such as the wild open ocean and wilderness, the awesome Aurora Borealis, getting up close and personal to whales and polar bears, Glacier calving, and watching the midnight sun.  

A Juneau Morning



A Ketchikan Morning


Tourist Traps in Ketchikan & Juneau


Do you feel lucky, PUNK!?
Don't get your hopes up on seeing whales like you see on travel brochures unless you get very lucky or with a special company. The photo below was shot with a medium telephoto lens. This tour was not worth my 100 bones.





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[RefSteel]

Wow - those are incredible, KoP! I especially love Juneau Morning (and the way the ~fog does something reminiscent of the "Bokeh" you were describing earlier in an entirely different way) and the angle of the shot on Ketchican Morning - little things like the raindrops texturing the railing add a lot to it (to my eyes) especially.

[KingOfPain]

RefSteel Wrote:
    Wow - those are incredible, KoP!  I especially love Juneau Morning (and the way the ~fog does something reminiscent of the "Bokeh" you were describing earlier in an entirely different way) and the angle of the shot on Ketchican Morning - little things like the raindrops texturing the railing add a lot to it (to my eyes) especially.

Makes me think all the effort in composing the shot was worth it when someone notices the raindrops on the rail I tried so hard to make it work in a wide shot!


A segue from the whale watching tours. It really isn't worth the money for casual tourists.

It makes me appreciate those dedicated photogs who bring us wonderful wildlife photos. I am always in awe of the directors and cinematographers who make fantasy (scenes) real life. I am in awe with their vision and their pursuit of excellence. I am forever grateful to be able to enjoy the concerted effort of the creative minds, that can also cost billions of dollars in investments, and decade(s) in the making. All for the price of a ticket.

I rarely go watch a movie for the plots.
- 2001 A Space Odyssey - Nice plot and eye opener for the new space age. I have watched it probably a dozen of time since, just for the scenery, and nostalgia.

- Star Wars - New scenery. Good for the first couple of times. In disgust since the Ewoks. Watch a couple more later hoping for some new scenery, nothing. Never watched another one since. REALLY disappointed after so many years with unlimited talents and money, all they can come up with is a super death star (you wouldn't know it until the movie tells you it is bigger) and the same fly the trench and fire in the hole. That's an insult to the audience. I know Star Wars is for kids but still.
And I always wonder why the troopers are dressed in heavy duty space age armors, still ALWAYS get one shot'd. Might as well be nood

- Star Trek - Okay with the plots and scenery. Not ashamed to admit i have watch the movies and series multiple times.

- Titanic - Maybe touching, but I went 3 times for the scenery.

- Ironman, Thor, Avengers: - Novel new imageries in the beginning. The humor is good in End Games and Infinity Wars. When the Immigrant Song came on in Ragnarok I thought that alone was worth the price of admission. I have had very expensive stereo equipment before, I have gone to their concert, but I have never heard it so good. They can get it as loud as the theater in a concert and I can listen to a finer tuned rendition at home, but it can not get as good as the remastered digital playing loud in a theater.
Then the plots just get too complicate for my understand/taste just to have some reckless action. Sure we all go in these movies with a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief. But I kept thinking, with all their powers, it all comes down to fist fights….

- RRR - Anyone?

- Alita Battle Angel - Now, that’s a sleeper. New plots, new imageries. Already watched it 3 times. Alita is so adorable as  an android with unbelievable huge eyes, A great mix of human, cartoon and machine.

- Lord Of The Rings, Avatar - !!! Enough said!

- Hero (Jet Li) - If you like Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger, you will love this. Star studded artsy Kung Fu movie in a “historic” background (the
assassination the Qin emperor, the first emperor) and an unexpected philosophical twist in the end. I put this movie on at least once a year for the great fights scenes and scenery. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...ero+jet+li

This a small sample of what I am grateful for on this Thanksgiving day.


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[KingOfPain]

Pacific Coastal Ocean Drive - Victoria

Back in the Great White North, Canadian Territory.
Victoria, capital of British Columbia, sits on the craggy southern end of Vancouver Island. The city's British colonial past shows in its Victorian architecture, including stately Craigdarroch Castle mansion and Butchart Gardens.

The Parliament building is located around downtown and waterfront and gets lit up in the evening adding to the ambience to the city. Indigenous culture are commonly seen around town.



The city that knows it is a tourist destination. Very walk-able, everything is just a short gallop away.



One of the must see attraction in the city.



I was there when they launched the Whale In The City. The Whales in the City project is an initiative that aims to raise awareness about the importance of marine life conservation. The project features a series of whale sculptures that are painted by various local artists and placed throughout the city. That was what finally gave me the idea to complete my Whale Songs series.



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[KingOfPain]

Pacific Coastal Ocean Drive - Part I - Vancouver Chinatown          

Vancouver, a bustling west coast seaport in British Columbia, is among Canada’s densest, most ethnically diverse cities. According to the 2021 statistics, 55% of the residents identify as part of the visible minority; with 20% of the total population being Chinese. There was a large scale Chinese immigration to the city circa 1990. The new flood of immigrants are your usual well to do, wealthy HongKongers who were seeking "safety" since the announcement of the Chinese reclaiming Hong Kong in 1997. Their influence on everything Vancouver is so great, it has earned the city a nick name HongCouver.

This large scale of HongKongers played a large part of the deterioration of Vancouver Chinatown. The other is the failing of the government to deal with homelessness and the epidemic of drug abuse. All this happens right out in the open in the most visited locales, and goes on blocks and blocks. The world infamous East Hasting is jointed at the hip with Chinatown, as well as some other favorite tourist traps.

Google Image Search of East Hasting

It really is heart breaking. Even when I was a teenager, I would not dare to walk the walk there alone.

That's weird, your might think, why would a influx of well to do immigrants and their big money lead to a deterioration? That's because they can go ahead and carve out, develop another district as the new hub. This is what is left of what once was the most vibrant community with a rich heritage, a piece of Canadian history.

This is the oldest and largest Chinatown in Canada. Constant road works that drags on for years and years


Closed forever as most of Chinatown is


This empty street on a Sunday, would have been packed with people you barely had to walk - you will be pushed along.


A small but typical Chinese herbal medicine shop



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