Where's The Film: Vancouver, Mk 4.0

This past weekend I re-visited for the 4th time the first city I felt I could live in besides SF.

This decision was made way back in the late 1990s when I first visited Vancouver. It had the same vibe as SF, the same weather, and Kristen Kreuk was popular with us guys b/c of Smallville. I returned in 2003 to discover a completely different side of Vancouver: the dragonboat competition.

2003 paddler's village. Now the site of Rogers Arena for hockey

BC Place, without the support arms

The view of the vendors/spectators area, along with the Science World

Being a archiving nut, I'm glad that I not only kept the photos from '03, but that I took the time to walk up to the top of the Cambie St bridge to get some shots. Keep in mind, Vancouver had not yet won the Olympic bid (it was awarded to them July 2, 2003, while the races took place June 15th, 2003). I came back again in 2011 and post-Olympics, everything had switched around. Rather than the village north of False Creek, it was now south of the Science Center. It was also this time that I had a much better camera than the 3-megapixel Minolta Xi after I plunged into the world of DSLRs.

In addition, we were in the midst of Stanley Cup finals with the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins duking it out at Rogers Arena. Luckily, we left the day before the riots. Here are some shots from my 2011 trip

The Science World sphere, looking south towards the Olympic Village

BC Place with Rogers Arena in the foreground.

Panoramic shot of False Creek

Fast forward to 2013: ten years since my introduction to a true international competition, I'm here yet again. A bit wiser (eating vegetables DURING the trip, not regretting eating them at all) and with slightly better lenses and photography skills, the triplet of GoPros and my old Canon T2i with the kit 18-135mm and Sigma 50-500mm traversed the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Prospect Point at Stanley Park, and of course False Creek. Weather was iffy, but the sun did come out just in time for the races. Summer solstice and a supermoon occurred at the same time, but I opted to limit my photography this time around. It was tough having sunset at 9:22PM, after a lot of daytime activities and old man fatigue kicked in. But that just means an extended stay the next time I come to Vancouver, hopefully to start out an Alaskan cruise sometime in the winter (when sunset will be around 4PM'ish).