What I’ve been up to… June/July 2014

That’s me standing in Windset Farms’ cucumber greenhouse while on a tour of the facilities in Santa Maria, California – sporting the latest greenhouse fashion.

Here’s a little rundown of What I’ve Been Up to in the last few months… Since Instagram has pretty much knocked my iPhone Photo Dump series out of commission, I want to bring back some form of a journal… Something I can look back at to see what I was doing and/or working on at that time. I shoot a ton of (resource) photos every month and barely any of them see the light of day, so I want to share more of them.

Vancouver Aquarium Expansion Grand Opening

Katie and I went to the Vancouver Aquarium’s expansion grand opening party the night before we left for California. The new entrance with the high-tech 360° wrap-around video screens is pretty wild; all the new stuff looks great. We also took in the Planet Earth: Shallow Seas 4-D Experience, which is very well done. I won’t spoil how awesome the 4-D experience is, but I will say it’s better than the ‘Bugs Life’ one at Disneyland.

Looking up from the Aquarium's new reception/gallery space.
Looking up from the new reception/gallery space.
Jellyfish always look so amazing.
Jellyfish always look so amazing.

California Trip

A good friend of mine was getting married in LA in early June, so we flew down for that and extended our stay for a much-needed vacation. We hung out in Venice Beach, stopped for half a day to photograph an interior design job I did at Windset Farm’s Santa Maria office and massive greenhouse facility. From there we drove up the coast through Big Sur and then flew home from San Francisco… An amazing trip, and you can see more about the trip here.

Overview of the office interior design treatments at Windset Farms’ California greenhouse.

Speaking of work, I’ve been busy adding projects to my portfolio – some of these have been finished for a little while, and maybe you’ve already seen some of these things on the shelves of your local grocery store.

 

Patio season... Say no more. Soaking up some sun on the patio at Tap & Barrel.
Patio season… Say no more. Soaking up some sun on the patio at Tap & Barrel.

Rain City Chronicles

We rarely miss any of the Rain City Chronicles events, and with the theme of ‘Guilty Pleasures’ at The Rio Theatre, we were in for sure.

Lizzy and Cory Ashworth introduce the first speaker at Rain City Chronicles.
Lizzy and Cory Ashworth introduce the first speaker at Rain City Chronicles.

Camping at Weaver Lake

We like to get out and do as much camping as we can, so we rounded up a couple of other friends, Derek and Matt and they joined us at Weaver Lake. It’s a pretty convenient spot to hit because it’s only a couple of hours outside of the city, but it feels like you are in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Lots of canoeing, swimming, floating, hiking around and good times. Here are a few photos that round out the weekend.

Matt and Derek floating at Weaver Lake.
Matt and Derek floating at Weaver Lake.
We went for a short hike looking for firewood and came across this river and fallen tree bridge.
We went for a short hike looking for firewood and came across this river and fallen tree bridge.
Derek and I up on the tree bridge.
Derek and I up on the tree bridge.
Katie collects some smaller dry wood for kindling... I love how I caught her staring right at me in this photo.
Katie collects some smaller dry wood for kindling… I love how I caught her staring right at me in this photo.
We pulled up the canoe at the far side of the lake where there's a decent size rock where there's room for 4 to hang out, and cliff jumping off to the right.
We pulled up the canoe at the far side of the lake where there’s a decent size rock where there’s room for 4 to hang out, and cliff jumping off to the right.

 

Buntzen Lake Swimming & Hiking

Buntzen Lake is our go-to hang place because it’s not too far away, and it really does put you in the middle of nowhere with very little effort. So even if we only have a few hours, we can either hike around the lake; or if we have a bit more time we’ll take our canoe up, paddle over to the far side to get away from the crowded beach.

I shot this on a recent hike around Buntzen Lake... We spend so much time on the lake looking into the trees, it's nice to see a different vantage point.
I shot this on a recent hike around Buntzen Lake… We spend so much time on the lake looking into the trees, it’s nice to see a different vantage point.
There's a few nice spots to jump off the rocks around Buntzen, but you have to put the work in to get to them.
There are a few nice spots to jump off the rocks around Buntzen, but you have to put the work in to get to them.
I came across this fallen tree and thought it looked kinda neat.
I came across this fallen tree and thought it looked kinda neat.

Listening to:

(according to my Last.fm stats for June/July)

Mastodon – Once More ‘Round The Sun
Collapse Under the Empire – Sacrifice & Isolation
Long Distance Calling – Nighthawk
Sleepmakeswaves – Love of Cartography
The Raveonettes – Pe’ahi
Letting Up Despite Great Faults – Neon
Rival Schools – Found
Killing Joke – In Dub
Whirr – Around
Black Lung – Black Lung s/t
The Whigs – Modern Creation
Torche – Songs For Singles
Afghan Whigs – Do to the Beast
Floor – Oblation
Dwarves – The Dwarves Invented Rock & Roll
A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Sea When Absent
Red Fang – Whales and Leeches

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