Capture the Coast

/ Dave Ingram

I have worked off and on at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve as a Heritage Interpreter and loved being able to combine my passion for photography with my work. In 2010 I developed a program called West Coast Walkabout that was the perfect way to introduce park visitors to the landscape and ecology of the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was essentially a casual improv nature walk where I would set out with a group and tailor the program to highlight what was happening in the park at that time of year. Occasionally I would throw a photography themed walk into the mix and focus on nature photography.

Kwisitis Centre at Wickaninnish Beach
Dramatic skies and landscape make the Kwisitis Centre at Wickaninnish Beach a great starting point for a photography walk.

My last season at Pacific Rim was in 2010. While the seasonal nature of the work fits very well with my teaching year, it has been difficult to balance the commute to the west coast with family commitments. Fortunately, I have stayed in touch with friends at Parks Canada and other ENGOs in Tofino and Ucluelet and every now and then get a request to help out with an event like last year’s Shorebird Festival. When Jordan Odney emailed to ask if I was interested in doing a photography walk as part of Pacific Rim Whale Festival this year the answer was obvious – absolutely!

Pile of Stones
A pile of stones at South Beach makes for an interesting photograph.

I am not 100% sure what I will focus on – much will depend on the weather, the tides, and the group. I will definitely be keeping it simple: covering some basic composition techniques as well as elements of design.  It is probably the worst time of day for photography (high noon) but if the day is cloudy it might be good for plant and intertidal photography. We will not have a lot of time (1 hour is officially allocated for the walk) but I will likely make a couple of hours of it and walk out to South Beach. Keeners will be more than welcome to tag along!

Crab Claw
The ocean will often serve up a variety of subjects, like this crab claw, to photograph.

Capture the Coast: A Photo Walk with Dave Ingram will take place on Saturday, March 17th at 12 noon. Meet at the Kwisitis Centre (formerly the Wickaninnish Centre) at Wickaninnish Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. If you are thinking of attending, please feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you would like to learn. Hope to see you there!