All My Blogs

A River Otter enjoying a meal behind a fallen tree. When walking along a trail you are at a disadvantage.  If there is vegetation overhead there is often shade to contend with.  Paths are usually narrow and in the case of dense bush, impassable to both foot traffic and the peering ability of a long lens.  Then there is the noise you make; shuffling feet, rocks cracking together, and branches being broken.  It all results in wildlife being aware of your presence long before you can be aware of theirs.  The typical conclusion is for the organism to flee. Kayaking represents a different approach altogether.  Although paddling produces noises, especially if wavy conditions allow water to lap against the sides of your craft, you can approach your quarry in something akin to stealth mode.  A typical situation finds me spotting something and giving the boat a heading then coasting silently upon my goal.  This is where a rudder comes in handy; a use...

Dell and his daughter, Jennifer. Dell was a master craftsman.  As such he was skilled at creating things.  Often the media of choice was concrete or wood, but he was equally deft with pencil and paper, a variety of construction materials, and the manipulation of tools.  His hands were large, strong, and rough - something you might expect of one whose chosen craft was making cement structures.  He was very focused when he was creating; an intensity born of personality and dedication to excellence. Everything he made was constructed with purpose and plan.  Rough drawings, blueprints, or sometimes just an idea he ruminated on were the basis of what was to be.  His will brought it into fruition, and afterwards, he would look upon his creation with a sense of pride and benevolence; he had made the world a better place.  It was always this way with Dell.  Plan, gather, complete, reflect.  The irony is that his greatest creation did not involv...

Dell and his brother Charles returning from a camping trip. It is said that you can pick your friends but not your family.  In this, both Dell and Charles were blessed with the benefit of being both family and friends.  It is also said that  a  good  friend knows all your  stories, but a  best  friend has lived them with you.  In many ways, Charles was Dell's best friend; not only was there a great fondness each for the other, but they had experienced many things together and could regale at length those situations which they shared.  I have heard a lot of those stories and want to retell them now as part of my tribute to Dell. Dell and Charles went around the world together in the fall of 1979 and returned in the winter of 1980.  There were good times and bad, times when they enjoyed each other's company and times when they needed a break from the other.  Charles recounts a situation in Hawaii when Dell was harassed by...

Male Blue Darner Dragonfly in Flight. Since I can remember, I have always liked dragonflies.  I used to spend hours down at creeks and ponds near where I lived.  There I would observe nature's wonders and sometimes catch a few creatures to get a better look at them.  Dragonflies fascinated me the most; their quick darting aerial acrobatics spelled disaster for any insect flying in its territory.  I always enjoyed tossing small bits of wood or pieces of rock near one in flight.  It would chase the offending particle in an attempt to eat it or drive it out of its domain. I was kayaking at a lake near where we camped a few days ago.  It was a quiet, windless day.  As is my habit when paddling, I had my camera (APS-C DSLR) and long lens (150-600 mm Tamron) with me.  I managed to get some pretty good shots of a loon, eagle, and juvenile coots.  It was when I noticed the dragonflies busily defending their airspace that inspiration hit me. T...

Dell's Dog, Klaus, was itself an amazing beast.  The stories of him are legendary. For whatever reason, Dell decided to get a dog.  Not just any dog, either, but a Rottweiler.  I suppose the breed was based on the fact that he loved Germany and that these large, generously build dogs are working dogs.  He named the dog Klaus, a good German name, and raised him from a pup I believe. I have not spent a lot of time around Klaus, but he was nothing short of amazing.  First of all, Klaus was totally devoted to Dell.  Rottweilers are a muscular breed to begin with, but Dell had the dog pack its own supplies when they went camping and it could jump amazing heights, especially given his large size.  The dog, even when fully loaded, would ascend and descend steep inclines no human would dare to try. There were a few memories I am particularly fond of regarding these two.  Klaus had a terrific sense of smell.  He would pick out a stick and that...

A Northern Alligator Lizard I caught near Princeton, BC. Yesterday, I wrote a blog that was a fictional story about a girl and her dog narrowly escaping an attack by a giant lizard.  I set up a scene using pinecones as a backdrop and placed the protagonists accordingly.  After getting my camera ready I released the antagonist of the story, the giant lizard, into the fray and quickly photographed the results.  The shot I used in my blog best represented what I thought to be the climax of the plot. Capturing the lizard was an arduous undertaking that required hours of careful searching.  Most lizards are wary of leaving themselves exposed and tend to find cover, usually under debris such as wood and leaf litter, or in rocky crags.  I had been on many walks over the time I spent at the park we were in and was, as is my custom, to look for signs of life to photograph.  This often means overturning things that may hide some amazing find.  My policy i...

My good friend, Dell Price, and I at Richard Silk's place, around 2010. I had an interesting relationship with Dell.  I don't suppose that statement is in any way unique or original, as that was probably the way it was with Dell and all his relationships.  He always brought his whole self into any situation and, like it or not, there was no slow immersion with him.  It was sink or swim. I met him early on in the school year of 1979.  He was maybe around 24 at the time and by then he was already a legend among his peers.  All of the things we think about him were already true at that time.  His hard working, get-things-done attitude was there, as were his passions for hiking, traveling, playing cards, and of course his indomitable spirit.  These all emanated from him.  I was a very impressionable 19 year old with a year of college under my belt but hardly any social graces or people I could call friends.  Dell saw within me something m...

Northern Aligator Lizard amid PLAYMOBILE characters It was a peaceful day when Molly and her dog, Max, were out strolling among the pine cones.  The hot sun had opened them up and the concealed pitch let off an embrace of delicious smells.  Oh, it was good to be outdoors on a day like this. Molly always enjoyed her adventures outdoors.  And Max was always by her side.  There when hiking, when witnessing Nature's glory, and there in times of trouble.  They were inseparable; a team destined to do great things together. On this particular day, Molly decided to retrace one of her favourite walks.  "The Pine Cone Path," as she used to call it, was rich with all the things she held dear with the outdoors.  Max enjoyed the time too, as he would search for just the right twig for his master to throw for him with delight as she always did. As Max was sniffing out just the right one, something moved in the shadows.  Caught unaware, he jumped back ...

Dell enjoyed working with wood on many levels. Dell had a way with wood.  He knew it and how to manipulate it.  It was never his business but certainly entertained much of his pastime.  Indirectly he used it for frames, forms,  and scree boards.  He made gifts with it.  He built furniture with it.  Dell would cut firewood by swede saw and ax.  He was especially gifted at making fires without the benefit of paper or accelerators.  In 1980 I spent a considerable amount of time at the place Dell and Charles had rented out.  It was a house like any other in the neighbourhood, but it had the special appeal of being a place where our eclectic group could relax and play cards or listen to music.  The furniture in the living room was Dell's creation.  Made in high school (I think) out of hardwood and fabric, the collapsable ensemble was as comfortable as it was unique.  It was one of my earliest impressions of him. In 1982...

Allison Creek - the Invasion of Spotted Knapweed. Before we showed up, you could ignore the environment and know that all would be well with it.  Everything had its place and was in balance with each other.  Disastrous events happened, much as they do today (although we aide the process liberally), but nature even had a way to manage that with the natural process of primary and secondary succession.  Rivers would overflow their banks and renew nutrients to floodplain soils, volcanoes would spew carnage upon the land only to see it later develop into some of the most fertile places on the earth.  It seems that time was on nature's side. Today, ignoring the environment has costs.  We have introduced non-native plants and animals.  Some are invasive in their new habitat.  They grow without the culling measures they experienced in their homeland; there is nothing to stop its spread.  A good example of this is spotted knapweed.  I saw large ...

Mountain Bluebird photographed near Princeton, BC. While camping at a resort near Princeton, BC, I had a chance to visit a wildlife refuge that was nearby.  There are about 5 km of trails there and it took me two days to cover them all.  That may sound like an unreasonably slow rate of progression, but I took several hundred images during my time there and did a fair amount of step retracing.  The end result was the opportunity to get some great hiking in and see three bird species I have never encountered before. On the first day, I saw and photographed a pygmy nuthatch.  I have seen the white-breasted and red-breasted varieties but never this species.  The second day caught me completely off guard, as within the span of 30 seconds I saw the other two, a Bullock's oriole and a mountain bluebird.  It was a stunning discovery, for me anyway, and I can still feel the thrill of the moment thinking back on it.  Many of you may think this a bit odd, t...

Photograph I took for a book cover. Light.  It is the essence of photography.  Controlling light is something photographers have been struggling with since the inception of the art.  Myriads of devices have been developed to facilitate this.  Every conceivable type of household and industrial light has been used to illuminate scenes and subjects.  Flash powder was the first substance used to freeze action.  Flashbulbs, and later flashtubes, have followed in sequence, being developed in the 1920s and 1930s.  Modern flashes use xenon filled tubes which emit light when a powerful charge passes through them.  Cell phones use an LED flash to capture that special moment, albeit from close proximity.  For a complete history on flash, click here .  I use several different methods of lighting my subject.  In the field, portability is a priority and so my equipment is limited to either camera built-in flash or an independent external fl...

Different types of actuators. Dell obviously spent a lot of his time in thought.  Usually, it was in trying to solve a problem but could also be musings about whatever was running through his mind.  He liked to analyze things, taking them apart in his thoughts, and reorganize them anyway way he liked.  Whether examining a mechanical problem or trying to better understand a person, he could reflect using his experience and observations from a distance. I once described to him something I was working on.  He recognized the systematic way I was looking at it and immediately put it into words.  He said, "I call that walking around a problem."  In my mind's eye I could see the essence of it.  The idea was to virtually place the issue before you and look at it from various points of view.  You could mentally explode the image to see its components and manipulate them in whatever way you wanted.  It was essential to have a good working knowl...

Josh and Eric Svendsen on the bank of the Red Deer River with Klaus. I have been going through old photographs which I took some 42 years ago.  At the time I had no idea what I was doing and shot whatever I fancied.  I had photos of things that enthralled me; parts of the Drumheller Badlands, the mountains of Alberta, and even museum displays.  All of them were of interest at the moment but are of limited value now.  Besides not being very good, they all had the characteristic of being empty of people. Just anybody wouldn't be good enough either.  I have lots of photos of people that I either never knew or completely forgot about.  They could have been taken by any random person; it was like looking at a Facebook image that has no personal connection.  It was sometime later that I discovered the value of including people I know in the photos.  That in itself may not be enough, because some of those you will forget - be sure to incorporate th...

Dell in a playful mood. Dell had a good, albeit somewhat warped, sense of humour.  He was quite fond of light-hearted poking, the kind where you heap abuse on someone in jest without intending on hurting them.  He was observant, witty, and enjoyed banter with innuendo.  Sparring with words was always a challenge with him; it was hard to get the better of him. He tended towards spontaneous silliness.  He would notice something in any random situation and look for a way to get a rise out of it.  This wasn't all the time, of course, as Dell had a serious side and a strong work ethic.  When the mood struck him though, he could be playful in bizarre and unique ways only Dell could get away with. My first real memory of this happened when his brother, Charles, introduced his new girlfriend to Dell.  It was early winter and there were six inches of fresh snow on the ground.  Most of us would greet this new person with polite salutations and welco...

An off-camera flash allows interesting possibilities. The above photo was taken of my friend, Dell (to see a blog in this image, click here ), some 38 years ago using a Minolta XG-M camera with a Metz-402 off-camera automatic flash.  Although the technology is ancient by today's standards, it was really all that was needed to create some amazing effects.  The key was to have a flash that was physically independent of the camera's position but hooked up to it electronically.  In this case I used a pc-cord.  Most cameras and flashes don't use this system anymore, but you can achieve the same result by other methods. There are two options for accessing an off-camera flash.  You can use a tethered connection, which usually involves a camera compatible hot-shoe device with a wire connected to the flash allowing full TTL operations.  A second method involves a wireless connection which means using a camera with built-in flash wireless connectivity (mid to h...

Dell's darker side. All of us have two sides.  There is the community-minded love your fellow man side which is gregarious and benefactorial in nature and the selfish internalistic paranoid side that greedily desires self-gratification.  One is needed to live with others and one is needed to survive.  Like the Star Trek episode where Kirk splits into two halves from a transporter accident, each one needs the other to be a fully functioning individual. I took the above photograph around 1982 and made Dell an 8x10 of it because he liked it so much.  He found that it represented a side of him that he was only too aware of but, as a whole, kept in line for the good of his family, job, and friends.  Occasionally you saw it, but only briefly, but if you were the focus of it there was no rock big enough to hide behind.  He could really let go and share his most intimate thoughts with great vitriol and clarity.  Then, as fast as it came, it would be...

From left to right:  Dell, Charles, and Jim. Dell had numerous passions.  Chief among them were family, his business, cards, music, and adventuring in the great outdoors.  He was a true woodsman and was capable of survival in all but the most desperate circumstances.  When challenging what Mother Nature would through at him, Dell could come up with a solution when others were giving up hope.  He was not one to tempt fate though as preparation and common sense were his guiding principles.  I have been on two canoeing excursions with him, both on the Red Deer River.  The first venture involved traveling from Red Deer to Drumheller; it took five days and we camped on the banks of the lazy waterway.  The second expedition went from Drumheller to Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks, Alberta.  It was also a five day trip but heralded amazing views of the badlands. The great thing about river tripping is the fact that there is only one way ...

Nikon mount lenses I have sold using Craigslist. Craigslist, Kijiji, and eBay are all computer media platforms that allow you to buy, sell, or just peruse a myriad of paraphernalia.  Craigslist tends to be local transactions only and typically means that you have to meet the buyer or seller face to face.  I use this platform the most because there is no mailing and little risk, as long as you are careful.  It is a free service and there is no cost to either party.  Most interactions are cash only.  Craigslist suggests to beware of posts requiring shipping. eBay is much more of a global market.  I have bought and sold stuff in Canada, the US, Japan, Australia, China, and even Russia.  There is a cost to use the service for the seller and the buyer ends up paying shipping, directly or indirectly.  It is riskier than Craigslist in the sense that you only have the word of the seller that the item is in good shape.  The buyer's power lies in...

A very happy Dell on a creek-tram on the West Coast Trail. I have been on the West Coast Trail twice; both of them with Dell in a sense.  I will explain that in a bit. The first time was in 1996 (I think).  There was quite a group of us but the ones I remember were all Silks.  That included Dell, Charles, Lincoln, and Dell's daughter Jennifer.  We had a schedule and so was on a bit of a crunch to achieve a minimum distance each day.  Dell was the leader of us, not that anyone chose him or there was an election.  It was just assumed that he kept the group on track. The most insane day, for me, was the third one where we hiked something akin to 23 km with full packs.  There are those who would scoff at such a feeble distance but it nearly took the life out of yours truly.  Dell did it all in stride; it seemed there was no slowing him down.  We made camp and my first official act was to curl up in a ball and make an attempt at recuperati...

Monaco knight 2000 - my dad's motorhome. My dad has always loved driving.  As a young fellow, he would drive from Kingston to Calgary in 40 or so hours without stopping for anything other than gas.  When we were kids it was given that holidays would be spent visiting relatives and distances were no consideration.  When he worked for Haliburton in Alberta he would drive about the country on inventory assignments.  Driving was the best part of the job.  He was let go during a downturn in the economy; he bought a used mid-size motorhome with his severance.  That marked the beginning of another driving era. He and my mom spent drove across Canada, down throughout the States, and up into Alaska and the Yukon.  Winters were spent in Arizona around Quartzite, a popular place where a lot of Canadian snowbirds could be found.  That continued on until my mom got cancer; she died in 1997.  He still drove it about but the vehicle's age and milage h...

A City of Red Deer Public Works crew removes building materials and other debris from city-owned property homeowner Dell Price appropriated for storage. Police are standing watch while heavy equipment hauls load after load of junk including rusted-out vehicles, used building materials and old appliances away from a Red Deer home and adjoining city lot today. Police and heavy equipment were to return early today for what some city officials believe to be the largest yard cleanup in Red Deer’s history. City crews and contractors — aided by tow trucks and police — started work on Wednesday morning at 5328 – 44th Ave., one of two properties owner Dell Price has been asked to clean up. A date has yet to be set for the city cleanup of the second property located at 3710 – 44th St. Concern was first raised at the 44th-Avenue site by emergency services officials. They said the piles of building material and collections of old vehicles, appliances and other goods would hampe...