Beautiful British Columbia - Part 2 - Travel Photography

Jericho Park with its beach were for us the first place to visit in Vancouver, BC.  We have been very lucky to bring with us sunny weather and we were definitely enjoying our evening stroll in the park and the beach.  As I have mentioned in my previous post - Beautiful British Columbia - Part 1 - Travel Photography travel photography allows us to practice shooting in all sorts of environments and this was a pleasure to do so with shiny water, reflecting the sun and in dark shade of park trees.. Here is some of what I saw and captured during our visit.. Kasia

To be continued...

Beautiful British Columbia - Part 1 - Travel Photography

It's been a while since my last posts, but I do have a very good excuse. We went for a road trip to Tofino and back. It's been only my 3rd ever venture to BC, my first to Vancouver Island and I was really looking forward to seeing the land and venture to places I have not had a chance to visit before as well as re-visit the few I have.  Travel photography is wonderful because it gives one opportunity to practice all sorts of things. From landscapes to architecture, nature, macros, night shots... It is so much fun, though it does require bringing a lot of different lenses and a bit of gear. Today I would like to share some pictures I have taken on our way to Vancouver. It's quite a long way from Edmonton so we took a break from driving to visit our friends in Kamloops, BC. While enjoying their company and a wonderfully hot evening I took a few shots of their world.  We did have a view of quite a lovely sunset as well from their patio...

The next day we resumed out drive through the Rockies.  Our first stop was at Kamloops Lake where I took a few shots of a lovely view:

While driving I couldn't help but to notice a great contrast between very dry mountains, covered with sage and bluish grass with level ground that is quite often used for agricultural purposes. It does require lots of watering, as we were able to notice, and the lush greens of the meadows are so very different in colour than surrounding mountains..

Travelling through canyons and summits, on our way, along rivers and mountain slopes gives you an opportunity to see very many interesting things. Too bad one cannot always stop when one wishes... The landscape changes often on the way and at least one is not bored, stuck in a vehicle for hours on end..

I've always wanted to visit Hell's Gate again.  The first time I went there (over a decade ago..) I was awed by the incredible power of water flowing at this particular spot in Fraser Canyon.. You can see it churning under your feet while crossing a bridge. It does give you a bit of a weird feeling.. Here is a few shots I have taken while there:

Our long journey that day ended finally in Vancouver where we met one of our friends who, very kindly, took us for a tour around the city. What we saw there I will share in my next post. For now, just one more shot taken while driving, just before we reached our destination. There is not always a chance to stop on a highway to properly take photos, so I do try to shot some things from a moving vehicle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but one must try, right? Especially, when I am in the very lucky position of a passenger and I can devote my full attention to surrounding views (which Mac is always bemoaning, having to always be the driver.;D).

To be continued..

Kasia

Spring Sunset And "Prairie Castles"

Couple of weeks ago we have driven to a spot we've found about a year ago to see how is the spring progressing out in the country.  The distant silos on the horizon reminded me very much of castles in Europe and if you don't look too close you can actually pretend that that's what they are. Works for me ;D. It was a bit of a chilly evening, and mosquitos were out in quite a force, but being armed with a big old can of bug spray we were not afraid of them at all (one must be quite brave to venture out this year, for there is literally millions of them, considering how wet everywhere is..). The world was full of frog and bird calls and it was so wonderfully relaxing to just sit and watch the spectacle unfold.  What can I say, I'm a complete sucker for a nice sunset.. And if you can witness such, pretending you are traveling in Europe, with a wonderful accompaniment of natural music of nature... Let just say, it doesn't get much better than that.. I hope you will enjoy a few shots from that trip, considering how gloomy it is outside today. It is such a pleasure to ignore the wet, cold, cloudy outdoors and concentrate on the sunlight, sunset colors and a beauty of surrounding world.. With a touch of imagination, the magic is on! Kasia

Spring at Elk Island

The last time we've ventured to Elk Island National Park the world was covered in deep snow.. (Hunting for Bison at Elk Island). Now all this snow has melted and turned the land into one almost everlasting wetland.. There was no silence when we arrived there about a week ago in the evening. The music of frogs and mosquito buzzing, interrupted on occasion by a bird call or two was everywhere..  Thank Goodness for bug spray!!! If it wasn't for a heavy layer of it we would have been eaten alive!! But, we were rather well prepared, having a tube of the heavy stuff stashed inside our vehicle at all times :D.  And it was great because if we weren't prepared we would have missed all the sights we've seen: beavers going about their supper, lots of birds and a surprisingly beautiful sunset - which we didn't really expect due to the clouds gathering on the western horizon.  All in all, it was another wonderful trip, made better by the fact that when we started our drive we never planned to arrive at Elk Island.. It just happened ;D.. And, since today, the sky is rather heavy with dark clouds a little bit of colorful sunset and vibrant spring world will do us good, I think.. So enjoy! Kasia

Look down...closely

On a recent walk with my family, on the trails surrounding the Pigeon Lake Provincial park, I decided to look down, and see what can be seen.  You would be surprised to see what happens around your feet, when walking on a trail in forest.  This time the spiders weaving their webs, were largely predominant.  Also they are usually very patient posers, and will happily pose, and smile just so I could get a decent shot of them.  Also the dappled light on the forest floor paints wonderful light designs.  So next time you go for a walk, try looking down.  You might find something interesting to photograph.

Wonders of Nature - Part 3

Being at Elk Island, it is hard not to notice the mother nature, even if you are shooting two beautiful models.  As the last post to these Wonders of Nature series, here are a few shots I sneaked in.  Enjoy.