Golden ducks of the morning

Muskwa-Kechika B.C. Canada, taken on horseback expedition, find out more about my expeditions at http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/

These beautiful ducks were teasing me when I woke up at 5:00 am in hopes of photographing something in the splendid morning light. I could see expanding rings of ripples emanating from these boat-like creatures from the edge of the lake, if only I could get closer to see them. I set foot to intercept them given the direction they were heading, planning to have them sail by me on the shore. But they were weary of me, and drifted slowly away from me. 

I positioned the camera as close as I could to the waters surface, handheld to get the perspective I wanted: a duck's eye view. Snapping off a few photos I figured I had nothing to lose, maybe if I throw a stick in the direction the ducks were going they would veer away and perhaps come closer. But what they actually did surprised me.

Sploosh!

They went towards the splash that my violently careening stick made in the still lake, piercing the morning calmness like a shattered mirror. What!? I threw another one close to me, and sure enough these brazen ducks wiggled their way towards me, as their unseen feet paddled them closer under the water. I decided not to tempt fate any further and let the morning calmness resume. The ducks and I eyed each other for a while until we both carried on our morning business, them with their aqua-stroll and me with my camera.

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Hank's Bath

Tuchodi Lake, Muskwa-Kechika, B.C., Canada, On horseback expedition with +Wayne Sawchuk  check out http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/ for more

Hank is almost too comfortable with me. Nearly squishing me when he dived into the hot sand for a "bath" and spastically rolled towards me with his hooves flailing in the air. But it was a pretty gorgeous place to roll, I'll give him that. Despite almost being in the Arctic, it was so hot I had to dive into the water dozens of times here just to keep cool. A surprisingly refreshing way to end a trip!

Canon 5D Mark III, 16-35mm f2.8  lens,Iso 100, f16, 1/200sec 

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Rocky Mountain Epic

Muskwa-Kechika B.C., Canada, On horseback expedition with +Wayne Sawchuk, check out http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/ for more

Sooooo this is the moment where I felt like I was living in some epic western movie, or maybe got downloaded to a super realistic version of an Oregon trail sequel game taking place up in Northern Canada. As this view opened up in front of me, I asked +Wayne Sawchuk to pause our caravan of horses so I could run up ahead and capture this. Not only did I have to physically catch my breath after sprinting up the hillside, as the horses began to move on queue, +Wayne Sawchuk told me he would get everything into the most photogenic position, he wasn't kidding. It was an incredible the combination of subjects lined up to create this shot, grand rocky mountains, gorgeous horses, meandering foothills and beautiful wildflowers to ground and frame the image. Pinch me, am I dreaming?

Photographic details
laying down in the grass I was also catching my breath from the beauty, I centred the horses as they were mostly symmetrical, visually "hugged" by the also symmetrical valley below, thus giving me licensee to put everything in the middle.  Low enough to capture the flowers I didn't want them completely in focus to give the viewer a sense of 3D depth that it might lack if I stacked the focus to include everything tack sharp.

Canon 5D Mark III f10 1/80th of a second canon 16-35 f2.8 L
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Forgotten Silhouette

Muskwa-Kechika, B.C. Canada with +Wayne Sawchuk on www.go2mk.ca horseback expedition

A gorgeous morning with a cup of coffee just footsteps from our campground on what we called "Tuchodi Beach". The cool morning air did little to disturb the reflections on the lake, I couldn't be helped but to be pulled in by the view. When the afternoon sun gets too hot, the only respite will be to dive into those reflections and take in the refreshing waters of the Muskwa-Kechika wilderness.

Photographic Details One day, the silhouette photo could be a rarity that few people will ever have witnessed. Cameras and techniques are getting so good that eventually details that are usually lost to blacks will be something taken for granted. So despite the fact I could have used techniques to fully illuminate the figure in the foreground, I have chosen to keep those details mysterious by exposing for the background only and pumping up the blacks.

Canon 5D Mark III, 50mm f1.4, f8.0, 1/200sec

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Hank's view

Muskwa-Kechika, B.C. Canada

I've been ultra busy and am on a big shoot today so this will be a short one sent from my Nexus 5. Hank is one of the biggest horses I've ever seen, also one of the cuddliest. It's sometimes hard to get a photo of him because usually he is coming towards me to check me out and lick the salt off my fingers. He also liked to stick his face in my tent. +Wayne Sawchuk certainly has a keeper here! Taken on my horseback adventure with www.go2mk.ca

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The joy of golden light

Muskwa-Kechika, B.C. Canada

This gorgeous morning, +Rachel Gedaliya and I woke up at 5:00 AM to hike up the final 5% of a mountain we were camping on. It was like getting a 95% head start on an epic mountain hike. We literally woke up, grabbed our day bag full of breakfast and reached the mountain top 20 minutes after waking up in time for a sunrise mountain peak breakfast, talk about convenient! The ridge was littered with Elk and Mountain Goats. To have a golden morning sunshine look at these creatures was such a treat, kind of like a visual appetizer.

Photographic Details
Thank goodness the hot summer air was absent, replaced by cool morning refreshingness; this is one of the hidden benefits to waking up early for the golden hour, no sweltering heat.  I was taking tonnes of scenery shots, but I needed something to express how easy this place is to hike, and how wonderful it is to be here. So after catching my breath I asked +Rachel Gedaliya to stand in the exact spot I wanted to and to show the camera how wonderful it is to be here, she certainly delivered. Scenery shots are great, but having a person or animal in it really expresses how livable it is. If this was a landscape with no plants and no people it could almost be a photo from mars! So simply adding a person or animal really does bring accessibility to an image. I also shot this with my telephoto lens, this increases the size of the subject in the background, these lenses are not to be forgotten for landscape photos!

This was taken on expedition with +Wayne Sawchuk, if you want to go to places like these, check out www.go2mk.ca

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon L 70-200 f2.8 lens, f8, 1/100/sec, ISO 100

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Golden Horse Sunset

Muskwa-Kechika, B.C., Canada

I'm so excited to finally be posting the photos I got from my trip, it's only been two days but I have a whole load of awesome stuff to share!

Evening golden light was hitting our camp and the one horse that always loved being exactly 100 meters away from the herd was standing in the perfect spot. His name is Percy and thank goodness he was actually standing up, as he treats the ground like his personal sofa most of the time. Come to think of it, he's a pretty odd horse. Percy likes sticking his face in the smoke of the campfire, loves riding up front but walks slower than everyone else, and he's the only white horse in the herd acting like a visual beacon from far away. No doubt, he brings a certain useful quality to the expedition.

Photographic Details
Percy was stuffing his face with the Muskwa-Kechika grass, which wasn't very pretty. The light was hitting him perfectly and I positioned myself so Percy would fit in the right hand side of the image showing the beautiful highlighted peaks of the Rocky Mountains in the background. But I still had to get his attention, and the usual horse noises and weird sounds I made had lost their effect. At last, I threw my leatherman and everything I bought at +MEC that could fit in my pocket into the ground in front of me with a satisfying jingle, this was unusual enough to get Percy to look up and put his fuzzy ears forward for just a second, enough time for me to hit the shutter.

I think +Wayne Sawchuk might have already been in bed, but I was pretty darn happy to be out here in this golden light!

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 70-200 f2.8. f7.1 1/80th
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Off to ride the Muskwa-Kechika

I'm actually writing this from my nexus 5 while on the road to Northern B.C. so here's hoping I don't make an unfortunate autocorrect. I'm joining +Wayne Sawchuk on one of his horseback expeditions to one of the wildest places I've ever heard of with two weeks of no electricity, hundreds of gigs of memory cards and and tonnes of batteries. I'm expecting enough gorgeous scenes to fill every card and empty every battery, and hopefully wear out my gopro. Wish me luck! And if you want to join some time in the future, check out http://www.go2mk.ca 

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I'd like to introduce you all to an incredibly inspirational photographer

+Wayne Sawchuk has been part of a huge conservation effort in northern B.C. in Canada. Using his images and stories to foster healthy relationships between people and the use of the incredible Muskwa-Kechika Wilderness. It's because of people like Wayne that we still have these incredible wildernesses to explore.

Featured on National Geographic, Wayne leads incredible horseback expeditions, a few of which I will be going on this year! I highly recommend you check out his work and website, and forward it to any  horse and nature lovers you know!

I highly recommend you circle him and keep an eye out for his future work!

#travelphotography   #traveltuesday   #horsebackriding   #britishcolumbia   #canada   #travelcanada  

Reshared post from +Wayne Sawchuk

Riders Emerge From the Mist
Through the mist and clouds we emerge onto the ridge, inwardly thankful for the end of a long climb. Every moment of sweat and hard work is instantly a distant memory as we reach the heavens and the realm of the alpine.

Tuchodi River
Northern B.C. Rocky Mountains, Canada

#horselovers #horsepower #muskwakechika #adventuretravel #travel #canada #canadaphotography  

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