Kats and Bridges

The Giants are still battling the Phillies tonight, great pitcher showdown round 2: Roy “Doc” Halladay versus Tim “The Freak” Lincecum. Here are two more photos from our 2010 San Francisco and Monterey trip.

Meekat. Click for full size.

Read the journal here.

Golden Gate up real close. Click for full size.

Parc Raimbault

An afternoon at Parc Raimbault in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville area of Montreal. This Park is rich with wildlife, ducks, squirrels, Canada geese, muskrats. Hard to believe the weather can be so mild and beautiful when we’re already in November.

Parc Raimbault, looking towards Gouin Blvd. Click for full size.

Mallard Hen in flight. Click for full size.

Burlington

Burlington and Stowe Vermont, September 2nd. A fabulous (warm, sunny, clear) daytrip, just a perfect off-season opportunity to revisit this beautiful and ultra-clean border state. Read about the trip here.

Church Street Mall. Burlington. Click for full size.

Street Performer. Burlington. Click for full size.

Church Street Mall. Burlington. Click for full size.

Vermont 2009

Day trip to Vermont. Burlington and Stowe, September 2nd. We drove straight to Stowe, crossing the border easily at Phillipsburg – Highgate Springs. In Stowe we grabbed a quick lunch and then drove to Mt. Mansfield for a few photos. The recreational path was the next stop.

We didn’t stay that long in Stowe. It was relatively quiet given the busy foliage season was not in full swing. Not much to do there. On the way back we visited the Christmas Loft in Shelburne, a fun place but also a sad reminder that Christmas (meaning winter) is just around the corner.

Our last stop was the Church Street Mall in Burlington. This is a great pedestrian shopping area with interesting shops and sidewalk cafés. There is also an indoor mall (renovated it seems) with many brand name stores. The streets were full of locals and University of Vermont students enjoying the beautiful weather.

On the road back home we drove past Big Man. He’s gone from selling hot dogs to antique furniture, back to fast food, and now back to furniture. Almost full circle!

A nice outing, about 6 hours of driving, but well worth it. I love Vermont.

Stowe photos below. View the Burlington Vermont photos.

Gondola, Stowe. Click for full size.

Mt. Mansfield, Stowe. Click for full size.

Bonsecours Market

Old Montreal’s Bonsecours Market.

Bonsecours Market from the Old Port. Click for full size.

Bonsecours Market (French: Marché Bonsecours), at 350 rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, is a two-story domed public market. Named for the adjacent Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, it opened in 1847. Construction began in 1844 by architect William Footner, and was completed in 1860 by George Browne. Bonsecours Market housed City Hall between 1852 and 1878.

Old Montreal

An overcast and muggy day, not the best conditions lighting-wise, but what the hell. Morning and early afternoon spent in Old Montreal and the Old Port. Lunch is at the Jardins Nelson.

Dome of Bonsecours Market. Click for full size.

Painting in the Rue des Artistes. Click for full size.

Freighter in the Old Port. Click for full size.

Seals and Sea Lions

The coastal waters and cliffs of California provide great opportunities to view and photograph both seals and seal lions. Photos taken off the Monterey Peninsula.

California Sea Lion chilling. Click for full size.

California Harbor Seals. Click for full size.

Rogers Cup Montreal

Rogers Cup – Men’s Edition. Montreal, Monday, August 10th, 11:00 AM at the Uniprix Stadium, Court Central. Seating: Level 100, Section 107 North, Row C, seats 5 and 6. Rain, overcast, bright sun, overcast again – that’s the meteorological summary for today as I shot some of the Men at the 2009 Rogers Cup.

The changing light and the fast action on the courts made it quite a challenge and I certainly put the Nikon to the test. During the day I shot in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, at different ISOs, and I switched Focus modes back and forth from single-servo AF (S) to continuous-servo AF (C).

In the first match, Russian Mikhail Youzhny defeated Croatian Marin Cilic (14th seed) in 3 sets: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Mikhail Youzhny. Click for full size.

On another court, another first round opener, Canada’s own Frederic Niemeyer, ranked No. 487, upset Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn 7-5, 6-1, before the home town crowd.

Igor Kunitsyn scrambles to the net. Click for full size.

And in the final match we watched, my brother keeping me company, Paul-Henri Mathieu of France beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in 3 sets. The score: 7-5, 0-6, 6-1.

France’s P.H. Mathieu. Click for full size.

For more tennis shots:
Youzhny vs Cilic | Niemeyer vs Kunitsyn | Mathieu vs Garcia-Lopez

Square Hearts

Union Square, San Francisco, July 2009.

Click for full size.

Hearts in San Francisco began in 2004 as a fund raiser for the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. Like the famous painted cows, the painted hearts — created from uniform molds and painted by individual artists — decorate the city in areas like Union Square, until they are auctioned off at a benefit for the charity. New hearts are unveiled each year.

Painted Ladies

Alamo Square, San Francisco, July 2009.

Click for full size.

Painted Ladies is a term used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies – San Francisco’s Resplendent Victorians.

Castle of Love

Castello di Amorosa in the Napa Wine Country.

Click for full size.

The castle interiors, which include 107 rooms on 8 levels above and below ground, cover approximately 121,000 square feet (11,200 m2). Among many other features it has: a moat, a drawbridge, defensive towers, an interior courtyard, a torture chamber; a chapel/church, a knights’ chamber, and a 72 by 30 feet (9.1 m) great hall with a 22-foot (6.7 m)-high coffered ceiling.

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