A Guide to Photographing Boundary Bay

When I first moved to Vancouver British Columbia, I expected to do most of my photography north of the city, in the rugged mountains with their old growth forests and glaciers. These were the places I had seen in published photographs and they formed my preconceptions of the area. I created some photographs in these environments, but I found myself drawn south by the abundance and diversity of life in Boundary Bay and the Fraser River estuary. This area has a subtle beauty that can take time to recognize, appreciate and photograph. It might not seem very wild at first; the signs of civilization are everywhere. But nature still has a strong presence here, and if you slow down and patiently observe, you can find many natural subjects for your camera. SLOW DOWN Choose a spot, any spot, stop walking, and just observe for a while. Too often we walk, waiting to see something that will grab our attention, all the while ignoring the common things that surround us. One of the most important things you can do for your nature photography is become a perceptive observer. You have no chance to photograph something unless you first notice it and recognize it as being something of interest. This is especially true in a subtle landscape like Boundary Bay. Making an interesting photograph is easy when you are standing in front of something interesting. Making an interesting photograph out of something common is not so easy. I spent an hour or so working on finding a good composition of these American glasswort. They are so common in the salt marsh you might tend not to look at them. Being only a few inches high also makes them easy to miss. I saw this pattern in calm water while waiting for some nearby ducks to swim my way. The ducks never swam any closer, but they helped me slow down and wait long enough to notice and photograph this pattern.

Boundary Bay Return to the main Boundary Bay page Order the books Order the book online direct from the publisher Fine Art Prints Order prints of your favorite Boundary Bay images Photographing Boundary Bay Advice for making your own photographs of Boundary Bay. Images from the Nature Guide Some of my favorite images from the book. Images from Tracing our Past Some of my favorite images from the book. More Photographs Some of my favorite images from Boundary Bay that did not make it into the books. Map of the images See where some of the images were made.

BEING CLOSE TO WILDLIFE There are many opportunities to photograph wildlife in and around Boundary Bay. Even with a telephoto lens, you still have to be quite close to a small animal to fill the frame. I recommend you try being close to animals rather than trying to get close to them. In other words, let them come to you, don't go chasing after them. You have to be patient, and it does not always work. A lot depends on the animal. Learn to recognize the body language of an animal that is being made nervous so you do not approach too close. Always remember that the welfare of an animal is more important than any photograph we might make. Heavily visited city parks are great places to photograph wildlife because the animals become used to people. I made this photograph by sitting patiently on the edge of the pond and waiting for the ducks to swim near me. After a time animals will become more comfortable with your presence as long as you don’t appear to be a threat. I sat in this spot for hours waiting for a pintail to swim into this bit of water that reflected the golden brown leaves of a tree across the pond. Panning the camera a little to the left or right would have resulted in the water reflecting the blue sky which would totally change the mood of this photograph. Notice that these geese are coming in to land and they are flying toward me. I prefer a scene like this to one where the photographer approaches too close and scares the geese into flight. All I did was sit at the edge of a field the geese were feeding in and they eventually started moving in my direction. I saw this family of otter trying to leave the water and make their way to their den on the other side of the beach. Someone was walking their dog without a leash and the dog chased them back into the water. Although I was troubled by the unleashed dog, I also saw an opportunity to make a photograph. I expected the otter family would try again to make it to their den once the people and dog had passed. I used this time to get into position at the edge of the water with the sun to my back facing in the direction I expected the otter to leave the water. It only took a few minutes before they climbed up on a rock to see if the coast was clear. They checked me out and determined I was no threat and waited until the dog was gone. Then they made the dash up the beach and into their den. I snapped this photograph while they were checking me out from the rock. USING THE LIGHT YOU HAVE One thing I try to be aware of while I am making photographs is whether my thoughts are helping me or hindering me. It is easy to slip into a thought process that keeps you from being creative. One idea I often see getting in the way is that the light is bad or that the light is not doing what the photographer wants. Photographers often talk about waiting for the “good” light, especially for landscape photography. I prefer, instead, to ask myself, “what is this light good for?” If you focus your thoughts on what is wrong with the light, it could keep you from making any photographs. If the light is not good for what you want to do, you can just come back another time. In the mean time you need to figure out what the light you have is good for. CLEAR BLUE SKIES I find clear blue skies the most difficult to work with. These are the days most people think are beautiful and grab their camera to go for a walk. However, the light is harsh and the sky has little interest, it is just blue. For landscapes on days like this, I try to work with the sun as low on the horizon as possible, or sometimes, even below the horizon. I also tend to make the sky a small part of the composition, drawing more attention to the foreground. This photograph of Roberts Bank was made near sunset on a day with clear skies. I waited until the last rays of sun were striking the foreground, highlighting the contours of the mud and vegetation. This photograph was made a few minutes after sunset looking away from where the sun went down. On clear days this part of the sky has wonderful pastel colors that change as the sun sinks farther below the horizon. Several other photographers were here at the same time. They made photographs looking toward the setting sun and packed up and left once the sun was gone. They missed all the wonderful pastel light. PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES Fortunately, the Boundary Bay area is blessed with more interesting weather much of the time. Partial clouds are my favorite landscape light because the sky and the light in the sky has interest and drama. Clouds can help give a sense of depth to a landscape image as cloud patterns recede into the distance. The clouds in this image add both color and a sense of depth. The clouds in this image help keep the sky darker than the highlights on the grass. Typically the sky is the brightest part of a scene, but when sunlight breaks through clouds in a way that makes the foreground brighter than the sky, it can create a sense of drama. A break in the clouds on the horizon allows the last rays of the setting sun to light the bottoms of the clouds creating this dramatic display. CLOUDY SKIES The sky on cloudy days can make landscapes difficult. The contrast between the amount of light on the ground and the amount in the sky is often too great to include both in the same photograph. If you try to expose for the foreground you will get an overexposed, blown out sky. If you try to expose for the sky, the foreground will be too dark. However, it can sometimes work if the foreground is a highly reflective surface like water that helps bring the foreground brightness closer to the level of the sky. The wet mud reflected enough of the light from the clouds to balance the exposure of the land and sky. Without the highly reflective wet mud the sky would have either been blown out or the mud would have been too dark. Including the sky in a landscape photograph on a cloudy day is very difficult, but these days are the easiest to photograph in the forest. On sunny days there is often too much contrast in a forest making it difficult to capture details in both the shadows and highlights. A cloudy sky will diffuse the light and make it possible to record all the details of a forest landscape. This photograph was made on a cloudy day making it possible to record details in both the highlights and shadows. Notice that where the sky is visible it is blown out because it is so much brighter than anything else in the scene. For macro photography it is often easier to have even light on both the foreground and background on a cloudy day. Full sun would have created black shadows or white highlights that would have been distracting and would have reduced the amount of color in this image. Even a rainy day can be productive as long as the rain is not so severe that it damages your camera. This image was made during light drizzle. The soft even light helps show detail in the shadowed leaves and helps to increase the color saturation. When working in conditions like this, I often put my camera inside a shower cap I picked up from my last stay in a hotel. They are clear so you can see through them to compose the photograph, and they are free! GET UP EARLY One of the easiest things you can do to improve your photography in Boundary Bay is arrive on location before sunrise. The light tends to be more interesting when the sun is near the horizon. When the sun is near the horizon it has more direction (long shadows) and it has warmer color. But morning and evening light are not created equal. The morning is when you get fog and mist and these can give more "atmosphere" to your photographs. Boundary Bay has a lot of foggy or misty mornings. These two photographs were made from the same location within a few minutes of each other. Both were made just as the sun rose above the horizon and started to burn off the fog. They have completely different looks because of how the sun and fog interact. The first one is looking away from the sun with plenty of sunlight highlighting the foreground, lots of color saturation, and a strong fog effect in the distance. The second photograph was made looking toward the sun (the sun was just out of frame to the left) creating a misty, low color saturation scene. Taking the time to simply observe this wonderful place is the first and most important step to creating your own photographs. A Nature Guide to Boundary Bay and Tracing Our Past - A Heritage Guide to Boundary Bay will help you visit and appreciate the locations I used while photographing for these book. Ultimately, however, it is up to you to see Boundary Bay from your own perspective and make photographs that have meaning to you.