A constellation of Gold Star (Crocidium multicaule) in the dunes at Point Holmes, Comox, BC. One of the most beautiful early blooming spring flowers on the east coast of Vancouver Island is gold star or common spring-gold (Crocidium multicaule). In the Comox Valley the best show is along the narrow stretch of sandy “dunes” between the road and beach at …
British Columbia
Boulders at Point Holmes
Six image panorama, stitched together in Photoshop CS6 and converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro 2. These huge boulders captured my attention on the rocky beach at Point Holmes, in Comox, British Columbia. During low tide Point Holmes is excellent for marine life, but the weather was pretty awful and though the tide was low, I didn’t …
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 …
Herring Spawn Head’s Up
It’s all in the timing and it’s easy to miss. Last spring I was lucky, and the kids and I witnessed the amazing spectacle that is this country’s largest annual Pacific herring spawn. In other years, I’ve been a day or two late or early. The aquamarine colour of the water is a sure sign that the spawn is on! This …
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 …
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 …
Salmon Nurseries in the Tsolum River and its Tributaries
Guest post by Jennifer Sutherst As our noses are affronted with the smell of salmon carcasses feeding our aquatic habitats, our local streams and rivers are playing host to the completion of the salmon life cycle as adult spawners return to lay their eggs and die. We saw a huge run of pink salmon a reasonable run of chum are just …
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 …