ACDSee Pro Blog Archives

As the storm raged, 30 foot waves slammed into the bowsprit. The bow cleavered the ocean like butter, rising to the challenge of the seas constant onslaught. The rise and fall of the hull being compensated for by our rhythmic flexing at the knees. Everyone bending and leaning in synchronicity like puppets, all the while maintaining a grasp on something solid. The ships undulations spanned 45 degrees leaning in both directions side to side. The ship questing consistent equilibrium as the bow rose and fell 30 to 40 feet. Digging deep into the oceans troughs. It was exhausting just trying to stand anywhere on the ships decks, never mind trying to get a few photos, all the while I was shielding my camera’s lens from the constant blasts of corrosive salty ocean air.

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An Old World Crossing

The ship was rolling beyond the point of where it was capable of recovering…….. or so were the thoughts screaming in my brain!!! Waves swept the decks every few minutes with surprising ease, eliminating all in its path. One poor soul got a complete soaker for having the temerity to boldly venture forth, attempting to cross the ships “waist deck” , but with incredibly poor timing. Fortunately, he only got wet, and not injured from first sliding and then slamming into the bulwarks on the far side of the wet slimy deck. We were deep into one of those early Spring storms, common here on the east coast of the USA. A good time to be sailing, or just getting sick, with many of us just trying to sleep through it all somehow. Everybody had their own way of dealing with the excessive rocking and rolling..never mind the ups and downs to top it all off. This is the worst sort of carnival ride ever, and it never seemed to end! My romantic notions of sailing across the Atlantic were dashed right from the start. This was sea fairing reality!

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“Sow, Watching Me Watch Her” Jasper Nat. Park, Alberta

The further North we progressed into the Yukon, the more apparent it was that the wildlife was far more abundant here than in southern Canada. I imagine that this is largely a result of the sheer lack of human presence up here. Often we would drive for a hour or more without seeing another vehicle, making our adventure feel more like we were experiencing some of the true wilderness that Canada has to offer. Most of the larger wildlife that we had the chance to come across seemed unconcerned with us being there, making this a fantastic opportunity to capture them while they lounged, foraged or were just grooming each other.

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“Waning Light”

As we begin to head North on the Stewart- Cassiar Highway we will be going from Northern B.C. into Southern Yukon. As I had mentioned before, we have been encountering a lot of weather and not really getting the continuous photo opportunities that we had been hoping for. Never the less, when we encountered a break in the clouds, and the continuous deluge of rain paused for a moment, we made the best of it. Sometimes coming up with the unique images only rendered from exactly these types of situations. Sun pouring through dark and moody clouds, glancing off the distant lakes reflective surface, highlighting the far shore with saturated color. This is the type of situation I wait for, camera ready, for it usually doesn’t last long.

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Telkwa Village, BC - Home of the Wet’suwet’en reserve

Native Fisherman netting a salmon 

Our quest to leave the rain behind us had not been as successful as planned, until a few days of driving later where we came upon the bustling activity at the Moricetown Falls, on the Bulkley River Just north of Smitters B.C. Everybody was there it seemed. The local constabulary, kids, grandparents and the inevitable coterie of dogs milling about looking for a freebie salmon head.

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Two years ago, I spent a few weeks in the Yukon territories a bit later in the year then I did this time around. We decided to go back up there a month earlier this time round to make sure that we caught the full expression of the fall colors. Because the seasons are shorter, the further north you go the earlier the fall season starts, much earlier than in the southern climes.

Yukon Territories, Sunset Reflections

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Funny enough, the one thing I had not considered at all, at the time, was that I needed to direct the pilot in the direction that I thought would give the best vantage point. Then get him to rotate the Jet Ranger with the right orientation, all the while, adjusting your F stop, shutter speed, filters and whatever else the situation required.

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So, with the blades whopping overhead and the pilot crackling instructions into our head phones we lofted into the crisp mountainous atmosphere leaving the mist to the valleys below. As we ascended I can see that the photo gods are indeed with us. It looks like it will be a spectacular adventure complete with stunning lighting streaming through the broken overcast.

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Early in September, Debbie and I took it upon ourselves to hire a helicopter to fly over the central portion of the Columbia Ice Fields, deep into Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.

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Drew, being the “up and at them” kind of guy was kicking at our tent guy wires long before the sun had risen. Good thing, as I am not prone to getting up this early normally. As we peeked out the frost laden tent fly with sparkles of frozen breath descending on my face, I could see it was going to be a fantastic morning for some early photos.

Steve waiting for the sun

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