Lost in the Clouds

There is a saying I once heard which might apply to this photograph, " Is it cloudy in the Rocky mountains or is is rocky in the cloudy mountains? " I made this image with my 4 x 5 view camera and a 270mm lens along Hwy 1 in Banff National Park this past September.

If A Tree Falls in the Forest

This old Ponderosa Pine tree likely fell many years ago and judging by its size it had grown to quite a large size during its life. I thought the old tree would make for and interesting photograph which I made near Peachland, B.C. this past August.

The Beauty of Nature at My Feet

As an artist who happens to use a camera to explore the world around me, I try to direct my gaze and see more than the wide view before me, like this image taken near Peachland, B.C. this past summer of the Okanagan forest floor. What I have found to help slow me down while using my camera is using a tripod, although cumbersome at times and extra weight to carry around, I have found it very beneficial, this way I can take extra time if needed to contemplate the image and study the composition before me, so I am getting exactly what I want. Sometimes the little things I have found that previously slipped my attention has made for some pretty interesting photographs. The slower pace is one of the rewards of being in nature, that is to enjoy the awe inspiring natural world around me.

My Favorite Tools

This is a collection of my mom's garden tools that she likes to use while working in her garden, over the years her garden tools have been collected to help her make the best of her beautiful gardens. With my tools I too have collected a few "tools". i.e: cameras and lenses over the years ( but a lot more expensive! ) which helps me to create the artistic visualization that I have in my mind and want to put on paper or on the computer screen. The above image was taken with a Tachihara 4 x 5 view camera and a 120mm lens.

Old Technology

Aside from photographing landscapes I like to make pictures of still life objects, including old buildings and the stuff that is inside them, especially ones that are still in use. While on a recent trip to Gibson's B.C., I was wandering around town and came across Cole's Marine, operated by Gord, who allowed me to photograph an engine he had under repair, the old building had large windows that allowed plenty of natural lighting to spill in. In this case the engine parts arranged by the owner on his work bench made for kind of a natural metal sculpture which I photographed with my 4 x 5 view camera and a 120mm lens.

My 8 x 10 Camera......It Has No Delete Button

I am posting a somewhat boring image from Lake Louise in Banff National Park taken this past September, I was shooting with my 8 x 10 view camera and had just 12 sheets of film with me to take me through the day. It was a wonderful day, it had snowed the previous day and in the morning the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the various mountain peaks which inspired me to get out and make pictures with the "BIG" camera. Out of the 12 images I shot that day, one image was made on the side of the highway in Banff National Park as the weather cleared to reveal the snow covered mountains, five images were made at Lake Louise and six images were made at Moraine Lake, out of that I have three images that I like for my Portfolio. The images from Lake Louise were so so, I should have waited longer to see if the clouds and sun would cooperate, for the time that I was there, about a half hour, I didn't get a good break in the clouds to reveal the distant glacier, but I was in a rush to get over to Moraine Lake. Afterwards when I arrived at Moraine Lake and saw how spectacular the mountains looked I wished I had not taken as many photos at Lake Louise, but with film, what was shot was shot ! One of the things about the digital age is not only can one view an image immediately after taking the picture but more importantly if one does not like the picture it can also be deleted, its kinda like going back in time, its as if the image never existed. Its something that had never existed in photography before, this whole idea to be able to push a button to make a picture vanish ( well almost ). I love shooting with my view cameras and film, but I also shoot with digital cameras too and know all to well how easy it is to discard images that one does not like. But with film and by keeping my "mistakes" I think its important for me look at them and to try and analyze what did and what didn't work work with the particular image and try and avoid making the same mistake the next time, but there is always a new mistake and as the old saying goes you have to learn from your mistakes !

A Tranquil Contemplative Morning

I thought the bent over grass heavy with rain drops would make for an interesting photograph while taking a walk not far from my campsite while visiting Porpoise Bay Provincial Park near Sechelt. I enjoyed the peace and quiet and was thankful to have this small part of the park to myself on a fine morning in June, the previous night it had rained and as I lay in my tent I wondered if I was going to have a rainy day the next day, but to my delight when I woke up the rain had stopped. One of my favourite times to make pictures is when the sun makes its way though the cloud cover after a rain storm, and this was one of those tranquil contemplative mornings when this part of the world around me seemed to be fresh and new.

Reflections of the Natural World

I found this small pool of sea water left over from the receding tide at Mermaid Cove while on a road trip adventure along British Columbia's Sunshine Cast earlier this year. On a fine June evening I watched as the setting sun helped illuminate the undulating character of the rocks, shaped by the multitudinous action of daily tides. While waiting to make my pictures I enjoyed the moment of calm when the whole world seemed to lay still before me, there was hardly a breath of wind and there was a feeling of peacefulness in my little part of this earthly globe and before the water reflected the natural world.