All My Blogs

Common goldeneye ducks, males and females, on Mission Creek in Kelowna.  Video below. My wife of 37 years and I went for a walk down the Mission Creek greenway yesterday.  We saw quite a few birds, including a falcon of some type, although I couldn't identify it.  The best thing we saw was two groups of goldeneye ducks as they lazily floated down the creek, ducking under the surface to feed as they went.  Our presence stopped their foraging habits.  They continued along with the flow; you can see the video below. I have seen Barrow's goldeneyes recently, but not the common variety for about 4 years now.  And I have never seen this many together at once.  Apparently, they are isolationists during breeding season but group together the rest of the year.  Given that it is December, the flocking behaviour was understandable. What was interesting was that a male hooded merganser was present with them.  I saw paired mergansers along the walk, but t...

Fog is notoriously difficult to photograph, and not just due to exposure issues. Fog could be described as wet air.  Technically, it is a colloid, which describes any medium that suspends tiny particles that do not settle out easily.  Other colloids you may be familiar with include mayonnaise, smoke, milk, and paint.  The thing about colloids is that the tiny suspended particles scatter light, which is why you can't see well through them, especially if they are particularly dense.  Shooting in dense fog is challenging due to the lack of clear subjects.  As the density of fog decreases,  there is less scattering of light and elements of a scene begin to emerge.   The thing to realize when photographing in foggy situations is that you will need to overexpose your images by one to two stops, more if it is warranted.  In automatic modes, that means using exposure compensation or exposure lock if you can find nearby objects that are not too washed...

Pitt River Bridge in Maple Ridge, photographed15 minutes before sundown. I love photographing landscapes during the golden hour.  When is that, exactly?  It is the time, an hour before sunset or an hour after sunrise, in your area.  The time varies dramatically depending on the season (tilt of the Earth relative to the sun) and the geographical location.  For example, the above photo was taken at 4:12 pm on January 3, 2014.  Sunset was at 4:27 that day, meaning the shot was taken 15 minutes before the sun would set behind the horizon. Why is the golden hour considered important?  It all comes down to light quality and shadow density.  As the sun gets lower, light must travel through more and more atmosphere.  The atmosphere does three things.  First, it reduces the intensity of the light as the number of particulates increases.  Second, as light passes through the atmosphere, the nitrogen and oxygen molecules scatter the blue wavelengths...

Whistler Valley from near the top of Whistler Mountain.  Photographed August, 2015. Blue.  Green.  Aquamarine.  These are some of the lake colours you see when visiting Whistler.  But what makes these such different colours?   Arguably, we all know water is blue, but it really isn't.  Pure water is clear, and pure water in a shallow lake will also appear clear, revealing the bottom.  As the water gets deeper, that transparency slowly disappears.  That's because water absorbs light, long wavelengths (warm colours) faster than shorter wavelengths (cool colours).  As the water gets deeper, the reds and lower frequencies are absorbed first, leaving the higher frequencies, like blue.  Thus, deep water appears blue. Shallower bodies of water may reflect more of the warmer colours, making them appear greenish.  This tendency is increased with the presence of phytoplankton like diatoms and other pelagic photo- synthesizers.  ...

The lower falls at Canyon Falls Park.  Image produced from fusing3 images together. It was a treat to watch the family crawling around the rocks or, for the dad, watching him jumping into the plunge pool.  He did this several times; I had to change shutter speeds as I otherwise caught only a blur of him descending into the frothing waters below.  The kids, as you may have noticed, are the same ones at the bottom of the falls on the left and right of the image.  In order to produce this photo, I took a couple of dozen photos and blended the desirable ones together. I would not recommend jumping into the plunge pool on any waterfalls as there is a danger of striking the bottom, of undercurrents, or of falling uncontrollably.  I have worked with children who have jumped into shallow areas and sustained severe neck injuries.  I cannot find any information about jumping into the plunge pool at Canyon Falls Park, but I am aware of the risks. I photographed this s...

Service can be anything that helps others, and you don't need to get paid for doing it. My trip to Willow Park Church's Living Nativity was inspiring not only because it was a great show, but also because it reminded me of what it means to serve others, voluntarily.  While it is true that each of us has our own needs, we should also think about making a difference in the lives of others, without being paid for it. I think of a stewardess' instructions before takeoff.  In the event of depressurization, oxygen masks will drop down.  Put yours on first and then help those around you.  We can't be of help to others if we don't look after ourselves.  After our own needs are met, we should try to assist those around us. There is a great quote from Philippians 2:4.  " Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."  I have strived to live this for all of my adult life.  Look after yourself, and help others al...