If you are a writer you know how the idea in your mind can become something else once it is committed to paper or screen. The same happens when painting, sculpting or photographing.  At times you are the director in command but not always…

I just finished a large panorama of the North Shore viewed from the south side which has been very challenging. It is one of the new pieces in my ‘City in Flux’ series. The image consists of 58 individual shots stitched together to form the background plus 43 additional components from other images. As I assembled all the pieces together, the image took on a life of its own. I had to modify and adjust it many times until every part became a unit.  It was amusing and nerve-racking at the same time.

I lost track of how many times I went to shoot the scene, but I ended with 1888 photos. Each expedition, I shot between 50 to 200 images, except for one day in which I came back with 824! It almost became an obsession.  It started with finding the right spot -this led to various adventures such as entering places out of bounds… I remember when it was easy to access the shore. No more.

Then, there were days when the light suddenly changed becoming cloudy, rainy, too sunny… December 8 of last year was a gorgeous sunny, wintry day with clear skies and fresh snow on the peaks. That was the best and last time I shot this. Last, as what became my favourite shooting spot was about to be covered by construction…

Composing this panorama has taken more hours than I ever imagined. It has been quite a challenge and a great experience. The final image is huge, 6 GB, 165″ x 33″.  No wonder that towards the end, each time I saved the file it took forever. I timed it: 12 minutes. In computer time, this is an eternity! And I saved at almost every step not wanting to run any risks. I’m sure you know how computers sometimes behave. The image here is just a portion of the full panorama.

Big thanks to Caitlin Bryant, the Exhibitor Coordinator at the North Vancouver Community Arts Council, who was the force behind getting my work in the Vancouver annual Capture Photography Festival! Yay!

Exhibition:  March 15 – May 8, 2017

Reception: April 8th, 2-4pm

Location: Lynn Valley Library
1277 Lynn Valley Road
North Vancouver
Mon-Fri 9am-9pm
Sat 9am-5pm
Sun 12-5pm

Hope you can come check the new artworks!