Welcome to my Blog Space
Hello everyone. I have been working hard to create this new website. I really hope you enjoy it. I will be using this blog space to share stories behind some of my images as well as other photography related information, thoughts, ideas. Please feel free to become an active member of my photography community. If you have ideas for posts, comments, or questions let me know I would love to make this a collaborative site.
Cheers
I am super excited to offer again this year a limited number of custom calendars. These calendars contain images taken around Atlantic Canada, showcasing the incredible beauty of our landscapes and wildlife. They were printed locally to the highest quality. They make a great Christmas present. The cover image is of the iconic Teacup Rock on PEI which was destroyed by hurricane Fiona. You can use the link below to order yours, or message me directly if you are local.
Hello everyone,
I am going to take the next 12 days to tell you about the images in this year's calendar.
January's image of a Snowy owl in a storm was taken in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia. I had been watching/photographing this owl for a story for Saltscapes magazine for some time. It was a beautiful, healthy bird and had been hanging around in the same area for a while. This particular morning, I woke up to this perfect snowstorm of huge snowflakes with almost no wind. I immediately jumped into my car and headed to see if the owl was around. The weather was magical, and the entire drive there I kept saying to myself "please, be there, please be, there". When I arrived at the location it was snowing so heavily that is difficult to see anything. I slowly and carefully walked around as I did not want to scare or stress the owl if it was there. Finally, I spotted it off in the distance. I had my very long 500mm zoom lens on and laid down in the snow to get close to eye level. It was a magical experience. The owl seemed so relaxed and at home in the snow. I watched and photographed it for a few minutes then left it in its place. This image is heavily cropped to show how beautiful this owl was. Getting the correct camera settings and an image where the owl's face was not totally covered with large snowflakes was a challenge, but luckily I managed to get a few. I hope you enjoy it.
Hello Everyone,
February's image was taken on a perfect winter's day at the Confederation Bridge. I was out looking for foxes as well as sea ice which packs into the Northumberland Straight this time of year. I was not able to find any foxes, but I found these fox tracks which lead onto the ice. The warm day followed by the cold sunset created a shiny crust on the snow which allowed for more reflection of the beautiful sunset light. I waited for the sun to set between the bridge and horizon and set my aperture high to create the star-sun effect.
Hello everyone,
March's image was taken in the village of Rustico at the Doucet house. This traditional Acadian house which is now a museum celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2022, making it one of the oldest homes on PEI. I have always loved this property and its setting, but for some reason, I had never photographed it. March is probably one of the most challenging times of the year to make an interesting/ beautiful landscape image. This particular day the sky was amazing so I decided to give it a try. I tried to pick an angle where the leading line of the fence would interact with the lines of the sky. The toning creates a mood that is both bleak and beautiful. It reminded me of challenging it must have been for these Acadian families, but that often challenges come with rewards. I could picture the family working hard to keep warm and fed but stopping for a moment to take in this beautiful sky and scenery from their farm. I hope you enjoy these stories.
Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the late post. April's calendar image was actually taken quite close to home. I find Canada geese both beautiful and interesting. They are so graceful in both the air and in water, but awkward on land and so noisy. I have photographed them many times in many different ways. Swimming, running, flying, fighting, individuals, groups, etc. This particular day they were in a field close to my house. There was a perfect background of trees with fall colours off in the distance. Geese were landing and taking off constantly, so I set up my camera with a shallow depth of field to blur out the background. As the flocks took off I tracked them with my camera, using a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. It felt extremely chaotic while taking the images, but when I saw them it was amazing to me how quickly the geese organized into tight lines only a few feet off the ground. The diagonal lines through the image made for an interesting photo. Combined with the sharp focus, blurry background, and toning, I was drawn to this photo. I hope you enjoy it.
May's calendar image is part of a series of images I took following a den of Red fox kits and their mom from their first day appearing out of the den right up to them heading off on their own. The mom(vixen) had 7 kits to take care of and it was amazing to see how efficiently she was hunting. She would appear with food, feed her little ones, and catch a mouse within the first 2 minutes of leaving to hunt. She would come home with her mouth full of 4 or 5 small birds and mice quite often. This experience would not have been possible without Covid(silver linings), as work had stopped and then gone remote during this time. This allowed me to make the 1.5-hour return trip almost daily for almost 2 months. It was amazing to watch how quickly the kits grew, getting bolder, learning from their mom, playing/fighting, and venturing further from the den. I think they were used to seeing me and quite comfortable as I never ventured close to them. I have thousands of images from this experience and dozens of "keepers". I am hoping to one day post the story somewhere(hopefully in Saltscapes magazine) to share with you. For now, this is one of the cuter images from the series. As the kits got older, they certainly were more demanding of their mom. On this particular day, the mom had just finished feeding and looked exhausted. The kits kept bugging her and you could tell she needed a break. She quickly jumped up on this planter for some well-deserved rest. She must have known exactly how high her babies could jump, as they kept trying over and over to reach her to no avail. It was super fun to watch. I boosted my shutter speed to freeze the action and was able to get this image with one of the kits in mid-air trying their hardest to get to mom. I hope you enjoy it.
June's Calendar image was taken at North Rustico Harbour during setting day. For those of you who are not familiar with setting day, it marks the return of summer and tourists as the Island "wakes up" from its winter slumber. This Day the weather was absolutely perfect, with an amazing colourful sunrise and glass-like seas. On this day, the lobster boats are weighed down to the water line with traps, making it very dangerous when the seas are rough. On a calm day like this one, the entire community is even more festive, as many fishers take their children out for the experience. Hundreds of people line the harbour to watch the boats parade out to the mouth of the ocean where they wait for the harbourmaster’s ok to set out. I arrived in Rustico around 3:20 AM to start shooting. I almost didn't go, as I had to go to work that morning. I'm so glad I did. The light was amazing, I started down at the wharf taking images of the fishers at their boats getting ready to head out. I then changed positions and put up my drone to capture a different angle on this iconic event. Some of my favourite images I have ever taken are from that morning. It is an honour to say that this particular image is hung in the office of the premier as part of the province’s permanent collection. The series of images was featured in Saltscapes magazine where I was also honoured to have the cover images as well as a 6-page feature. I hope you enjoy it.
July's calendar image came from a bucket list trip. Machias Seal Island is a 20-acre island halfway between New Brunswick and Maine. The sovereignty of the island is disputed by the United States and Canada. The island is a migratory bird sanctuary with about 1000 nesting pairs of Atlantic Puffin. I have wanted to visit this Island to see and photograph the puffins for years, but Canada is only allowed 16 visitors a day for a one-month period between the end of June and the end of July. These spots sell out the day the booking opens in January and I have missed them many times. This is another Covid silver lining story, as Covid restrictions went into effect in the spring of 2020, the only people who were allowed to visit New Brunswick were those in the "Atlantic Bubble". Thinking of this I contacted the puffin tour company to see if there were any cancellations. We were in, as many of the bookings were from outside the Maritimes freeing up space for us to visit. We were booked to visit, but now we had to find accommodations on Grand Manan Island. The tour to Machias Island leaves from Grand Manan Island, another small island with very limited accommodations. Covid to the rescue again, we were lucky to get a cancellation booking to one of the few places on Grand Manan. We decided to make this into a vacation and birthday celebration for my wife and booked a stay in St. Stephen, NB as well. Getting to Machias Seal Island certainly takes commitment as you need to drive a long way to the ferry terminal to take the ferry to Gand Manan, then get on the boat on Grand Manan to take the 2-hour boat ride to Machias Island, then onto a small skiff to land on the island. If the tides are wrong or the seas are too rough which is often the case then you do not get to land and just cruise around the island. When we arrived the seas were not ideal, and it was touch and go as to whether we would be allowed to go ashore. They decided to go ahead with an abbreviated visit due to conditions. We were so excited, as you approach the island there are puffins flying all over the place. Once ashore, you are walked to one of 4 different wooden blinds/shacks. We were told we would have 20-30 minutes in the blind. Once we got inside and closed the doors there were puffins everywhere, they were literally almost landing on my camera lens. They are very fast fliers and small, so capturing good flying images is very challenging. In the blind, I was looking around for images that told stories, were funny, or amazing in some way. This is not easy as it was actually overwhelming having so many puffins so close and flying in all directions. I had to use a very high shutter speed to be ready to capture all the action. I chose this image for the calendar as when I look at it I always smile. It looks like one of the puffins just delivered the punch line of a joke or told an interesting story with the others listening attentively. I hope you enjoy the image and story.
My image for August is also the cover image for the calendar this year. It is of the Teacup Rock in Thunder Cove, PEI. This iconic location, where proposals, weddings, family photos, and annual pilgrimages happened was washed away by Fiona's fury. I had photographed this location dozens of times over the years, but this particular image was taken just weeks before it was destroyed. My wife and I headed out as I knew there was a chance of Northern Lights this particular night. When we arrived I set up my camera on top of the cliff and took a few test shots to see if the aurora was starting. Nothing. We waited in the car for a long time. I kept going out to try my camera for any hint but no luck. We were just talking about if we should head home when I noticed the faint glimpse of light on the horizon. I jumped outside and sure enough, the aurora was starting. Within a few minutes, pillars of light were dancing on the horizon. I grabbed my camera and camera bag and left my wife to head to the Teacup which was about 1.5 km down the beach and around a point. As I walked the lights were getting brighter and brighter as was my pace. I did not want to miss the opportunity, and sometimes the aurora will only show herself for 15 minutes and be gone. I got to the location where the teacup is blocked by a large cliff and you have to walk around through the water. I took a few shots there just in case the lights faded away and started to make my way around the point, camera attached to my tripod over my shoulder and backpack strapped on. I left my shoes and rolled up my pants as any other time I had gone I only had to wade up to my knees to make it around the point. I guess in all the times I had been there I was never there during high tide. I was quickly up to my waist in water, on very slippery moss-covered rocks, trying my best to keep my balance and not ruin thousands of dollars in camera equipment. I thought about turning around, but I had already been soaked and my camera bag was about 1/3 under water so the damage was already done. I decided to gingerly and slowly carry on. I made it through the first section of deep water without falling. I regrouped and took a few images then continued on through the last section of water to the Teacup. When I got there I quickly set up my tripod and started taking photos. After a little while, I called my wife to tell her about the adventure and went back to taking images. A few minutes later I get a text from her. High tide is in 30 minutes. Well, it was about midnight at this time and there was no way I was going to try to make it back around the point again, especially if the water was even higher. I called my wife and told her I might have to hang out on this small piece of dry rock for another couple of hours until the tide goes down, but that I was on dry land and safe. Knowing I had nothing but time, I started exploring different angles and lighting techniques to try to light up the foreground rocks just enough. It was an amazing experience, trapped alone with the beautiful teacup rock and northern lights dancing on the horizon. After about an hour and a half of shooting, I had run out of angles and ideas. The temperature had dropped to about 15 degrees and I was starting to get a bit cold with my wet clothes. I knew that if I ventured down the beach in the opposite direction from where I came in that there was a cottage lane that went out to the main road. I called my wife to explain to her my idea and where to pick me up as it was a good 5 km walk back to the car from this lane. I headed down the beach and up to the lane. I had my headlight on and was afraid someone would think my light was a robber as I walked past the cottages. Luckily everyone was sound asleep. I made it to the lane and started to walk up it in my bare feet. The lane was at least a kilometer long but I figured my wife would meet me most of the way down. Nope, she called me to tell me there were huge potholes out close to the road and she had to wait there for me. I walked carefully out to the end of the lane to the car. I now had to go back to the main beach and make the 3km return trip to go and fetch my sneakers and socks. By this time it was at least 2am. The aurora had still not let up and was actually getting stronger. We got in the car and headed home, taking the coastal route and stopping several times so I could shoot the aurora from several different locations. At around 3:3o, my extremely patient wife asked if we could please go home as she was exhausted. That was the only time on PEI that I had seen the northern lights shine brightly the entire night. It was a magical night I will not soon forget. I hope you enjoy the image I selected from that adventure.
September's calendar image comes from my first visit to St. Stephen, New Brunswick. A charming town close to the border of Maine, it is full of grand old homes(and old money), countless deer, and a rugged coastline that is home to many whales and sea life. We were staying there for a few days and I was looking for photo opportunities. The pier in the center of town seemed to be the hub of activity, with various whale tours, many restaurants, and countless people. The first time we walked the pier I noticed many beautiful sailboats, perfectly moored around the harbour. I took a few images, but nothing special. This particular morning, we were heading out to do a whale-watching tour from the pier. We arrived very early to extremely dense fog. When we first arrived, you could not see anything at all. I was disappointed but decided to walk around and see if there was anything visible. As it was getting closer to the time to board the boat the sun started to rise, providing warmth, amazing light, and burning off some of the fog. The sailboats started to appear from out of the fog, lit beautifully with this purple light. I hurried to try to get a good angle on the boats as they were calling us onto the tour boat. I only had a minute to try to get these images. While sailing out of the harbour the light was even better and the angles constantly changed as we sailed. I was shooting constantly and just before we left the harbour I managed to get this image. The peaceful nature of this image was mesmerizing to me. The reflection, in combination with the colour created an image I am very happy with. Sometimes less is more in photography. I hope you enjoy it.
October's image was taken on one of my favorite places on earth, Cape Breton Island. The Cabot trail regularly comes up on lists of the most beautiful drives in the world and deservedly so. Every year I try to get there at least twice to hike, explore, visit family, and take photos. Even though I am from Cape Breton and lived in the highlands I am still discovering new places and more beauty. This particular image is of MacKenzie Mountain, an iconic switchback road that leaves Pleasent bay. I have both driven and cycled up and down this mountain many times. There are beautiful look offs along the way with vistas off towards Pleasent bay. For this image, I used my drone. It is one of the only ways to truly capture the beautiful lines of the road which disappear into an abyss of fall colours and natural glory. I got up before sunrise to get to a safe location to fly my drone. Luckily, the wind was not too strong as it often can be at this location. I started flying around, looking for the perfect angle. As I explored, the sun started to rise over the mountains, creating beautiful light but challenging photography conditions for the drone. I found a good location and took many photos, changing the camera settings to try to get proper exposure and watching my battery life the entire time. I was lucky to be able to get this image before my battery got too low and was able to make it back. I hope you enjoy it.
I chose November's calendar image to coincide with Remembrance day. Egypt falls in Cape Breton is one of the most beautiful falls in the Maritimes. Its location used to make it inaccessible for many people. To get there, you had to travel many kilometers up a gravel road to the trailhead. Once you got there, the trail to the falls descended more and more steeply, with the last part having you lower yourself down to the falls with a rope. It was extremely steep, slippery, and dangerous terrain and several people had to be rescued from the location as getting out was very difficult. Recently this has changed. The area has been purchased and turned into a retreat center for veterans suffering from PTSD. There are now stairs to get down and up, making it far more accessible. When you arrive at the falls, the location is so peaceful and beautiful that I can understand its healing power. When we arrived this particular time, it was late fall but many of the leaves were still on the trees. There were only a few people there and we soon found ourselves alone. I was walking around admiring the beauty when I discovered this beautiful old tree adorned with poppies. I was immediately struck by the beauty of this gesture. I set up my tripod to get this image. I slowed down my shutter speed to get the milky water and show the motion. On this remembrance day, let us take some time to honour and contemplate the sacrifices those who serve our country make on a daily basis. You are all heroes. I hope you enjoy the image.
We made it to December. My last calendar image. This one comes from Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia. Every winter the community helps to support the Bald eagle population in the area by feeding the eagles during the worst winter months when food is difficult to find. Farmers donate the chickens which have died on their farms, the chickens are frozen, and in the dead of winter, thrown into a field daily in Sheffield mills. It is not uncommon for 60-100 eagles to be perched in the trees surrounding the field. They are wild animals, so sometimes they are very active and hungry and other days they do not come down from the trees at all. This image was taken the first and only time I have been there. I brought my father and wife to see this amazing event. It took the eagles almost an hour to come down from the trees and start feeding, but once one eagle made the move all hell broke loose. It was like a scene from National Geographic. Eagles swooping in from all directions, fighting aerial acrobatics everywhere. It was truly amazing to see. To be that close to so many huge eagles is incredible. From a photography perspective, it was actually far more difficult to get a good image than I thought it would be. There were so many eagles and so much movement, that getting a clean image was not easy. Tracking a flying eagle with a long zoom lens when they are close and filling the frame is extremely difficult. I really wanted to get an image of two eagles fighting. Because there was lots of food for them to eat, this was not common, and when it did happen it was quick, done in 1 or 2 seconds. There were only 2 or 3 short fights the entire time we were there and this image was one of them. I was lucky to capture this image. It was quite far away so I had to crop it quite a lot to try to show the detail of the eagles and the emotion of the scene. I hope you enjoy the image.