Sea Kayaking in the Broken Group

Martin Rother - Shot with a Graduated Neutral Density Filter

A visit to the Broken Group Islands, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, conjures up images of all those things really west coast; eagles, deer, otters, seashells, starfish, and quaint sandy beaches. When my friends Martin Rother and John Goulding told me of their upcoming trip to this sea kayakers nirvana I quickly invited myself along, clamoring for the opportunity to see, and photograph this remarkable place. The trip starts with a ferry Ride from North Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. Once on land again, it is a 3-4 hour drive from Nanaimo to Toquart Bay, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. This is where we embark by kayak into the labyrinth of Islands. Loading up our kayaks with all the luxuries that a modern sea kayak can stow, we headed off into the westerly breeze, destined for the furthest island west that we could camp on. After 3 hours or 14kms of scenic paddling we made it to Clark Island. Once on Clarke we set-up camp and stayed for three days playing around on the coast in the swells, checking out the other islands and looking for sea lions. My psychology on these trips is interesting when I have a camera in my possession. I find I am super keen to get up early in the am to get shots in the early morning light. When the light gets high and harsh in the late morning and early afternoon, I put it away and either play in my boat or siesta in my hammock. When evening rolls in and the light starts to get good again, that camera comes out and I shoot away til the sun falls off in the horizon. After three days of paddling and playing with my camera we headed home to Toquart Bay. Was a fantastic trip and I would highly recommend going to the islands. Beginners and experts alike would enjoy a holiday here. GO!!!! Here are the some of the resulting images. Enjoy!

Time Exposure - 4 minutes long just as the last light dives off in the horizon.

Kayaks on a beach - taken using a graduated neutral density filter to darken the clouds.

Last moments of the day- also taken with a GND Filter.

Squamish Rock Star

The Test of Metal Weekend is like X-mas for me here in Squamish. Reasons you ask?

1) Have done this race for about 12 years (missed last year because my daughter Brydon was born that day) and it is by far the funnest event I have ever done. Never get tired of it. Like being in Squamish’s version of the tour de France.
2) As Above, tis my daughter’s birthday
3) The Squamish Rock Star happens on the Sunday after the race.

This year left me exhilarated as usual. The Test was a hoot, course was awesome, raced hard, and burned lots of calories. This classic 67Km XC race features a smorgasbord of trails. All the trails are unique and offer totally interesting riding. Tis also a point to point, so you never see the same trail twice. Cudos to Cliff Miller and the gang for putting on such a great event!

In a taking pictures sense though, this year I went to the Squamish Rock Star on Sunday June 15th. Al Ross and the gang from Tantalus Bike Shop put it on. They do an amazing job. The race is invite only, capped at 50 riders, and they must all be locals (live in Squamish). It is quite a pool to pick from as Squamish trails nurture some of the finest DH and Free-ride bikers in Canada. The likes of Shaums March and Kyle Ritchie go head to head with talented youngsters from the area. The magic of this race is that fact that it is on a tricky, trials like descent. This, not so routine, downhill race course is one of a kind due to the technical nature of the route. Steep drops (I mean really steep) are split by lots of trees, bermy corners, short little roller climbs, and little gaps. This, along with the gauntlet of people lining the drops, make for an exciting and challenging race. I only had time to set up on the first drop, but I got some fun shots using my sb-800s in tandem to light the racers. The sun was pretty harsh and right above, so things were pretty drowned out so I tried to underexpose my backgrounds a little and light up the racers with the flashes. Worked pretty well I think. this first shot I took, with a very slow shutter speed, and used the two SB800s in tandem, using rear sync flash to freeze he riders face but allow for motion blurring of everything else. Really accentuates the speed. Pretty fun to experiment with this.

I also took some fast shutter speed shots to freeze the action and show the height of the drop. Here is Shaums March showing us his "not enough ooooos in smooth" technique in getting down the first drop. He came in first by the way, and I heard he set a new course record. Cool eh.
Using these Nikon SB800s is turning out to be so much fun, Was inspired by Dave Blacks Blog. He really is great for sharing all these tips. Check him out at http://daveblackphotography.com/workshop/index.htm. Thats it for now. Thanks for reading!

OOOOUUUUFFFFFF!!!

Wow. Has five months gone by already? What a blur. I do have an excuse. Meet my daughter Brydon. She turned 1 on June 15th. I have pretty much dropped everything to hang with her. What a hoot! Anyway, back to blogging.