9-11... Terrace Speedway Style

On September 11 2001, a true tragedy took place.  The single most deadly act of terror took place in New York City, as two planes were flown into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre.  That same morning, in Washington DC, a plane was also flown into the Pentagon.  And in Pennsylvania, thanks to the brave and valiant actions of the passengers, yet another plane was merely flown into the ground, instead of an unknown target.  That these acts of destruction took place is undeniable, and we remember with pride and regret the heroes who selflessly faced unbelievable danger as they tried to save as many lives as they were able.  These firefighters, police officers, and paramedics were just doing what they do.  As a former paramedic, I understand this... and I offer to all members of the Emergency Services who responded to that disaster, and to all members who serve today, everywhere, a heartfelt "Thank You."  Your service is noticed, and truly appreciated.  And we pray that nobody should ever have to respond to a terrorist incident of that magnitude again.

On September 11 2011, ten years later, in the small community of Terrace BC, it was an appropriate day for the Terrace Speedway to hold it's final event for the 2011 automotive racing season... it was our annual Hit To Pass and Demolition Derby.  Before I go any farther, I want to thank all of the volunteers for their many many hours of effort, and all of the sponsors for providing the funding for maintaining the Speedway.  I also want to thank the Thornhill Volunteer Fire Department for coming out to help also.  On this day, their firefighting services were actually required.

The day was started a little bit behind schedule, unfortunately.  But it DID start with a bang, as the owner of a car that was experiencing mechanical difficulties decided to get some use out of it for the day.  They rolled it.  When you watch the video, you'll see the car is being pushed by the pickup towards a ramp.  This single ramp is used primarily for this purpose, and as you can see, it does the job quite admirably.  This video is actually of the SECOND roll of this car, and is driven by the same driver in each case.  Oh yes... I'll explain why you see glass in this car in just a moment...  Thanks to the seatbelt, helmet, and a deactivated airbag, the driver was unhurt in both cases.

Why is there glass in that car?  Well... on this raceday they ran three classes of cars: Outlaw (which is the largest cars,) Banger (which is the smaller cars,) and Zero Effort.  Okay... I can hear you all right now... I'll explain some more: Outlaw and Banger cars are purpose built for the HTP and Demo, and have been stripped down and prepped similarly to a convention stock car by dedicated racers.  Zero Effort cars were made available thanks to Pronto Towing, for $100 to people who simply wanted to have something to run for this day.  These cars WERE street legal (aside from insurance,) on raceday, and the only modification was the removal of the airbags.  They were run with glass, lights, and upholstery still intact.  And it made for a great show.  The next thing we were treated to was driver introductions, , and then there was the Smokeshow Competition.  You can see the winner of that above

The first actual races were obstacle courses run by each class.  Machinery tires were strategically placed  in the corners with arrow painted on them to indicate the route that the cars HAD to take in order to complete a lap.  The obstacles in many cases served to slow things down, and helped to keep things interesting.    That was followed up by an Outlaw Hit to Pass, and then a mixed Banger and Zero Effort Hit to Pass.  For the Hit to Pass, they changed the rule: "In order for a lap to count, you MUST contact another car.  In order to pass another car, you must hit it."  And the rule about the obstacles was removed, as were the obstacles themselves.  When the pack of cars started to open up too much, lead drivers would slow down in order for the others to catch up so that they could hit another car, or BE hit, in order for the lap to count.  I have to give my compliments to all of the drivers involved in the day's racing... they all put on a GREAT show, and everybody stayed safe.  If anybody thinks that driving in these races is just a simple thing... take a look at this little slideshow demonstrating a technique called a Pit Maneuver... this is basically the same technique used by police to bring vehicles to a stop during a chase.  You've got to be thinking and aware of what's going on, in order to know when and how to do this:

Now... while they were removing the obstacles (tires,) they needed something to fill some time.  They did this by holding a balloon toss.  One of the firefighters graciously agreed to let his helmet be used as the target as most of the children came out with a water balloon (unfortunately, they ran out... like I said, it was an AWESOME turnout!) and took turns throwing at it.  In the picture to the left, you can see the balloon rolling out to the side as it didn't break... although the thrower did win a fantastic prize... a Family Season's Pass to next year's racing at Terrace Speedway. 

 The children had a grand time, and so did our firefighters.  Truth be told, I think our firefighter who "volunteered" his helmet was hoping one would break in it so he could cool off a little bit... because after a goodly number of missed throws, he took the helmet and held it up, making himself a target also...  and when that didn't pan out, he and his partner engaged in a water balloon fight, much to the delight of everybody.

While I'm on the topic of firefighters... Remember I mentioned that their services were required? Yeah... during the Banger/ Zero Effort Hit to Pass, one of the cars very nearly rolled over, and was disabled. There was nothing that I could call unusual about the hit, at least from my vantage point... until I looked back and saw the smoke rising from the hood. And then noticed flames under it.... Pit crew members had the fire mostly under control by the time the firefighters got there, but they made sure it was well and truly out by prying the hood open and liberally discharging a fire extinguisher into the engine compartment. The driver was at no point in danger of burning... he was easily able to unbuckle his seatbelt, open the door, and calmly walk away from the smoking car, because it was a Zero Effort car.

I need to make mention that this race was intended to go on until the cars were unable to run... clearly this was the end for THIS car... who had gone in to the pits to have a new tire put on at least once.  Another car had it's left front wheel (or lead wheel,) deflated within the first two laps... and he kept racing several laps even after it was run down to the rim.  What a trooper!!  In the end, it was determined that this was the only car to actually make every single lap with an impact on another car.  Who'da thunk it?  Oh yeah... the last car running in this race?  Was the one that almost caused the burned car to roll.

After we had an intermission, it was time for the Demolition Derby... and that part of things went quite quickly.  The Zero Efforts were reduced to two cars able to go at it... Two hits later, they were done.  The Outlaws held their Derby heat... and that was a little bit of a spectacle, resulting in a few dead cars, after many, many hits and lots of smoker from the tires.  The Banger Derby heat wasn't quite so spectacular, although it was also quite entertaining.  It left a single car able to run... more on that in a moment.

In order to buy some repair time for the Outlaw cars, and also to give people something else to enjoy, a Garden Tractor Race was held.  Dennis and Fern Beaudette, of Beaudette Contracting, (yes, they sponsor the races,) brought their tractors out and raced them.  Dennis normally races stock car, and he took the older Husqvarna tractor, while his wife, Fern, took the newer Cub Cadet tractor.  This was a case of power winning out over experience, as Fern easily outran Dennis, even doing a donut in front of him.  This was also a crowd-pleaser, and had the added benefit of being just plain cute.

 As I said... at this point we were very nearly done... and remember I mentioned the Banger Heat left one car able to run? It was the same with the Zero Effort class... and so... with our drivers being more interested in putting on a show than anything... they decided not to bring the cars home. That's right... out came the rollover rig yet again, much to the delight of the spectators.

And then... it was time for the final event of the day: the Outlaw Derby Final... with only two cars left, it was destined to be quick...  So we thought.  There was a lot of screeching, crunching, and smoke as the two cars jockeyed back and forth and slammed into each other again and again, until finally it was conceded that the green car was simply unable to do anything at all... it sat on the track like a lump on a log.



Taking Everything Into Stock

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of updates for the last week or so.  I've been taking a little bit of downtime since the family left, and trying to get some much-needed fishing in.  And while I've had my camera WITH me, I haven't taken anything new, aside from MORE phots at the Racetrack.  More on that in a later post.  As far as having my camera with me while I'm fishing... my apologies, I've had my rod in my hand, and not my camera.  That being said, I've had TONS of fun with that, and my right arm is pretty sore from fighting all the fish... on Sunday September 4 I caught and released about a dozen salmon.  And nope... not a single picture.  Ah, well.

Well, folks... today I don't really have any photos to share although I've spent my day going through many, many pictures.  I was reading on something called stock photography.  And what I read inspired me to start looking through my archives to see if I had anything which might be suitable for use as stock material.

I can hear a few of you asking me... so I'll answer the question, "What IS stock photography?"  The short version is most of the imagery we see in magazines and an awful lot of what we see on TV, is stock imagey, meaning it was taken in advance by somebody.  These pictures are used for advertising,  illustration, demonstration, and to be visual "fill."  It's often easier and less expensive for agencies to search through a library of images than to hire a photographer or graphic designer.  As a result of that, there are agencies that make these libraries available, for a fee, to those people.  These agencies also pay people, such as myself, royalties for producing these images, when our images are used.

So I've decided that if I can make $20 or 30 a month, or preferably more, I'm going to start working on shooting and producing stock imagery.  Needless to say, I'm now a little bit cross-eyed and fumble-fingered from working with my pictures.

So what provides good stock imagery?  Well... how about an image like this helicopter?  The whole image is in good focus, it's very clear what the subject is, and the open space to the side makes it very usable for a variety of purposes.  With a minimum of effort, it can easily be used for illustration or advertising.  The nice thing about an image like this one, is that no model releases need to be signed or submitted.  Okay... so I was wrong... I have a couple of pictures.

The whole drive behind this is seeing the published figures from one photographer who submits to several agencies, and reports of dedicated stock photographer's earnings.  It's a worthwhile step towards my dream of being able to make a living as a photographer.  So... if I happen to ask you if you'd sign a model release for me... you may end up appearing in a brochure or a magazine or something like that.  But bear in mind... the royalties that I make from a single picture aren't much, if you're interested in a cut...  Unless, of course, you're willing to hire yourself as a model for a day or so to a starving photographer.  If nothing else, we'll have fun.  Did I mention that I'm a starving photographer?

Make-A-Wish part II

(Text edited Saturday August 27 morning; pictures added Sunday August 28 evening.)

Well, folks, I have to apologize for not getting an entry up sooner, but it's been a busy week.  And sadly, I've missed out on more of Amber's visit than I would have wished.  But it has been good; we've put smiles on her little face and given her and her brothers memories that I doubt will ever leave.  They've had a close call with a cougar, and they've been out riverboating on the Skeena.  They've been to Prince Rupert and dipped their feet in the Pacific Ocean.

As I said, a lot of this, I've had to miss out on a bunch of it, but that's not sour grapes, that's just life.  And so I'll write on what I can, starting with the trip in the riverboat.

My coworker, Kelly, won a boat a number of years ago, and he's one of the kindest people I know, particularly when it comes to young children.  When I mentioned to him that Amber and the guys were coming out from Ontario, he suggested that we get them out on the river.  Because of the weather, we were finally able to make that happen on Thursday evening after work.  My brother and everybody (except Susie and my mother,) met down at Fishermen's Park with Kelly and helped him launch, and I rushed over as soon as I finished working for the day.  The boat is restricted to five people, so it was originally planned that Colin, Alex, Ryan, and Amber would all go with Kelly for a turn, and then come back.  Poor little Ryan got scared, though, and I climbed in in his place.  We took a turn around Skeena Street, saw properties on the south of Graham Avenue, and came up the west side of Ferry Island and looked up at the Big Blue Box (that is, WalMart,) and then circled around Ferry Island, down through Hell's Gate, and then back up around Alberta Bar before returning to where we launched from.  We offloaded Colin and Amber, and loaded my brother, Bob.  We essentially did the trip in reverse to what we had just done, except without going around Ferry Island.  It was a very memorable trip for all of us, and the kids got to see eagles, seagulls, and afterwards, while standing on the boatlaunch, a black bear.  It was a good end to what was a great day.  Here's a quick video:

The next day was the only day I was really able to spend with them entirely.  We had decided to spend the day fishing, and due to restrictions, decided to head west towards Rupert.  We had to get past the Exchamsiks River in order for them to not have to pay extra licensing fees.  The drive was pleasant, with a couple of black bears spotted beside the Kalum River; even the brief rainsquall didn't dampen our spirits as we drove through.  We ended up starting to fish at the Kwinitsa River, seeing at first a few good splashes of trout.  And none of us noticed that the fish stopped jumping while we were there.  After no action on several flies, my brother and I noticed quite a large wage from something we couldn't see, and we naturally thought it was a large fish.  After  it made a 360 turn, we finally realized that something was amiss... the river had been invaded by a seal.  We packed up and started to move ourselves back upriver, looking for a place to fish before we hit the Exchamsiks River.  A number of little creeks were investigated, and rejected, until we ended up on the Kasiks River.  There we saw some nice risers, and decided we would fish it, but after we fed Ryan, who was complaining of being hungry.

Of course... it made us realize WE were hungry, also, so we sat down and had a burger and fries at the Kasiks Wilderness Resort.  This was simply one of the best burgers I've had in a restaurant in a long time.  And the fries... YUM!  Folks... don't let the appearance of the building fool you... don't let the small dining area fool you.  The restaurant has good food, good coffee, and the prices are simply excellent.  Oh yes... don't just simply figure on it being simple truck-stop fare... the daily special was a curry chicken rice hotpot with naan bread.

Afterwards, we returned to the Kasiks River and fished, mostly without success (although I did manage to get a small trout to take my fly.)  We shared the fishing hole with two others on our side of the river, and perhaps eight people who had arrived on the other side of the river in two boats.  One of the fellows on our side succeeded in landing a Cutthroat trout, which after determing what it was (who goes fishing without knowing your species?  Or at least a reference?) he cleaned and kept, and my brother watched the group across the river catch and release a number of larger fish... at least one coho, and probably a few pink salmon.  With time running out, we packed up and returned to town.

Dinner that night was at our place, and Deedee had made a really nice Shepherd's Pie, Coleslaw, baguette, and Strawberry-Rhubarb and Blueberry-Peach pies for dessert.  Dinner was great, and the house was filled with laughter and merriment.  The one person who would have made things complete, my sister, was unable to be there, but it was still simply great to have us all together.  We got people together and took a few pictures, and then, sadly, it was time to begin goodbyes.  I hate goodbyes, especially when it has a tendency to be a year or more between visits... I had last seen Collin 12 years ago, before Dad got terribly ill.  And I was only just getting to know his wife and wonderful children.  It didn't seem quite right...

This morning I brought them up to the airport and put them on the plane.  Well... through security, anyway.  Not much point in hanging out simply killing time when you can't visit with the people you're seeing off.  So be it; I will make the best of my day, and remember our visit, and plan to go out their way for a change.  Next year, I tell you... Next year.  And I hope and pray that little Amber is still going to be around for Deedee, Raeanne, Rechelle and me to go and see again.

Make-A-Wish.....

It's a fantastic thing to do, and most of us make wishes that never come to pass.  There is, however, a Foundation that helps with the realization of wishes for critically and terminally ill children.  It's called the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and they touch the lives of everyday people like you and me.  Now, some of you may be wondering why this crazy photographer is writing about an organization like this, but it's simple: the lives of everyone in my family has been touched by just this Foundation.  And personally, I cannot thank them enough.

Meet Amber McLeod, my great-niece.  This little girl has many, many troubles, and I won't get into all of them, but I will mention that she has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and is challenged in so many ways, it's heart-breaking.  She's endured more surgeries than most adults I know, and has had the Grim Reaper staring at her far too often for her tender age.  But this little girl keeps on fighting; every time we start to think that "this might be it," she manages to rally and come back.  In spite of the pain and other difficulties she faces, she wants to live.  It's because of all this that the Make-A-Wish Foundation has become involved with Amber and her family.

Now... this isn't a woe-is-us article.  I simply want to raise a little bit of awareness for what the Foundation has done for my family and many other famillies like ours.  And what they have done, specifically, is to make the lives of Amber's parents a bit more manageable with things like providing a van that's equipped with a wheel-chair lift.  Now Colin and Brandi (on the left,) are able to much more easily bring Amber along for a number of things.  And one of the things which they have brought Amber along for, is a trip.  Most children, when given the opportunity to travel anywhere, choose someplace like Disneyland or World.  And that's understandable, because most children think like children.  But you haven't met the rest of the family yet........  But I digress.  The children, when asked where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do, chose an out-of-the-way community called Terrace, where they have a Great-Grandmother (my mother,) and a Great-Uncle (me,) whom they have never met.  Naturally we were more than a little bit flattered about that, and extremely excited.  This could be our only chance to meet Amber!  And yet, as I've already stated, when things look really scary, she comes back fighting.

So... when the plane finally landed, on Saturday, August 20, it was more than a little bit emotional as we waited for everybody to get off...  And then a flight attendant came down the gangway with a little wheelchair and we knew.  Next was my sister-in-law, Susie, with little Amber in her arms, and followed by Collin, and then Ryan and Brandi, followed up by Alex, and last of all, making sure nothing was left behind or missed, Bob.

Well, let me tell you... poor mother could hardly contain herself, my sister was teary, and in all honesty, I had leaky eyeballs, too...  After all, I hadn't seen Bob or Susie for a year, Collin for 14 or 15 years, and I'd never met Brandi and the kids.  This was so worth the wait....

Anyhow... the adventure was just beginning, as we were going to find out.  When Brandi went to see about the vehicle the Make-A-Wish was renting for them, the attendant was nowhere to be seen.  I guess because the plane had been delayed, and we were kind of involved in saying hello and meeting and re-meeting, he decided to wander away from the desk, and I don't blame him.  A quick call to National Car Rental, and he returned poste-haste, and was just as pleasant and helpful as you could ask.  That young fellow is, IMHO, good at his job, and very professional.  So far, that's the only hiccup we've really had, aside from the plane being delayed, and hopefully that's the most serious hiccup we have.

So we got the van, loaded everything and everyone up, and took the kids to the Hotel they'd be staying at, and YES, the Sandman Inn in Terrace does have a couple of wheelchair accessible rooms, that just happen to be across the hall from the swimming pool, so the kids are tickled about that.  Once we had everything unpacked there, it was time to head for mum's for dinner.  I don't know if mum's place has ever had so much laughter and delight, and certainly hasn't had so much noise since she's lived there.  But it's all happy sounds, and such sounds, while they occasionally become a bit loud, are never unwelcome.  Before I sign off, here's a few pics introducing everybody.

Amber

Alex; genius with Aspberger's Syndrome

Ryan; extreme allergies

Colin and Brandi

Almost everybody.

There you have it... that's the arrival of Clan McLeod, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  They've given us a beautiful, fantastic gift.  And my employer, RONA Terrace, is being absolutely awesome and letting me have some extra time off and being flexible in scheduling so I can share this time with them.  It's kind of amazing how people sit up and take notice, and want to help to make this visit go as smoothly and wonderfully as possible.  More to come as the week progresses, with more photos, and more on the family.  It's going to be an adventure, and I hope you enjoy reading about this as much as I do doing and writing about it.

Lewis





Over the Mountain

The title almost makes you think of the old song "She'll be Coming 'Round The Mountain," doesn't it?  For this post, I'm going to reach back into my archives a little bit and write about my trip to Kitsault.  The purpose was a delivery of construction materials, and I was sent because I was somewhat familiar with the territory I was going into.  What I didn't realize, was that I would be mountain climbing with the truck.

I left Terrace at 6:00 in the morning, and the weather was simply terrible.  The rain was coming down in buckets and I couldn't really see a whole lot because the wet pavement was swallowing up the light from the headlights.  Around 7:30, I was in the Nisga'a Memorial Lava Bed Park and just shy of New Aiyansh.  You can see how soggy it is in spite of the windsheild wipers doing their best to keep things clear.  And in case you're wondering... yes I DID stop to take the photo.  At this hour of the morning, the road is fairly lonely, with only the odd truck coming down the road.  It can be pretty lonely up there in many ways, if something happens to go wrong.

My brother worked up in the Nass and lived in Nass Camp, back in the late 70's and early 80's, so I figured I would take a couple of pictures that would ring some memories for him.  The whole road is different now to what it was back then... just the addition of pavement is a vast improvement.  Truthfully, it's only been paved all the way up for the last 12 or 15 years, and part of the road is totally different.  You now drive up the east side of Kalum Lake, right along the lake itself, and it's very windy and narrow in spots, which make it a real challenge to drive sometimes.  But the road is extremely scenic, even once you get into the lavabeds, which have a beauty all their own.

After you pass New Aiyansh, you eventually come to what they always called the 'Camp Y,' which is a "Y" in the road if you couldn't guess.  Going left would take you in to Nass Camp with its various services and homes, while going right would take you farther up the Nass Valley and into the bush.  For where I needed to go... I went right, on the road less travelled.  It was perhaps a kilometer before the pavement ended and the bouncing began.

I hadn't driven this stretch of road in years, and it hadn't improved any.  I had forgotten just how rough bush roads could be, especially since I had an airseat the last time I was up there.  Now I was sitting on a rock hard bench seat with about a 9-ton payload to bounch me around.  Truthfully... thank God for the load to take the bang out of things!  After debating whether or not to go over "The Hoodoo," I drove on up what's called the Nass Mainline until I came to the Kinskusch Forest Service Road, more commonly called "The Squish."  I knew there was one long sonofagun of a hill to drop down on the Squish to the Nass River, and going over the Hoodoo would be faster, but would make the hill even longer.

The bridge over the Nass is a single lane wooden bridge that you come down to with not a whole lot of warning.  You have to be very accurate as to where you place your vehicle, as you can see.  It could be a little unforgiving if you misjudged it, or didn't know where your wheels were.  Crossing the Nass told me that I was almost to where the going would start getting tough... only about one more kilometer to the Kwinitahl. 

I'd been up the Kwinitahl a few times before... and this sign was there even then, so I at least knew which direction to go so I could find my way to Kitsault.  I knew there were a number of small single-lane bridges, and that it was twisty, with a few surprises that could catch you if you got going a little too carelessly, but I didn't realize that there were a handful of small washouts.  I guess washouts is the wrong term, thinking back... it was more like places where a beaverdam had caused the water to back up and overflow across the road.  But still... if you weren't careful you would end up getting yourself into trouble.  And I didn't notice that the road was slowly, and steadily starting to go up already from the bottom of the valley.

Eventually I got to the far side of the valley, and started very clearly going up.  The road again became twisty with lots of pitches and a few sudden dips... it was challenging driving, but it WAS fun.  And the scenery.... I need to go back with free time and my fishing rod.  Here's some shots, and then I'll carry on again:

The alpine lakes and meadows are beautiful... and you can see a distinct change in how the trees grow, even... But to carry on... eventually the road levelled off, more or less, and the going was easy for about a mile or so... and then... gently at first... I started down.  I got the truck slowed down, and shifted it down into First Gear and proceeded to carry on cautiously, because I had been warned it was a steady downhill.  I took advantage of every single level spot to slow down as much as I could and creep over the top of any hump or drop...  And because I was so heavily loaded, and had no engine brake... I had to keep hitting the brake pedal to keep things under control and not run away. 

Steadily, I continued downhill, working hard to stay on top of everything... and then I looked back in my mirror and saw.........

Smoke.  My brakes had hit that critical temperature and were beginning to burn up.  This required immediate attention or else I was going to end up with a critical problem and not be able to get back to town.  I immediately found a relatively flat spot to stop, set my park brake (which works on the driveshaft with that truck,) and blocked the wheels, and went to inspect things immediately.  You can imagine how excited I was when I saw flames on the brake pads.  Here's a video I took AFTER using the fire extinguisher:

Needless to say, it was time to stop and take a rest.  I had a cup or two of coffee, a couple of cigarettes (yes, I had that habit at the time,) and ate a sandwich.  After about a half hour, I decided it was time to proceed down the road in the hopes that I was close to Kitsault.  It turned out that I was close... and proceeded to find where I needed to unload.  I was also able to send word back to my employer of what had happened and that I was going to make my best effort to return, and if I was longer than a certain time, come searching.  As it was, I made it safely back to the yard, although THAT trip was uneventful, and done almost nonstop.

I'd love to go back... either with the truck or simply for recreation.  It's beautiful, and it's worth the trip.

Shades of Gray.

A little while back I wrote about doing a little more exploration into Black and White photography.  I've been taking a few pictures since, and a handful of them have been intended for black and white.  Most of them have, not surprisingly, been intended as colour photos.  This morning I went to a staff meeting at my work, and afterwards had a little over an hour to kill before my shift started.  Naturally, me being me, I went and took some pictures.  And due to the weather, I decided that it was a perfect time for Black and White.  I started with this photo of people fishing on Ferry Island... THIS is dedication.  The rain was pouring down, and yet these folks are out there flogging the water in the hopes of landing a salmon.  And yes, I've been guilty of doing this, too.  Oh, wait... I was out taking pictures in that.   I happened to notice something in the process of setting up to take this shot:

What makes this shot unique is that it's a BLUE elderberry, as opposed to a Red Elderberry, which is extremely common.  Now... that's a nice strong image, with lots of colour, structure, and contrast.  So to explore the Black and White more effectively, here's what I came up with:



The picture is STILL strong, but the conversion changes the focus to the tones, contrasts, and structures.  It's no longer about the colour.  It changes the whole feel of it... and either way, the photo works.  Later in the day, I happened to find myself up in the Nass Valley on delivery, and was able to pop in to Vetter Falls on my way back down.  It's one of my favourite spots to photograph, and the lighting today was conducive for both B&W and colour photography.  Let's take a look them and compare the differences between them:

Again... both shots have strength, contrast, and structure.  The removal of colour changes the feel, but doesn't change the quality of the image.  Which image is better?  Personally, I'd have to say that decision is entirely in the eye of the beholder.  There are things I like about both shots, and I'm proud to say that it was time well-spent.

Before I get too far carried away, I want to take the time to thank my employer, RONA, Terrace Builders Centre, Ltd.  for allowing me to bring my camera with me on so many deliveries.  It gives me the chance to see places I've never seen before, and to share some of the events with you.  Coming soon to the blog: my trip to Kitsault.  (Okay, it was a couple of years ago, but it's still worth writing about.)