Participation is limited to LCC Members

Thursday December 8, 2016 ~ Ladysmith Festival of Lights

Three stalwart members donned layers of clothing and headed for Ladysmith downtown to capture the Christmas light display. It was a very cold but clear night…-5 with a brisk north wind. The lights this year are magnificent. Each year the display is better and better. It was a quick and productive photo trip with a possible longer stop at Tim Horton’s for a welcome coffee warm up…no one was timing. We were all glad we braved the temperatures.

Sunday September 18, 2016 ~ Blackstaff’s “Wheels of the Past”

Our club was fortunate to be invited to the Blackstaff’s, “Wheels of the Past”, along with the Duncan Photo Club.  Eight members from our club braved weather that was a bit drizzly but which enriched the colours recorded.  The opportunity to see and photograph a vast range of wonderful old buildings, cars, engines, steam engines, tractors, buggies and heritage artifacts gave everyone a chance to practice various composition skills.  If that was not enough, at the end we were rewarded with delicious ice creams and sundaes in an old time Ice Cream Shoppe.  An amazing photographic day fully enjoyed. Thank you Shirley and Harry!

Thursday August 18th ~ Creative Lighting at Night, Ladysmith

This was night of experimentation with light. We were very fortunate to have Dennis Ducklow, Double Exposure Photography , visiting Ladysmith. He provided not only the ‘how to’ for the evening but also lighting wands, fiber optic light and most of all, ideas  and camera settings to try. Things were a bit crowded with all of us having cameras on tripods but somehow we managed to take turns capturing something a little more unworldly.

The underpass tunnel was a challenge with the bright tungsten lighting but a couple members rose to the challenge capturing ghost like images. The wand lighting on the beach was another new aspect for the group and was a lot of fun but taxing the endurance of both the models and helper moving the light while the rest of us experimented with settings.

Wednesday August 17th ~ Light Painting Parksville Sand Castles

Four members ventured to Parksville on a very warm but also very windy summer evening to explore light painting the sand sculptures in the Quality Foods Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition. This year’s theme “Things on Wings” yielded some very unique entries.

Arriving before sunset, the park was abuzz with Beach Festival activities, sand volleyball, swimmers, strollers, dog walkers and people just sitting enjoying the ambience and evening sky. As night descended we were warmly welcomed by the security personnel who left the lights off.

We had a selection of flashlights and even more ideas floating amongst the four newbies about how to the whole process. We experimented, viewed the results and tried again. It is called hands on learning and by 10:30 pm managed to obtain at least one decent image each. The challenge was fun and that is the most important thing in life.

Friday August 12th ~ Perseids Meteor Showers and Star Trails, Yellow Point

This excursion offered an experience similar to opening Pandora’s box. All six of us had great expectations…capturing a meteor…how to do it…would we be lucky enough to have the camera on, pointed in the right direction and of course in focus. All were challenges.

We were warmly welcomed to the pasture on top of the hill by Denis and an exuberant fellow on four legs by the name of Finn. Power was even supplied for Brad’s telescope. The evening weather was perfect but there was significant city glow from Vancouver in the east and a waxing moon in the west. A few mosquitoes buzzing around to kept us from falling asleep while waiting for our cameras to do the work once set up. Now speaking of set up, a few of us including this writer have much to learn, pushing buttons in the dark and making menu selections is a challenge which needs practice…first time out do not expect perfection. There are surprises, such as producing time lapse video instead of photos for stacking for star trails. Yup, it is a learning curve but when frustrated just play and have fun, enjoying the outing with fellow enthusiasts.

Sunday July 17th ~ Old Post Office Antique Mall, Ladysmith

The romance of yesterday collides with modernism here. An interesting challenge for the six members presented with a venue similar to a candy store on steroids. The mall is three floors, jam packed with an eclectic mix of items on loaded shelves, in glass cases, in windows, on the floor, in stairwells and hanging from the ceiling. The dilemma, what to choose, how to approach it, how to use the light both natural, tungsten, and LED plus where to stand to capture an image which tells a story…a challenge. Definitely a fun outing in a different setting which made you think. Thank You Jerry.

Monday May 9th ~ Ladysmith Harbour Field Trip

A perfect sunny day with a light breeze and a very low tide gave the outing promise before we even arrived on the foreshore. A group of 11 photographers cameras in hand and gum boots on did not know what to expect but we all wanted to learn more about the Harbour. Our leader on this trip was a Marine Biologist, Rick Harbo, who has studied the species here.  We were introduced to various native and introduced species in their natural habitats with the added descriptions of their behaviour, preferred food choices and demonstrated escape tactics.

To get us all on the page he showed us the male Plainfin Midshipman hiding under a rock guarding all his golden eggs, the size of native oysters versus the introduced Japanese oyster, orange sponges, green and plumose anemones, sea lemon nudibranch (sea slug) with its gills at the rear and nudibranch egg ribbons. It was great to see the return of the purple starfish to our waters. We learned to stand still, wait and observe the pools, yes, they are filled with small life forms, blennies, green mudflat shore crabs as well as various hermit crabs and small shrimp.

 

Next we went to the Holland Creek Estuary to check out the various clams and snails. It was exciting to see a moon snail extruding an egg collar. The egg collars appear like old pieces of rubber seals on the shore.

The finale was watching a cockle’s escape tactics when it sensed the presence of a sunflower starfish on its shell. None of us had ever seen a clam move so fast. This was a fascinating excursion for the whole group, learning more about our environment. There was a bonus for our leader as well, sighting for the first time Japanese eel grass in the Holland Creek Estuary.

Saturday April 30th ~ George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Westham Island

A crew of 5 eager photographers boarded an early ferry anticipating a full day scouting the trails at Reifel. On this trip we were very lucky to have our own Naturalist with us, to explain behaviour, identify birds by sight and by vocalizations as well as knowing which trails were the most promising to find various species. Off down the trail, squirrels, common yellow throats, red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, spotted towhees, marsh wrens and black-capped chickadees proved challenging hidden by a profusion of lush green foliage but teasing us with their vocalizations. Of course the Canada Geese and Mallards were everywhere but we were hoping for images of their young offspring of which eventually we were all successful. The highlight of the day was to spot the Sandhill cranes and with them came a bonus…an older pair who were nesting on the small island. They were incubating 2 eggs which most of us were able to photograph when the birds changed positions. Dilemma, which way to turn…what to concentrate on…eye candy everywhere if you looked carefully and took your time. By 4pm we were all happy with the excursion and ready to head for the ferry.  A long day but pronounced well worth it.

Saturday April 9th ~ Shupe Farm, Cedar

Seven of us arrived in brilliant sunshine and hot temperatures at 9:30 am, had so much fun and were given such a welcome we were reluctant to leave until our fearless leader decided it was time to go 3.5 hours later. Jody and her father, Harry, guided us around the various areas of their working farm…horses, sheep with lambs were let out while Jody explained their behaviour in response to our actions which they interpreted similar to pack animals such as wolves. We wandered past some retired horses calmly eating hay before spotting some old farm machinery which caught our interest. Most of the group continued on to see the cattle herd in the field while two delinquents stayed behind mesmerized by one tree swallow and two violet green swallows trying to occupy the same bird house. The tree swallow seemed to be winning. Each year Harry cleans out the bird houses and relines them with sheep’s wool…now that seems like a suite at the Hilton for birds. No wonder the houses are very popular. Onwards, we joined all the goats with kids who were in the yard outside their pens. We all got some delightful images of very young animals. Topping it off we were welcomed onto the farmhouse deck by Beryl with coffee and goodies plus entertainment provided by Jody’s three dogs.

Sunday April 3rd ~ Imperial Pacific Greenhouses, Cedar

Six members met in the greenhouse parking lot anxious to go because with the rain it feels like several months without an opportunity to exercise our shutter finger. It was supposed to be a rainy day but we had beautiful sun. Shooting in a Greenhouse is a challenge. Of course there were rows and rows of flowers but there were structural features, patterns, lines, colour, textures and even some lovely old rust. A bonus, were two delightful dogs, very pleased to perform for our cameras once they spotted our fearless leader with his pocket full of treats. It was deemed a very successful outing by all. We are grateful to Bert and Christine for this unique opportunity.

Saturday February 13th ~ Islands Agricultural Show

One of our brave members braved sleet, fog and cold to attend this first outing of the year featuring farm machinery, trucks plus an opportunity to capture American Saddlebred horses.  After waiting in the Main Parking lot for a few more stalwart souls, our club President gave up and searched for suitable image before retreating homewards.

“Was a cool, rain threatening day when my wife and I arrived at the Cowichan valley fair ground checking for others from LCC. We didn’t find any. Looking around we saw the horses I was hoping to photograph, in their paddocks. Talked with the owner of a beautiful young stallion, and found out about 10am they would have him out for warm up. So lets go inside and see what is to be learned in there. We found many booths all to do with agriculture in the valley. This was unexpected as I was thinking animals, but we did learn diversified this area is. After an hour wandering around inside we went back outside to find the stallion being warmed up. Getting good shots was difficult as the riding ring had cars and trucks all around which made for a busy background. The handler was very good about parading the horse close to us as possible, but I didn’t get “The Shot” I was looking for. Rain started as I was finishing. This Mac Bull Dog caught my eye as we were walking out.”