Golden ducks of the morning

Muskwa-Kechika B.C. Canada, taken on horseback expedition, find out more about my expeditions at http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/

These beautiful ducks were teasing me when I woke up at 5:00 am in hopes of photographing something in the splendid morning light. I could see expanding rings of ripples emanating from these boat-like creatures from the edge of the lake, if only I could get closer to see them. I set foot to intercept them given the direction they were heading, planning to have them sail by me on the shore. But they were weary of me, and drifted slowly away from me. 

I positioned the camera as close as I could to the waters surface, handheld to get the perspective I wanted: a duck's eye view. Snapping off a few photos I figured I had nothing to lose, maybe if I throw a stick in the direction the ducks were going they would veer away and perhaps come closer. But what they actually did surprised me.

Sploosh!

They went towards the splash that my violently careening stick made in the still lake, piercing the morning calmness like a shattered mirror. What!? I threw another one close to me, and sure enough these brazen ducks wiggled their way towards me, as their unseen feet paddled them closer under the water. I decided not to tempt fate any further and let the morning calmness resume. The ducks and I eyed each other for a while until we both carried on our morning business, them with their aqua-stroll and me with my camera.

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Hank's Bath

Tuchodi Lake, Muskwa-Kechika, B.C., Canada, On horseback expedition with +Wayne Sawchuk  check out http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/ for more

Hank is almost too comfortable with me. Nearly squishing me when he dived into the hot sand for a "bath" and spastically rolled towards me with his hooves flailing in the air. But it was a pretty gorgeous place to roll, I'll give him that. Despite almost being in the Arctic, it was so hot I had to dive into the water dozens of times here just to keep cool. A surprisingly refreshing way to end a trip!

Canon 5D Mark III, 16-35mm f2.8  lens,Iso 100, f16, 1/200sec 

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Rocky Mountain Epic

Muskwa-Kechika B.C., Canada, On horseback expedition with +Wayne Sawchuk, check out http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/ for more

Sooooo this is the moment where I felt like I was living in some epic western movie, or maybe got downloaded to a super realistic version of an Oregon trail sequel game taking place up in Northern Canada. As this view opened up in front of me, I asked +Wayne Sawchuk to pause our caravan of horses so I could run up ahead and capture this. Not only did I have to physically catch my breath after sprinting up the hillside, as the horses began to move on queue, +Wayne Sawchuk told me he would get everything into the most photogenic position, he wasn't kidding. It was an incredible the combination of subjects lined up to create this shot, grand rocky mountains, gorgeous horses, meandering foothills and beautiful wildflowers to ground and frame the image. Pinch me, am I dreaming?

Photographic details
laying down in the grass I was also catching my breath from the beauty, I centred the horses as they were mostly symmetrical, visually "hugged" by the also symmetrical valley below, thus giving me licensee to put everything in the middle.  Low enough to capture the flowers I didn't want them completely in focus to give the viewer a sense of 3D depth that it might lack if I stacked the focus to include everything tack sharp.

Canon 5D Mark III f10 1/80th of a second canon 16-35 f2.8 L
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Forgotten Silhouette

Muskwa-Kechika, B.C. Canada with +Wayne Sawchuk on www.go2mk.ca horseback expedition

A gorgeous morning with a cup of coffee just footsteps from our campground on what we called "Tuchodi Beach". The cool morning air did little to disturb the reflections on the lake, I couldn't be helped but to be pulled in by the view. When the afternoon sun gets too hot, the only respite will be to dive into those reflections and take in the refreshing waters of the Muskwa-Kechika wilderness.

Photographic Details One day, the silhouette photo could be a rarity that few people will ever have witnessed. Cameras and techniques are getting so good that eventually details that are usually lost to blacks will be something taken for granted. So despite the fact I could have used techniques to fully illuminate the figure in the foreground, I have chosen to keep those details mysterious by exposing for the background only and pumping up the blacks.

Canon 5D Mark III, 50mm f1.4, f8.0, 1/200sec

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The joy of golden light

Muskwa-Kechika, B.C. Canada

This gorgeous morning, +Rachel Gedaliya and I woke up at 5:00 AM to hike up the final 5% of a mountain we were camping on. It was like getting a 95% head start on an epic mountain hike. We literally woke up, grabbed our day bag full of breakfast and reached the mountain top 20 minutes after waking up in time for a sunrise mountain peak breakfast, talk about convenient! The ridge was littered with Elk and Mountain Goats. To have a golden morning sunshine look at these creatures was such a treat, kind of like a visual appetizer.

Photographic Details
Thank goodness the hot summer air was absent, replaced by cool morning refreshingness; this is one of the hidden benefits to waking up early for the golden hour, no sweltering heat.  I was taking tonnes of scenery shots, but I needed something to express how easy this place is to hike, and how wonderful it is to be here. So after catching my breath I asked +Rachel Gedaliya to stand in the exact spot I wanted to and to show the camera how wonderful it is to be here, she certainly delivered. Scenery shots are great, but having a person or animal in it really expresses how livable it is. If this was a landscape with no plants and no people it could almost be a photo from mars! So simply adding a person or animal really does bring accessibility to an image. I also shot this with my telephoto lens, this increases the size of the subject in the background, these lenses are not to be forgotten for landscape photos!

This was taken on expedition with +Wayne Sawchuk, if you want to go to places like these, check out www.go2mk.ca

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon L 70-200 f2.8 lens, f8, 1/100/sec, ISO 100

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I'm a little bit blown away by the quality of smartphone cameras sometimes

This us shot entirely on my #nexus5 in preparation for my horseback expedition with +Wayne Sawchuk. I highly recommend you check out his camps in the muskwa kechika here: http://goo.gl/oeYNSE

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I'd like to introduce you all to an incredibly inspirational photographer

+Wayne Sawchuk has been part of a huge conservation effort in northern B.C. in Canada. Using his images and stories to foster healthy relationships between people and the use of the incredible Muskwa-Kechika Wilderness. It's because of people like Wayne that we still have these incredible wildernesses to explore.

Featured on National Geographic, Wayne leads incredible horseback expeditions, a few of which I will be going on this year! I highly recommend you check out his work and website, and forward it to any  horse and nature lovers you know!

I highly recommend you circle him and keep an eye out for his future work!

#travelphotography   #traveltuesday   #horsebackriding   #britishcolumbia   #canada   #travelcanada  

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Riders Emerge From the Mist
Through the mist and clouds we emerge onto the ridge, inwardly thankful for the end of a long climb. Every moment of sweat and hard work is instantly a distant memory as we reach the heavens and the realm of the alpine.

Tuchodi River
Northern B.C. Rocky Mountains, Canada

#horselovers #horsepower #muskwakechika #adventuretravel #travel #canada #canadaphotography  

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Giddy up!

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

This is my point of view riding the first horse I had ever gotten to know. She was almost exactly my age, and lived up until we were both 27. We were riding down this uneventful trail on somewhat of a bland day. But we were riding back, and she knew we were going home which means she would love to gallop home in order to get there faster. I noticed her beautiful mane flowing in the wind and thought it would be great to see what kind of photos I could get while riding.

Photographic Details
I wanted to create a sense of motion, so just like I often do, I think about using a ridiculously low shutterspeed. In this case, it's 1/20th of a second that does the trick for me. Don't get me wrong though, it's not easy and a lot of this is luck, I took nearly a hundred photos before I found one that captured the right feeling: the tossing of the mane, while maintaining enough blur in the right spots. This all helps create a much more dynamic feeling excitement while still being recognizable. It was also a thrill to try and stay on a galloping horse using one hand on the reins and another on my camera, yeehaw!

1/20th, f6.3, ISO 50 Canon 5D, Canon 16-35mm f2.8 Lens.

For #equinetuesday  curated by +Jillian Chilson.
#equinephotography   #horsebackriding   #travelphotography   #plusphotoextract  

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Riding the trail line

Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada

Every day out in the wilderness here I’m riding behind my fellow #horseback  riders I was thinking that not everyone in the world has experienced this, that something I’m so used to can be so new to someone else. So I’m going to spill the details on such a simple aspect of expedition life with the #horses  . Believe it or not, I’m back of the pack simply because of horse politics. My horse, Peach is somewhat pokey, and doesn’t really feel confidant at the front of the pack, where as the rest of these horses have a strong desire to be a the back of the pack. While a rider can boss their horse around and tell them exactly where to be, these horses are vehemently social animals themselves, and letting them ride next to their best buddies in places they feel comfortable can make the adventure much more pleasant for everyone involved.

Photographic details:
I wanted this photo to have a strong sense of motion. To achieve this I used an extremely slow #shutterspeed   of 1/60th of a second. But the motion on the horse wasn’t enough, we weren’t galloping at full speed so while taking the photo I zoomed in simply by holding my lens and spinning the camera. This created the interesting twisted blur around the edges, but kept the center rider mostly free of blur. Because of the symmetry I kept the rider in the middle of the frame. Canon 5D Mark II ISO 100, f9, 160/sec

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