Just over a five minute drive from home, I “discovered” a great new location for photography. Maybe not so much discovered it as realized what has been right under my nose for ages. The Sooke Region Historical Society describes the Lannan Flats area on a local historical marker as such: “The Lannan family farmed hundreds of acres along the shores of Sooke basin in the early 1900’s. In summer community picnics and horse racing took place on these salt flats. Earlier, in 1864, Ash’s Landing, east of Lannan Creek, was the starting point of the government trail leading to the Leech River gold rush site”. It’s a little early for summer picnics and I don’t think the area has seen horse racing in decades, but it is still a great spot to get down to the relatively sheltered waters in the Sooke basin and take some photos.
It turned out to be a good time to watch the birds, as there were a variety (seagulls, crows, various ducks and even a couple of bald eagles) visiting the area in the short time I was there.
Some were just landing…
Others, like this duck, were taking off…
And others just came for a low flyby, apparently so I could reflect on their beauty and grace. It was also a great day to try out my newest lens, which I just purchased from a local used camera gear store. I’ve always been leery about purchasing used photographic gear, but the store not only had a great reputation from others I talked to, they let me closely inspect the lens and even take some test photos in the area around the shop. Now that I’ve had the chance to test the lens a little more out “in the wild”, I can say that I am extremely pleased with it. Even when I cropped these images they look far superior to what I would get before with the lens it replaced. I am sure this lens will keep me happy for many years.
As for Lannan Flats, it will be added to my list of places to go for great photo opportunities close to home.
Wild Drake Photography 