Wild Drake Photography

Tag: review

  • Top Ten (favourite) Images of 2021

    Top Ten (favourite) Images of 2021

    This is now the seventh consecutive year that I am writing a post about my top images of the past year. Last year at this time, I, like many other people probably were, thought life would be back to something resembling normal by now. As we all know, life had different ideas for us. I really hopped that I would be getting out with my camera more often as well as posting more frequently, but that didn’t happen. I did get out a bit and had some photos that I am happy with, so I am sharing them here, along with my thoughts.

    Several times a year I go into the city specifically for photography, but often even when it’s not a photography specific trip, I still bring my camera with me. That is what happed with the photo below. I had taken my car to the dealership for some very minor work and had an hour or so to hang out while it was being done. Across the street is a large building that was reflecting the wispy, white clouds and blue sky and I thought the pattern was interesting, as was the contrast between the lighter (left side) and darker side. This photo actually received a live review on one of my favourite podcasts, Behind The Shot – Image Critique (on YouTube) and I did a little re-editing based upon their suggestions.

    reflections of the sky
    Shades of Blue

    One of the few times I went on a photography specific trip was when I went up to San Josef Bay in Cape Scott Provincial Park. It is a long drive, but always worth it. The rainy weather made for a less than comfortable day hike at the beach, but it certainly added an element of atmosphere to the photography that day.

    a group of rocks with trees
    San Josef Bay Sea Stacks

    This year I also found myself having a greater appreciation for abstract scenes and the beach can be a great place to find them, if you can look beyond the grand vistas. The patterns in the sand are disrupted here, by this piece of kelp that has formed a gentle loop along with evidence of foam bubbles that burst after the waters receded.

    kelp looped on the sand
    Natural Beach Art

    Looking down, I saw this beach scene, below, and though it looked almost like a pencil sketch of a distorted Jaba the Hut face. I decided to capture it and process it as a black and white image. I’ve since tried my hand at a little pencil sketching, but nothing quite like this!

    seeing faces in the sand
    Face of the Beach

    The biggest trip I took in 2021 was to the Kootenays, and I took advantage of the trip to do a lot of sightseeing along the way, as it had been many years since I had driven the southern route through the province. I definitely don’t want to wait too long before exploring the area more. I liked the way the river was flowing past these three old posts in the Slocan River. It gives me a calm, relaxed feeling.

    three decaying poles
    Last Three Standing

    Some of the areas I drove through on that trip showed signs of past fires. As unfortunate as it is for wildfires to destroy trees and anything else in their path, it is interesting how what was left behind afterwards can still catch the eye and be appreciated. While this lone tree stood on the angled ridge line, against a foreboding sky, renewed signs of life can be seen, like the small evergreen a little lower on the hill.

    a burnt tree on the hill
    Scorched but Standing

    With the morning sun low on the horizon, the hills around the Osoyoos area were accented by the shadows and the distant fog. I loved the way they seemed to go on and on and the warm feeling I get, looking back at this image.

    rolling hills and mist
    A Study in Layers

    I know earlier I talked about looking down for unique images, but it pays to look all around, including up, if you want to find something different than everyone else. I saw these cables and the way they intersected and knew they would make an interesting subject. I shifted my viewpoint around and waited until the clouds drifted to a point where they added more interest to the scene and quite like the result.

    cables under tension
    Got Your Wires Crossed?

    There are many places close to home that I like returning to over and over, and this is one of them, but the specific scene is not one I’d previously paid much attention to. It’s a little cove, just off to the side from a lighthouse that is the normal subject of my attention. This time, I decided to do some long exposure photography, and happened to notice that, from the right angle, the rock formation on the beach looked like a couple of stacked pyramids.

    rocks, ocean, waves
    Long Exposure in Front of Natural Pyramids

    My final image selected for the year captures a traffic circle in the snow, the day after Christmas (Boxing Day here in Canada, among other places). The heavier traffic on three sides of the roundabout leave a clear dark path, which kind of remind me of an ancient Egyptian eye hieroglyph. In the last couple of months I have started using my drone more often for photography and am really enjoying the perspective.

    a traffic circle in the snow
    Snow on the Eye-way

    I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back on my favourite photos from 2021 and come on back to see what 2022 will bring.

    Remember, if you enjoy my work, you can always buy me a coffee!

  • That was 2020… What Photographic Adventures will 2021 bring?

    That was 2020… What Photographic Adventures will 2021 bring?

    In the past, I’ve written a year end recap and look at things I plan or hope on accomplishing, photographically in the coming year. After a one year absence of that post, I am getting back on track. Somehow missing a post looking forward at what 2020 might hold in store for me seems fitting. Not in my wildest dreams (nightmares???) would I have guessed that almost the entire year, and beyond, would be dramatically affected by a global pandemic. I had been looking forward to a major photography trip in October, which had been planned well over a year in advance. At first I thought things might be getting back on track by then, but as the months wore on, it became apparent that it wouldn’t happen and it would be difficult to say when things might be back to a point when I could even consider an international trip would be. I had big plans, in my mind, for the year, but felt sapped of energy and let many things, like this blog, my YouTube channel, local photography outings, etc, slide. As I write this, the first people have received vaccines and while it will take many months yet, better times are in sight.

    Bull Kelp

    Despite all the cancelled trips, outings and events, there was much that happened for me, related to my photographic endeavours. I started off the year with a photo trip to Tofino, where I explored the wreckage of an old warplane and even made a short video of it. Shortly after that, things first got hectic in my non-photography work and then Covid set in. Still, I became even more involved in the local arts scene. As a Director on the Sooke Arts Council, I was involved in starting our art gallery, and subsequently became Vice President of the Council. This took up a lot more time than my earlier involvement did, however, it has been very rewarding, and working with artists of various other forms has been a positive influence on my artistic development.

    Gallery by Sooke Arts Council

    I also became more involved in various social media endeavours. While I have not grown my Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter or Flickr followings significantly (in fact, I have not kept up on them nearly was much as I wanted), I have made more connections with other photographers and artists through them, which has led to positive artistic growth. As a direct result of my involvement in some of these sites, or reaching out to those on them, I have had the opportunity to appear, or have my photography be featured, on various mediums. Images of mine have been reviewed on episodes of Behind The Shot. I have been a returning guest on Latitude Photography Podcast, and represented the Sooke Arts Council on the All Sooke Days Podcast. I even had my picture in the local paper, hanging the sign for our new Gallery… and there’s still time for a little more exposure before the end of the year!

    BC Legislature & Victoria’s Inner Harbour

    I did manage a couple quick trips on Vancouver Island, where I scouted areas I hadn’t previously been to. Strathcona Park and the surrounding area have much to offer, and I know I will be doing a lot more exploring there in the future. My short trip to Campbell River included a whale watching trip with Aboriginal Journeys Wildlife & Adventure Tours, and had a fantastic day viewing Humpback whales, seals, sea lions, various birds and other sea life. This is another area that I want to spend much more time in with my camera!

    Humpback Whale “waving goodbye”

    This all brings me to the point where I look forward to 2021. A lot of things are still uncertain and trying to make any definitive plans will be difficult, but I have some general goals in mind. One of those is quite simple. Get out with my camera more often than in 2020. Along with that, I want to be more regular and consistent with my blog posts and YouTube videos. Hopefully, I will be able to grow followers on both, as well as other social media platforms. In addition, I want to continue to increase my exposure on through appearing on podcasts, blogs, local media and anywhere else I can arrange. With any luck, travel will be back in the cards in the not too distant future. I’ll definitely be exploring more areas on Vancouver Island and if all goes well I’ll be checking out more of British Columbia this year, as well as at least one more distant locale. I’m looking forward to a great year and hope you follow along on my adventures, here and on my other sites.

  • Top Ten (favourite) Images of 2018

    This will be the fourth consecutive year I have compiled a list of the top ten favourite images of the past year. I was first inspired to do so after seeing Jim Goldstein’s blog project on his JGM Galleries site, where he encourages photographers to participate by linking a post with their top photos of the year. There are always a lot of great images there and I’d encourage everyone to go check them out.

    This year I could have picked more than ten images, but I was able to narrow it down. I list them as my “favourite” images rather than “best”, because while they may not be technically perfect, each one is special to me, in some way.

    waves crash on the beach then return to the ocean past a small islet
    As quick as it came in, the water recedes

    The first image is from Botany Bay, in Port Renfrew. This is a fascinating area, as the adjoining Botanical Beach features some amazing tide pools and geological features. I liked the effect from the receding water taken with a longer shutter speed here which produced interesting patterns. I have only recently started trying to sell/market my images, and this was the first large print that I sold.

    a surfer rides the waves
    Catching a wave

    For this image, I was sitting on a small island (at least it is at high tide) in Cox Bay, Tofino, BC, watching surfers in the distance. It took a fair bit of patience to get this image, where the wave was large enough that it provided a nice curl behind, and looming over the surfer, but eventually I got what I was hoping for and was able to retreat to the beach before the rising tide was able to trap me on the little rocky island.

    as the forest reflects on the wet sand, a rainbow arches overhead
    Rainbow over the beach resorts

    The day after I captured the image of the surfer at Cox Bay, I was out on the beach with the intent of getting some sunset images. There was a light rain falling and when I turned back towards the resorts, there was a beautiful double rainbow above them. While the second rainbow was not as bright, it was also above the brighter one and I couldn’t easily fit it in the image. While the sunset images were okay, they were not nearly as special as this lovely rainbow scene was/is to me.

    several sea sacks appear to rise out of the misty sea in a pastel sunset
    Sea Stacks Rising

    The west coast of the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington state, is only a short trip south from Vancouver Island, but this year was the first time I made the trip “down south” to visit it, and I’m glad I did! what a beautiful place. It was a foggy/misty day and these sea stacks in the distance almost seemed to be floating in the pastel shades of sunset.

    Sea Stack Sunset at Ruby Beach

    Ruby Beach, on the Olympic Peninsula, is a popular location for photographers, as I found out, but it is still easy to get some interesting images without other people in them. Photographing in a location like this left me wanting to search out more sea stacks!

    sea stacks erupt from the sand
    San Josef Bay sea stacks on a cloudy day

    My quest for sea stacks to photograph led me to the farthest northern tip of Vancouver Island. While it was a long drive, including some brutal gravel roads at the end, it was well worth it. The hike in to San Josef Bay was pretty easy, but the rainstorm that started just after we arrived on the beach was brutal and kept us in the tent most of the time until the next day. In the morning, the tide was out and the sea stacks looked magnificent, with interesting patterns in the sand around them.

    fog enshrouds a pier and rocks
    Simple lines of a pier reflecting in calm water

    At various times throughout the year we can get a lot of fog around the water. While this limits some types of photography, it opens up others to explore. I like the simplicity and symmetry of this image.

    I have not done a lot of astrophotography, primarily because I keep finding excuses not to, even though I enjoy it. I wish I had a wider & faster lens, or that there was more interesting scenes in the foreground, or that it wasn’t so cold, or cloudy (okay, that last one might be a little more legitimate)… One of the few times I did get out this year was during a meteor shower and once again, I was glad I went out. After no success capturing much in the way of meteors, I thought I’d try getting a couple images of a portion of the Milky Way over some of the trees that were getting a bit of light from the partial moon (I don’t remember the phase, but know it was not a full moon). As luck would have it, not only did I get the shot I wanted, it included two meteors streaking side by side, just over the trees.

    Historic Aircraft Flypast of BC Legislature

    After a quarter century, last year was the first year I wasn’t in the military during Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day in the US), however, I wasn’t able to attend a ceremony. This year I had the opportunity to attend the ceremony at the BC Legislature grounds, where there were huge crowds and it was hard to be in a good position to capture interesting photographs. When I saw the historic aircraft were doing a flypast of the Provincial Legislature building I quickly adjusted my position so that I would be able to capture this image of a plane on either side of the dome, with Captain Vancouver (the gold statue) standing above & between them.

    Standing On Guard

    This WW I soldier, stands on guard above the memorial with memorial plaques tributing the fallen Canadians of past conflicts. The Canadian flag above flaps rapidly in the wind and is well lit on a dark night. Beyond any artistic merit there may be in this image, it means more to me than all the rest.

    I hope you enjoyed this years top ten and that you go to check out the other photographers lists on the JGM Galleries Blog when they are posted in January, 2019. Hope to see you all back here next year!