tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52963319274388068882024-03-13T09:29:07.509-07:00Mike Mander's Photo & Imaging BlogMike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.comBlogger266125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-9657864784043186982024-02-18T18:09:00.000-08:002024-02-19T15:48:46.949-08:00Wedding! August 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2023/2023-08-06_Wedding_Photos" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2023/WED_BC23_00043-c1.jpg"></a></div><br><div style="text-align: center;">Gallery (30 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2023/2023-08-06_Wedding_Photos">Wedding!</a></div><div><br></div><div>Yes indeed, I am now married to my incredible, lovely partner, Emily Min! We met in January of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Had we met even a few weeks later, things may have turned out differently as the world shut down and everyone started social distancing, but timing was just in our favour and we stayed together during COVID. Emily is the most kind, caring and conscientious person I have ever met, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have met her when I did. She works as an art conservator and I was (and still am) astounded that she can repair and restore a damaged piece of artwork just as seamlessly (or more so) than what I can do for an image in Photoshop. Her skills are amazing.</div><div><br></div><div>In December of 2022, I proposed to Emily and to my delight she accepted, and in early August of 2023 we got married. The above linked image gallery is a small subset of our wedding photos, which were taken by my good friend Ted Marshall. My father George Mander, who is 92, hybridizes roses and he provided some his own roses for each table at the reception, and a bunch for our sweetheart table as well. A few of the roses can can be seen in photos 27 and 28 in the gallery.</div><div><br></div><div>We had about 55 guests at our wedding, which took place at the Celebration Pavilion in Queen Elizabeth Park, and the reception after was at the park restaurant, <a href="https://www.vancouverdine.com/seasons/" target="_blank">Seasons in the Park</a>. A shout out to the incredible service and delicious food at Seasons which helped make our wedding day perfect. Another shout out to the bakery that made the amazing wedding cakes for us, <a href="https://cadeauxbakery.com" target="_blank">Cadeaux Bakery</a>. We asked if they could decorate the cakes with roses and mimic the colouration of one of my dad's own varieties, and we feel they did a tremendous job as can be seen in photo 27! Note that to respect the privacy of our guests and their families, I am not posting any of the many images which included them, other than a handful with my father and Emily's parents, and one with Emily's brother.</div><div><br></div><div>At the start of the reception, Emily and I donned traditional Korean wedding attire to perform the Korean Paebaek Ceremony (a <a href="https://www.leehwawedding.com/blogs/leehwa-blog/the-paebaek-tea-ceremony" target="_blank">link here</a> which has a good overview), and there a number of shots in the gallery of that. One aspect of the ceremony is for the groom to give the bride a piggyback ride, signifying his strength in being able to support her in the future. That was a lot of fun, as was the entire Paebaek Ceremony, and everyone enjoyed the colourful outfits and spectacle!</div><span></span><a href="http://www.mikemander.com/2024/02/wedding-august-2023.html#more">... READ MORE ...<br></a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-90847727385235291842023-11-27T22:55:00.000-08:002023-11-27T23:41:46.654-08:00Germany 2022 - Frankfurt Historical Museum<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-frankfurt-HM/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_02051-c1-FHM.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> Gallery (60 photos): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-frankfurt-HM/">Germany 2022 - Frankfurt Historical Museum</a></div><p></p><div><p>On our last day in Germany, Emily and I visited the German Historical Museum while my dad stayed with his brother. It was a huge museum and unfortunately our time was too short to properly see it all. What we saw was fascinating and well worth another visit in the future! Emily and I had discussed possibly getting married in Germany, at the Römer in Frankfurt (the old city hall) where my parents were married too. The first photo in the gallery shows the Römer. In the end, it would have been too difficult for Emily's entire extended family to travel to Germany, so we gave up on the idea. For a while though, we were seriously thinking about it.</p><p>That's it, the last gallery and posting from our wonderful trip to Germany in August of 2022. Emily loved the food in Germany and was happy to meet the extended Mander family too. We hope to return in a few years and we both want to visit Berlin (I have never been either) as well as head back up to the island of Föhr in the North Sea, with its quaint villages and wonderfully photogenic thatched roof buildings, and of course visit friends and family again.</p><p>Next up on my blog will likely be a gallery with few photos from our wedding back in August, as well as our honeymoon in Hawaii after! Then I'll likely circle back to my 2018 trip to Germany and finish those galleries, before working on some closer to home trips and outings with Emily during COVID-19.</p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a></div>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-15312897498173386812023-11-06T22:09:00.010-08:002023-11-06T22:30:53.650-08:00Germany 2022 - Eltville<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-eltville/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_01752-c1-Eltville.jpg" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (45 photos): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-eltville/">Germany 2022 - Eltville</a></p><p>On this day some friends took us on a wonderful walk along the Rhine River and into the town of Eltville. There, we wandered through the walled gardens at an old electoral castle which also had some nice shaded benches to take refuge on this very hot day. As you can see the weather was fantastic, perfect for taking photos, with a deep blue sky and fluffy white clouds!</p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-49847817617818532622023-04-15T07:00:00.002-07:002023-04-15T07:12:07.216-07:00Germany 2022 - Frankfurt / Museum of Applied Arts<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-frankfurt1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_01580-c1-Museum.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Gallery (130 photos): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-frankfurt1">Germany 2022 - Frankfurt / Museum of Applied Arts</a></div><p></p><p>We arrived back near Frankfurt, staying in Dietzenbach where my uncle lives. We left my dad to visit with him, and Emily and I drove into Frankfurt for the day to walk around the central old part of the city, where the picturesque medieval city hall is, the Frankfurter Römer. This is where my parents were married and the town square there is ringed with shops, cafes and restaurants. There is a small gothic church in the same area, some museums and the huge Kaiserdom, a large gothic cathedral where one can climb to the top of the high tower for some amazing views of Frankfurt below.</p><p>After having a coffee and a morning snack in a cafe, we took some photos of the Römer, went inside the small church, then made our way to the Kaiserdom and climbed up the 328 step narrow spiral staircase to the viewing platform which rings the tower - the views were indeed spectacular! It was quite hot and a bit of a challenge to climb up, especially when one encountered others coming down. The staircase is very narrow! After we came back down, we went into the Kaiserdom and took photos, then made our way across the Main River to the Frankfurt Museum of Applied Arts, the "Museum Angewandte Kunst." Some months before, Emily and I had watched a documentary about the famed designer Dieter Rams, who created many of the iconic product designs for the German company Braun. It turns out that he was also a major influence on Jony Ive, the lead product designer for Apple for many years. When we found out there was a dedicated area with a permanent exhibit of some of Rams' work for Braun and others, we thought it was worth a visit to that museum. There were many other very interesting displays and it was totally worth seeing! There are many shots from inside the museum in the large image gallery linked above.</p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-20945457911238843612023-02-15T14:00:00.040-08:002023-02-15T14:25:25.607-08:00Germany 2022 - Michelstadt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-michelstadt/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_01200-c1-Michelstadt3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Gallery (35 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-michelstadt/">Germany 2022 - Michelstadt</a></div><p>We left the Black Forest in southern Germany the day before, and drove back up to near Frankfurt again. The next day, we visited the picturesque town of Michelstadt, just south of Frankfurt and wandered around, visiting some gift shops and taking photos inside the town's church. Later that evening, we visited some very good family friends near Frankfurt, Günter and Renate. My mother had gotten to know them a very long time ago, even before she had met my father, and it was wonderful seeing them again, even though the visit was only brief.</p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-12349016315486077032023-01-29T14:53:00.010-08:002023-01-29T21:49:04.660-08:00Germany 2022 - Gengenbach<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-gengenbach/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="640" height="448" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_01035-c1-Geng.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Gallery (45 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-gengenbach/">Germany 2022 - Gengenbach</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day on our trip, we were in the Black Forest region of southern Germany, visiting the town of Reichenbach. Franziska's son helps to run a wonderful hotel and restaurant there, the <a href="http://www.roessle-gengenbach.de" target="_blank">Land-Gasthof Rössle</a>. The food was incredible, including the best Schnitzel Cordon-Bleu that I have ever had. Not only was it stuffed with ham and Swiss cheese, but also had caramelized onions inside. The flavour was amazing, as were the perfectly cooked pan-fried potatoes too. I can't wait for the next time I visit where I will surely order that again!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We left my dad to relax at the Rössle and Emily and I drove to the nearby town of Gengenbach. It is a small town, filled with interesting shops, and it had some very picturesque, narrow cobblestone streets lined with historic timber-framed post-and-beam constructed houses and buildings. In German a building constructed like that is called a Fachwerkhaus. There was an externally unassuming church in Gengenbach that turned out to have a wonderful, ornate interior.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a><div><br /></div><div>I just have to share an iPhone shot that Emily took of my wonderful schnitzel dinner at the Rössle!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/iPh11P_DE22_02092-c1-schnitzel.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/iPh11P_DE22_02092-c1-schnitzel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-43263708441328262182022-12-13T08:00:00.001-08:002022-12-13T08:28:20.354-08:00Germany 2022 - Stuttgart & Tübingen<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-stuttgart/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_00920-c1-Family.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gallery (15 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-stuttgart/">Germany 2022 - Stuttgart & Tübingen</a></div><p></p><p>A big meeting of nearly the entire extended Mander family happened in Stuttgart. We first visited the cemetery where my uncle Kurt is buried and met three of my cousins and their families, as well as an uncle, to pay our respects. Then it was off to a big lunch get-together, where a few additional family members joined us. All in all, we were about 17 people if I recall. After lunch, we all visited the 217 meter tall <a href="https://www.fernsehturm-stuttgart.de/en/" target="_blank">Stuttgart TV transmission tower</a>, with a viewing platform 150 meters up.</p><p>Then the next day, we drove to Tübingen to visit the Mountain Cemetery there, the final resting place for Franziska's ashes, my fathers partner of 9 years after my mom passed away from cancer in 2008. Franziska passed away in early 2018 after having a bad stroke. The cemetery is beautifully set in a forest, although Franziska's urn is buried in a very low-key area, her location unmarked and her resting place only noted with an engraving on a small stone tower. The last photo in the gallery shows Franziska and my dad during happy times together in 2017.</p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-25840744709366743212022-11-30T18:01:00.030-08:002022-11-30T18:24:45.333-08:00Germany 2022 - Burg Herzberg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-burg_herzberg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_00735-c1-Herzberg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gallery (60 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-burg_herzberg">Germany 2022 - Burg Herzberg</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Today, while my dad spent the day being interviewed for the book by his friend in Frielendorf, Emily and I drove to the wonderful and scenic old castle ruins of Burg Herzberg. Amongst other things, there is a tiny little chapel, with some lovely stained-glass windows that add a beautiful splash of colour to photos of its interior. There was a restaurant with lots of outdoor seating and we had a tasty lunch there, albeit one that was constantly disturbed by hungry and obnoxious wasps!</div><div><br /></div>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-8445780554008494012022-11-10T18:48:00.045-08:002022-11-30T18:25:50.485-08:00Germany 2022 - Burg Hohenburg (Homberg)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-burg_hohenburg/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_00640-c1-Hohenburg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (25 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-burg_hohenburg/">Germany 2022 - Burg Hohenburg (Homberg)</a></p><p>On the second day in Germany, we arrived in the small town of Frielendorf, visiting a friend of my father's, who is also writing a book about his rose hybridizing endeavours. In the evening we all visited the nearby small town of Homberg, where there are some castle ruins up on the hill overlooking the town. The old tower was very photogenic, with its old and weathered stone masonry construction, just full of texture and detail. The evening light filtering in through the windows and doorways cast a wonderful warm glow in spots. The view of the surrounding countryside from the top of the tower was also spectacular.</p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-80065609172109714912022-10-02T19:38:00.080-07:002023-11-11T20:39:09.778-08:00Germany 2022 - Kassel, Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe<p><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-kassel/" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/08/XT4_DE22_00180-c1-Kassel.jpg" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (80 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2022/de22-kassel/">Germany 2022 - Kassel, Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe</a></p><p>This year, my father and I, as well as my partner Emily (now fiancée - we got engaged in December 2022! Update: we were married in August, 2023!), finally managed to get back to Germany in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally my father and I were slated to go in 2020, but had to cancel our plans. This year we went in early August for two weeks and I borrowed a Fujifilm X-T4 since I knew its in-body image-stabilization (IBIS) was going to come in very handy for many dark interior shots. My X-Pro2 came along as a backup but was never used. I also used my iPhone 13 for a few selfies with Emily.</p><p>I know I was in the midst of working on my 2018 Germany trip galleries, but I'm going to focus on this latest trip and then go back to the 2018 trip afterwards.</p><p>This is the first day of shooting and exploring, where Emily and I wandered through the UNESCO World Heritage site of <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1413/" target="_blank">Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe</a> in the city of Kassel. "Bergpark" means a mountain park, and indeed, a central feature of the park is a 500 meter mountain, with a statue of Hercules at its peak. In the summer, every Wednesday and Sunday there are Wasserspiele, which literally means "water play," where water is released from a large reservoir at the top of the mountain. This gravity fed water flows down over a multitude of cascades, rapids, waterfalls and a reconstructed Roman aqueduct, ending in a large fountain in a pond near the main Wilhelmshöhe Castle. The gravity fed fountain is powered by a second reservoir about half way down the mountain and a person has to manually pull open a valve at the right time.</p><p>My father grew up in Kassel, right next to the park, and his father -my grandfather- was the park's groundskeeper. The park is an absolutely wonderful place to spend a summer day, with lots of shade, walking and hiking paths, and many things to see. In the latter part of the gallery, we visited the gothic Löwenburg Castle, although we came too late to get a tour inside.</p><p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2022">All blog postings from my 2022 Germany trip</a></p>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-17900448835489605652022-06-06T21:21:00.079-07:002022-06-06T22:03:12.200-07:00Germany 2018 - Idar Oberstein & Herrstein<p><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2018/de18-0621-idar-herrstein" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/06/XP2_DE18_01231-c1-Herrstein.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;">Gallery (115 Images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2018/de18-0621-idar-herrstein">Germany 2018 - Idar Oberstein & Herrstein</a></div><p></p><p>On this third day in Idar Oberstein, we visited a historic gemstone grinding shop, the <a href="https://weiherschleife-steinkaulenbergwerk.de/home/the-weiherschleife-grinding.html" target="_blank">Historische Weiherschleife</a>, where all the huge grinding stones were powered by a waterwheel and a system of large belts and pulleys. We also visited the associated gemstone mine, the <a href="https://weiherschleife-steinkaulenbergwerk.de/home/the-steinkaulenberg-mine.html" target="_blank">Edelsteinmine Steinkaulenberg</a>.</p><p>Afterwards, we drove a few kilometres and wandered around the historic town of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrstein" target="_blank">Herrstein</a>, where we joined in with a tour group and marvelled at all the very old buildings, a large number of which are many hundred of years old and of original construction. My ultra-wide Laowa 9mm lens got a lot of use in the cramped little town! All of Herrstein's charming streets and alleys are constructed from very well worn cobblestones, with grass and plants forcing their way up between them in many areas.</p><p>This was the last day in Idar Oberstein and from there, we drove to the small town of Frielendrof where we visited some old castle ruins, Burg Herzberg, the following day.</p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2018">All blog postings from my 2018 Germany Trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-64030615898455252362022-04-05T21:01:00.050-07:002022-04-05T22:28:49.222-07:00Germany 2018 - Idar Oberstein - Day 2<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2018/de18-0620-idar" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/04/XP2_DE18_00795-c1-Tourmaline.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Gallery (155 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2018/de18-0620-idar">Germany 2018 - Idar Oberstein - Day 2</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On the second day in Idar Obertsein, we visited two more museums. First was the "Deutsches Edelsteinmuseum", or German Gemstone Museum, and the second was the "Industriedenkmal Jakob Bengel", or Jakob Bengel Industrial Monument. The Jakob Bengal museum has displays of Art Deco jewellery and a large array of fascinating machinery that automates the tedious process of making necklace chains. Somewhere I also have a video showing this process, which I may add to this posting in the future.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For now, there is a huge gallery of 155 images showcasing many of the amazing displays of gemstones, both raw and cut, Art Deco jewellery as well as shots of the town of Idar Oberstein and also the famous Felsenkirche, or "Cliff Church", which is literally built into the cavern near the top of a cliff.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2018">All blog postings from my 2018 Germany Trip</a></div><p></p>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-10331993272569896322022-01-16T20:12:00.072-08:002022-01-16T20:43:59.093-08:00Gallery: 2018 Germany Trip - Flight & Idar Oberstein<p><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2018/de18-0619-flight-idar" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2022/01/XP2_DE18_00143-c1.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (120 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2018/de18-0619-flight-idar">Germany 2018 - Flight & Idar Oberstein</a></p><p>I'm going to call this my the first "official" posting from the Germany trip that I went on with my father in the summer of 2018. I had posted a few galleries previously a couple of years back, from the middle of the trip, but since I am now using new software to process my images (Capture One Pro instead of Adobe Lightroom), I will be republishing those galleries in the appropriate order and reprocessing everything I had already done.</p><p>The above gallery contains images mainly from a mineral and gemstone museum, called Deutsches Mineralienmuseum (or German Mineral Museum), in the town of Idar Oberstein. The town is famous for the processing of rocks & gems, lapidary and jewellery manufacturing. There are many rock and gemstone museums, and in a future posting, I will be showing photos from another spectacular one, as well as some others I took during a tour of a local gemstone mine. This is a long gallery, 120 images, but there are so many fascinating displays of minerals and gemstones, as well as some sculptures, that it was hard to pare it down.</p><p>There is one photo of my dad (photo 28), standing next to some giant crystals. The above blog post photo also shows some massive amethyst geodes, amongst others, most of which stand taller than my dad as well. In the middle of the gallery, photos 100 to 105, there are some shots showing UV fluorescence of some minerals, with pairs of shots, one in regular light and the next in UV light.</p><p>I am way behind in my image processing, and I am not going to promise that I'll get through all these quickly, but this is the first of many more galleries to come from my 2018 Germany trip!</p><p>Show: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/DE2018">All blog postings from my 2018 Germany Trip</a></p>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-21988102854083204222021-10-13T17:12:00.065-07:002021-10-13T19:01:59.041-07:00 Gallery: 2021 Island Trip - Victoria & Saltspring - Days 7-9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Days_7-9" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/10/XP2_VI21_00473-c1-Victoria.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery: <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Days_7-9">2021 Island Trip - Victoria & Saltspring - Days 7-9</a></p><p>This final gallery of our 2021 Island trip has photos covering the last few days of our vacation. After the long 460 km drive from Port McNeill down to Victoria, we stayed at <a href="https://www.marketas.com" target="_blank">Marketa's B&B</a>. The stay was wonderful in this large Edwardian style home, with very cozy rooms and an absolutely delicious breakfast in the morning. We had a room with its own large Jacuzzi tub, and it was wonderful to soak in it after a long day of driving! The next morning we visited Fisherman's Wharf in Victoria, which features tons of colourfully painted floating shops and house boats.</p><p>After a delicious fish&ship lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, we headed off to Schwartz Bay to catch the ferry to Saltspring Island, where we stayed for three days at my friend Ted's place. The first evening on Saltspring was great, nice and clear but the following days, the smoke from all the wildfires in BC and Washington finally got pushed out far enough to severely affect the visibility there too. In the last few shots in the gallery, you can see the smoke and haze, and the orange and red sun which was nearly blotted out completely. It was really too bad that the amazing views from Mount Maxwell were all hazed out. Oh well... we will definitely be visiting there again in the future, hopefully with clearer skies next time!</p><p>That's it for this trip, summer number two of the COVID-19 pandemic. Next year, Emily and I really hope to be able to visit Germany with my father! Crossing fingers the pandemic is under control by that time finally...</p>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2021_Island_Trip">All the blog posts from my 2021 Island Trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-72111401548091183532021-09-13T00:04:00.050-07:002021-09-13T00:46:52.801-07:00Gallery: 2021 Island Trip - Alert Bay - Day 5<p><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Day_5" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/09/XP2_VI21_00386-c1-Alert.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (45 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Day_5">2021 Island Trip - Alert Bay - Day 5</a></p><p>Unfortunately the weather did not improve much and our day over at Alert Bay was pretty much overcast the whole time, with a smattering of drizzle occasionally too. We took the ferry from Port McNeill to went over to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island first, staying for maybe three to four hours, then caught the ferry back to Port McNeill, and stayed on to get to Sointula on Malcolm Island.</p><p>By that time it was evening, we were both hungry and as it turns out, absolutely nothing was open in Sointula anymore, save an ice-cream stand. It was also drizzling and the prospect of spending about three hours wandering around there, getting damp and hungry, didn't seem appealing. Emily and I looked at each other and decided to quickly walk back to the ferry before it left. We managed to get on and headed back to Port McNeill.</p><p>Alert Bay was very scenic though, with lots of colourful buildings, a great walk through the ecological preserve, as well as a visit to the interesting and educational U'mista Cultural Centre, where one wasn't allowed to take any photos however. Hopefully the next time we visit the area, the weather will be better! We'll also have a better idea how long it takes to explore and can optimize the timing of our visit...</p><p>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2021_Island_Trip">All the blog posts from my 2021 Island Trip</a></p>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-16305803384869032992021-09-11T21:21:00.040-07:002021-09-11T21:39:44.112-07:00 Gallery: 2021 Island Trip - Telegraph Cove - Day 4<div><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Day_4" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/09/XP2_VI21_00237-c1-Telegraph_Cove.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (35 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Day_4">2021 Island Trip - Telegraph Cove - Day 4</a><br /></p><p>The weather improved slightly the day after our three night stint in the ever so relaxing school bus, and after photographing the bus in detail in the morning (seen in my last gallery), it was off again, driving further north up the east side of Vancouver Island, first to the small historic community of Telegraph Cove, then further on to the town of Port McNeill. We stayed in Port McNeill for two nights and after a ferry ride, spent most of the next day over in Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, with a very brief stint to Sointula on Malcolm Island. That will be in my next gallery...</p><p>Telegraph Cove was wonderful visually, with brightly painted old buildings right at the seashore built upon pilings, weathered floating docks and lots of history. We didn't take any whale watching tours but spent some time with binoculars searching the ocean off in the distance for any signs of large sea mammals. Sadly, we only spotted boats, kayakers and birds...</p>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2021_Island_Trip">All the blog posts from my 2021 Island Trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-13946482024546173072021-09-07T22:06:00.054-07:002021-09-07T22:48:54.339-07:00Gallery: 2021 Island Trip - Days 1-4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Days_1-4" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="427" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/09/XP2_VI21_00111-c1-skoolie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (45 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/2021_Island-Days_1-4">2021 Island Trip - Days 1-4</a></p><p>After an aborted camping trip to the Fraser Canyon, right at the start of all the forest fires in BC (the town of Lytton was burning down the evening before we had planned to leave), our first trip of 2021 turned out to be to Vancouver Island. Back in February, we had arranged and booked a trip to the interior, to the Kootenays, but after the Lytton fire we thought the interior would be too risky due to the risk of forest fires, so decided to book an alternative trip to Vancouver Island. Good thing we did it when we did, since everywhere we wanted to stay still had accommodations, and the ferries were not yet fully booked either. Had we waited even a few weeks, we'd likely have had a very hard time...</p><p>These are shots taken during the first four days of the trip, a few near Nanaimo where we stayed one night, and the rest up the east coast of Vancouver Island, north of Campbell River by the town of Sayward. We stayed in a converted school bus parked in the forest, a whimsical and enjoyable accommodation to be stuck in during three days of rain. A bit more info on this place is in the gallery link above...</p>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2021_Island_Trip">All the blog posts from my 2021 Island Trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-48413122827199974372021-06-15T18:13:00.098-07:002021-06-15T21:41:46.513-07:00Gallery: 2019 Grand Canyon Trip - Moab Area<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/0514-GCT-Moab_Area" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02318-c1-Dead-Horse.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (50 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/0514-GCT-Moab_Area">2019 Grand Canyon Trip - Moab Area</a></p><p>This last gallery wraps up my 9300km, 2019 Southwest road trip with my dad! The last two days, before the long drive back home, were spent in the Moab, Utah area. This above gallery contains images taken in Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park as well as Arches National Park. On the drive back, the weather wasn't very good, so almost no photos were taken. In fact, we ended up driving through a blizzard with substantial snow on the ground, going over a long pass in eastern Nevada, and that was in mid-May!</p>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2019_GrandCanyon">All the blog posts from my 2019 Grand Canyon Trip</a><p>Finally, to end this last 2019 Grand Canyon trip blog post, here are six more expansive panoramas which will open in new windows or tabs when clicked.</p><p>Grand View Point, Canyonlands National Park...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02072-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02072-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>A similar view as above, but with differing foreground and a wider field of view...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02093-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02093-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Buck Canyon Overlook, Canyonlands National Park...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02100-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02100-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Candlestick Tower Overlook, Canyonlands National Park...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02150-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02150-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Plateau Viewpoint, north of Canyonlands National Park...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02203-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02203-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Dead Horse Point State Park...</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02234-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/06/XP2_SW19_02234-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks for viewing. The end!</div>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-53133934721147997602021-04-28T20:47:00.039-07:002021-04-28T21:10:01.542-07:00Gallery: 2019 Grand Canyon Trip - Southern Utah Area<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/0513-GCT-Southern_Utah" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/04/XP2_SW19_01981-c1-Goosenecks.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (25 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/0513-GCT-Southern_Utah">2019 Grand Canyon Trip - Southern Utah Area</a></p><p>This gallery contains images shot in southern Utah, in the vicinity of Mexican Hat. It was a leisurely day, first visiting a viewpoint looking down on the amazing loops of the San Juan River, at Goosenecks of the San Juan State Park. Next, we drove through a large portion of the Valley of the Gods, kind of like a "mini Monument Valley" in some ways, and there were lots of beautiful wildflowers blooming. Then, we drove back up the Moki Dugway to visit the Muley Point Overlook, since we ran out of time the day before. The photo of my dad near the edge of the cliff was nowhere near as dangerous as it looked by the way! Finally, it was an easy drive up the highway to Moab.</p>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2019_GrandCanyon">All the blog posts from my 2019 Grand Canyon Trip</a><p>Here is one panorama I stitched from Valley of the Gods, presented as a 4000 pixel wide image once you click on the thumbnail below to open it in a new window or tab...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/04/XP2_SW19_02010-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/04/XP2_SW19_02010-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><br /><p><br /></p>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-50786456960256906962021-03-09T17:07:00.134-08:002021-03-09T19:42:21.994-08:00Gallery: 2019 Grand Canyon Trip - To Mexican Hat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/0512-GCT-Mexican_Hat/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2019/11/XP2_SW19_01943-c1-Monument.jpg" /></a></div>
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Gallery (25 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/0512-GCT-Mexican_Hat/">2019 Grand Canyon Trip - To Mexican Hat</a></div>
<br />Okay, now back to blogging about my 2019 trip to the Southwest with my father! Working on these photos again, more than a year after posting the previous gallery from that trip, fills me with a longing to spend time in the desert once more, but unfortunately I'll have to wait until COVID-19 is thoroughly under control before venturing south again. <div><br /></div><div>The drive to Mexican Hat was lengthy and we took a completely different route than originally planned. I had wanted to drive the Burr Trail, in from Boulder, Utah, like we had the day before, then drive south through the Strike Valley / Waterpocket Fold area, taking the ferry across Lake Powell to Halls Crossing. Two things kiboshed that idea completely: firstly, there had been a lot of rain and the road south was apparently very muddy. I have experienced Utah mud in that area, and even with a real 4x4 with proper off-road tires, the mud can clog treads almost instantly and make driving nearly as bad as if you were on ice. My Outback had mere all-season tires, which I felt were certainly not up to the task. In addition, even if the road hadn't been muddy, I found out that Lake Powell's level was so low that the ferry was grounded and wasn't running at all. There are some shots of the nearly empty lake with more descriptive text in the gallery.<div><br /></div><div>In the end, after driving through Long Canyon, then wending our way down into Strike Valley, we headed north instead, exiting Capitol Reef National Park to the east after spending a bit of time the park. Driving to Hanksville we turned south, eventually crossing the Hite Crossing Bridge, then finally down the crazy switchbacks of the Moki Dugway before arriving at Mexican Hat. That evening, we drove towards Monument Valley near sunset, and we happened across a heard of wild horses, which I carefully stalked and managed to frame with the Monument Valley spires and mesas in the background. The shot in the gallery was the best one, and also the last shot I got in before they finally had enough of me and galloped off...</div><div><br /></div>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2019_GrandCanyon">All the blog posts from my 2019 Grand Canyon Trip</a><div><br /></div><div>I shot a number of panoramas that day. Firstly, a near 180 degree shot in Capitol Reef National Park...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01784-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="800" height="121" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01784-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The next shot is just outside of Capitol Reef, en route to Hanksville. There were yellow wildflowers carpeting the desert, just beautiful!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01813-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="800" height="178" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01813-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>South of Hanksville, there was a gorgeous view with red rocks in the foreground and some snow covered mountain peaks in the background, quite a nice combination...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01829-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="800" height="199" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01829-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, there are two views from the top of the Moki Dugway, looking east towards Mexican Hat...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01880-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="800" height="262" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01880-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01883-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01883-E-Pano-c1-thmb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/03/XP2_SW19_01784-E-Pano-c1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0Utah, USA39.3209801 -111.093731111.010746263821154 -146.2499811 67.631213936178852 -75.9374811tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-37082079336685639422021-02-27T21:05:00.005-08:002021-02-27T21:18:42.431-08:00Gallery: White Rock Wander<p><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/0119-white_rock_wander/" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/01/XS10_BC21_02964-c1.jpg" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (90 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2021/0119-white_rock_wander/">White Rock Wander</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">[<i><b>Updated 2/27/2021</b>: Added 25 more daytime beachfront shots to gallery. The X-S10 has now been returned to Fujifilm after my testing was completed.</i>]</p><p style="text-align: left;">[<i><b>Updated 2/21/2021</b>: Added fifteen night shots to gallery and more descriptive text about the X-S10's IBIS to this post.</i>]</p><p style="text-align: left;">You may be wondering why I haven't been posting much, only two posts prior to this one since March of 2020 actually, or maybe you've figured it out based on those few previous posts, but basically my life changed quite unexpectedly in 2020 and it's not due to the pandemic. I now have a truly wonderful partner (with two cute cats) and she has totally changed my life for the better, changed my priorities dramatically. A while back, I moved from Vancouver to White Rock and the above linked gallery is really the first time I went walking about with my camera gear, intent on documenting my new neighbourhood. I had a day off work, where she didn't, so I took the opportunity to wander the streets and the first 50 shots in the above gallery are what I captured that day. She is also an enthusiastic photographer, so we are both looking forward to the time when COVID-19 has passed and we can travel outside of Canada again.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Although the commute to work is now well over 40 km, more than ten times farther than it was before (!), traffic has been manageable. The longer daily drive meant downsizing my 6-cylinder 2019 Subaru Outback (what a wonderful powertrain it had) to a more economical 4-cylinder 2021 Subaru Crosstrek "Outdoor". I've always wanted a Crosstrek, from the time it was first announced nearly 10 years ago, but I always felt it was too underpowered. It now finally has a powertrain that I can live with for longer road-trips with a full load of camping gear and a roof carrier, a new 2.5L engine with over 30hp more than the older 2.0L engine. Its new larger engine is essentially just as economical as the smaller one used still in the lower end models, but the significant increase in hp makes for a much more punchy and enjoyable powertrain. Anyway, enough about my new car, back to photography!</p><p style="text-align: left;">The images in the gallery were actually taken with Fujifilm's new X-S10 camera body, on loan from my local Fujifilm rep (thank you!), and my X-Pro2 was left at home. While I still much prefer the rangefinder style body of my X-Pro2, and prefer the old school dials and more customizable buttons, the X-S10 still proved to be a very nice camera to use in practice, once I customized some of the controls. The X-S10 has ergonomics that are more on par with most other modern DSLR and mirrorless bodies, and it does not have, for example, the marked shutter speed dial, a marked ISO dial etc. The X-S10 has unmarked control wheels and a "PASM" mode dial, so ergonomics that are likely far more familiar to people using other camera systems, which isn't really a bad thing for those thinking of giving the Fujifilm system a try.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The X-S10 also has in-body image-stabilization (IBIS), which works very well indeed. The last fifteen photos in the above gallery were all shot handheld, no tripod, and the EXIF display will show the shutter speeds and so on. Shots as slow as 1/2 second are still pretty much tack sharp, which is nearly 5 stops or so of improvement with a 50mm equivalent lens. Overall, I would rate the IBIS as being quite a bit more effective (and more consistent) than the IBIS unit I had in the Fujifilm X-H1, which I shot with some time ago but finally gave up again due to still liking my X-Pro2 better overall. I am certainly looking forward to the day when a hypothetical "X-Pro4" might include IBIS! Regardless, overall the X-S10 is a very compact and light camera, but with a nice substantial hand-grip and it proved quite enjoyable to use, despite my above mentioned preferences. Enjoy the photos!</p><p style="text-align: left;">I will be making an effort to blog a little more often, but don't expect too much...</p>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0White Rock, BC, Canada49.0253085 -122.80296220.715074663821156 -157.95921199999998 77.335542336178847 -87.646712tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-50910661883710062332021-02-22T20:44:00.048-08:002021-02-22T21:24:29.556-08:00Gallery: Hawaii 2019 - Wave Splashes<p><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/1213-HI19-Wave_Splashes" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2021/02/XH1_HI19_01834-c1-splashes.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Gallery (45 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/1213-HI19-Wave_Splashes">Hawaii 2019 - Wave Splashes</a></p><p>On the last two days of our trip I was still very sick with the flu, so didn't feel up to doing much. I feel really bad for my father, who must have been really bored and disappointed! Basically, he and I went to a beach just south of the Kona International Airport, at Wawaloli Beach Park, and I stood there patiently waiting for waves to splash against the lava shelf. Much of the time my dad just waited in the car. The surf wasn't particularly impressive on either day, but when a wave hit the lava shelf in just the right way, some fairly impressive splashes could be seen. The above gallery has 44 images of wave splashes... kind of a lot, but then that will be the end of photos from the Hawaii trip. I intentionally used a very high shutter speed in order to freeze all the splashes, and sometimes, when the light was just right, some of the water globules almost look like they were formed from mercury and not just good 'ol salty H<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span>O.</p><p>So, that was it for my Hawaii vacation. Soon, I will continue on with processing shots from my <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2019_GrandCanyon" target="_blank">2019 trip to the Grand Canyon</a> with my father....</p>Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2019_Hawaii">All the blog posts from my 2019 Hawaii Trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-34980449133801728782020-07-31T12:22:00.038-07:002020-07-31T12:46:24.297-07:00Gallery: Canon EOS R5 at SFU<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2020/0726-R5_at_SFU"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2020/07/R5_BC20_01143-sfu.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gallery (35 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2020/0726-R5_at_SFU">Canon EOS R5 at SFU</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't posted in a while since I have been rather preoccupied of late. However, I recently had an opportunity to shot with a brand new, not yet released, Canon EOS R5 mirrorless camera and thought I would share some sample images. This flagship model has very impressive image quality and was very enjoyable to use, offering an excellent UI and a truly fantastic electronic viewfinder. The responsiveness was impressive and detail, dynamic range and low light capability was excellent as well, despite the high-resolution 45MP sensor.</div><div><br /></div><div>The linked gallery has 35 images, many of which were intentionally of quite high dynamic range scenes, with significant underexposure allowing for good highlight detail, then a lot of shadow recovery in post. No special modes on the camera were used, no HDR, and Highlight Tone Priority was also switched off. They were converted to DNG files with Adobe's latest DNG converter beta and then processed in Lightroom Classic v9.3 since at this time, Lightroom cannot yet read the CR3 files from the new camera directly. The high-res links in the gallery will give you JPEGs that are 4000 pixels wide, large enough to see a decent amount of detail from this superb new camera. Enjoy!</div>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com08888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada49.2780937 -122.919883320.967859863821154 -158.07613329999998 77.588327536178838 -87.7636333tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-45108002858646496772020-03-26T10:11:00.000-07:002020-03-26T11:31:22.247-07:00Fujifilm X100V First Tests<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2020/0326-X100V/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2020/03/X100V_BC20_00662-c1-UBC.jpg" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" /></a></div>
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Gallery (55 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2020/0326-X100V/">Fujifilm X100V First Tests</a></div>
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I finally had a chance to really shoot with the new Fujifilm X100V. During this COVID-19 crisis and the required social distancing, I was able to visit the UBC campus as well as Campbell Valley Park and keep well away from others. Beau Photo Supplies is now temporarily closed so I will endeavour to do some more gear postings, lens tests and such over the next few weeks.<br />
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My X100V review is on the Beau Photo blog here: <a href="https://www.beauphoto.com/new-fujifilm-x100v/">https://www.beauphoto.com/new-fujifilm-x100v/</a><br />
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I should say that I am truly impressed with the X100V, which now features a weather-resistant design, a rear tilting LCD, the latest 26MP X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor, and a redesigned 23mm f/2 lens. Optically, the new lens is now more consistent across the frame as far as sharpness, and field-curvature seems minimal. Close focus macro shots at wide f-stops are also a lot sharper now.<br />
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As far as ergonomics, the camera is a joy to use with a wonderful tactile feel to all the controls and buttons, and it is also a beautiful camera to look at in my opinion. The fit and finish is flawless and the satin texture and precise machining of the camera's aluminum shell is gorgeous. It is a camera that begs to picked up and shot with, possibly the most appealing camera overall in that respect that I've ever owned.Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296331927438806888.post-5185649197520405882020-02-09T14:38:00.002-08:002021-02-22T21:23:13.311-08:00Gallery: Hawaii 2019 - Kona Bali Kai Views<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/1212-HI19-Kona_Bali_Kai/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="http://www.sublimephoto.com/blogimages/2020/02/XH1_HI19_01028-c1-long-exp.jpg" /></a></div>
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Gallery (30 images): <a href="http://www.sublimephoto.com/exhibit/2019/1212-HI19-Kona_Bali_Kai/">Hawaii 2019 - Kona Bali Kai Views</a></div>
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On the drive back from Volcanoes National Park the previous day, I started to feel really crappy and overnight, I developed a full-on, absolutely horrible flu, which lasted the rest of the trip and then at least a week beyond after returning home. Thank goodness the coronavirus situation hadn't yet begun, since I'd then have been rather worried that I'd somehow contracted that! My dad had a flu shot, whereas I didn't, and he actually did not get sick at all thankfully. We only got out of the hotel for food today, and all I had the energy for was to head down to the beach in front of the hotel, and do some long exposures of the shoreline with 10-16 stops worth of ND filters, photograph the surfers, and then later in the evening, take photos at sunset from the rooms lanai.<br />
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Link to: <a href="http://www.mikemander.com/search/label/2019_Hawaii">All the blog posts from my 2019 Hawaii Trip</a>Mike Manderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101635749965159506noreply@blogger.com0