A Mountain Morning
Flynn Marr 19 April 2024
Photography is like so many other activities that
you ignore for a few weeks and you lose your
edge. You have to work at it if you expect to
keep creating your best images. I have taken
a few weeks off to work on a book project and
trying to get back to my photography has
been a bit of an uphill battle. And trying to
remember how to write a post has been
totally challenging. It may partially be my
age playing hob with my memory but I
know that others have the same problem.
I had a pleasant return to my picture taking
last weekend. While I was otherwise
occupied with my book I received an e-mail
from Canon about a photo gathering at
the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola just
outside of Squamish. I wrote about the
last one of these I attended back in September of 2021.
Every so often Canon hosts an event where interested members of the public are invited to come and try out some of Canon’s latest professional gear. You can borrow a camera or lens for the morning and go off shooting pictures with it. This meeting was to be at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola lift just outside Squamish which is beautiful spot. I reserved two tickets for Susan and I and went back to my book project.
We arrived at the bottom of the chairlift before 7:00 AM and got our ticket to the chalet at the top. The weather was overcast and chilly but we had anticipated that.
Canon put out a delightful light breakfast for us of yogurt, fruit compote and granola which was really nice. And they had lots of hot tea and coffee for us .
Squamish is about an hours drive from our home and to be there for 7:00 AM we had to be up at 5:00AM. We managed to be up in good time and we arrived at the foot of the gondola lift where we were met by a Canon volunteer with our lift tickets and up we went. Poor Susan! She does not like heights and is terrified of anything that involves hanging from wires over empty space. But, good sport that she is, she indulged me and came with me to the top.
Susan does not like heights and things like a gondola lift terrify her. But she is a good sport and has followed me to the top of the Eiffel Tower, to the top of the chairlift in Grindewald, Switzerland and the chairlift in Palm Springs.
Once up there we found that we had the chalet open just for our group and there was a light breakfast and coffee waiting for us. Canon was showing off its latest gear and people were picking up various models of camera and lens to try out on the mountain. I had brought my own camera and lenses with which I was completely happy but I did look at some of the new stuff and got really envious. If I had the money …. well, as I say, I am happy with my gear and it takes excellent pictures. At least that is what I keep telling myself.
The weather cleared a little as the morning progressed, and although it was cold on the mountain we were dressed for it and were very comfortable.
The view out across Howe Sound with the low clouds floating over the water was incredible. Everyone assembled on the deck outside for a group photo and then we all set out to hike around the mountain top to take pictures.
From the deck of the chalet at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola the view over Howe Sound was beautiful to see. It was quiet, except for the sound of the wind, and the air was really clear and cold. In the lower right of the picture is the gondola that had just brought us to the top.
The view inland from the chalet was the rugged mountains of the coast range. They were shrowded in cloud for most of the morning bu where we were the sun came out for most of the morning.
During the morning I did go over and look at the cameras and lenses that Canon had brought. I really wish I had the money, and you would need lots of it, to buy some of this new gear. Canon’s cameras and lenses have always been beautiful to hold and to use. I have their cameras back to the 1940’s and every one is beautiful. As I write this on my desk I have and AE-1 with an FDn 17mm f/1.4 on it and it is magnificent. But that camera pales in comparison to the current top line Canon Cameras. They appeal to me in their appearance and in their functions. They are just so much more versatile.
When the new mirrorless cameras first came out I bought a Canon R and it has been a joy. For me, the most impressive thing about it is that my whole collection of Canon lenses back to 1945 can be mounted on it. Suddenly my whole collection was relevant again.
Near the lodge is a suspension bridge over a valley which connects to a trail and view point on the other side. Susan would not go out on it but I did for this picture.
Susan and I take pictures of each other in the same spot and I stitch them together in Photoshop to give a picture of us together. Manipulated, yes, but we were both there at the same time and the background is real. So the picture is “real” in my way of thinking!
This picture we had some fellow photographers snap for us so there is no issue about manipulated pictures like there is with the image on the left.
Very early in the event, around 7:45, everyone gatherd for a group shot. I am not in this because I am behind the camera but Susan is there on the right side in the brown coat with sun glasses. The sky cleared for us a few minutes after this was taken and was lovely for the rest of the morning.
This is my picture of cedar trees in cathedral grove that was printed that moring on the mountain.
One of the items being demonstrated during the event was a Canon printer. All of the attendees were offered the chance to submit an image ahead of time to be printed during the morning. The prints that were to be printed were to be given to the photographers that submitted them. My image was one of the ones chosen to be printed during the morning.
We went for a walk along some of the trails along the top of the mountain for an hour and a half but we had to be back by 10:00, the end of the meet-up, to collect my print. When we got back to the chalet people were beginning to arrive as the gondola lift had opened for the public. My print was done and lying on a table by the printer which was working away. I was very pleased with the image. The paper was a nice semi gloss 11×17 inch size printed without a border. A very impressive printer.
After I collected my print we were off down the mountain again. Having been up since 5:00, and being the age we are, we were pretty tired and so headed off for home.
We had a great time and our outing got me back into thinking about taking pictures. That is two of these Canon events now that I have been to and I enjoyed both immensely. They get me up out of my chair and paying attention to my photography. It is so easy to just sit back and talk about it but if you want to take pictures you have to put the effort in. You have to go where the pictures are, you have to bring the gear, and then you have to wait for the moment. And it is so easy to just sit at home and think about photography, or write about it. I am gratefull to Canon for again getting me up of my butt and outdoors with a camera.
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