New Photo Project

Spring must be just around the corner - I believe this because I feel that I'm finally emerging from my photo-funk!

One thing to get me going is my latest photography project:

THE ALPHABET PROJECT

Starting with A (surprise!).

One photo per letter.

The image may represent anything - an object, an emotion, a concept, a colour, etc.

There's no set time-line but I'm hoping to post at least one photograph per week.

I'm open to suggestions! If you have any brilliant ideas for the upcoming letter, please let me know!

If you'd like to follow along, be sure to "like" my photography Facebook page - don't forget to click on the wheel-thingy, too, and add the page to your interest list so that my posts have more chance of actually being posted to your feed!

If nothing else, this project should keep me out of trouble for the rest of the year!

More New Cats!

Spring (which means multiple litters of kittens!) is just around the corner, and three new adult cats arrived at the shelter this week. It is a never-ending cycle ...

Will the battle against pet overpopulation and human indifference ever be won?!

Cole - available for adoption

The rest of the photos may be viewed here.

It was good to get out and use my camera again - haven't don't much with it this winter. Also fun to start working with my new toy, Photoshop CS6!

BC Regional Pond Hockey Championships

Meanwhile, in Canada ...

No, Your Eyes Are Not Deceiving You!

For me, it has been a really long winter. For the first time since we moved to Canada in late 1994, I have felt absolutely NO desire to be out there in the cold - whether its skiing, cross country, snow shoeing, walking - nothing is tempting me out there! Hence the big gaps between blog posts!

Today, though, the sun's out (not a common occurrence during winter, down here in the valley). Its still cold, mind you, with a start close to -10C, but once the valley fog burned off, it almost felt pleasant.

The Trucks Behind Him Are Parked ON The Lake Ice

So after a hearty breakfast, I rugged up and forced myself to go down to Kinsmen Beach in Invermere, where the BC Eastern Regional Pond Hockey Championship, a three-day event between scores of four-person teams, is reaching the pointy end of the tournament. I didn't stay long, or take a great number of photos, but I think something of the Truly Canadian nature of this event shows in the images.

A couple of my fav's are on this page, the rest may be viewed on my website.

Happy New Year!

A couple of days ago I got to get back to ICAN to update everyone's photos for the new year. It was great that there were NO kittens ... although, not surprising, I suppose ... they'll be the first to be adopted over the teenagers and adults, right? Here's one of my favourite shots from the session:

Oh, and at the end of 2012, I finished my second 365 project (its on my photography Facebook page, if you're interested in scanning through it)! It feels weird not having a photography project hanging over my head for the past week ... if you have any brilliant ideas/suggestions for a new project, I'd be happy to consider it!

I also, barely, got my blog series about my Arctic cruise finished before the end of 2012 - about four months after the fact! Now I'm in the process of uploading all the images to my smugmug website - once its done, I'll let you know (the photos I showed in the blog weren't ALL the photos from the trip!).

Just before Christmas, we were adopted by a lovely black cat. Long story short, his owner went away just before the holidays, and didn't come back until after New Year. She knew he was shut outside but left anyway ... I know, don't get me started! Anyway, he's now back with her, went back a couple of days ago. He's already shown up here again, trying to get in - I'm steeling myself to leave him outside, force him to go back to his "real" owner. I have a feeling this might not be the last we see/hear of him. His official name is BB, we call him Gordon ...

 All the best in 2013 - onwards and upwards!

More Arctic Cruise

Once again, I'd like to express  my thanks to both Eagle-Eye Tours and Adventure Canada, for allowing me this opportunity! Without it, my participation in this incredible adventure would most likely have remained a dusty item on my bucket list!

One of the highlights of the trip, for me, was seeing an ice berg break up from a zodiac in Disko Bay. Happily, my camera happened to be pointed in the right direction and ready to go. Here's the result (this is an animated gif file - click on the image and then wait for it to load, the animation should start automatically):

A fun aspect of the trip was the soccer match between the AC team, and the residents of Itilleq. The match apparently takes place every time the Clipper Adventurer visits the village, which is at least a few times each summer. Although the AC team put in a spirited effort, they were bested by Itilleq's professional squad whose record was extended to 20 and 1.

Also while the ship was anchored at Itilleq, several brave and hardy souls, of both the AC resource team and the compliment of passengers, leapt into the icy water to experience a true Polar Bear Swim! Most jumped in from the boarding hatch, but a few leapt about 25 metres from the bridge wing!

And that's a wrap! I will be loading all the images from the cruise to my onto website (tanyadeleeuw.smugmug.com) over the next few days, where many more images than were posted in this blog series will be available for viewing. I'll be happy to share small web-ready images with my fellow passengers and the resource team/crew upon request - please email me (tanyadeleeuw65@gmail.com) the image number. Prints and products can be ordered directly from the site.

Last Stop: Kangerlussuaq

A lovely morning steam into the Kangerlussuaq fjord - not a fjord like you might expect to see in Scandinavia, but a fjord nevertheless. What made it special was that it was our first real sunrise (and a beauty it was!) in almost two weeks - and I was up early, around 5am, to catch it with a private viewing from the ship's upper deck!

View Arctic Cruise 2012 in a larger map

Fog, very dense at times, was rising from the water when we arrived in Kanger, which made the zodiac trip to the dockside ... interesting ... we completely lost our bearings at one point, and had to be guided in by radio!

About 500 people live here permanently - there's a school, a hospital, a police station, a rec centre, and a couple of bars. We had a quick bus tour around the town, but there wasn't a chance to get off and take photos except when we stopped at the museum.

During the bus ride from the harbour to the town site, we learned that Kanger used to be a major US "outpost" and refueling station, particularly during WWII. That is, until something (the details of which are still unknown) occurred during the 1990's to cause the US military to withdraw from its base almost overnight - leaving half-eaten meals on tables, beer in the fridge (!), and paperwork on officers' desks! Today, three USAF ski-equipped C130's are stationed here, ostensibly for resupplying research posts on the Greenland Ice Sheet. (I just love the "heavies" but have to admit to being nervous photographing them!) Apparently they perform the same service in Antarctica in the northern winter months.

Nowadays, the long (3km!) runway and isolated location is ideal for aircraft testing by both military forces and private developers.

 

 

 

And so concludes my day-by-day narration of the cruise! There are more photos from the trip to come, though, so stay tuned because I'll get them up eventually!