Earlier this year my kids and I discovered some grenade fragments in the dunes at Wickaninnish Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. At first glance, it looked like the rusted remains of a large metal object. Closer examination revealed it was multiple fragments of similar in size and shape. More distinct pieces of metal held clues to identifying what …
Odds and Ends
Exploring the Nanaimo Marina
I love wandering around the Nanaimo marina and photographing the boats moored there – so many stories to tell. Often, the details say more than the overall scene. I looked for images that I could create using part of a larger object, focusing in on simple shapes, lines and colours. Simple lines, shapes and colours. By including less, more is …
Eight Bolts – 1/365 Day Project
1/365Eight Bolts Think it’s time for another 365 Day Project—expect an eclectic mix of urban abstracts, back alleys, and epic landscapes as well as some off the wall feral shopping carts! I did one of these in 2015 (should really bundle those images into a book) and loved the creative challenge. I’ll be looking to create and post at least one …
Making a Mark – Urban Abstract Subjects
Marked Playing with abstract subjects of tire marks and cracked concrete. Looking for the Smaller Scene Sometimes the most mundane urban landscapes hold the potential for the creation of interesting “urban abstracts.” I often look for abstract images that may say more about a place and try to simplify a larger, more complex scene by focusing on a small part of it. The resulting photograph …
Waiting for the Cows to Come Home
At this time of year the weather doesn’t always cooperate for nature photography—nothing is really in bloom (although I did find some hairy manzanita on top of Little Mountain near Parksville in flower) and the weather is usually not the best. This weekend I joined a group of photographers from the Comox Valley Camera Club on a field trip down …
Phillips Beer + Nature = Vote for Swan Lake’s Rye Ale
Who doesn’t like beer? Who doesn’t like nature? Now’s your chance to enjoy both. Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary has been selected as a finalist to receive funding in the Phillips Beer Benefit Brew 2013 project. You can support this wonderful nature sanctuary located just minutes from downtown Victoria, British Columbia by voting daily at Benefit Brew 2013. Note …
Free Spirit Spheres
Guest Post by Rachel Dodds As the wind blows, you gently rock back and forth hearing the whistle of the wind and the rustle of the leaves. Sometimes bears and elk walk underneath – oblivious to you watching. There is something quite surreal to realize you are hanging from a tree! The sensation is like being on a boat but …
Feral Carts Return
It’s been a while since I’ve posted observations on the natural history of feral carts that I’ve found and photographed here on Vancouver Island—I moved my cart related posts over to a separate blog but it’s now time to bring them back home. No real reason to keep them separate and it’s just too time consuming to keep multiple blogs …
Tofino Botanical Gardens
Last weekend while visiting Tofino for the 2011 Tofino Shorebird Festival we stayed at the fantastic Botanical House located within the Tofino Botanical Gardens. If you’re looking for an unique place to base your nature related explorations of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and the towns of Tofino and Ucluelet this is definitely worth considering, especially if you need accommodation …
Metchosin’s BioBlitz
Organizers of a wildlife census in Metchosin, a district on the southern tip of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, are counting results from the reports of fifty taxonomic experts, participants in Metchosin’s April 30th BioBlitz. The Metchosin BioBlitz team on top of Sugarloaf Mountain. The local BioBlitz, like hundreds of others that have been conducted around the globe in the last …