Tag Archives: Vancouver Island
Meanwhile, in BC – Nanaimo Region
Not just known for super-sweet bars (eating, not drinking), Nanaimo is also a lush region of Vancouver Island.
These pics were taken around my mother’s new home near Qualicum Beach.
- The view from my mom’s back yard includes the Inside Passage and Whistler
- A splash of colour in the grey and green woods
- No colour alteration in this…that is how blue the night sky was
- Just off the cliff at the back of the yard was this wary customer
- Was glad the camera picked up the reflection
- She did her best to remain hidden
- Droplets decorate the leaves and petals
- Stopping for a quick drink before flying to the next leaf
- The two blades spin in opposite directions, making you dizzy
- She was determined and stayed in there for quite some time
See also photos of: Fort Langley/Harrison Hot Springs, Chilliwack
RC Scanner – Northern British Columbia
Again, apologies for the quality but these are 20 year old photos on a scanner not meant for photos.
A trip literally around the province of British Columbia with friends.
- The autumn colours were magnificent near Smithers.
- Loved the sunspot effect as I caught the mountains through the trees (Whistler)
- A stellar’s jay takes a rest while the rest of us hiked (Whistler)
- Had to climb a fence and wrap my leg around a tree to get this photo (Whistler)
- A village who sent either logs or tourists out to sea (near Port Hardy)
- So gentle, so majestic and yet killing machines if you happened to be a seal (Port Hardy)
- A lone member of an orca pod leads our boat forward (Port Hardy)
- A small family of orcas comes up for air (Port Hardy)
- The orcas were so relaxed about us, you could easily predict where they would surface (Port Hardy)
Flight paths
Having spent a fair amount of time in airports, I have seen plenty of jets, but airborne behemoths still impress me, so recent trips to Washington, DC and British Columbia added new flavours to my fascination.
- Given security concerns, it’s amazing that Reagan National Airport operates so close to Washington
- Andrews Airforce Base is across the river from Alexandria, VA
- I love the contrast with the simplicity of the clouds
- I think this is the helicopter POTUS would take to Andrews AFB
- As I passed the WWII memorial in Washington, these guys passed down the river
- The photo just screamed b/w on a grey day in Tofino
- Soaring into the skies near Tofino
- Seaplanes are the taxis of Vancouver Island
Found it!
I was sure that I only had the one framed print left…convinced that I had lost the negative and other prints. The most amazing photo I have taken so far in my life.
I’ve taken better photos since that day 20 years ago, but never have a taken a photo where I was willing to sacrifice all other photos for this ONE to turn out. (For the young ones out there, back in the day of film, you had to wait quite some time to know if a photo turned out.)
But while pouring through a box of old photos this past weekend, I found both another copy of the photo as well as the negative! OMG! Woohoo!
Taken on an orca-watching trip through the Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland, near Port Hardy.
I was ready to let the photo gods kill the other 14 rolls of film I took on that trip for this one moment to work…and it did.
If you told me that as of tomorrow, I would never be allowed to take another photo in my life, I would be saddened but satisfied that I had at least taken this one.
Seascape
I sit on a rocky promontory,
Gazing over the waters of the sea.
Waves splash below me, sending a spray of water
From a sea, ill-tempered and intemperate.
Somewhere in the distance, a boat has passed
And the waves have reached the shore,
The waters angered by the disturbance.
The water reaches across the rocks
Forming pools in crevices created at an earlier time;
Eroding a little more stone to become
The sand of some far off beach.
In an endless rhythm, the waves strive
For the beach and are mercilessly drawn back.
A twig is caught in the ebb and flow
Never certain when it will get thrown
Too far up the sands or finally drawn
Into deeper waters to voyage somewhere else.
Caught in pools, between the larger rocks,
A microcosm has formed of predator and prey,
A world of colour and beauty, life and death.
The flowery anemone, waving in the eddies,
Await their prey with numbing venom.
A small crab picks through the sand,
Scavenging for carrion from other meals past,
Crawling aside to move around a sea star.
Urchins, moving ever so slowly across the rocks,
Their spiny coverings a defence against attack.
Small fish, trapped with the last tide,
Eating plant and animal, their escape
Hours away, at the mercy of the moon.
Vertebrate and invertebrate, together,
Calling this home; for now or forever.
The sea is the beginning
And, ultimately, the end.
- One of my favourite tidal pool shots because of the satin quality of the anemone
- This reminds me of a medieval encampment where small castles are surrounded by caravans
- Usually when I see a red crab, I think it’s dead, but this one was pretty intact
- This little guy was having a bit of a walk, perhaps in search of lunch
- Razor sharp, they reminded me of a city crowd trying to navigate a mall
- I loved the variations on the psychedelic patterns
- The emerald among greys and browns drew my eye
- It felt as if he was about to say something
- Mostly broken clam shells along the beach, so this was an unusual find
Across the universe – a mental travelogue
(This post is inspired by something I saw earlier today on another blogger’s site. So thanks, storiesbyfrances.)
Whether writing or doing photography, one of my personal goals is to look beyond what is right in front of me, to see objects at levels beyond their macro existence (how metaphysical is that). Given time and attention, patterns form, images present themselves, thoughts meander, reality becomes flexible.
Below, I’ve posted photos taken while traveling through British Columbia last year. I was going to tell you what I saw, but instead have decided to ask you what you see in the images, if anything. For the sake of the wondrous places I visited, however, I will tell you where the photos were taken.
(Botanical Beach, Vancouver Island)
(Botanical Beach, Vancouver Island)
(China Beach, Vancouver Island)
(Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island)
(Tofino, Vancouver Island)
Don’t forget to let me know what you see.
I don’t care if we agree; in fact, if you see something I didn’t, then my universe becomes that much larger.