This fall I had some great opportunities to get out and explore some local and not so local forests and take some really large panoramic images.
Shooting panoramics in forests can be tricky. With the dense vegetation you cant get a distant view to get lots in focus, and the lighting is often more contrasted compared to other landscapes. But when conditions are good and everything lines up it is a joy. I really enjoy exploring forest settings, specially during the autumn months. The lighting, the colours and textures all make for great scenes.
Recently we had some nice consistant clear days with heavy frost and I went out on one magical afternoon and shot a series of images. The light streaming through the forest lit up the frost tinged fern leaves and other underbrush. Combined with some fog, it created a truly magical setting.
Late afternoon sun on a clear winters day lights up the frost covered vegetation in the forest floor. 14 106 x 5013 pixels.A heavy frost covers the low vegetation on forest floor. 16 978 x 4524 pixels.Ferns and moss covered trees fill this forest scene from the West Coast of British Columbia. 21 564 x 6894 pixelsAutumn sunlight streams through the trunks of conifer trees lighting up the ground cover. 24 524 x 9702 pixels.
Capturing awesome shots of wildlife in British Columbia is not typically challenging if you are in the right place.
There is such a bounty of amazing animals and scenery to shoot in the wild places of Canada’s westernmost province. This year I decided to up the difficulty a little by trying to do some truly large scale images of the dramatic scenery, but including animals in them, such as whales, bears and salmon.
It was easier said than done, especially shooting multiple stitched images from the deck of a moving boat. With the unpredictability of whales that pop up in sometimes unexpected places, it made it challenging to frame the images. But I still managed to get a few this year.
A pod of Orca travel in the Salish Sea near Cambell River in this image that is over 27 000 pixels long
There is a large increase in the Humpback whale population in the Salish Sea and up the coast of British Columbia. There is something pretty cool about seeing a whale tail lifted out of the water against a backdrop of mountains.
A Humpback Whale with the nickname “Whiskers” flukes in the Salish Sea. Super high resolution image at over 28 000 pixels long.
On my first trip to the Oreford River in Bute Inlet I also tried a few large scenes with Grizzly Bears. Not having much time, and with the sometimes quickly moving bears, it proved difficult. But the scenery is so dramatic there that even with just one bear in the image it makes for an eye-catching scene. that is symbolic of the coast.
A Grizzly Bear strolls along the banks of the Oreford River in Bute Inlet.
Every four years there is a dominant run of Sockeye Salmon on the Adams River in Central British Columbia. This large format image shows a section of the river in the fall of 2018. This image is over 30 000 pixels long.
Next year I plan to spend a considerable amount of time really focusing on wildlife panoramics. The challenge is fun and the images worth it.
Note- These images and all the rest on the website can be used for many different applications including large wall murals, architectural installations, and billboard sign graphics. Contact me if you have any ideas you want to discuss.
I also do free image mockups if you send me a photo of your space.
I have always wanted to explore the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.
This August I finally got to go there for two very short weeks. With a wedding on Cape Breton Island and family to visit in Prince Edward Island we got to see a fair bit of two of the Provinces. New Brunswick will have to wait till another time. After landing in Halifax we picked up our rental van and headed off to the first stop of many in what would become an epic adventure. We ended up in the Atlantic Superstore parking lot and equipped our van to be our mobile base and accommodations. After a few more stops we were off.
As we always like to take the road less travelled we headed up the eastern shore of Nova Scotia and took the long route to Cape Breton Island. With dense fog enshrouding the bays we wound our way in and out of wonderfully remote fishing villages and other communities in the seemingly middle of nowhere. It was hard to discern what exactly people do who choose to live in some of these out of the way places. What wasn’t hard to see was what a lot do on Sundays. It seemed here that there were a lot of churches. We liked to joke that for every five houses that made up a village there was a church. And we can’t have been far off.
After realizing that the fog that obscured a lot of the views was actually a blessing, we got excited about exploring some interesting locations. One stop in particular had us fascinated for quite some time. seeing a derelict old fishing vessels unceremoniously perched at the side of the road we halted our journey and poked around. After photographing a few boats that were in various stages of decay on the shore we discovered a whole new scene just around the corner. Two large steel vessels were piled together at the edge of a working marina. The visuals of the rusting metal hulks and the lobster traps in the dense fog was just to great to pass up.
Along the Eastern shore on Nova Scotia there are many old fishing villages. This one contains a mix of in use and abandoned vessels.
Old derelict vessels lay alongside a working marina on the East shore of Nova Scotia.
It seemed as we made our way north we would be treated to many such feasts for the eyes. Cape Breton Island and the great people there made our time wonderful. Around wedding activities we still got in some exploring, including some swamp diving, and an epic fast trip around the famous Cabot Trail. Fast because we didn’t leave Sydney till late in the day and we raced to catch the sunset on some dramatic scenery. As we got to the top of the trail we again were cloaked in fog and rain. So the sunset race became a quest to try to finish before dark and take in as many scenic points as we could. I think we will have to return in better weather and take our time on this road.
Rugged rock cliffs along the western shoreline of Cape Breton Island.
The Confederation bridge is a pretty big deal.
In its record making construction but also how it changed the access to and from Prince Edward Island. As we crossed this bridge onto PEI it was very obvious we had also changed provinces. PEI is well known for a few things. Among them red sand beaches, potatoes, and Anne of Green Gables. Even before hitting the fertile soils of PEI we saw the red coastline, and within minutes were surrounded by potato fields. And I kept my eye out for Anne.
Up close to the mighty Confederation Bridge joining Prince Edward Island to mainland Canada.
Of course I had to find vantage points to do some large panoramic images of this amazing bridge. From areas in Charlton and Chelton beach I was able to get some good views of the bridge extending out almost thirteen kilometers to New Brunswick.
The thirteen kilometer long Confederation bridge stretches into the distance towards New Brunswick.
Every morning I tried to get up and catch a sunrise as it illuminated the fantastic sandstone cliffs along the north shore. Orange sunrise light, red cliffs and beach and the Atlantic ocean made for some stunning scenery. PEI residents are very proud of thier beaches and for good reason. There were so many. Some famous and some hidden away. Sloping sand dunes and beach grasses came to symbolise PEI for me. Oh and potatos. But I never saw Anne.
Magnificent sandstone formations at Thunder Cove on the northern shore of Prince Edward Island.
Endless sand dunes and grasses on the north shore of PEI.
The last few days of our trip were spent cruising around Nova Scotia again. Peggy’s Cove, Lunenburg and other lesser known places. We didn’t get everywhere we wanted to go but we did get a great taste of what the province has to offer. Peggy’s Cove was a highlight and we even went back a second day. Partly because it was such a great place, and also because we saw a cute little house for sale 🙂 . One can always dream. There are so many hidden corners in this amazing little village. So many people go there it seems to see the lighthouse, but I was way more fascinated with the village and the cove and the local residents. I even got in the water and did some over under images of the bay.
Houses a couple hundred years old line the cove at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia.
One of the most iconic Canadian Maritimes scenes. Peggy’s Cove lighthouse and village attracts a million visitors a year.
Lunenburg really had a lot to offer, as well as some nearby small villages. One in particular called Blue Rocks really held our attention. Not as many people there but the small fish dock with quaint little buildings was so iconic and perfect for some large panoramic images.
Beautiful Nova Scotian town of Lunenburg.
Every cove and headland held something of value to explore, and two weeks we spent here was not nearly enough. After a couple of nights in Halifax we left for home, planning our next trip back even as we flew back to the West Coast.
To see these and many more super high resolution panoramic images of Nova Scotia and PEI go to the image gallery Canadian Maritimes.
In the image galleries you can use a virtual Magnifying tool to inspect the images more closely.
A profusion of colourful flowers in a woodland setting.
May on Vancouver Island brings generally pretty typical spring weather. But this year we had some beautiful long stretches of sunshine with temperatures in the thirties. A local Woodland garden that features Rhododendrons of many varieties was in full bloom so I went and spent an couple hours wandering around and shooting. These panoramic images of various Rhodo bushes are all high resolution and show the detail of each flower in all its glory, yet offer a wider view than just the flower. By stepping back from the plant and using a telephoto lens I was able to shoot these images that are made made up many frames stitched together. The following images could all be printed on a wall mural 10 feet high and you could walk up to it and see dramatic detail in each flower and leaf.
Super high resolution 25 474 x 12 214 pixel image of Woodland garden rhododendrons.
Shooting high resolution images like this of flowers and other vegetation is really enjoyable to me. There is so much beauty in the larger scene but also at he macro level there is a lot of detail to be portrayed.
This spring I also have been working on truly macro level multi shot panos of small forest flowers only a few inches in height. Watch for these in the next blog post.
Shades of pink in profushion in large format image of woodland rhododendron garden. 23 120 x 9248 pixels
Bright red rhododendrons in forest garden setting. 19 575 x 9788 pixels
To see these and more high resolution forest images go to image gallery HERE.
In the image galleries you can use a virtual Magnifying tool to inspect the images more closely.
In May I went to New York City for the first time and was amazed by it.
Not being a big city person I wasn’t sure I would be happy there. But I LOVED it. Every moment that I wasn’t at the Art Expo I was out wandering the streets and riding the Metro at all hours of the day. Most mornings I was up to catch the sunrise as it lit up the buildings or Central Park. On the last day I started at 4:45am by taking the subway to Brooklyn to capture Manhattan with early morning light hitting the buildings.
Sun rises behind the Manhattan Bridge.
Early morning light paints the buildings of Lower Manhattan with a golden glow.
View of the Financial District in Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge.
Then all day was spent wandering around the financial district and the World Trade Center memorial. It was very poignant being here for the first time. We also went up One World Trade building to the lookout. Here I took hundreds of images looking down on the city from one hundred floors up, including a few big panos with 80 to 100 images in them. I haven’t built those ones yet as it will take me some time to get to them.
Rose left on name of victim of 911 on their birthday.
Later that evening my sister and I took a little ferry over to Jersey City and looked back at Manhattan as the setting sun painted the amazing skyline with golden light. We sat at the ferry dock and watched as the ferry boats transported all the workers home from the financial district and the lights twinkled on for the evening.
Setting sun paints the buildings of Lower Manhattan a golden glow. View form Jersey City.
I will for sure need to return here and spend another week shooting. It definitely exceeded my expectations as a city.
Large Format Images 