Wandering in Victoria

So, on the way home from IE 2009, I stayed overnight in beautiful Victoria, BC. Having been there once briefly on a stop from our cruise to Alaska, I knew a couple of places I wanted to hit. Anyone who knows me knows that the first places I look for when visiting a new city are good pool halls. Having found Peacock Billiards on our previous visit, and being within walking distance from my hotel, I knew I would eventually end up there.

However, before taking my break there, I wanted to just wander around with open eyes and camera in hand. I was feeling a bit inspired by Jed and Vicki Taufer, whom I had worked with for the past few days. They do a lot of really cool stuff in Photoshop with layers, textures, overlays, and other fun gadgets. So I was trying to scope out architectural details, ragged walls, cool textures, etc., to photograph and take back to my studio to experiment on my own.

I captured a number of items I thought would be useful as I strolled through Chinatown, past the historic Masonic Lodge building, and down through the harbor. After I had stopped off for a couple of racks of pool at Peacock, I decided to call it a night.


As I headed back to the hotel, my path went again by the inner harbor. There was a street artist doing his fire-juggling comedy show. I stopped by to watch and snap a few shots. I was watching from the street level, using the half-wall as my 'tripod', so I could shoot long exposures.

After the show was over, and people were clearing out, I turned to the left to photograph the Parliament Building. It is outlined by hundreds of light bulbs and really looks kinda cool at night. But, as I was shooting, I saw a young couple just to my left leaning against the wall and acting young and in love. I thought, 'Hey, wouldn't it be cool if I knew them, so I could get a shot of them in the foreground, with the building in the background. Might look cool, eh?' (still in Canada, ya know). And as I started to pack it in, a little voice inside urged me toward the couple. I'm sure they were thinking I was out of my mind, approaching these total strangers as it crept towards 11:00 PM. But I introduced myself, explained what I had in mind, gave them a business card to assure them that I wasn't a serial killer, and they were quite amenable to my request. Here's the result.


*Note the funky little swirl at the top right corner. This came from the base of a lamp post in Chinatown, grunged up a bit.

Now, is this the most perfect image I have ever made? No. Is it going to win any awards at competition? No. Did I have a blast creating it, and in the process, meet a nice couple of kids in a far away land? You betcha!

I guess what I am trying to get at, in my round about way, is to get out of your comfort zone. Growth is rarely painless. I went out of my way to change the way I looked at the world, even if only for a few hours. I hope it sticks.

Thanks to Ross and Alex for humoring a weird old guy from Texas. Hope you enjoy the image. Thanks to Vicki and Jed Taufer for the inspiration to change my perspective a little.

Here' to growing pains!