Crappy Newbie Cell Phone Pictures

For a while back there I was stuck. Stuck out here on Vancouver Island, having recently moved here, all on my own, waiting for my family to get here, just started a new job, living in a rented place and generally being a stranger to everybody I happened upon here (hereupon?) on a daily basis. It was a pretty lonely period, but I thankfully was able to fill my days by indulging a few of my inner passions - exploration and documentation (ie: hiking and/or biking and photography). 

As often as possible, I had my SLR camera gear (Pentax k200d w/ Sigma 24-60 f2.8 and Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lenses) with me and available to shoot at a moment's notice... and as a side note: Pentax SLR System rocks BTW... but every photographer must admit that there are times when you just can't have your full gear with you, like when you go to a movie... or a nightclub... or walk to the bus stop before work.

When you're a newbie in a new land, you can't look like a total dork and carry your photo gear all the time. On the first (or maybe 3rd) day after arrival in British Columbia, I got a cellphone. Not a fancy-ass Smartphone like all you upstart kids got, but an actual walk on the bus and annoy everybody-type phone. I have never cared for cellphones and never saw a need for one until now. I can send and recieve text messasges with it (which I am very slow at - I tend to want to use proper grammar, full words and proper punctuation - sorry), and it has a built-in camera. It has a mind-boggling 1.2 megapixels.

That explains the amazing technical quality of these also otherwise amazing photographs presented here... Born out of necessity in order to illustrate what I think I was trying to say about being on my own in a strange and exciting new place... they are what they are. I guess they're not extremely exciting, but they will, perhaps in time, hold some memories for me... Does that make me a selfish blogger?

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This is the very first photo I took with this mostrosity of an imitation of a camera. I must admit, it has a pretty good High Iso Mode (low light/high sensitivity). Pixellamazation is pretty crappy, but you get what I was going for... In case you're wondering, this was taken in the bar in Victoria right after the Canucks won a hard fought series in round one against the Chicago Blackhawks... and yes, I was very drunk. 

This one was taken from the balcony of my brother's place, where he so kindly let me crash until noon to sleep off the hangover from the night before... Canucks game, bar, beer, etc...

This is a can of beer that I drank after feeling somewhat recovered from said hangover...

This is a bear with a santa hat that my daughter secretly put in my suitcase riding in a monster truck toy that I accquired from the Salvation Army store... It came to me under 'questionable' circumstances... let's leave it at that. 

Here's a really terrible shot of a really cool city - Victoria B.C.

Here's a photo of a really f'n great mexican restaurant here in Courtenay - Tita's Mexican on 6th Street. Just go there - you'll see. 1.2 megapixels could never do proper justice to the amazing lamb enchilada...

Here's a shot of a stump. It's in the middle of the bush just off the train track that runs through town. A cool 'deep woods' locale to relax at. Weirdly, there is only one train track in town and it never gets used - ever. Coming from a place like Transcona, this is just strange - and wrong.

This is a shot of the spot where the Courtenay River meets the Strait of Georgia... or Comox Bay... or is it the Puntledge River, and/or the Salish Sea... or the Tsolum River... or... whatever. Back in Winnipeg, there are exactly two rivers that meet each other, and there is no sea, ocean, strait or nuthin' anywhere around. This is probably a pretty mundane view for the people that live here, but I thought it was cool enough to warrant an emergency cellphone picture.

Driftwood. It seems to be pretty common here.

Another stump.

Not sure what's going on here... looks like a trail of some sort...

In the window of the coolest toy store in Courtenay, Whale's Tale Toys. (Forgive me if I spelled that wrong.)

A church covered in some sort of ivy or some other plant-based material.

The train station that services the train that never runs on a track that is never used...

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Wow. those really are some crappy photos. What's most crappy is that I can't even think of anything worthwhike to say about most of them. Thank goodness I actually have an SLR and can capture the beauty of my surroundings in the way that I can be proud of. But of course, you won't see that here this time 'round. These photos are just crap.

Thanks for putting up with my crap.

May the Force be with you...