We listened to Christmas music all the way to Kelowna, a great way to get in the holiday spirit on Dec. 15.
My friend and photo-partner Jo joined me for my yearly pre-Christmas over night trip to Kelowna to photograph the 120 foot Tree of Hope and the brightly decorated trees along the Okanagan lakefront. As I wrote in November, I like short excursions and I really enjoy having something special to photograph during the Christmas season. Kelowna isn’t very far is so very different from my woodsy home in Pritchard.
The drive is only two hours and I always get accommodation at the same hotel each year. The Royal Anne Hotel on Bernard Avenue is only a few minutes walk from the lake and an easy ten or so minute drive to the Tree of Hope.
I like that place with its safe underground parking and included breakfast. This time I had enough travel points that our stay was free. I was also able to get a room that had a balcony overlooking the lake and the ice skating rink.
Upon arrival we decided to wander around town a bit and go to dinner as we waited for nightfall. So far the day had been overcast, but as we left the restaurant it started to rain. I would have preferred snow, but oh well. The wet pavement would make for some interesting and colourful shots under the Christmas lighted trees along the lakefront.
I always have umbrellas in the trunk of my car so we got our cameras, tripods and walked out with the umbrellas shielding us (mostly) from the rain. Jo had a 14-24mm lens on her camera and I had my favourite lens, the 24-70mm on my camera.
We wandered along the waterfront and there were skaters on the rink and people hanging around a bonfire at one end in spite of the rain. I stopped to take some long exposures. I like the ghost-like images I can get of people zooming by on the ice.
We slowly made our way back towards Bernard Avenue and I photographed (again long exposures) the cars, people and lights on the decorated street.
In past years there has been snow and I like to go back and forth trying all sorts of angles, but this year’s warm weather rain that got stronger and stronger dampening my mood, and I could tell my shooting partner was wishing I would stop so we could head back to our dry hotel, so our photo night was shorter than usual.
The next morning the rain stopped and we were up at 6 a.m. to photograph the bright 25,000 bulb 120 foot Tree Of Hope. That’s always fun. A Tripod and long exposures allow us to control the morning light, the lights of the buildings and their large Christmas decorations. I am always trying different angles and exposures. Jo likes to place her camera with the wide-angle lens on the ground. She switches her camera to Live View and angles her LCD so she can look down to compose and focus. We start as the dawn begins just before we can see detail in the buildings, then we return to our hotel to have a relaxing breakfast, pack up and head home.
I know that low light photography can be a challenge, but I like the creative opportunity and the chance to explore new ways of photographing the world around me.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.
