Start of Summer

 Well, July is here. The summer holidays are in full force. The weather is mostly sunny and getting hot.

A fun time to try and get some relaxing in.

However I do find the summer a challenge to do the photography I like. There's lots of sun! This is great and challenging at the same time. The sun rises a lot earlier and sets a lot later. Many more hours of the day to shoot. This also means that the sun is, generally, a lot brighter which makes getting certain pictures much more difficult. When travelling I have to compromise on getting certain shots. The only time I may be in particular location will be near midday when the sun is overhead and very bright. Often this provides a difficult situation to take pictures in. Everything is overexposed. Yes filters can help but you also have a lack of shadow that many times just makes the picture seem meh and not awesome. But you do the best you can and hope that in post processing you can tweak just enough to look good.

Another challenge with nature photography in summer is wildfires. There have been many times when I have planned to go visit a certain geographic region and then when the day comes the trip has to be cancelled because of a forest fire near there that is making it difficult to access, the smoke pollution means difficulty breathing or evacuation alerts/orders are in place. I was on a trip to capture some fall colours but the smoke in the air made it quite difficult to breathe. It didn't affect the pictures but I had a sore throat and was coughing for a few days. That fire was two mountain ranges away from where I was. I thought I would be fine. Oh well, that's the way it goes.

One of the things I enjoy about photography in summer is that the daylight comes much earlier. I enjoy being woken up by the sun. Most people are still sleeping from spending most of the evening around the campfire so I go out and take the camera for a walk. If I'm by a lake quite often you can get a little bit of a mist coming of the lake and it looks just great. If I'm not taking pictures there's a good chance that I've got a fishing rod in hand and hoping to catch lunch.

Another great thing about summer photography is being able to go out with different people and do photography. More people are able to take vacation during the summer and are able to go out during the week and explore than only on the weekends. It's nice to go explore with people and not just by your lonesome.

Overall I find there are definite pros and cons to summer nature photography. What's the conclusion? Let's just go out and take pictures!

Photography out of the urban environment.

 Those who know me will know that I don't take a lot of pictures in urban or even suburban environments (or places if you prefer). The truth is that I am not fond of cities. I've been to quite a few and overall they all seem to be about the same to me. Lots of people living in close proximity to each other. Nothing really wrong with this. It's just not a place I enjoy being most of the time. I have enjoyed being in cities at times and lived in them for a while. I lived in the City of Vancouver, BC for about five years. Didn't take a lot of pictures actually inside Vancouver. Still haven't and that was close to thirty years ago that I lived there.

My passion is photography that is not urban. I love the wilderness. As I write this blog post I am currently camping in the interior of British Columbia. I am on a photography trip. I am exploring a lot of areas I haven't been to or had the chance to explore other than driving through on the highway on my way to somewhere else. I love being able to leave the paved road, put the pickup in four-wheel drive and just see what is there.

Doing nature, wilderness, wildlife photography or whatever you want to call it means you have to prepare for a few things. In a city or town if you need urgent help it is fairly easy to get. You call 911 and help comes. When you're a three hour drive from the paved road using four-wheel drive you can't just reach for your cell phone to call for help. The best thing to do is not allow yourself to get into an emergency situation. There are devices which can connect you with a satellite for communications but these don't always work either. You really need to plan ahead.

One of the nice parts about photography in the wilderness is you don't have people coming up to you, while you're busy attempting to take a picture, asking if you're a photographer. This has happened to me more than once. I'm using a camera to take pictures. It sure seems like I'm a photographer. I don't hate this but sometimes it can be annoying.

Photography out in the wilderness does require more than just a camera and a lens. If you're going to be out in the backcountry you will need to take your other needs with you. Food, a method to prepare food, a place to sleep are just a few for starters. I happen to have lots of experience with both camping and photography. As mentioned previously I received my first camera when I was five years old. My parents took me camping for the first time when I was about a year old. I guess you could say that I've got four more years of camping experience than photography experience. Is it any wonder that I love doing both, either separately or together.

Something that makes nature photography so desirable, particularly in British Columbia, is the abundance of epic scenery. BC has been blessed if not spoiled with amazing scenery. I love the challenge of being able to capture it in a picture and share it with others. Not everyone is as fortunate as myself to be able to travel and experience these amazing locations. Hopefully my little bit of skill with a camera and lens can help others enjoy.

Urban photography is a wonderful challenge. I know quite a few photographers who are very skilled at capturing the (sub)urban locations in a photograph. I really appreciate their work. Especially night photography in a city locale. That is a skill that I have just not had good success at developing. Yes, I know I could work at it more but there are others who are so good at that and have a great eye for it. My passion just happens to be away from all that.

Well, thanks for putting up with this rant, for lack of a better term. Off to hunt more waterfalls.

There's been a change!

 2025-05-01 There's been a change!

Hi everyone. Yes there has been a change. No, I'm not quitting photography. I've now got a job in addition to travelling around British Columbia and taking pictures of nature and wildlife. Here's the lowdown.

Since I was a child I've been involved with an organization called Christian Service Brigade (CSB). CSB has been around in Canada for close to 80 years. Basically it is an organization that mentors/disciples boys into becoming men. CSB helps set up clubs in churches for boys to attend, do activities and learn stuff. More information can be found on their website www.csbcan.ca.

At the end of March the President of CSB Canada asked if I would be willing to come on board as a Staff Associate for British Columbia. This would mean I would basically keep doing stuff with CSB that I already have been doing but in a more formal relationship. I've already been helping out in the background for years. I was a leader in my home church's CSB Battalion group for over 10 years before work scheduling made it difficult to attend the meetings on a regular basis.

What does this mean for BushmanGarth Nature Photography? Not a lot actually. But if I am travelling for CSB around British Columbia and I have some time when I'm not working on CSB stuff I'll probably be taking my camera for a walk wherever I happen to be. It's very likely that I'll combine some photo trips with CSB trips in the future. I'll still be providing shots of BC's epic scenery when I can. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming trip to the Kootenay/Rocky Mountain region.

That's all for now.

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!