About

Welcome to Island Nature!

Dave Ingram
Out at Kye Bay photographing the sunset.

Island Nature features the nature writing and photography of Dave Ingram who lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The idea behind Island Nature is to highlight local knowledge about places to go to on Vancouver Island to discover and experience nature and wildlife.

Hopefully, the articles will inspire you to get out and explore your own backyard or to help you plan a visit to the Island. I’ll share my knowledge about the unique places on Vancouver Island that may be a little off the beaten track but are interesting from a natural history point of view. You can find out about the best bird watching locations on Vancouver Island, where to find special plant communities and ecosystems, profiles about a variety of organisms that call the Island home, and upcoming events that have a nature focus. Since I love nature, I’ll be traveling off Vancouver Island as well!

About Dave Ingram

Dave is a naturalist and photographer based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. He worked as a heritage interpreter with BC Parks, Parks Canada, the Greater Vancouver Regional District, Vancouver Aquarium and Marine Science Centre, and a number of NGOs with a focus on environmental education. He also spent a season guiding zodiac boat tours in Haida Gwaii, BC and has volunteered with several bird research projects including Laskeek Bay Conservation Society’s ancient murrelet study at Limestone Island and at SFU’s Triangle Island research station. He regularly contributes photographs of BC native plants to eFlora image bank. Dave currently teaches digital media at a high school in the Comox Valley, British Columbia.

Photography on Island Nature

Dave’s passion in photography is in the small details of plants and animals in the natural world. He enjoys close-up macro photography and has a great interest in the patterns and shapes that can be found in nature. Additional photographs are posted on Instagram. You can also follow his nature observations and photography on Facebook.

Dave is currently using a Fuji X-T2 and a Fuji X100s after a year long love/hate relationships with a Nikon D600 DSLR  (long story). The Fuji XF 10-24mm f/4 is his lens of choice, but he also uses a Fuji XF 35mm f/1.4, a Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 and the Fuji MCEX 16 extension tube for botanical work. Many of the older images on the blog were made with a Nikon D80 or a Nikon 4500, as well as a frustrating year with the Nikon D600. Some work was created using a Fuji X-T1 (retired after a taking an unplanned dip in the ocean) and more recently a Fuji X-T2. Dave used to photograph birds with an older, used Sigma 170-500mm lens but was never really satisfied with the image quality and sold it. Maybe he’ll take up bird photography again. Until then Dave is really enjoying landscape and urban photography.

Purchasing Prints

Prints of Dave’s images can be ordered for reasonable prices by contacting him directly or through his image web site Dave Ingram Photography.

Guided Photography

Please contact Dave via the Contact page if you’re interested in custom guided photography trips on Vancouver Island.