All My Blogs

Photographed in Hobart, Australia, October, 2018. Here, in Canada, we see trumpeter swans, tundra swans, and the invasive mute swan.  Black swans may be kept for exotic purposes, but there are no actively breeding populations at the moment.  Some were released in Ottawa in 1967 as a gift from Queen Elizabeth II, but that population has reduced significantly and the remaining individuals moved to a Safari park in Quebec. They are native to Australia; we saw dozens of them while visiting Hobart as part of our cruise.  They live up to 40 years of age in captivity, making it to only a third of that age in the wild.  Large individuals may weigh as much as 19 pounds, larger than even the biggest bald eagle.   Like all swans, they are monogamous and mate for life.  They both care for the young that are precocial at birth and become independent around the age of nine months.  They become sexually mature at two to three years of age. Swans are remarkable b...

It looked like it was going to be a wonderful day hiking to the falls.  But then ... It turns out that the trail for Canyon Falls is closed, at least from this end. I was very much looking forward to hiking the trail down to Canyon and Crawford Falls.  I had read about them, seen numerous reviews and photos on them, and was enjoying the 8° C weather that had finally come our way at the end of January, 2026.  The view at the top of the canyon was terrific, there was lots of parking, and there was no rain in the forecast.  This was going to be fun. We saw the sign for the trailhead - it's always appreciated finding a clear marker for where you are or are going.  The anticipation grew; my camera was ready and our dog was relishing a hike with his humans.  All was well, until we descended a little further along the trail.  Then reality hit.   The trail was closed. I talked to some local people who said that some just ignored the warning, jumped t...

I photographed the falls at Mill Creek near Kelowna on January 28, 2026.  We know that water freezes at 0° C.  But it is possible for water to exist in a liquid state when the temperature falls below the freezing point.  Liquid water below 0° C is supercooled and has some very interesting properties. Supercooled water occurs because of the lack of nucleation sites in the liquid.  Generally, this requires pretty clean water with little suspended solids.  You may see this when freezing purified water in your freezer at home - there is a video here showing the effect.  When disturbed, or if nucleation sites become available, the water will instantly freeze. Another form of supercooled water is called frazil ice.  Fast-moving water can become supercooled and form tiny needle-shaped crystals.  Frazil ice can attach to cold rock or an icy surface and become part of the frozen mass.  Waterfalls can build up a substantial layer of ice when supercoole...

I photographed this in 2013 when my friend and I visited Arizona. I had always wanted to visit the land that you see in some of the old westerns - you know, the buttes and spires making up the background landscape.  Many of the films were made in Sedona, and we were not disappointed when we arrived.   We visited Red Rock State Park ( link here ), where we found a well-maintained trail that led us throughout the park's interior.  I took quite a few photos, many of which I use in the PowerPoint slides that I teach my photography courses with.   The rock is mainly sandstone that is rich in iron.  Sandstone is a sedimentary rock; much of it has been eroded away, leaving the existing formations.  I have given a list of some of the more noteworthy formations that can be found in the area. Key Vertical Rock Formations Cathedral Rock :  A prominent landmark with towering spires. Bell Rock :  A highly recognizable, pointed, and vertical formation...

Photo taken in the year 2002 with my Fuji S1Pro - how did the camera capture the ghost flame? I can still remember taking this image and wondering to myself, "What the heck is going on?"  It was a very long time ago, over 23 years now, and I took it with my first DSLR camera.  I used the lenses I owned at the time, Nikon lenses made for film cameras.   It turns out that digital sensors are highly reflective, unlike the film that they have mostly replaced.  An image projected onto the camera's sensor will, to some extent, be reflected back towards the lens.  This wasn't a problem when using film with its lower reflectance, but issues started to develop where bright spots were present in a scene, especially if they were surrounded by darker areas. The lenses made for film cameras had rear elements that did not take into account the reflective nature of digital sensors.  Newer lenses were made with this effect in mind; the solution was to place anti-refle...

Bird photos I have taken over the years.  Top:  Kestral, Anna's hummingbird, Common yellowthroat. Bottom:  Female American goldfinch, Splendid Fairywren, Gold-crowned kinglet Although a brand new, top-of-the-line camera is desirable and fully able to meet all the needs of an avian photographer, the truth is that you don't need to spend that much to capture decent photos.  If you think about it, good photos have been around for a long time, and the modern technology, although impressive, may be more than you actually need. The things that are important in photographing birds relate to buffer size, rapid frame rate, fast and precise focus acquisition capability, and a decent pixel count.  Each one of these tends to be bigger and better as models go up in price, but often you can do well with good functionality instead of the best. Buffer size:   The buffer is short-term memory storage, allowing photos to be temporarily held until data can be stored in the mem...

Sea otters (central) and river otters (insets) of the Pacific coast in Canada There are 13 species of otter in the world, two of them in all of North America.  The North American river otter lives throughout most of Canada and Alaska, while sea otters live exclusively along the Pacific West Coast of America, along the Aleutians, and along the coastline of Japan and its islands.   Sea otters are very uncomfortable on land as their large flipper-like feet are positioned and made for swimming.  They spend by far most of their time in the water, coming out rarely to avoid predators or storms.  The interesting thing is that sea otters may wrap themselves in anchored kelp to keep from being tossed about by the waves.  Sea otters sleep in the ocean by floating on their backs and may form groups called rafts that are kept together by hand-holding. River otters (which is what we will call the North American river otter from now on) prefer fresh water but are well ad...

Comparing photos and their histograms - all photographs were taken by myself. Five photos and their histograms of Derek Falls in Manning Park, BC. Understanding histograms is an important tool in understanding digital sensors and files.  Histograms are also important when editing files, as it gives an empirical reference to your work.  This is especially true if your monitor is not properly calibrated. I use histograms in the taking and editing of my photos.  I often use raw files, both on my cell phone cameras and DSLR and mirrorless cameras.  The histograms allow me to interpret exposure, extract details from shadow and highlight areas that would otherwise not be present, and to play with contrast and other variables offered in many pixel-editing programs. The top image - four different photos - shows different images where the exposure is correct (with minimal adjustments in Photoshop) in variable environments.  Each photo will have its own histogram, and you...

Photo I took while snowshoeing at Big White, showing raw image (lower) and adjusted areas (upper). There are a few things the avid photographer should work at excelling in regarding exposure.  Getting the right exposure is only part of the equation.   Evenly lit scenes, especially under cloudy skies where there are no really bright areas and shadows are soft, rarely present a challenge as modern cameras can capture a properly exposed image with little fiddling, other than perhaps some exposure compensation to deal with an overabundance of dark or light values.  The real trick comes in choosing the right file type and extracting details in areas outside the histogram's range. 1)  File type:  JPEGs typically have about 8 bits of latitude (2^8) as their pixel shades are determined by values from 0-255 in three different channels (RGB).  This means that anything lighter or darker than what can be captured by 8-bit colour will wash out and be completely los...

Photomatix Pro (trial) HDR of Big White using 3 bracketed images I played with the trial version of Photomatix (you can see the watermarks in the image) again and produced an HDR image using three bracketed photos.  Older versions of the program required using jpegs, but version 7 could import the images directly from raw format.  If you compare the above shot to the other one I did (see this blog ), you will notice that the above image is more realistic in its appearance.   Photomatix allows you to pick the degree of surrealism desired.  I chose a high degree of surrealism for the image below - you can see how different it is below. Same image as above, only I used a different blending method to achieve the result. The surrealistic image certainly has a different feeling to it from the more naturalized one above it.  The sharp contrast and saturation appeal to me on an artistic level.  I redid the image to achieve a different effect by using the vibra...

Notice the watermark - I am using a trial version of Photomatix 7.  See below for the bracketing. Seven photos, ranging from +3 to -3 stops from central exposure.  Used HDR software to merge. HDR stands for high dynamic range.  Dynamic range is the spread between white and black, where highlights and shadows can no longer show detail.  Put another way, it is the number of stops a medium has where details can be captured between light and dark values.  At some point, highlights get blown out, where every value is blank, and shadows are expressed as pitch-black. Although modern sensors typically have dynamic ranges between 10 and 14, our eyes can capture differences up to 20 stops.  And that's just what we can see in real life; nature can produce values much greater than that (the brightness of the sun vs the darkest point in a cave).  The fact that a raw image can manage around 14 stops of detail in between highlights and shadows means that most of the ...

View of a junior run at Big White - I used my live histogram display to determine an exposure. I have been snowshoeing a few times, but never on trails quite this challenging.  Big White has several trails for snowshoers.  I was on four named trails that took me a distance of about 6 km.  Now, six km doesn't sound like a lot, but on snowshoes in deep snow, I was done in by the end. The fact that I am somewhat out of shape didn't help.  This fact was brought home to me when I fell sideways into a snowbank and found myself flailing about like a fish out of water.  It took the help of a kindly passerby to extricate me from the humiliating condition in which he found me.  I thought that safety was better than humiliation; besides, I was very tired at the time.  When I got out, I discovered that my snowshoes had managed to find the bottom of a stream.  Thankfully, I didn't get wet. I had hoped to get access to the top of the ski hill to take some photo...

What sorts of things hit airplane windows while flying? You've heard of bird strikes on planes - specifically on their engines causing engine failure and crashes.  But a question came to me - what sorts of things crash into airplane windows - especially those necessary for pilots?  I decided to look it up on the internet.  Here's what I found. Bird strikes are a major problem, not only for engines but for cockpit windows too.  Complete failure is uncommon due to their strong design, but any damage can cause depressurisation at high altitudes.  Fortunately, most bird strikes occur at low elevations. Although it is unlikely for insects to cause significant visual obstructions on pilot windows, they can foul up air speed indicators through building nests inside instrument intakes.  Mud daubers have been known to impair airspeed indicators this way. Hail is known to cause pitting and damage to aircraft, but modern design prevents it from being catastrophic....

Where's bear? - I did a series of photos where Bear was somewhere in the image. I have taught photography for over 30 years now.  I started with film and darkroom, then switched over to digital imaging sometime in the early 2000s.  One of the things I used to do was to have my students photograph "stuffies of some character" in a series of photographs telling a story.  It was always a highlight of the course, and I have to applaud many of the entries as being very well done.   Another thing I did was to take a small stuffed bear and photograph it in a variety of places.  The idea was to use the photos in an exhibition for children.  I have worked with kids for over 40 years and always like having interesting things to engage them.  I have Bear hidden in stores, outdoors, and in the street. I met a lady who travelled to Europe and brought a favourite stuffed toy with her.  She photographed it in numerous famous places with the idea of putting ...

Guisachan Heritage Park in Kelowna - Milk shed window, woodpecker holes, and nest. I visited and photographed some of the buildings at Guisachan Heritage Park today.  Given that my current blogs have been on window photos, I thought I would take some images of those very structures on my excursion.  I came across one that was particularly interesting in that it was nearby evidence of woodpecker activity. You can see just to the left of the above woodpecker nesting hole; there are two holes, likely created by woodpeckers in their bid to extract insects, that have been covered up with something like chicken wire.  This is a problem that some buildings with wooden exteriors have.  Woodpeckers can detect the presence of insects underneath bark or even further into the wood of the tree.  They detect would-be meals by hearing the insect activity, by sensing their vibrations, and by smelling them (albeit to a lesser extent). What's interesting is that the insects may n...

Photographed near McCall, Idaho, in 2008, with my Nikon D70 camera. This easily could have been the photo that started my obsession with windows.  It turns out I also have an obsession with benches, if you caught my earlier blogs on the subject.  But, I have to admit, I love this shot.  Not only that, but it was taken with a 6 mp camera - My first DSLR made by Nikon - and I have made numerous prints of it. This brings up a good question about pixel count.  How many pixels are enough?  With cellphone and some digital cameras, pixel count has gone through the roof.  You can now take 200 mp photos with some Galaxy cell phones, and medium format cameras often provide 100 mp capability.  Full-frame mirrorless cameras are often around 50 mp, with some of Sony's cameras boasting 61 mp.  The truth is, do you really need that many megapixels? My Z7ii has a 45 mp sensor while my D500 is limited to 20 mp.  Yet the truth is that this is often enough....

Geraniums in a window box I liked this photo because of the appealing framing going on with the plants and the tidy nature of the whole scene.  It was the geraniums, though, that really caught my eye.  I quite like them because of the deep red colours of the flowers, the fact that they seem to bloom all year long, and how easy they are to care for.  There are some white ones there too, although I am not a fan of them. I have always liked the colour red in my photos - there is something dramatic about certain shades that always captures my attention.  The scene would be quite bland without the central colour boost to the photo that just adds the right amount of oomph. Although I plant new ones every year, geraniums are easy to take care of over winter.  The key is to remove them from the garden before the first frost and to shake the soil from their roots.  You keep them in a cool, dry place until the spring and replant them.  They have to be cut back s...

Door and window in the Dominican Republic.  Where there is trust, there is no need for locks. When it comes to having things, one of the best things to have is the trust of others.  And the thing about trust is that it is hard to earn and easy to lose.   Think about the people in your life that you trust, not lightly, but with deep conviction.  What is it about them that has led you to this place of confidence in their character?  It has nothing to do with how they look, their bank account, or their popularity.  It is something that has developed over time.  It is based on common experiences and witnessed behaviours that stand out.   There are several qualities that stand out about why you can trust this individual.  They care about you and what happens to you and your loved ones.  They are there when you need them, in whatever capacity.  It is also likely that they are well thought of by others.  If you lend them som...

Detailed view of a building in Antigua at Nelson's Dock Yard. I find that buildings and surrounding landscapes interest me, but not always the entire compound at once.  Rather, parts of a building get my attention, usually doors and/or windows, that are surrounded by colour, patina, or compelling objects. Such is the case above. My wife and I have enjoyed cruising.  The upside is that you get to visit a great many places in a short time; the downside is that each location is often limited by that short time, and so there tends to be lots to explore with little opportunity.  When my eye catches something interesting, I point my camera towards it.  So it was in this case. " Nelson’s Dockyard Marina is the only continuously working Georgian Era dockyard in the world. English Harbour offers one of the most beautiful and safe natural anchorages in the Caribbean. Two hundred years of Royal Navy heritage alongside stunning beaches and modern amenities makes Nelson’s Dockyar...

A gardener in Palm Springs posing for me - I'm sure he's proud of the work he does. When I photograph people, I like to have something that speaks to more than just the person's image.  I often find photographing relationships to be rewarding.  When photographing an individual, I often like to do what I call a character shot. Character photos are less about what someone looks like and are more about who they are as an individual.  This may encompass any number of aspects of traits, but I often find that the best associations are with work or hobbies.  They are almost always photos of an individual, often in a setting where they spend a lot of time or find peace, and something that they have positive feelings towards. In the above photo, I asked the gardener if I could photograph him.  He posed very simply with a pair of shears; there was nothing special about how he stood.  I loved the greenery around him and the flowers in the background.  I used flas...

National Bird Day is only recognized in the Americas.  March 19th is International Migratory Bird Day. There is quite a list of international days recognized by the United Nations.   I pulled some from the whole list that you can see here ; the ones below are just some of the international days for the first 3 months of the year.  Notice that National Bird Day and International Migratory Bird Day are not mentioned.  There are many more days that are recognized that are not celebrated or noted on the given site or below - there must be thousands of them. List of International Days and Weeks World Braille Day 04 Jan International Day of Education 24 Jan International Day of Clean Energy 26 Jan International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust 27 Jan World Wetlands Day 02 Feb International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation 06 Feb International Day of the Arabian Leopard (A/RES/77/295) Interna...

Notice the mite on the ground beetle.  Is it phoresitic or parasitic? My previous blog was on a group of arachnids called oribatid or beetle mites, which are commensalistic organisms that hitch a ride on certain beetles.  They benefit; the beetle is not harmed.  Doing that blog reminded me of some other photos I had taken of a ground beetle (above photo) and a carrion beetle (below) that had mites on them.  I had previously thought they were parasites, but I learned of this behaviour called phoresy in some creatures.  Phoresy is a relationship between two organisms where one travels on the body of another organism without parasitizing it.   Carrion beetle with mites attached (arrows). This brought me to the question, how do you know if a mite is in a parasitic or phoresic relationship with the beetle it is on? Mites, like the oribatid ones in my previous blog, are attached and do not seem to move.  However, they have certain characteristics such ...