The Vancouver to Victoria Ferry Photography Experiment
Posted: February 4th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: travel photos | 7 Comments »
In order to get on to Vancouver Island from the mainland of British Columbia you pretty much have two choices: plane or ferry. My favourite is definitely the ferry. The BC Ferries are remarkable in that they can carry 1650 passengers, and up to 370 vehicles between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island. They’re the largest double ended ferries in the world. Plus they serve a damn tasty veggie burger on board. The most common route is from just outside Vancouver over to the capitol of British Columbia, which is Victoria. It’s an hour and a half voyage which winds through several small islands in the Pacific Ocean and is really quite scenic.
The sore point for me is watching this great scenery sail past while I have no photography skills at all. So a few days ago, I stood on the deck of the seventh floor, right up at the bow and tried my best to get a good photo. With it being a chilly February afternoon, high up on the bow of a fast moving ship, it wasn’t exactly crowded. I have a very tough time taking photos; I don’t feel comfortable taking them, plus I don’t have much of an eye for it. So excuses aside, here are a few that I got which seem fairly nice to me. Let me know what you think!
Unfortunately, photos alone don’t do much to capture the beauty of the area. You’ll just have to go there as well and experience it for yourself.
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// shawn
photo credit: The top photo of the ferry wasn’t taken by me, it links through to the source wikipedia article.
The photos are awesome and make me want to go back. I loved that ferry ride years ago and I cannot wait to take it again.
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Your humility is inspiring, but these are amazing!! I want to go — and learn some photography skills…
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Who took these sucky photos? Ha, totally kidding. Shawn, these are pretty photos, so start getting comfortable. :)
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Nothing wrong with those photo’s mate. Keep up the good work.
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Gorgeous pics! We really need to go and spend some time at our next-door neighbor’s house (Canada, that is.)
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Hey, looks good! That trip was already on my list of places to see, and now it’s a little higher up!
One photo tip: when taking a pic with the horizon, place the horizon line either 1/3 down or up from the edge. It’s more pleasing to the eye to have 2/3 sky and 1/3 water or 2/3 water and 1/3 sky. I love the way you did that with the fishing boat toward the end! That one is also good because the boat is not in the middle of the frame, but rather off to the side. It’s a great example of the “rule of thirds”!
Keep taking pictures, and you’ll figure out what you like and what works for you, too! I’m excited to see what’s next!
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Thanks everyone! I’m excited that y’all think those are good.
@Dianne I like that tip, thanks! I think some of the wariness I have about photography is that there’s seemingly endless little tips and tricks to learn. That one makes good sense though and seems easy enough to remember. I’ll have to take the ferry again to test it out :)
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