Another one of my favourite photography subjects in summertime is seen during my frequent boating trips: Humpback Whales. In fact, I'm seeing more and more of them all the time. They are returning to British Columbia in increasingly higher numbers every year. Commercial whaling in British Columbia ended 50 years ago (the year I was born actually). Since that time, the … [Read more...]
Reasons to Love Vancouver Island in Summer: #1 Orcas
Ahhhh, summertime in BC. It’s truly spectacular. The long summer nights, the mountains, the lakes, the ocean, the waterfalls, the beaches, the trees, the wildlife, and did I mention the boating? Even though Ray and I live a nomadic lifestyle now and have the freedom to go anywhere we want, we return to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, every summer because there is no place … [Read more...]
Return Trip to Alabama Hills California
As we stepped out of the RV in the darkness, we were but two lights and a jingle. Me with my headlamp, Ray with his flashlight, and Angie with her dog tags jingling along beside us. We bumbled our way down the dusty dirt road, shaking the night-time cobwebs from our minds, towards our first-light destination: Mobius Arch in Alabama Hills. We first visited this place 3 … [Read more...]
Cormorant Fishermen in Guilin, China
During my trip to China, one of the photo opportunities I had most been looking forward to finally arrived. Coming from a fishing family myself, I was eager to discover and photograph the ancient art of cormorant fishing on the Li River. I left my hotel at 0’dark thirty, drove for half an hour or so, and then took a little ferry across the river to be on the spot long before … [Read more...]
Larry the Mute Swan
We’re back in British Columbia for the summer and we’re all set up at our favourite spot at Thunderbird RV Park in Campbell River. Opportunities for wildlife photography abound here, but I’ve noticed that lately my attention has fallen on one particular individual: Larry the Mute Swan. Over the past few years we’ve been coming here Larry has become a familiar sight and we … [Read more...]
Day Trip to Big Sur California
Since we started travelling in the RV 6 years ago, Ray and I have become “bushed”. It’s a term my mother used for people who spent too much time in the bush and can’t handle being around other people anymore. We spend a lot of our time out in the desert, not in the bush, but often completely on our own, so I think the term still applies. We love the wilderness and quiet … [Read more...]
China’s Terracotta Warriors
The day after my mother died, I found myself in a very strange place - the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of China. How odd to be looking at the faces of thousands of warriors who would protect the Emperor on his journey to the afterlife on the very day when I would be contemplating my mother’s same journey. It was odd to be out photographing at all, but the photographers I … [Read more...]
7 Best Topaz Plugins for Photo Editing
The thing I love about Topaz Plugins is that they cover everything you would want to do with your images from subtle adjustments that make your photos pop to some not-so-subtle impressionist, HDR and texture effects. The Complete Collection includes 17 different plugins that you can use in conjunction with Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or PhotoFXlab. But if … [Read more...]