A Vincent Mounier Photography Blog

A Killer Time with Killer Whales
September 5, 2006
It had been over a year since I’d set foot on a real boat. Ferries don’t count, they are ships and they don’t wobble much. The Sewell’s Marina eco-tour hard hull inflatable doesn’t count either; it feels and looks more like a fast rubber-ducky than a serious boat. But I spent today aboard Prince of Whales’ Ocean Magic I, tracking whales. Now that’s a boat. Small enough to let you feel the seas while cruising at 30 knots, big enough to have an upper deck. And a head. ...
Bon Cop Bad Cop ~
August 28, 2006
I never would have thought I’d one day be writing a review about a Canadian-made movie, let alone one made in Québec. Yet here I am, and I’m enjoying it, too. To be honest, as much as I unconditionally love the French movie style – and I mean French from France -, I’ve never been a fan of our own French-Canadian cinematography. But I’ll try anything once, or twice, and since my honorable sister was recently commenting very positively on Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y., wh...
HDR, or how to Help Define Reality
It’s called HDR, which stands for High Dynamic Range. I think of it as Help Define Reality. It’s an avant-garde digital photography technique that blurs the line between traditional photography, photo montage and painting.HDR aims at capturing the subtleties of a scene’s details throughout the entire exposure range. Let’s face it, no matter how sophisticated a camera’s metering system or how accurate the photographer’s eye, once the exposure has been chosen and set, sacrif...
9 O'Clock, Tick Tock
August 22, 2006
Life in Vancouver is about rituals, some of which I indulge in, some I don't. There’s drinking coffee, which usually involves an order with a staggering collection of adjectives, something like "I - would - like - a - grande - skim - caramel - latté - machiato - no - oignons - to - go - please." There’s running obsessively. There’s the Canucks. There’s talking about the rain (or the lack thereof.) There’s walking down Robson, sizing up the competition. There’s getting ...
From Sea to Sky and in Between
August 19, 2006
Leaving Vancouver behind and heading north along Howe Sound, one passes by Squamish at the northern end of the sound and then arrives in Whistler, last stop on the road to Nowhere.The town of Whistler is a small mountain resort in full bloom with a bright Olympic future. It is reached in about two hours via the Sea to Sky Highway 99 which starts in North Vancouver and follows the eastern shore of Howe Sound upwards.The sound’s waters progressively turn a pale turquoise as ...
Interview with an Empire
August 17, 2006
Again? might one ask. Indeed. I’ve just watched - yet again – one of Steven Spielberg’s masterpieces. Featuring a brilliant soundtrack by John Williams and a stunning performance by 13 year old Christian Bale in his first big screen role, Empire of the Sun is a little gem. John Malkovitch is also quite young and does a great job in his supporting role, and we get appearances by then unknown Joe Pantoliano and Ben Stiller. Bale simply rules the movie from beginning to en...
Shrinking Wings
August 16, 2006
Le site d’Inspiration Point - Inspo pour les initiés - est situé près de Orem, à quelques 60 km au sud de Salt Lake City. Le décollage s'effectue d'une épaule rocheuse à l'avant de la montagne principale. Vers la droite, donc au nord, la chaîne est traversée par une vallée étroite au fond de laquelle coule la rivière Provo flanquée par une route traversant le parc Uinta National Forest. De l’autre côté de la vallée se dresse le mont Timpanogos, 3500 m. L’aire d’atterris...
The future of plane travel
August 13, 2006
[Excerpts from Canadian Airports Security Notices] August 9th, 2006 – The Canadian Government has raised the national alert level to red, or Maximum and Transports Canada has decided to restrict liquids and gels aboard aircrafts to match the new US regulations. The Prime Minister Mr. Harper is exempt from this new measure and can also talk on his cell phone during landing and take off. September 11th, 2007 – Transports and Taxes Canada has placed the national air tra...
Anatomy of a Bad Run
August 10, 2006
Chose promise, chose due; here’s the follow up to Anatomy of a Good Run which was fun to write but ended up sounding way too pompous for no reason, especially after the real runner Jenö had left a kind comment. So even though the plan really is to fool myself - and nobody else - into believing that I’m a pretty decent casual runner, I must also fool myself - and nobody else - into thinking that I have an awesome sense of humor. Hence this post. A great bad run always...
Anatomy of a Good Run
All cats are grey. Cars are few, most people asleep. The air is cool, streets quiet, the night still young but already committed. It’s almost midnight. It’s the best time to run. So just back from work, I chug down a tall glass of juice, put my running shoes on, my knee brace and my MP3 player on the left arm. Walking briskly up the small hill next door through Clark Park will serve as a warm up. From there, I’ll cross Commercial Drive and head towards Trout Lake for my...
A few words, no direction ~
July 31, 2006
Summer has cooled off quite a bit and I'm wearing a light jacket as I sit at the terrace of the Trees Organic Coffee Shop on Granville Street, reading the Lord of the Rings in Spanish. Inside, two guys are jamming live on guitars and a mic. The sky is an angry shade of gray, its clouds blowing in from the southeast. I can see the Diamond Princess' smoke stack at the end of the street. People wander past me, strolling down the city streets in a nonchalant fashion. No mat...
2006 Vancouver Celebration of Light
July 29, 2006
As done before in Cannes when I was a kid, and in Montreal, and probably many other cities, Vancouver holds an annual fireworks competition. It's called the HSBC Celebration of Light and last Wednesday was the opening night, with Italy trying to redeem itself for Materazzi's treachery. ;-) Attempting to avoid the crowds, I opted for a Granville Island observation post, a bad choice as it turns out because the tallest fireworks barely made it up above the Burrard bridge....