As per usual, I’ve neglected to post on a regular basis… I keep trying to correct that negligent behaviour, but something always seems to get in the way… and this transition from winter to spring to summer hasn’t been very helpful… I seem to have more energy when the sun is shining and the weather has warmed up… perhaps the summer solstice will bring a change in that pattern.

While my veggie garden has suffered, I have been busy with a few photography projects. I have continued to experiment with a few of the new techniques I’ve acquired through the UVic courses in Macro, Garden and Creative Vision. I keep trying to make at least three prints each month… and have had a few opportunities to exhibit those prints locally.

Of course, posting this on a regular basis would help, and I’ll have to make that effort with the next round… presently, I have one print on exhibit at Rhodos Café in Courtenay… the theme was Flora… and I made this image at one of the local wineries that had a spring display of tulips. I’m still experimenting with this technique… I’m trying to keep the centre of the image in focus while turning the camera… right now it’s more happenstance when that happens, but I like the results in this image.

June/July 2022 "Around of Tulips"

The black and white image was made at Milner Gardens in Parksville, using my macro lens… so the depth of field was limited… I’m working at using my tripod and adjusting the depth of field… at the same time making sure that I have left enough room around the edges. This print was on display at the Pearl Ellis Gallery in Comox.

April/May 2022 "Waiting For Spring

I’m always looking for new opportunities to exhibit prints and came across The Gallery@Weird Church in Cumberland. There’s a dearth of gallery space open to photographers in the Comox Valley, so I jumped at the offer of an exhibit… but had to take on the organising for the project. In the end, 18 photographers exhibited 38 prints, all shot in Cumberland.

Cumberland is always a favourite place to shoot, the main street has excellent opportunities for street photography, the back alleys always seem to offer up unique images and there is a myriad of trails that lead in and out of town… spent a year shooting in and around Cumberland. More often than not, I was asked about Cumberland’s boundaries, generating the exhibit’s name… Cumberland: Seemingly Boundless.

I made three images, all shot at Cumberland Mine #7, along the Puntledge River. I try and get there at least once a year… the graffiti changes on a regular basis and I’m beginning to recognise some of the artists by their techniques. The first is titled "Looking For Cumberland"... it just seemed to fit the exhibit's theme.

Looking for Cumberland

The second image sets the time frame... constructed in 1913, I imagine that there was a large clearing around this opening to the mine shaft, and now it seems to be framing the woods making their way back... so it seemed to fit to call this one 2022.

2022

This part of the structure is already being taken apart by nature... it seems to me there's a warning in there for us... though perhaps coming too late... nature seems to have had enough of our abuses and is sending a series of strong messages to clean things up quickly... Back To Nature seemed to fit the image and the times. Back To Nature