Traffic Stop

Black-backed Oriole & Monarch Butterflies

There are but two birds that can eat Monarch Butterflies without being poisoned, and the Black-backed Oriole is the stealthiest and deadliest. The bird quietly approaches from the underbrush to and hops down a branch toward the colony. It gets to within inches before plucking a sleeping mariposa from the group.

This moment I’m told is the first time that the attack has been successfully photographed with such clarity and I’m very lucky to have witnessed it, let alone having come away with a prized image.

The title suggests what we all dread as butterflies among rush hour… a black and white pulling us over with consequences pending.

Traffic Stop

Now I See

Mount Kidd Reflected

Have you ever heard the phrase, “I’ll sleep on it.”?

Often, we just need to have a little time before making a good decision, and that’s the reference point made in this image.

“Now I See”.

If you think about it, the same reference is present in the lyrics of the hymn, “Amazing Grace” written centuries ago. “… was blind, but now I see.”

Touch the River

Any River in the World

This image of quiet morning pastels was made from a canoe.

It’s a photograph of a strategy that Ken uses when things are not going well in the wilderness. If he’s struggling with the grind of being away from home or the weather, or when he’s suffered an injury, he makes his way to the nearest river and puts his hand in the water.

This action immediately changes his outlook on life.

The Star of the Show

Red Fox Kits

I almost called this piece “Middle Child”. I was the middle kiddo in a family of five siblings, and now I recognize that I always seemed to need more attention. If you talk to my wife, she might say that its still true today.

The image was made in Banff National Park just at the time when these little foxes were getting very curious about what the big world is all about.

 

The Gate Keeper

Jasper National Park

I first photographed this tree about twenty years earlier. It was much smaller then, and I recall wondering how long it would be there.

Now, I had to recognize that in the society of trees, this one shows that any of us might start life in a precarious and rocky environment, but rise to great and unique stature as time goes on.

I used a very long shutter speed on this occasion to smooth the water, as this is just downstream from a waterfall and its very rough there. I wanted to evoke the human journey that can be turbulent in our youth but gets a bit gentler as we live to be older.

Cold Moon

Jasper National Park

Cold Moon is titled this way because at the moment it was unseasonably cold, though the image has nothing to do with temperature.

I’ve always been enjoyed the full moon, and since I was in an area with very little light pollution, I wanted to see what kind of detail I could present using a super telephoto lens, which I rarely employ.

In this case, one can see the rough edges of the Moon, which shows where mountains and valleys exist. Maybe the piece should have been called “Cool Moon”, because it is!