Vancouver BC Canada - (Photographic) Opportunities!

[DMJ]

I'm moving to Vancouver and am very excited to find new places to photograph.
I'm moving from Los Angeles so I'm looking forward to clean air and to meet wonderful people. Any advice is more than welcome.

Cheers!

 

[Pieter12]

Take an umbrella.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Party at Matt's!

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Take an umbrella.

Yup! I'm from Saskatchewan. -40C? So what. Blue sky and sunshine daily. I've been on the coast for 19 years. While it's beautiful here, I'll never get used to the constant rain during winter months.

 

[mshchem]

How does one move to Canada? Must be young and gifted!

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Don't think of it as cloudy skies, think of it as opalescent all-enveloping light emanating from a softbox thousands of square Kilometres in size.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Oh, and rain forests MUST be photographed while it's raining. No whining and no excuses!

 

[DMJ]

Thank you folks! A warm welcome will be needed, but it isn't too cold in Vancouver I think. I am originally from Buenos Aires and am used to very cold winters and constant rain : ) I really miss the rain! We are university professors and my wife had a job offer there, we are not young but really gifted

 

[Luckless]

Welcome to Canada!

I've been puttering around southern Vancouver Island since I moved to the west coast a few years back, but still haven't made the trip over to Vancouver yet. I hear you get more rain over that way, and I'm fine with what Victoria gets to be honest.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Wow, moving to Canada. Good for you. I am envious. A suggestion: check prices, but you may want to buy lots of film and darkroom supplies in USA.

 

[MattKing]

I'll be happy to welcome you.

 

[gone]

I lived not far from there (Portland, Or), and yes, Vancouver and that whole coast do indeed get a lot of rain. Sunny 11 sort of thing. The lack of sun doesn't bother everyone, but it's a possibility.

Vancouver has some "colorful" areas, some old buildings, and you can get the same sort of gritty street shooting as in L.A., except you'll be wet and you'll feel a lot safer. Well, maybe a tiny bit safer, as long as you avoid East Hastings, which is similar to S.F.'s Tenderloin District. It's very demographically diverse and quite liberal, that's what I liked about it. Lots of good food too, so it will be an adventure. Best of luck w/ the move.

 

[mshchem]

Thank you folks! A warm welcome will be needed, but it isn't too cold in Vancouver I think. I am originally from Buenos Aires and am used to very cold winters and constant rain : ) I really miss the rain! We are university professors and my wife had a job offer there, we are not young but really gifted

There's freaking palm trees in Vancouver, here in the "upper" Midwest in the USA 40°C summer minus 35°C, humid summers, unpredictable winters.

You're going to love it.

 

[DMJ]

Thank you all!
I'll be posting questions (photography related) on this thread if you don't mind We have some months to prepare and we have to decide where to buy a house. Burnaby and Coquitlam are options but the latter seems a bit far for daily commute to the Pacific Central Station.

With all the parks around the city I think it will be the perfect time to get into large format photography.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I lived not far from there (Portland, Or), and yes, Vancouver and that whole coast do indeed get a lot of rain. Sunny 11 sort of thing. The lack of sun doesn't bother everyone, but it's a possibility.

Vancouver has some "colorful" areas, some old buildings, and you can get the same sort of gritty street shooting as in L.A., except you'll be wet and you'll feel a lot safer. Well, maybe a tiny bit safer, as long as you avoid East Hastings, which is similar to S.F.'s Tenderloin District. It's very demographically diverse and quite liberal, that's what I liked about it. Lots of good food too, so it will be an adventure. Best of luck w/ the move.

I feel completely safe walking through East Hastings. I photograph old buildings there...when it's not raining!

 

[canonshotz]

Congratulations, you are moving to where you'd enjoy your photography more, and i don't mean Los Angeles isn't a good place

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I visited Vancouver for three days as part of a cruise to Alaska twenty years ago during the summer. Take the car-ferry to Vancouver Island. Nice trip and pictures. Then visit Victoria the beautiful seaport city. Stop at Butchart Gardens that has the most amazing flowers. Drive-up along Route 99 on the coast for great views to Whistler Mountain where they have a great ski resort with great little shops. Good luck. Don't forget America.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Thank you all!
I'll be posting questions (photography related) on this thread if you don't mind We have some months to prepare and we have to decide where to buy a house. Burnaby and Coquitlam are options but the latter seems a bit far for daily commute to the Pacific Central Station.

With all the parks around the city I think it will be the perfect time to get into large format photography.

I live in Coquitlam, about a 15 minute walk from a SkyTrain station... 45 min and you're downtown Vancouver.

 

[DMJ]

Should I sell my enlarger/darkroom ? It's a small Omega C700. We are looking into moving to Vancouver in a radius around 10 minutes on bike to the main station, at least until we get settled. I don't think I'm going to have space for a darkroom and I don't know if I can cross the border with hazmat; I have bottles of developers and also chemistry for making kallitypes.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Should I sell my enlarger/darkroom ? It's a small Omega C700. We are looking into moving to Vancouver in a radius around 10 minutes on bike to the main station, at least until we get settled. I don't think I'm going to have space for a darkroom and I don't know if I can cross the border with hazmat; I have bottles of developers and also chemistry for making kallitypes.
View attachment 298590

I would keep it. You never know when you can find another.

 

[MattKing]

Should I sell my enlarger/darkroom ? It's a small Omega C700. We are looking into moving to Vancouver in a radius around 10 minutes on bike to the main station, at least until we get settled. I don't think I'm going to have space for a darkroom and I don't know if I can cross the border with hazmat; I have bottles of developers and also chemistry for making kallitypes.
View attachment 298590

For medium format enlargers, there is decent availability here on forums like Craigslist.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think most of the kallitype chemicals are hazmat restricted.
It may actually make sense for you to buy and bring more!
By the way, for those of us in the burbs, it seems strange to refer the Pacific Central Station as the "main station", even if it is the only train (as distinct from skytrain) station.
Do you perhaps mean the Pacific Centre skytrain station? Or perhaps the Waterfront skytrain station?

 

[DMJ]

Pacific Centre skytrain station?

Thanks Matt. I was actually referring to the Pacific Central next to Thornton Park but I see (according to google maps) that it is Amtrak? I'm doing my homework now:

https://www.translink.ca/-/media/tr.../january-2022/metro_vancouver_transit_map.pdf

Isn't silver nitrate hazmat? I'm not sure. I have HC-110, Rodinal, PMK and Xtol. PMK Pyro is probably the one that is staying...
If it is easy to find a large format enlarger there then I can sell everything here and get one when I have the space. I need an upgrade anyway, I just got my first LF camera: an ONDU 4x5 pinhole

 

[markjwyatt]

I'm moving to Vancouver and am very excited to find new places to photograph.
I'm moving from Los Angeles so I'm looking forward to clean air and to meet wonderful people. Any advice is more than welcome.

Cheers!

I am sure that everyone in Vancouver is really excited that people are starting to move their from California. Just like everyone in Seattle and Oregon and Denver (etc.) have been the last 20 - 30 years.

I hope it works out. I visited once and it is a beautiful location, with a lot of beauty surrounding it too.

 

[DMJ]

I hope it works out

What needs to work out?

 

[Vaughn]

One of my boys will most likely being going to university up there in a couple years -- a reason to visit again! The only other time was in the late 80s to pick up (now ex) wife's Green Card. A quick trip -- all I remember is some good Chinese food.

Enjoy it up there! I envy the rain.