Some more macro love

While we were on Galiano we discovered the Galiano Oceanfront Inn and Spa. This place was awesome! We took a walk through the grounds and stumbled on this beautiful peaceful garden. The flowers were amazing and I couldn't resist grabbing my 50mm f1.8 for this shot. If I had a proper macro lens the result would have been much closer but for now, I'll work with what I've got.

Galiano

I'm such a gulf island newbie it's ridiculous. We've lived here forever and I have never been to Galiano. Back in the winter while sitting inside on a dreary day we dreamed up the idea to camp at Montague Harbour on Galiano this August. Sounded like a great idea. When the time came last weekend we were a bit hesitant. Pit toilets, no direct access by car to the site.. hiking in camping gear for a family of four? not so much fun. But we decided to give it a try. Omg this place was incredible. it's like a secret sanctuary only the cool people know about.. and clearly that wasn't us. LOL Our site was huge and perfectly located close to the beach...the views were amazing...white sandy beaches...warm water ...stunning sunsets. We shared the beach with a huge group from Vancouver who have been going there for 6 years straight. They were hilarious.

So yet another great island treasure discovered this summer. Maybe B.C. is truly the best place on earth?.. what if gordo was right all along?...hmmm

Summer

I love this time of year. The warm summer nights...just hanging at the beach until the sun goes down. Living so close to the beach, it's rare to have a night without wind. This past Saturday was one of those rare nights when it's warm and still and you can smell all the scents of summer in the air. My sister was in town so we decided to have an evening picnic on the beach. I've been dying to try to capture sun flares in my photography and I finally got the opportunity to really stretch my creative legs with my trusty 50mm lens and my new 35mm f1.8. I love so many of the shots it's hard to narrow it down to my few favs..but here they are. Happy Summer!

Port Renfrew

We spent the weekend exploring Port Renfrew and I was completely blown away by it's beauty. How did I not know about this place? We stayed in little fishing lodge with our great friends. The kids explored tide pools and washed up treasures while the parents enjoyed some bocce on the beach. We feasted on fresh crab provided by the owners of the lodge, and watched the fog rolled in as we sipped wine on our own private deck. Seriously, it doesn't get much better. One of the highlights was the drive home through the Cowichan logging roads. Amazing!

Pool Party!

We spent Sunday with some great friends who were generous enough to invite us up to house in Mill Bay for an afternoon poolside. What kid doesn't love an outdoor pool? They spent hours in the water and the men spent what I'm sure seemed like hours launching them into the air and seeing who could make the biggest splash. It was hilarious. And it gave me a chance to test my camera's performance at some seriously high shutter speeds. Thanks M and R for a perfect afternoon!

Batman and the Puppy at the fair

The annual spring fair was held at the school a few Fridays ago. So much fun...reminded me of being a kid in school. The bouncy castle, cake walk, balloon toss...the one chance you get all year to throw stuff at your teacher.. lol.

The kids had a blast. The highlight of the night was the pony ride. I've been nagged constantly about riding lessons ever since. But it was worth it to see her face when she stepped up on that horse for the very first time. What a moment. Well worth the 45 minutes we spent waiting in line.

Batman and the puppy were beat by the end of the night but it sure was an awesome time.

Macro love

I've been falling in love with macro photography lately...following many macro photographers on flickr and in the blogosphere. I am desperate to get my hands on a proper macro lens for my Nikon D80 but in the meantime I've been playing around with my current favourite lens (although that's constantly changing... my tastes are fickle) the Nikon 50mm f1.8. This lens is incredible in so many ways. It's tack sharp, offers up amazing depth of field and is super fast in low light. So I gathered up my stuff and headed to a local park recently to try my hand at some macro photography which basically just means I tried to get really really close to some pretty flowers.. and here's the results of that outing. Happy spring!