What's been happening and what's coming up.

 2025-04-01 What's been happening and what's coming up.

Hey everyone. Here's an update as the some of the things that have happened and some of the plans for the next few months.

I recently had a few days exploring in the Nicola Valley region of British Columbia. I went to visit someone who lives off-grid in the general area of Merritt. Initially I had planned to get camp out quite high up and do some time lapse videos but the snowpack was more than I was comfortable driving through. Basically I went until I 'almost' got stuck, at which point I made the decision to just spend the night at my buddy's place. I didn't want to be forced into spending the night on the mountain and having to walk down to get help.

The next day he and I went exploring on a few Resource or Forest Service roads to see what all was there. Basically only turning around when we reached the end of the road or the snow was preventing us from going further. On the third day I returned home having had a great time with my buddy whom I hadn't spent a lot of time with in over a decade. I am working on putting some of the video and images up on YouTube. Look for it in a few days.

April is looking busy with a variety of things other than photography-videography. I do have a camping trip planned for the end of April with a group of friends so probably not a lot of picture taking on that trip. May and June are the months where I have significant photographic activity planned so we'll see what happens then.

In the mean time I hope you stay well and enjoy the outdoors.

A Place To Buy Prints!

2025-03-01 A Place To Buy Prints! 

I finally have it! A place for people to purchase prints of the pictures that I take. It took a bit of work but ultimately I was successful in getting it going. On the website you will notice that the Contact page is now the Store – Contact page. Going to this webpage will allow you to click on the link to the online store to purchase prints of selected images.

You can select prints of the images in two different materials: paper and metal. The paper print is a regular photo print similar to what you may print out at home but available in larger sizes. The metal print has the image printed on an aluminum sheet. The metal prints do cost more to produce but the image on them is amazing. It's a fantastic way to have a beautiful picture on display in your home or workspace.

At the moment I have the images, both paper and metal, available in three sizes: 8 by 12 inches (approx. 20 by 30 cm), 12 by 18 inches (approx. 30 by 46 cm), and 20 by 30 inches (approx. 51 by 76 cm). I have chosen these sizes because they seem to be the most popular sizes for photographic art in general. In the future I'm sure I will have images in other sizes including some panorama style images.

I'm planning to offer more than just wall-hanging type pictures in the future. I've got a few ideas. If you see me out and about go ahead and let me know if you have ideas of what you would like to see available on the store site.

Also please note that I am only shipping to addresses in Canada at this point in time. When that changes I will announce it here.

Enjoy!

Pros and Cons of Working Solo

 2025-02-01 Pros and Cons of Working Solo

Here's a few things that I have noticed about working solo. This is not to say that this is every person's experience but this is based on what I have personally noticed in the past year.

Negatives:

No one to share when something goes well. 

When I'm taking pictures in the backcountry I'm mostly by myself. This means that when I get that particularly awesome picture I have no one to celebrate the moment with. When I'm taking out and about with someone, like my buddy Mike, he and I get to share our images with each other and encourage each other with our photography while out in the field. When you're solo: nada! Even if you're doing wildlife photography the animals don't care. Unless the animal is annoyed with you and then you've got bigger problems.

Loneliness.

This is an expansion on the point above. I am not an extrovert by any means by I'm not entirely an introvert. While I do enjoy being by myself sometimes it gets a little tiring. On my solo photography trips I miss my family greatly, especially my significant other. I do enjoy going for walks and exploring by myself but a solo photography trip often means spending many days without regular communication with anyone. In British Columbia, where I do most of my photography, the majority of the province does not have cellular service and satellites can and do get blocked by mountains. This is also why I don't only rely on GPS for navigation.

It's all my fault.

When something goes wrong or doesn't work out all that great there is only one individual to take the blame, sorry responsibility. It's me. When the picture looks like crap. It's my fault. The camera and lens will only do what they're instructed to do. The only person forcing me to do all this is me. I could go get a regular job. I've had a regular job before but I have chosen to pursue being a nature and wildlife photographer.

Positives:

It's all my fault.

Yes this is called the same as the previous point but it's true. When that incredibly awesome, great picture shows up it's because I properly got the picture taken. It's true that the sun's position and the weather and creation all are part of the picture but the final recording of the image was because, for some reason, I managed to do things correctly.

Less interruptions.

When I'm out in the backcountry capturing images there's not a lot of people coming up and asking me questions. I have had this happen in urban areas. For example, I was taking pictures of some ducks that were swimming in the river near where I live. A lady comes up to me, while I'm busy actually taking pictures, and somewhat loudly asks, “Are you a photographer?” I was holding my Nikon D80 with a telephoto lens on it with the shutter making noise as I'm taking pictures. I turned, looked at her and responded with my standard line “Only when I have a camera.” She stomped off and muttered “Well, you don't have to be mean about it.” I thought it was a pretty good line. It's gotten laughs or chuckles many other times. Some people are just annoying.

These are just a few things that I've noticed about working alone. This isn't to say that I only take pictures by myself. I quite often go with a buddy or a group of fellow photographers and those times are great. I enjoy taking pictures while by myself but I also enjoy taking pictures with others. If we meet up in the backcountry come by and say hi. Please wait until I'm not actively taking pictures or video.

About ten or twelve years ago I was on vacation on the Island of Hawai'i. I was in a Safeway getting some groceries. I happened to be wearing a safari vest, the kind with lots of pockets. The young man bagging the groceries made a comment that I didn't catch. I turned to look and said, “I'm sorry I didn't catch that.” I could see he potentially had some developmental disabilities. The cashier responded, “He said that you look like you're a photographer.” I looked right at the young man, bagging my purchases, and said, “Only when I have a camera.” I also gave him a bit of a grin. He promptly started laughing and smiling back at me. The cashier commented, “I don't get it.” I responded with “That's okay. He did.” He and I then shared a hi-five. I hope I helped make his day.

So What's Up For 2025?

 Alright. Let's do the standard bit of what are the plans for this year. It's January 2025 so let's figure this out. (and also take a quick peek at last year).

Looking back and looking ahead seem to be the thing to do for a lot of people. I've never totally understood it but let's give it a go.

2024 was the year I decided, with the encouragement of my wife, to give the nature photography a go. For many years I have enjoyed taking photographs of many subjects. I even did some wedding and portrait photography for a few years. While the revenue from weddings was nice I didn't enjoy the workload before and after the event. I did receive encouragement from a relative to share my adventures into the backcountry via social media so with that in mind I started posting stuff on Instagram and Facebook. I also started a YouTube channel to share some video footage that I had been taking during my trips to the backcountry. You can find those links on the webpage.

In May I had my first dedicated photography dedicated trip. I took two weeks and went exploring parts of Southern British Columbia. I revisited some places that I had previously seen but I also explored places that I had seen only on maps and wondered how it looked for real. It was great fun for the most part. Dealing with significant rain for a few days while trying to do photography is not necessarily fun but I made the most of it. Overall it was greatly enjoyable.

In July I went to the BC Overland Rally and that really helped with learning more about what is available for 'living' in the backcountry that has come about the last few years.

So what's up for 2025. I am planning on attending some of the outdoor adventure shows in the Fraser Valley/Vancouver region of BC. I'm planning on taking at least two dedicated photography trips to parts of British Columbia. One towards the Rocky Mountains and another one to follow the Fraser River in the interior. I also might be driving the tour bus for a BC based theatre group. So if I see you out and about I could have a camera in hand or a set of bus keys.

Happy New Year!

Which Camera to Use?

When it's been mentioned that I am a nature photographer many people have then asked me what camera they should use for taking pictures. This is a big and wide question. Here's some thoughts.

Some people want to know what I personally use for photography. Let's take a wander down my photographic history to see what I have used and what has worked for me.

My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic 100 that I got when my mother got a new camera. I was five or six. It used a 126 cartridge film. I took pictures of everything with that camera. I soon learned that it had limitations but it was fun to be able to take pictures. The biggest problem I had was affording the film and processing. When you're that age you don't have a lot of income and my parents told me that I had to use my money to get the pictures developed. So therefore I learned to be 'discerning' about which subjects to take pictures of. The biggest difficulty that I had with the Instamatic was that I kept trying to use it in ways it wasn't designed. For example I soon realized that it was not set up to take extreme close ups.

But the important thing to remember is that this primitive, by today's standards, camera worked. Was it the best possible combination of camera body, film, lens and photographer. Not at all but it was used to take many pictures that looked good. The biggest problem was that the photographer, me, had very little experience and thus skill. Since then I have had the pleasure of using a number of different camera and lens combinations. Some that I have enjoyed using and others, maybe, not so much.

The first SLR camera that I could claim as being mine is a Minolta X-700. I still have and occasionally use it. I have put this camera through many adventures. It has been all over the western part of Canada. It was with this camera that I did my first gigs as a portrait and then wedding photographer (No, I'm not available for that anymore). One of the advantages and disadvantages with this camera is that it is manual focus. At times manual focus is great and other times it is annoying as anything. I learned a lot using this camera and it is still one of my favourites to use.

My first autofocus was a Nikon F80. Still have it. Haven't used it as much since going digital but I put a lot of film through it. The autofocus was very nice to have but what I appreciated more was that it wound the film a lot quicker than the X-700 could. This made taking pictures of moving objects much easier. My move to digital put me in the position that I am in now.

After a few years of the F80 and the cost of developing so much film I had saved up enough money to purchase my first new camera. Yes! Up until now all my previous equipment had been purchased used. You don't have to buy new to get good stuff. I researched for quite a while and I decided that I would wait until DSLR's had a resolution greater than 10 megapixels. When Nikon released the D80 with 10.2 megapixels I got excited. It was very similar to my F80 and I could use all my Nikon lenses with it. I was so excited.

My Nikon D80 is my go to camera body. I have a number of cameras that I could use. Some with more resolution. Why the D80. There are a couple of reasons.

• I know it the best. I have used it for many years. Shot thousands of images.

• It fits really comfortable in my hand. I find it very easy to hold for long periods of time.

While the resolution is not near what most cameras are nowadays this camera with the lenses I have does the job really well. The key is that I'm using good lenses. They are not the most expensive lenses. They are, what I believe, gives me the best value for the money.

Now back to the original question. Which camera to use? The short answer is the one you have. The longer answer is get to know the camera and lenses you have. You don't have to get the 'fanciest' camera and lens combination available. I have seen lots of great images captured with a point-and-shoot camera or an early cell phone camera. The main goal is to take pictures of what you like.

That's just this bushman's thoughts on the subject.

Reflections On Summer and Fall

 It's been an interesting summer and autumn. I've been able to do some things that I've wanted to for a long time. I was able to explore some parts of British Columbia that I've wanted to for a long time. I got some amazing pictures. I'll be sharing some of them via social media this winter.

It's also been a tough season. I attended the funeral of a friend of mine who I've known for over two decades. When he and I first met we instantly bonded over being outdoorsmen, photographers and having a desire share life skills that we had learned with those younger than us. I miss him greatly. While we lived almost a thousand kilometres apart we had some great times when we were together.

As for what will be happening in the future. The plan is to keep taking pictures and sharing them with people. I am hoping to have an online store up and running in early 2025 where people will be able to purchase prints and other products featuring the pictures I have taken.

Recently, a number of people have asked me which camera they should use for taking nature pictures. That's a big question that I think I'll leave to the next blog post.

Talk with you next time,

BushmanGarth

Why Am I Doing This?

 Why Am I Doing This?

This is crazy! Why have I decided to travel around and take pictures of what is there. And even worse, possibly try and monetize it.

Why take the pictures and videos?

I'm not fond of urban areas. Considering for most of this life I have had a residence in an urban area this may seem to be a contradiction. However, just because my residence is urban doesn't mean that my desire is to be urban. It's just the way life can go.

I find great joy in being in nature. I want to share this joy with others, particularly those who are unable to get out into nature themselves. Hopefully the pictures and videos I share will do that.

Why monetize it?

Travelling around costs money. If I have products available for people to purchase they can have product that may bring some of the joy of nature in to their home or workplace. The money raised would allow more possibilities of nature being shared.

What does it all mean?

It means lots of time in nature. Staying in one location for quite a while to get the image that is wanted or perfectly captures the spirit of the location in the scene. Such times can be both enjoyable and exhausting. I once spent 15-20 minutes to get the 'perfect shot' of a squirrel eating a pinecone. Was it worth it? I think so. Did I enjoy it? The capturing of the image, yes. The difficulty of getting up from an awkward sitting angle, no. That's just the way it goes.

As time goes on I will have more up and ready to go. At the moment I am using social media (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X aka Twitter) to share what I find. I hope to have an online store for people to purchase items. 

That's it for now.

If I see you out in the bush, great! If not, enjoy the pics and vids.

BushmanGarth