Uncategorized – Page 2 – Creativescans

Empire Stadium site has changed a lot…

For those of us that grew up in the Vancouver area Empire Stadium at the corner of Hastings and Cassiar was a fixture on the city skyline. The stadium was built in 1954 to host the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and was, at various times, home to the BC Lions football club of the CFL and the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer club of NASL/MLS. Other notable events held at Empire Stadium; performances by The Beatles and Elvis Presley; “The Miracle Mile” where two men ran a sub 4 minute mile in one race during the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Growing up, I remember going to several BC Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps games at Empire Stadium. I remember being at field level for high school football games as well. The old stadium was demolished in 1993.

Fast forward to today and the site where the stadium once stood is now home to Empire Fields and Plateau Park which is part of the larger site of Hastings Park. I walked through part of the area on my way to Hastings Racecourse and was impressed with what I saw. The site has several full size community playing fields with synthetic playing surfaces and spectator seating and a 560 meter walking/running track with rubberized surface. There are also walking and biking trails running through the park. In the Plateau Park area there are basketball courts, a bike skills area, playground, beach volleyball area, ping pong tables and parkour area (“parkour” is like an obstacle course). I plan to check out more of the larger Hastings Park area in the future so stay tuned for those entries and photos.

Empire Fields in Vancouver BC. Looking south west.

Walking path at Empire Fields in Vancouver BC. Looking west.

Empire Fields in Vancouver BC. Looking south west.

The Miracle Mile statue, of Roger Bannister and John Landy who both ran a sub 4 minute mile in the 1954 Empire Games

More information about Empire Fields and Plateau Park is available at the City of Vancouver website: http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/hastings-park.aspx

I watched one of my horses workout…

Sunday morning was the first day I watched one of my two race horses work out live and in person at the track.

First I had to check in with security at the “Horseman’s” entrance to get into the property. (The entrance for the general public is not open this early.) The stables were bustling with all kinds of activity as I made way through the stables to one of the viewing platforms track side used by owners trainers and other track personnel. Horses were being fed or groomed and some horses were being kitted out for training sessions. Two horses were behaving badly as was evident by one horse repeatedly kicking at a wooden fence while being led back to the stables and the other horse that was not listening to its rider and was galloping through the stables erratically causing me to give it a wide berth just to be safe.

Once alongside the track at the viewing platform I watched as several horses made their way onto the track. At first I was the only person at the viewing platform but soon there were than a half dozen people watching the horses “breeze” (work out but not at full speed or intensity). I met the trainer of our horses, a jockey agent and a few other owners.

It was interesting to see my horse work out and see the differences in how the different horses went through their work outs. Some ran faster than others some slower than others. Some horses ran in pairs some alone. I learned that horses going at a slow pace do not stay close along the rail because the faster horses are usually running close to the rail. And photographically it was nice to get some images of the horses and the track from a new perspective.

After the workout was over I walked over to New Brighten Park to look around and get some waterfront photos then it was back to the track at Hastings Racecourse to take in the afternoon racing. I will be writing about and sharing some photos of New Brighten Park soon.

Below are a few photos of one of my horses, Shooting Jacket, “Breezing” on the track.

“Shooting Jacket” working out.

Photography tip: Do not rush a photograph…

We have all taken a rushed photo. You see something and want/need a photo of it so you aim and click to capture the photo. What I mean by do not rush a photograph is when you have taken the time to set up a shot and you think all is well and you click the shutter without a second thought. You might do this so you can move on to a new location, maybe your parking meter is close to running out, it doesn’t matter, we have all done it.

For the times we are not rushed, take a moment and think about the image you are trying to create and its composition. Is the horizon level and is there anything distracting in the photo? There are many other things to consider when creating an image but these two are the most common “mistakes” people make especially in landscape photography. The level horizon is pretty self-explanatory. Checking for distractions in your photo is worth a few more words. If you can remove something that is a distraction in your photo by a slight change of location or simply by waiting for the distraction to move out of the frame take the time to do it. It really is worth it.

Take the photo below. Not a fantastic photo and not a really bad photo either but it could have been better. I wanted the focus of the image to be on the circular bike rack and the lines of the wires in the fence. At the time I did not notice the distraction of the man working in the upper left of the frame. Had I waited for him to move out of the frame the photo would have been much stronger.

DSC01938s — Circles and lines. Note the distraction in the upper left of the frame.

Preakness Stakes race day at Hastings Racecourse

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Preakness Stakes race day proved to be a popular and exciting event at Vancouver’s live horse racing venue, Hastings Racecourse. The Preakness Stakes is the 2^nd leg of the Triple Crown of horse racing and is run in Baltimore, Maryland. The ladies and many gents had their best hats and attire on for what was a nice spring day in Vancouver. There were several food trucks and other food vendors doing a brisk business on the outdoor tarmac track side and at the concessions and restaurants inside. Henry’s Chicken was a popular choice for many and is what I chose to have for a quick lunch track side between races. Adding to the excitement was that Mario Gutierrez, a jockey who has raced at Hastings Racecourse in the past, was riding Nyquist, the favorite to win the Preakness Stakes race. There was some exciting horse racing to watch live before and after the Preakness Stakes race and excitement was building as the time for the Preakness Stakes race approached. All eyes were on the big screen TV in the infield as the big race got underway but unfortunately, Mario and Nyquist did not win, finishing a close 3^rd. First place went to Exaggerator and 2^nd place in a photo finish went to Cherry Wine.

Saturday June 11, 2016 when the Belmont Stakes race takes place, the third race in the triple crown, will be another busy day at the races if the Preakness was any indication, even if there won’t be a triple crown winner.

YVR Annual Public Meeting 2016

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Craig Richmond, CEO YVR Vancouver International Airport speaking at the YVR Annual Public Meeting 2016

Thursday May 12, 2016 was (YVR) Vancouver International Airport’s Annual Public Meeting. At the meeting the airport authority reports on several aspects of the airport’s operations including environmental and sustainability, financial, operational and community initiatives. It is also a chance for the general public to comment and ask questions directly to the airport authority and it’s leadership group in person or online. The yearly event is streamed live on the internet and also can be viewed after the event. This year’s video can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuPrPxIL9gI

My first blog post…

Hello and welcome! I started this blog to talk about a wide range of things that I find interesting and hopefully a wide audience will find what I write about interesting as well. Topics will include photography related topics, events happening in the lower mainland (and what happens before and after these events in terms of behind the scenes information), aviation related topics, horse racing and race horse ownership and more! Hopefully the topics covered here will be interesting and maybe even helpful. Below is a photo of yours truly so you can put a face to the blog.

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