Casualty

Tokkum Creek – Kootenay National Park

I shot this last weekend when out and about early in the morning. I arose at 4:30am and decided to take the 30 minute drive to Kootenay National Park. I’m glad I did because the light that morning was beautiful.

This area of Kootenay was burnt out late summer 2003 as a result of several fires that were ignited by lightning. The fires burnt for 40 days and left a path of destruction. I am unsure how long it will take for the area to return to its former glory but with such long winters, and short summers i’d imagine it would take a while. 

back to the morning of last weekend…… It was fairly overcast but the sun managed to burst through every 20 minutes or so. I took a few shots around Marble Canyon which is a short walk from the carpark, I then decided to wander up the creek for a while to see what was on offer.

After walking a little further up the creek the light broke through the clouds and lit up the scene in front of me, it was amazing. Unfortunately by the time I set up, the sun had disappeared behind the clouds again. I figured now that I was set up I would wait, in hope that the sun would present itself again. I could see a small gap in the clouds slowly moving in an easterly direction. So I watched and waited……. After about 15 minutes the sun shone through, hitting exactly where I was hoping for. It lit up the trees and the creek while leaving the mountains under the shade of the cloud.

This image is a 7 image stitch shot at 85mm. I used my spiffy new Singh-Ray Vari-ND to slow things down a touch, along with a 2.5 stop Lee grad ND for the sky.

Rialto Beach – Olympic National Park

This is a shot from about a month ago when I visited Olympic National Park in Washington.  Unfortunately I only got to spend a few days there but I hope to return at some point.  It is an amazing place where temperate rainforest meets the sea.

Mt Hood: Oregon

This shot is one from a little road trip I did a few weeks ago. Actually, little is an understatement. It was a fair long drive but I had bugger all else to do, and wanted to take my new van for a spin.

I took off from here in Canmore, Alberta and headed into the States, through Idaho and into Washington/Oregon. After driving for a day and a half I spent a few days in Hood River which is in the Columbia Gorge on the border of Oregon and Washington. It is a beautiful area and I hope to get back there.  

The first afternoon I arrived in Hood River I was greeted with clear skies and reasonably good weather. After having a feed I drove around and scoped out a few different vantage points for shots of Mt Hood but did not actually take any shots as I figured I would get them over the next few days (Mistake). It was a long day driving and I just wanted to rest. Well….. the next few days were overcast, and miserable. Which was good for shooting the pockets of forest but not so much for getting the shots I wanted of Mt Hood as unfortunately it was covered in cloud.

Anyway on the third afternoon I was extremely close to giving up and leaving the area, but I decided to stay for one more night. The next morning I woke up and was greeted with reasonably clear skies, so I headed straight for a location I had previously scouted.

This is the shot that resulted. I’m glad I came away with a shot of Mt Hood.

I hope the above all makes sense…. I have had a few and decided to do a post

Cougar Creek and The Three Sisters

Well, it’s been a while.

I have just been settling in to my new little home here in Canada over the last few weeks. I spent a couple of weeks doing a little road trip which was enjoyable, and now it is time to get a job. So I got one. Starting on Monday, so looking forward to that. It will be good to get some money coming in, it makes a difference.

This shot was taken at the creek just beside the house I am currently living in. The creek is named Cougar Creek for obvious reasons…. Cougarsssss! They may as well call it “Cougar Bear Deer Elk Moose Coyote Wolf Squirrel Creek”! There is that much wildlife around here. Magic place. I’ll have to admit that it does get kind of creepy when I am our wandering around doing the photography thing by myself. It all takes a bit of getting used to.

All of my house mates  have seen bears out and about, be it Grizzlies or Black Bears. Unfortunatelty/Fortunately I am yet to have come across one, but it is only a matter of time…… Might have to buy a few more pairs of boxer shorts. 

The snow is getting pretty close to melting off the peaks in the area, which is a real bummer. I guess I will just have to wait until fall. Looking forward to that

Gone But Not Forgotten

I went for a walk around the area I am staying in Canada. It is a quiet little town. I love it. On my walk I stumbled across this neat little cemetery at the bottom of the hill I am living on. Like the town the cemetery is only small.

Walking through any cemetery is a little bit creepy. So when I approached the cemetery gate on this cold overcast morning I was a little bit apprehensive. I opened the rickety gate and started to make my way along one of the main pathways with gravestones on either side. Then……….. In flew a “murder” of Ravens.  They came in and landed on the gravestones surrounding me, squawking/crowing at me as if to say get out of our territory. It sent shivers down my spine. Creepy experience.

After composing myself and deciding to ignore the Ravens I managed to take a few shots. It is an interesting place and i`m sure I will shoot there on a number of occasions.

Here is one from that morning….

I am working from an uncalibrated macbook so I am unsure if my image adjustments are what I want them to be. Hopefully get an external monitor sometime soonish.

In Canada

 

Well, I have now arrived in Canada. Safe and sound for the time being.  My flight over here wasn’t to bad, managed to score a couple of seats on each flight which was a real bonus.

The scenery over here is amazing, It’s hard to know where to start as far as photography goes. Unfortunately I have not yet been out shooting, just snowboarding and eating. Yesterday was my first day ever of snowboarding. It was awesome to say the least.  I got absolutely hammered a few times and I am extremely sore today. I managed to do a couple of black runs on my first day, but payed the price when I had a few heavy falls. No broken bones YET!

After a big day snowboarding myself and a few mates headed down to the local pub here in Canmore for “Wing Night”. 25cent wings of all different flavours. I think I managed to down about 30 or so, washed down with a few beers. After that it was bedtime. Knackered.

Here is a shot I took from the balcony of the house I am staying at. The view is awesome. I look at this view from my bed in the morning whern I wake up. Great way to start the day. Looking forward to eventually getting a car so that I can start shooting.

The Narrows: A humid afternoon

This shot was taken mid afternoon last weekend. I watched the clouds built up throughout the morning and by lunchtime they were looking pretty spectacular so I decided to head toward the city to get a shot or two.  After initially heading to Kings Park to scope things out I made my way down to the South Perth foreshore beside the Narrows Bridge where I managed to bump into the like minded Clint  (http://clintbakerphotos.wordpress.com/)  and Dylan (http://dylanfox.wordpress.com/). We all huddled together and rattled of a few exposures before we decided to make like hay and bail.

I ended up making my way back up to Kings Park for sunset where it took me a good hour to find a parking spot. Hopefully I will have an image stitched from up there at some point.

Matilda Bay

Its been a while!

Well, as most of you know the conditions have been pretty piss poor lately.  The last couple of evenings however are an exception. Unfortunately I didn’t get out to shoot anything, so I am looking forward to posts from those that did.

Here is a shot I took at the start of December. The shot was taken about an hour before sunrise. The cloud cover was very low, reflecting the city lights. I’m glad I got there early as the sunrise itself was a fizzer.

Hopefully we have some great conditions ahead.  I always look forward to seeing everyones submissions.

Point Piquet

Taken from the Eagle Bay side of Point Piquet.