The long winding drive from Port Alberni to Ucluelet is demanding and I usually try to make at least one stop along the way to take a break and do some photography. The challenge is to find new locations along the Kennedy River where the river has carved channels through the rock and then smoothed the stone. Steep cliffs line …
Rivers and Streams
Bravery Needed at Bonnell Creek
Two of the three main drops at Bonnell Creek Falls. Some waterfalls are challenging to get to—Ammonite Falls and the Trent River Falls are two good examples. Both of these require a rope assisted descent down a fairly steep slope. I’m not fond of heights and have visited both of these locations several times without problem. Bonnell Creek Falls are just a …
Finding the Source of Nile Creek
One often hears off-hand mentions of interesting locations that other photographers have been to: the name of a small creek, a description of an out of the way waterfall, vague directions to the location. These places are usually a little off the beaten path, but still relatively accessible and well used by locals. One of the first of many little drops …
Twin Falls in Olallie State Park
Even in the wet drizzle of a grey day, Olallie State Park is a special place. The South Fork of the Snoqualmie River tumbles over boulders as it makes its way down through the Cascades towards Everett and ultimately, Puget Sound. I stopped in on my way south to Seattle back in December, 2013 when the trail was still in …
A Slow Morning Down at Little Qualicum River
The grey days of winter on Vancouver Island can be excellent for photographing rivers and waterfalls. With the cloud cover, the light is even and flat so you don’t get the high zones of contrast between the dark sides of the river bottoms and the sunlit trees on the ridge above. I’ve organized a “Slow Photographers SIG” within the Comox …
Sandstone and Water
I returned to the Oyster River this week with a small group from the Comox Valley Camera Club “Slow Photographers SIG” to photograph the surreal landscape of rock and water on this part of the river. Again, I was limited by the fixed focal length of my Fuji X1oos (Nikon D600 still in the shop for a second servicing for …
Ice and Sandstone on the Oyster River
When I’m photographing landscapes, my tendency is to anchor the scene with a foreground object and then go wide to show the expansiveness of the land. Last weekend I was without my full-frame Nikon D600 (still with Nikon Canada being serviced a second time for oil and dust problems—looks like I’ll be without it for at least another week or …
Oyster River Bowls
Photographing moving water has been a theme for me this year and I’ve really been enjoying experimenting with neutral density filters to slow down the shutter speed and blur the flowing water. It’s also been a good excuse to get out and visit new locations. Sandstone Abstract #2 This weekend I followed up a suggestion by George Bowron and checked …
Triple Falls in Errington, British Columbia
Sometimes the best falls are the ones that are a little bit off the beaten path. They don’t have to be spectacular drops, but they should be a little harder to get to. The extra effort makes it worthwhile. This weekend I joined a group of Comox Valley Camera Club photographers on a day trip to the Triple Falls on …
Down at the Brown’s
Brown’s River falls have been on my “must visit” photography list for a while—the problem was that I really didn’t have a clear idea of where exactly they were. The Comox Valley Camera Club did a field trip there earlier in the month but I had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t attend. There are a couple of different ways to …