I have had a lifetime interest in photography. As a teenager I built my first enlarger from an old plate camera and a custard mix tin! I still have one print made with that crude equipment.During a twelve year stint of work in East and West Africa I became a 35mm camera user, taking color slides for personal interest. When I moved to Canada, I extended my interest in color slide photography and attended workshops with Freeman Patterson and Courtenay Milne.After selling our family business in 1995, I decided to resume my interest in making prints as the major expression of my photographic interest. I studied Black and White photography with Bruce Barnbaum in 1996 and 1997. Seeing Bruce’s graphic and beautiful prints inspired me to work on building a collection of my own Black and White images of Vancouver Island and the West Coast. I continue to work on this collection and try to make images that convey the natural beauty and spirit of the Island. As so much depends on natural light and “being there” when conditions are suitable, the collection grows slowly, only three or four “keepers” a year.Over the past five years I have extended my interest to Digital photography and now produce fine art ink jet prints in Black and White and Colour. With the latest software I am able to combine multiple images and make large panorama prints.To improve my appreciation of art and composition, I have studied Graphic Design and Abstract Painting for the last two years. My work is now in transition, seeking new directions and is exciting and challenging for me.My prints are shown in many galleries on the Island. For several years I taught both Black and White and Digital photography at North Island College in Courtenay.
Early this summer my wife and I moved from our 14 year residence in the Royston area to North East Comox. The two homes are only a half an hour apart by road and we remain in the Comox Valley where we have lived for over 30 years. Long enough to have a good general knowledge [...]
I have made two visits to the San Josef Bay area of Cape Scott Provincial Park. The area is an excellent place for both beach combing and photography. On the first occasion we drove to the trail head, parked and backpacked the short distance to San Josef Bay. This is a short hike (less than [...]
Cape Scott Provincial Park is at the northern tip of Vancouver Island. The conventional way of visiting the northern part of the Park is to backpack from the trail head. Nels Bight is 16.8 km from the trail head and the trail can be muddy and difficult. However, you can avoid the long hike in [...]
From a geological and photographic point of view, the western sides of Gabriola, DeCourcy, Link and Valdez Islands have plenty to offer. The geology is interesting and image making opportunities abound. Way back in history great beds of sandstone were laid down and compressed. In a subsequent upheaval, the sandstone beds were tilted so that [...]
Images and writing by Dave and Jocie Ingram are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
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