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"You and I have memories
Longer than the road that stretches out ahead
…
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home",

"Two of Us", Lennon–McCartney, 1969

Ron's Shadow on the Dempster Highway, NWT

There is nothing like getting home after a few months away. I sleep so deeply, so contently. I’m slowly going through the images. It will take a while. It never seems like I’m getting anything worthwhile during the trip. I’m always driven to find that illusive image, that trip defining moment that is a touchstone. As I pick the best images, my “keepers”, I’m finding a few surprises, images I didn’t think much of at the time. There will be a few photos that emerge as trip defining. I don’t think many will be more rewarding than the Aurora Borealis images from the Yukon

Northern Lights, Yukon

As hard as these trips are, traveling this way has been very productive. We keep trying to come up with a new way to do this. So far this is the best way for us. I’m not sure where our next trip will be. But I’m not in a hurry to be on a 3-month road trip again.

Old Church Saskatchewan

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB

Rainbow in Yukon

Train Tracks, Saskatchewan

Tangle Creek, Jasper, AB

Larson Homestead, Grasslands, SK

Manic Depressive

Travelling like this is tough both physically and mentally. Long hours of driving followed by hours of looking and photographing whatever we can find. There are times when I get frustrated. As a nature photographer you are at the mercy of the weather. I found this location in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in the Kananaskis area of Alberta. I knew it was a great spot. I just needed some light. I was tired. We waited for quite awhile. There was nothing but clouds and dull light. We left and looked for bears. We didn’t find anything. As we drove south, the light hit the mountain and I knew I had missed it. I felt that sinking feeling. When you work this hard and miss it, it can play on your mind. I was about to call it a night. Lori quietly said, “We can go back and wait if you want”. And that’s just what we did. It started to rain but there was just a sliver of light. And then, it hit. Glorious light, rainbows and calm water.

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB

Rainbow in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB

As I shot at this small lake, we could hear Wolves howling close by.

I needed this - just a shot of energy at the right time. We often hit a wall three weeks into a trip. It is sometimes tempting to turn the van around and drive to the comforts of home. Hopefully this will get us over the hump.

Kananaskis is an area south of Banff. It seems a little wilder, a little more remote than the National Parks to the north. It is worth checking out if you get a chance.

Grizzly Bear

The Quest

Burleigh Falls, Ontario

The frost is melting from under my feet. You can smell the earth as it warms up after a long winter. It’s time to get outside and watch the world wake up.

Below High Falls, Ontario

Lately I’ve been busy working on a few projects and haven’t been out to shoot as often as I would like. I suspect that will change soon. With the spring bird migration and the leaves about to sprout, I will be drawn outside to the light.

The last few weeks I’ve spent “data mining”, going back through old images and finding gems hidden in the weeds. We are working on a project for a client and they wanted an image with a specific look, a “typical Canadian landscape”. We have been fortunate to travel extensively across Canada many times. I have watched the tide come and go on all 3 coasts. With all that this country is how do you say that with one image? If you were asked to pick an image that screams CANADA where would it be? The Rocky Mountains? Newfoundland? Algonquin Park? It reminds me of a time we were in France and someone said they “cook Canadian” all the time. I looked at them confused. Canada is so diverse it is hard to sum up what we are in one dish, one scene or one sentence.

Here are a few images I missed selecting the first time through.

Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta

Alexandra Falls, Northwest Territories

The Palisades, Jasper National Park, Alberta

Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta

Male Willow Ptarmigan

The quest for a great image does not end with the click of the shutter. There is so much more to my ever-changing workflow that contributes to a finished image. Judging by the images above, I need to have a look at my selection criteria.

The quest continues.

Tooting the Horn

It's a long road. You have to navigate many tough days and mountains of self-doubt. The life of a nature photographer can be an isolating experience. The most successful people I know are the ones who didn't quit. Even after so many years it is still a thrill to get images out there. Here are a few of our latest photos that have been published:

My work is being featured in the July 2013 issue of Outdoor Photography Canada.

This is an exclusive calendar published in Germany:

Kanada 2014

A book cover for Viking/Penguin:

The Boys In The Boat

A cover for a mini-calendar:

Ontario 2014

A double page spread in the Summer 2013 issue of ON Nature magazine:

ON Nature magazine

The front cover on the Winter 2012/2013 issue of ON Nature magazine and some other images inside:

ON Nature magazine

"Action is the foundational key to all success" -- Pablo Picasso

Keep moving!

Running on Empty

I’ve kept working as we travel east. After more than 11 weeks on the road, it feels like I’m on autopilot. I shoot everyday but I’m not very productive at this point.

After a long day of driving, we camped at Elk Island National Park. I decided to take the night off. That’s a sign that there will be a spectacular sunset. Sure enough, as I worked my way through one of the best steaks I have ever had, I looked behind me and the sky was on fire. I don’t usually shoot sunsets and did my best to ignore this one. But finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. I left Lori to clean up the dinner mess and I ran down to the lake.

Astotin Lake in Elk Island National Park, AB - Click for larger

We saw lots of Coyotes in Elk Island. This young one was wandering along the road.

Coyote - Click for larger

After a lot of driving, we have just made it back to Northern Ontario. The leaves are spectacular.

Mijinemungshing Lake, Ontario - Click for larger

Autumn on Whitefish River - Click for larger

Autumn in Espanola, ON - Click for larger

White-tailed Deer in Autumn - Click for larger

I keep clicking the shutter but I think my tank is running on empty. It’s time for us to head home.

Fun in the Rockies!

We left the prairies behind and headed for the hills. Lori and I have had good luck with weather and have had some great light for photography.

Mount Chephren and Waterfowl Lake - Click for larger

We started in Waterton National Park and then made our way north to Banff and then on to Jasper where we met up with our friends from Ontario - Robert and Olga McCaw and Scott Fairbairn. It was fun to do a bit of visiting and photography together.

Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

We have hiked a few trails and had lots to see and photograph. I prefer Jasper to all of the other Rocky Mountain National Parks.

Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

Hiking the Cavell Meadows trail on Mount Edith Cavell we found many Hoary Marmots and Pikas willing to pose.

Hoary Marmot - Click for larger

Hoary Marmot - Click for larger

American Pika - Click for larger

American Pika - Click for larger

Lori heard a noise outside one evening and went to investigate. It was a Great Horned Owl right beside our cabin! I grabbed a camera and it stayed long enough for me to get this shot.

Great Horned Owl - Click for larger

We will head north from here to the Yukon and Alaska.

Stormy Weather

I'm sitting in a Motel in Jasper watching the rain turn to snow. A group of 10 guys on Harley Davidsons from Wyoming are waiting out the weather. They are in good spirits in spite of the snowstorm they drove through to get here. They reminded Lori of the movie “Wild Hogs” but I think these guys are the real deal, not wannabe bikers like John Travolta. I chatted with one of them at breakfast. He said the trip up the Icefields Parkway was miserable. I found it hard in a van. I can’t imagine what it would be like on a Harley. Blowing snow, sleet and rain mixed with gusts of cold wind.

Motorcycles - Click for larger

We felt a bit overcharged for the room. The restaurant’s food was well below average. Can’t win them all I guess. We stopped at a place with cabins before we stopped here. They wanted $190 for the night. I’m a photographer, not an Oil Barron. We continued on to this place that shall rename nameless. It was a bit cheaper but not cheap. Some day I think I will write a book about all the bad places we have stayed. I will probably need a lawyer though so on second thought, maybe I will just keep a list of places I will never ever stay at again. It’s not a very long list thankfully but we have stayed in some winners. (See Lori’s previous post that mentions the dead lizard.)

We drove through some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet on what must be one of the top 5 drives in the world. We couldn’t see a thing. It has been moody, glum at times and ever so often spectacular light. We are still enjoying it. It’s not always easy. The other day, I was trying to make something of the pitiful light I had. I stopped at the side of Waterfowl Lake in Banff National Park. Just as I set up, it started to rain. Lori came out with an umbrella to help keep my equipment dry. I dragged my camera bag over to get it under cover. It was open and my brand new 24-105 mm lens (the one I had just replaced because my old one just gave up the ghost) the brand new, never been used still squeaky clean right out of the $1400.00 box rolled out of the bag and was rolling toward the lake. It stopped about 2 inches from complete disaster. It gently rolled up to a rock and sat there. I dusted it off, put it on the camera and got back to work. As my friend Hal once said to me when his camera toppled over, “hey, if it can’t take it, what good is it?”

Sh-t happens.

Banff National Park - Click for larger

If you do this long enough, you will drop stuff. You will fall and scrape your knee, twist an ankle. It has taken me a long time to learn how to do this, the travelling photography/massive road trip thing. The nagging self-doubt and the inner noise in my head that is all things good and bad never stops. You learn to listen to your real voice, the creative one that never ever rests.

Mount Chephren, Banff - Click for larger

Life is good!