While walking on the Millennium Trail this afternoon I photographed this cyclist as he was enjoying a ride in the warmer climate. Yes, Spring is here.
Cyclist Silhouette
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Spring Cyclist in Black and White
Posted in Photography
Tagged black and white, black and white photography, cyclist, silhouette, whitehorse, yukon
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Whitehorse’s First Six Story Building
Appearing like a distant relative of the Canadarm the extension of this cement pumper is laying the foundation for Whitehorse’s first six story building at the corner of Jarvis and Second.
It looks like Mah’s Point will be the largest condo offering in downtown Whitehorse. It is designed to have 11 one and two bedroom condos on each floor. The website indicates that the Ketza Group is doing the construction.
It’ll be interesting to see how this building affects the downtown core. A number of three and four story condos have been constructed over the past few years, but this one is the tallest construction ever allowed in Whitehorse.
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Positive Politeness for Pedestrians
It wasn’t all that long ago when crossing the street as a pedestrian in Whitehorse was considered an adventure – one that could have easily ended up in tragedy.
Today, however, all that has changed. It began with a “Point Your Way to Safety” campaign a few years ago where the idea was that when a pedestrian reached the curb at a crosswalk they would simply point toward street as a signal they were going to proceed. The traffic would then be aware and would come to a stop to let them cross.
Fine in theory, but a problem arose when some members of our community believed that the pointed finger was, somehow, a safeguard against all injury. It was still incumbent on the pedestrian to ensure that the drivers of the vehicles had, in fact, seen them before they ventured out on the the traveled portion of the roadway. Not all understood that correctly. Some of the more unfortunate and marginalized folks misunderstood and would walk out on to the street where ever they happened to be and, of course, left very little time for drivers to react.
Because of the misunderstanding of those who couldn’t quite grasp the concept it was decided that it was safer to stop the program.
There has been a beneficial result beyond the expectation thanks to those who generated the idea and championed it’s inception. Drivers in Yukon had begun to watch for those who were walking up to the edge of the sidewalk at crosswalks and would stop for them even though they were not “pointing their way to safety.”
It has now be come the norm for all traffic to come to a halt when pedestrians come to the curb and that form of politeness has resulted in far fewer instances of injuries as a result of vehicles colliding with foot traffic. We still have to be careful when visitors from outside our fair city are on the streets as they may not have the same kind of community training we have benefited from.
However, overall, the positive politeness for pedestrians in Whitehorse makes our streets safer and far more friendly. There is usually a happy wave of thanks from the walker and a smile of acknowledgement returned from the driver during these encounters.
I wish this same kind of interaction for all of you who live away from our wonderful little city.
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Posted in Musings and Rants
Tagged pedestrians, point your way to safety, politness, whitehorse, yukon
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Catch My Eye
The latest installation being presented at Baked Cafe by Brave New Works is a collaboration of art work from eight artists.
Jessica Vellenga, Blake Lepine, Leslie Leong, Amber Church, Emily Bradbury, Eric Maclellan, Kristen Range and Brianne Meister have all brought their talents to this exhibition.
Scott Price created the unique set design that displays the work.
There’s a bit of everything from jewelry to clothing to handbags. The show continues until May 6, 2012.
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Western Skunk Cabbage
While on Vancouver Island this past Easter weekend I encountered these beautiful, albeit somewhat odorous, plants.
The Western Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) is also commonly known as the Yellow Skunk Cabbage or Swamp Lantern. This plant is found in swamps and wet areas, often along the side of roadways.
I was curious about the name given to this visually attractive flora, that is until I got down close to one while photographing the one you see in these photos. The proximity of my olfactory receptors to the “attractant” this plant produces to entice it’s pollinators certainly confirmed for me that it’s moniker is well deserved. See this article for more information on this plant.
The photos were taken with a Sigma SD14 coupled with a Sigma 17-50 OS lens at f/2.8 in order to create the attractive depth in the images you see here.
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Posted in Musings and Rants, Photography
Tagged 17-50, bokeh, photographing flowers, SD14, sigma, Sigma 17-50, skunk cabbage, using depth-of-field
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Helping Hand for the Falles
Ray and Vanessa Falle and their boys have lost their home to fire. The farm house at Sourdough Sodbusters was completely destroyed, nothing remains.
It has been heartwarming to see our community leaping to action to assist this family. There has been offers of labour, clothing, bedding, furniture and money, I hear there may be a fundraiser in the near future.
See https://www.facebook.com/groups/377176358970639/ for learn more and see up to date information on what is needed and what is happening.
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Posted in Events, Musings and Rants
Tagged community help, house fire, Ray Falle, VAnessa Falle
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Puckett’s Gulch Stairs
I went for what began as a short walk during my lunch break today and found myself at the bottom of the Puckett’s Gulch Stairs, commonly known as the “Black Street Stairs.”
Built in 2005, these stairs were to help folks get from downtown, up the trail through Puckett’s Gulch, to the airport. The top of the stairs is at the opposite side of the runways from the terminal.
Not surprisingly, many people use the stairs for exercising, cross-training if you will. Firemen in training have even been known to run up and down the stairs – in full gear.
There is even a bike ramp on one side for bringing bicycles up and down.
So, being at the bottom, the logical thing was to go to the top. About 3/4 of the way up I realized what a strenuous effort it takes to climb that many stairs. Following one short break, I finally reached the pinnacle of the climb.
Then, of course, there was the walk back down. 
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Posted in Musings and Rants, Photography
Tagged black street stairs, cross training, exercise, puckett's gulch
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Photographing a small suite
Truth in advertising is, well, not always apparent. However, in the photos of this small, one-bedroom suite what you see is what is there.
Only the ambient light available in the space was used for making these images; no embellishment of any kind. It would have been better if the photos could have been created after dark so there was no light from the outdoors causing the windows to be blown out.
Four of the images are the result of taking a set of photos across the room and stitching a panoramic image together. In one of them, the pano of the kitchen area, you can see the different types of light that illuminate the room. Fluorescent, incandescent and natural.
Working in a small space is a challenge. I used a wide-angle lens when doing the panoramic stitching so as much of the space as possible is captured. It does, however, give some distortion when I created an image that is close to 180 degrees in width.
I enjoyed the challenge of photographing this small space in the way I was requested to do. I’m looking forward to doing more real-estate and architectural work.
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Snow Carving Competition
Teams from as far away as Japan created these snow carvings at the 2012 Snow Carving Competition during the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Festival in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Posted in Events, Photography
Tagged City of Whitehorse, rendezvous, sculpture, snow sculpture, Sourdough Rendezvous
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Environmental Haiku
Environmental Haiku
It’s Armageddon
Environmental Disputes
Survive or Perish
Norm Hamilton
Miles Canyon - Environmental Haiku
Norm
Norm Hamilton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Whitehorse.
Posted in Musings and Rants, Poetry
Tagged environment, Environmental Issues, miles canyon, peel watershed
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