My plans for some early morning landscape photography were derailed by heavy fog near the ocean, so I adjusted them and went to a location where I figured I could use the fog to my advantage and make some interesting photographs; Whiffen Spit.

My plans for some early morning landscape photography were derailed by heavy fog near the ocean, so I adjusted them and went to a location where I figured I could use the fog to my advantage and make some interesting photographs; Whiffen Spit.

Sombrio Beach is a place I’ve been meaning to check out for quite some time. In fact, a few weeks ago I actually drove there (it’s around an hour drive pst Sooke, along a the twisty West Coast Road), but when I arrived, both parking areas were full and the gravel road leading to it was lined with cars on both sides for some distance up the hill, so I decided to try again another day. I’m glad I did, because when I returned this time, there were only a few people camping on the beach and it was a great day to explore.

Every once in a while I like to get a little creative after I’ve ‘finished’ processing my images and today was one of those days. I had taken a short walk with my camera in downtown Victoria and made some interesting photographs, like this one of a short section of the sidewalk.

After more snow than we are used to around here (that would be pretty much anything more than a trace that disappears the same day), we are back to ☀️ sun and rain ☔️ showers. I had the chance for a quick walk around town and saw the birds hanging out together.


After seeing some fantastic photos from other photographers this past year, my attention was brought to JMG Galleries “Blog Project: Your Best Photos From 2015” and I was inspired to go through my images from 2015 and put together my own top ten list. The ten photos I chose for this are some of my favourites and cover a variety of styles. I hope to take some even more creative and interesting photos over the course of 2016 and have an improved batch of top ten photos for next year.
One thing going through my photos from 2015 has done, is given me the opportunity to see the progress I have made and realize that what I once thought was really good, now I see there is room for improvement in. It should be a fun year. I hope you will have a chance to enjoy my posts.

Early in the year, I took a trip to Tofino and slipped down to Ucluelet for the day, were I enjoyed a hike around the Wild Pacific Trail. I always find this part of Vancouver Island to be a very special place.

On a hike in East Sooke Regional Park at low tide, I climbed up a small rocky island and found this egg shell. At first I wondered if a little bird had hatched, but I noticed it wasn’t in a nest and there seemed to be some dried yolk on the rock just in front of the egg shell, so I was left believing another creature had lunch.

Sometimes I like to go down to the waterfront in Sooke and just watch what is going on. This time there were quite a few birds around, including these ducks, skimming over the water on a quiet morning.

Once upon a time… one of my favourite photography sites, Oopoomoo, had a project called the “Chain Mail Chicken“, where they had several rubber chickens that they sent to photographers all over the country, to photograph and tell a story about. I had been on the list to have one of the chickens visit me, but it flew the coop before it arrived and I never had the chance. Not satisfied with this outcome, I met Henrietta chicken, and helped her search for her missing relative. This was quite a fun challenge, and I enjoyed writing the story of Henrietta’s quest.

As you may have noticed, many of my photos are taken while I am on hikes, including this photo of Mary Vine Falls, near Sooke Potholes Provincial Park.

On another trip down to the local waterfront, I saw this group of people rowing what reminded me of a Viking boat, across the calm waters of the harbour. I liked the look of it best with the selective colouring I used here.

This past summer I had the opportunity to stay after the park closed and take some photos of the park and Fisgard Lighthouse. There was just enough lighting from Victoria to illuminate the lighthouse and allow me to get the stars without too much movement.

The summer in Victoria brings with it many festivals and I had been at Busker Fest for this particular day. As I was walking between venues, I saw this young lady in her own world, dancing away with seemingly not a care in the world. It was almost as if she had planned the shot for me, as she was right in the centre of an ornate circle.

Whenever I travel, even for a short day trip to Vancouver, I try and make sure I have my camera with me. On this trip I had enough time to linger a little near Canada Place, where I saw this window washer seated on a tiny little platform, suspended by a couple simple ropes as he went about his day.

On a very rainy night in November, I thought it would be a good idea to take out my camera and get a picture of the BC Legislature building. I got soaked, but kept my camera dry enough to continue working.
As I said, there were a variety of styles and genres of photos here and I plan on continuing to explore my creative side, so I hope you enjoyed this review and will be checking back, soon!
I recently wanted to go for a walk near the water to take some sunset photos, but it was overcast and not the best day to do this. As the location I had planned was a little farther away than I wanted to go that evening, I decided to stick close to home and am pleased that I did. I was able to catch a little of the setting light on the small waves before I moved closer to the water for some bird photos.
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.