False Creek on a Saturday

Yesterday (Saturday), I decided to take a walk along False Creek starting at the winter olympic village currently still under construction but well advanced. From there I took the seaside walk on the north side ending at 2nd beach in Stanley Park (the walkway continues, I just decided to end the walk there!). These are some of the photos I took along the way. The first two photos were taken from a higher vantage point. As you can see by the clarity of the pics, it can get rather humid in these parts. This area is part of the temperate rainforest for good reason!

A couple of barges were brought in a while ago to bring construction material closer to where the work was being carried out. The top pic shows the olympic village in the background and the lower photo has ScienceWorld and highrise condos in the background.

At the winter olympic village (2010) still under construction many of the plantings have been completed. These plantings are suited to dry conditions as you can see.

Since it was a Saturday, some work was going on (see above). Thats Yaletown in the background in the photo below with another interesting planting in the foreground. There is another view below that of Yaletown as seen from the village.

Plenty of people were out walking, running or cycling. Above is a cyclist checking out what I was photographing with a closer view of the cyclist below. I'm looking at getting a bike myself, probably next year. Its been years since I rode one but I still know how. Its not been that long ago!

On the north side of False Creek you can get another excellent vantage point to view the village.

The seaside walk on the north side of False Creek had plenty of activity too and it was the first time on that route for me. I've taken plenty of walks along the southern route. Thats another scene of Yaletown in the photo above and those below.

I followed along behind this hot dude above (and pic below) for a bit before I continued on along the seaside route. Should we be in shape, yes, and can we be devilishly handsome, yes to that as well!

Above is another view along the walk in Yaletown. To my right off the photo, a wedding party was being photographed, a beautiful day for both a wedding and taking photos! In hindsight I should have taken atleast one photo of the photographer at work. What do you think?

The last photo, take a close look at what appears below the railing. There's a whole string under the railing that I haven't photographed but I plan to next time and post the results. As I approached Sunset Beach while continuing along the route westward, I noticed a guy taking photos from just behind a planting along the walk. He wasn't taking photos of the plants but was taking pics of the scene on the north side of the walk: people in various stages of dress! Some were even nude! One guy was wearing a bow around his penis and not much else. Some had tattoos, etc., but there was nothing particularly interesting to take photos of, for me at any rate. As I mentioned at the beginning, I ended my walk at the 2nd beach (I was getting tired by that point!) and so continued on off that walk and along the west side of Lost Lagoon and then back into town to complete my last errand before heading home on the SkyTrain. I hope you've enjoyed this little tour and the photos! More to come!!! - V.

Nick Oliva - a latin hottie!

I recently saw this pic while surfing the web. This is model Nick Oliva taken by photographer Frank Louis. I love the look, especially the hot physique and the shades (sunglasses)! Its a great way to start a weekend, isn't it? Check out more of Nick and his photographer on the net. Have a good one! - V.

weekend

Its Friday and the weekend is upon us. The weather is warm and pleasant. Its been in the mid-20s all week (thats Celsius!), so very summer-like! Some rain had been in the forecast but none came. We don't mind!

I've been doing some research on digital cameras lately. Sony has a 24 megapixel camera out at just over $3,000 and yesterday I was looking at a Hasselblad online that has 60 megapixels in resolution at a price of about $27,000, and thats likely the U.S. dollar amount. I check on a 50 megapixel Hasselblad but if you're thinking it would be cheaper, not. The price for that one was around $33,000. I've been thinking of upgrading from a 10.2 to 24 megapixel camera. The first one I mentioned seems to be more in my budget range at this point. The studio lights that I had mentioned in a previous post are being purchased early in July. Thats the plan anyway. This is as I'm getting much more serious into photography. I'll keep you posted on developments.

Meantime, the weekend is coming, so enjoy yours however you plan to spend it! - V.

antics

On my way back to the Lost Lagoon and downtown Vancouver I took the Tatlow Trail through the park. I always find the antics and activities of birds and animals interesting. Above, a grey squirrel played what seems to us as peek-a-boo but when it realized I had no food for it (its all about the food you know!), the squirrel went on its way.

I tried out some of the early salmonberries (above, related to the blackberries) but they're a bit tart yet. The birds (and others) have wasted no time in trying them just the same.

Then I took photos of a mallard duck (hen, the female) taking in some grit. She was very patient about the whole thing. They use the grit to grind their food as part of the digestion process. After that I ended up at the north end of the lagoon and headed on into the downtown to complete the last errand before heading home. - V.

the beaches

Sunday was a pleasant day, sunny with some cloud but not overly hot like during the week when we had very summer like days. In the midst of getting some errands out of the way I came to Stanley Park (Vancouver) to walk and in the process get some exercise, fresh air and sunshine. A kiosk had been set up at the main beach on English Bay (Beach Avenue is behind me) renting out kayaks. There was a reasonable amount of activity but on a very hot weekend the beaches are full.

There was more activity at the 3rd beach (see photo above and those below). Note the kayaks! I had hoped to get a shot of a guy trying out his skimboard but when I set up the shot, I wasn't as thrilled with the outcome, so I let it go. There'll be another opportunity soon enough. In the pic just below, that's Hollyburn Mountain in the background with West Vancouver developments creeping up the mountain side.

The photo above shows the view of the 3rd beach from the top of the stairs above the beach. The public washrooms, lifeguard station and a food kiosk are behind me. Speaking of the lifeguard station, a lifeguard was preparing to wheel down a lifeboat on a trailer as I was up there, so I took a few photos of the event. He wheeled her to a certain point and then turned the boat and all about before proceeding down hill. It takes lots of strength to accomplish that feat but what comes down must come back up. Good thing I'm not the one doing that! These fit men are far better for it. I hope you had a great weekend, however you chose to spend it!!! - V.

Jason Beam

I've featured some photos of Australian model and trainer, Jason Beam, a while back but here are some more for those interested, and I know I have viewers of this blog that love both muscle and tattoos, so enjoy! Jason has appeared in the Australian gay magazine called DNA with photos by photographer, Lewis Payton, and he was also involved in the Teamm 8 underwear campaign. Other photographers to check out are Simon Le (see some of the pics), Pedro Virgil and James Demetri.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not much of a tattoo fan but to love muscles. Tattoos have an obvious importance to those that wear them and that's whats important regardless of what I might think of them. So enjoy the pics, muscles, tattoos and all! - V.

Renato Ferreira - Brazilian model

There's a new model on the Brazilian scene. Since a blog viewer showed some interest in him, I decided to do a little research on him. His name is Renato Ferreira who has been featured recently on the blog, "Made in Brazil", as well as other blogs, such as Bodhi's, "Tres Fab Sweetie!" I don't know a lot about him other than what I've seen and read about him on these blogs I've mentioned. Something to check out would be 40 Graus Models and photographer Vincente de Paulo (and others). Here are a few photos of this new model for those interested. Edilson is still tops in my book though Renato is certainly worth watching to see where his career takes him. - V.