Canadian Train Trek I

A photo album Part I with shooting tips from a 6-week trip by rail (and car and boat) through Western Canada is currently posted on the Olympus Facebook site. Here's the direct link: www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=225984&id=63355899492

For other story albums, go to www.facebook.com/getolympus
click on PHOTOS in box on top line
scroll album pages to Polar Bear Capital, American South, St. Lucia, U.K., Southern California, Holiday Album I & II
click on any photo to enlarge and read caption
click on same photo to forward

All photos Copyright © Gary Crallé 2010. Commercial use prohibited without written permission.

Polar Bear Capital

A photo album with shooting tips from Manitoba, Canada is currently posted on the Olympus Facebook site. Here's the direct link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=215410&id=63355899492

For other story albums, go to www.facebook.com/getolympus
click on PHOTOS in box on top line
scroll album pages to American South, St. Lucia, U.K., Southern California, Holiday Album I & II
click on any photo to enlarge and read caption
click on same photo to forward

All photos Copyright © Gary Crallé 2010. Commercial use prohibited without written permission.

American South: Alabama

A photo album with shooting tips from Alabama, USA is currently posted on the Olympus Facebook site. Here's the direct link: www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206308&id=63355899492

For other story albums, go to www.facebook.com/getolympus
click on PHOTOS in box on top line
scroll album pages to St. Lucia, U.K., Southern California, Holiday Album I & II
click on any photo to enlarge and read caption
click on same photo to forward

All photos Copyright © Gary Crallé 2010. Commercial use prohibited without written permission.

St. Lucia, Caribbean

A photo album with shooting tips from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia is currently posted on the Olympus Facebook site. Here's the direct link: www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199547&id=63355899492

For other story albums, go to www.facebook.com/getolympus
click on PHOTOS in box on top line
click on NEXT to scroll album pages to U.K., Southern California, Holiday Album I & II
click on any photo to enlarge and read caption
click on same photo to forward

All photos Copyright © Gary Crallé 2010. Commercial use prohibited without written permission.

London and Wales, U.K.

A photo album with shooting tips fromLondon, England and Wales is currently posted on the Olympus Facebook site. Here's the direct link: www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=190138&id=63355899492

For other story albums, go to www.facebook.com/getolympus
click on PHOTOS in box on top line
click on NEXT to scroll album pages to Southern California, Holiday Album I & II (Richmond Virginia USA)
click on any photo to enlarge and read caption
click on same photo to forward

All photos Copyright © Gary Crallé 2010. Commercial use prohibited without written permission.

Chinese New Year

KUNG HEI FAT CHOY! ("Congratulations and be prosperous!". Enter the Year of the Tiger, luckiest sign in the Chinese zodiac!

As a symbol of joy, red is the choice of colour for celebrations. And the pronunciation of ‘red’ as “hong” (meaning ‘prosperous’) makes it an auspicious sound too.

Dragon Bull cocktails chilled with dry ice kicked off an evening last week as the Hong Kong Tourist Board in Canada threw its annual Chinese New Year dinner. Lunar New Year (Spring Festival) is the most important Chinese festivity, so it’s always a special event.

Toronto’s Pearl Harbourfront Restaurant was the venue, with a 10-course dinner organized by Hong Kong celebrity chef Alvin Leung. Living in Toronto from age 6 to 18, Alvin trained as an engineer before discovering food as his passion. A true Canadian, he even drinks Molson Golden beer.

Lunar New Year (Spring Festival) is the most important Chinese festivity, so it’s always a special event.

It was an evening of “extreme cuisine” with dishes ranging from stuffed conch Portuguese style to a sorbet dessert with maple syrup, strawberry and smoke flavours.

Alvin exuberantly describes his Hong Kong restaurant as having “No momma and pappa food --- no momma and pappa price!”

All photos © Gary Crallé 2010, made with Olympus EP-2 Pen camera and 14-42mm standard lens.

The Toronto dinner is held in tandem with the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade in Hong Kong itself.

For tourist information: www.DiscoverHongKong.com/canada

Southern California

A 30-image photo album of a 2-week driving trip through southern California is currently posted on the Olympus Facebook site. Here's the direct link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=176417&id=63355899492&ref=mf
Click on each picture to enlarge and see the accompanying description. All photos © Gary Crallé 2010. Commercial use prohibited.

Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto

Exhibit: 'On a Pedestal'
A unique display of extreme women's footwear from Renaissance chopines to baroque heels can be seen at the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada until September 20, 2010. Eleven museums in eight countries have contributed to this collection.

All photos made with an Olympus EP-1 digital camera and 14-42mm lens @ ISO 400. Photos and text copyright © Gary Crallé – not to be reproduced without written permission.

Opening night was a prelude to the theme of historic fashion. Guests were entertained prior to surveying the exhibits which were shown under low light levels to preserve the delicate imported footwear.

Although all the rage among European fashionistas of the 15th and 16th centuries (despite or due to being condemned as dangerous and sinful) the elevated platform (chopine) was gradually replaced by the high heel during the 17th century. At their height, so to speak, the most elevated chopines had women tottering on platforms more than 50cm /19.7 inches high.

Christmas in Richmond, Virginia, USA

A flying visit (via Air Canada's direct route between Toronto and Richmond) produced some wonderful Christmas scenes just before a big snow hit the city. As a photographer in the Olympus Visionary program, I've posted a selection of these in two albums with complete shot details at www.facebook.com/getolympus. Christmas cheer to everyone!

To view this and previous posts, scroll down the page and click on a date beneath BLOG ARCHIVE.

Please note: All text and photos copyright Gary Crallé. Not to be used without permission. All photos taken with Olympus DSLR cameras and lenses.

Lighting the official Christmas tree at the Capitol building is an annual tradition in Richmond. 1776 Declaration of Independence signatory and master architect Thomas Jefferson chose the Maison Carée, a Christian Roman temple in Nîmes, France, as the model for this, Virginia’s first permanent capital building. The exquisite structure has recently been placed on a "U.S. Tentative World Heritage List".