Spring in the Valley

Welcome back to the BC interior! These images were made last year, in the middle of April on a stretch of Highway 3 between Keremeos and Hedley. It was one of those days that turned out differently than originally intended. I had my good friend (and photographer) Beth visiting from Massachusetts, and we had anticipated days of photographing orchards with blooms at their peak - or so we thought! We were a couple of weeks early, as it turned out. I remember being concerned because the weather was not cooperating at all. It was cold and windy, with intermittent cold and wind on this day we had set aside for the Similkameen Valley. Aside from an image I ended up using on my website, I wasn't thrilled with the outcome of the day's shooting.
A year later, I have been asked to put together a portfolio of local images. As I go hunting through my files for that one image, I find myself looking at everything from that day with fresh eyes. I have a new appreciation for these three images now - they're different from a lot of the images typical of this region - it's marketed for the long summer and desert climate. I am once again reminded of two important rules of photography. The first is that the conditions for outdoor photography are not something within the control of the photographer. It is more important to work with what you are given than to force a square peg into a round hole. The second rule is don't be too quick to discard any technically strong images just because you didn't get exactly what you wanted in that moment.
This is not the first time I have been reminded of this lesson. In order to get to the "good stuff", I have been known to send a keeper or two to the trash can, only to have them rescued by someone with a more forgiving eye. The best example I can give is the first image called "Daybreak" in the Places gallery at www.lauratucker.com. It was taken in New Brunswick at the first workshop I took with Freeman Patterson and Andre Gallant. It was the first batch of slides we got back from the lab. The images had not turned out exactly as I had intended. As I sorted through the slides, I muttered "crap, crap, crap" as I callously tossed them into a garbage bin. One of the other participants saw what I was doing and asked "Can I take a look at those?" very cautiously. She pulled a few slides out of the pile and suggested that I take a look at them in a few days. Well, Beth rescued Daybreak and taught me an important lesson.

From Victoria to Nanaimo

Here are a few images from the drive from Victoria to Nanaimo, taken in early April this year. It was a beautiful day, with just enough cloud in the sky to make the landscape interesting.


This is a quintessential British Columbia photograph - the ferries are an essential mode of transportation between many points.


By the time we got to Nanaimo, the clouds had started to move in, making for more dramatic light. The harbour there is lovely, with a long boardwalk and docks to stroll on.


I was struck by the size of this boat, The Endeavour. The row boat tied next to it really gives a sense of scale. I used a wide angle lens to get right up close, yet include as much of the Endeavour as I could in the frame.

Harbour Reflections

I am standing on the dock at Fisherman's Wharf in Victoria. It's a beautiful spring day; warm when the sun shines, brisk when the breeze moves. People are walking around, looking at the curious houseboat community. The committee for renewing the wharf has a display of their future plans that seem to generate a positive response. I take out my camera, anxious to explore this place. After a few warm-up shots of my surroundings, I start to see the beauty of the details.


The reflections create an abstract, painterly image. When there is no reflection, as in the image below, it is clear that there is much more going on beneath the surface of the water - more than I had anticipated...

Meet Sammy the Seal! He hangs out at Fisherman's Wharf, waiting for people to feed him fish they can buy right on the dock. Sammy is a pretty well-fed seal. He had a younger companion who had to work a lot harder for food. Needless to say, the young seal was a lot slimmer.

Butchart Gardens

One of the highlights of my trip to Victoria was visiting Butchart Gardens. My mother had been there a couple of years ago and described its splendour. I remember she raved about it, but I was blown away by the beauty, especially by "The Sunken Garden", pictured here. It was formerly a rock quarry that was transformed into a lush garden by the quarry owner's wife, once the quarry was no longer being mined.


This fountain is just beyond The Sunken Garden, and the dancing waters are quite spectacular.

No trip to a new area would be complete without capturing the unique character to be found in the trees....

Distinct

Chaotic

Ancient

This is definitely a place to see in all seasons. I will definitely return in the future. Enjoy!

Discovering Victoria

I just returned from my first trip to Vancouver Island. I visited Maureen, a friend from Toronto who moved there in January - yes, the invasion continues! The weather was cool, but very cooperative. The trip has supplied me with some fresh material for several blog entries to come! These images were made in and around the Victoria harbour. I had not expected such variety in a relatively small area. These images are of the Empress Hotel, which overlooks the harbour.

We made our approach in the smallest ferry boat I've ever seen!


The cherry blossoms were in their splendour throughout my visit...

And we saw one of the residents of the harbour contemplating life.


This is a sampling for now, I'll be back with more later.....