Mountain River Sunset

Continuing with my series on "5" Star Photos we come to a landscape. I am not a landscape photographer. My "thing" is wildlife. Yet, once in a while I see a landscape that begs me for a photograph. Such was the case as I traveled over the Continental Divide in British Columbia and saw what you see below. Sunsets disappear quickly so I only had a few moments to stop, get out my camera and tripod, set it all up, and take a photo. Luckily it turned out nice. (won an award for this).

River of Fire

Head off again

The summer allows me to get away a bit more often. Our peak season at the B&B is December through May. So I am leaving tomorrow to explore Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument; Cabeza Prieta NWR, Imperial NWR, Cibola NWR, Kofa NWR and who knows what else. Should be back by Friday. In the meantime I'll leave you with a few more Black Bear Photos:

This Black Bear was one of the first I photographed -- as a Photographer. When he saw me he literally ran up the tree. I had no idea Black Bears could climb that quickly. The photo was taken in Wells Grey, British Columbia.

This photo, also taken in British Columbia on Mount Sinclair, is a favorite. Very large male amongst the dandelions.

And, the third taken about two years ago in Yellowstone National Park. I had been watching this Cinnamon Black Bear climbing one tree after another to eat the pine nuts (it was fall). After a while, the area was packed with people taking photos. So I moved way ahead assuming he would eventually walk towards me to the next pine tree. And, he did. I took this photo from about 12 feet. (My Jeep was between me and the bear. I leaned on the hood to take this photo). But, then I backed away to give him room. But, he was really not the slightest bit interested in me. He paused, looked "sort of" towards me, then the tree and then right up the tree.

Kamloops White Tail Deer

Continuing North from Glacier/Waterton NP we arrive in the Central Desert Highlands of British Columbia. The area around Kamloops is often thought of as the "Flyfishing Capital" of the world. Not having flyfished on some of the other continents I can't attest to that, but there are some pristine lakes that produce trophy size "Kamloops Trout." One is a series of lakes: Roche, Black, Ernst, and Hosli. Roche gets boaters and is much larger. The others are flyfishing only and between 30 to 70 acres in size. It is essentially where my wildlife photography career began. It wasn't unusual to see wolves, bear, moose, elk, and deer on the way into the lake and around the lake shores.  This isn't one of my best photos but it was one of my first. A better lens would have helped bring out the colors more. I don't remember exactly, it was probably June because the wildflowers were out and this White Tail Buck's antlers were still growing and covered with velvet. It brings back some memories of discovering photography.

British Columbia Bighorn Sheep

Our last stop this blog trip is British Columbia. Spences Bridge is about 60 miles northwest of Merritt in Central BC. It is along the Thompson River (a good river to fish) which flows into the Fraser River. Bighorn sheep live in the mountains in that area but come down to the river for water frequently during the summer. Their easiest access in at the town of Spences Bridge. I had read that this was a good site to find sheep so off I went. And, they were right. My first try was successful, finding this young ram and six ewe's munching along the side of the mountain road. This was an early photograph of mine -- while I was still do some flyfishing. And, although I have taken better photos of the years I still like this one -- my first Bighorn Sheep in the wild.

Life among the Dandelions

I am usually focused on wildlife photography. However, every now and then, with camera in hand, I come across something else that strikes me as worth a photo. As I travel through wildernesses I often pass farm or ranch land. I must admit I rarely think about; guess I am too focused on getting where I want to get and picturing in my mind what I want to photograph. For some reason, this particular trip while headed up to the Kamloops lakes, I saw this goat with its kid. The goat was stand on hind feet with front feet on the fence in order to get high enough to eat the leaves he couldn't reach from all fours. The kid seemed more interested in me than in eating. As such, he started walking toward me in this field of dandelions. My heart -- not my head -- said "stop." This is worth a photo, if only for yourself; if only to remember the little things where nature and civilization collide.

The Call of the Loons

Wells Gray is north of Kamloops in British Columbia. Southwest of Kamloops are several great fly fishing lakes. One of those is called Island Lake (used to be called Big Ok Lake). It's near the Highland Valley Cooper Mine (largest open pit cooper mine in Canada and one of the largest in the world). Anyway, Island Lake is a trophy lake. The Kamloops Trout is truly one of the most beautiful fish in the world. Their skin is like silk. But, the Kamloops Trout also have a well deserved reputation for being  large (3 to 10 pounds),  difficult to catch, and even more difficult to land. 10 to 20 minutes is not unusual for landing. Like many of the lakes in British Columbia the Common Loon is a homesteader. Listening to males and females calling for each other is a delight. Above you have a female on her nest and a male not far off "protecting her."  I had been fishing in the area for a couple of hours in a "float tube" so they let me get a little closer than normal. As a general rule I don't like to approach birds in their nests and think that's a good policy to comply with. With my camera/lens today I would not have needed to get as close as I did to get the same (or better) photo. Maybe tomorrow I'll share a loon story from Blue Lake (southeast of Kamloops).

black bear caution

Early on in my "photo" career, I came across a male black bear just before dark. It was late September, the berries were all gone, the vegetation was all stripped, and so he was turning over very large rocks -- very easily -- looking for grubs, insects, anything with some protein.  It was getting closer to winter and he had to build his strength. Nonetheless, I was excited about getting photos. Not knowing what I know now, I got a little too close; about 15 feet to be exact. He didn't like that and charged me. Bears (like skunks) do what is called a "false charge". They take two or three very quick steps directly at you, not because they want to fight but simply to scare you off. It worked. Forget about everything you read: i.e. If a bear comes at you stand perfectly still. Instinct takes over, something you have no control over. I ran like ....
So, what did I learn? Be more cautious in the fall. Pay attention to the signs i.e. he was turning over rocks, grunting, not too happy with what he was (wasn't) finding. It was late in the day so a photo from ASA 100 slide film wasn't going to turn out, anyway. The photo above was a second experience of this nature. I was probably 50 feet from this bear when he turned and took a step toward me -- not a step in search of food, but deliberately to tell me something. I had learned to accept whatever the bear's wishes were. I left with just this photo. Christine once read a book about bears where a Chapter was entitled, "Was it Worth a Photo?" I realized that respecting bears is an important consideration if I want a long career as a wildlife photographer.