My Photography

One of the threads that runs through most of my hobbies is that of creativity. I love to stimulate that God given ability to come up with new ways and/or ideas for doing things. Certainly photography lends itself to creative thought. I have always owned a camera and was always keen to capture that special image. I must admit that when I did get a special picture (i can recall maybe 3 times) it was generally good fortune rather than skill.

My son -in- law Peter Marton is a professional photographer and has an ability to capture pictures that represent a vision that is clearly a gift. I once took a picture of a flower that turned out ok but with the same camera he took a picture of the stem. The light was just right and the picture was fantastic. I started to understand that although the equipment was important the ability to capture the real picture was in the heart of the person behind the camera. I also learned that often this is a gift but most times it’s an art that takes years to develop.

Many years ago I met a young reporter/photographer Nick Didlick, who worked for the Vancouver Sun. At that time he was covering the Gustafsen Lake stand off. The Gustafsen Lake Stand off was an indigenous land dispute involving members of the Secwepemec nation and members of other indigenous groups in British Columbia. Nick was one of the true pioneers in Digital Photography.

I recall being mesmerized with the fact that he would take a picture with a digital camera at the site of the “stand off”, go to his van and send those pictures over his computer to the Sun for publication in the afternoon paper. Unreal unheard of technology just 16 years ago. The thought of learning more about that technology intrigued me and I must admit didn’t germinate for many years until Digital cameras became affordable.

As I pursued my fly fishing and flytying hobby I kept seeing a transition taking place in many of the notable fishermen/writers of the day. Lefty Kreh,Borger, Mclennan,to name a few were taking up photography and augmenting their articles with their own photos. This motivated me to get on with it. My first digital was a point & shoot, and although it served me well in the transition from film cameras it still didn’t allow me the flexibility to be creative. Hence, about 5 years ago I purchased a Nikon SRL camera with one” all purpose” lens. I’ve since learned there is no such thing as an all purpose lens. Anyway with the new camera I had to learn how to use it. Searching the internet for courses, low and behold up pops the name Nick Didlick as one of the instructors of the Nikon school. I attended the courses in Seattle and started taking pictures and reading anything that I felt might help me take better pictures.

Nick was an addicted fly fisherman so we at least had something in common. Thus began a renewed friendship and an invaluable marathon training session between master and student,that continues to this day. I am truly fortunate to have a mentor that has the patience of Job.

Remember that one lens I mentioned ? Well that number has increased and so has my passion for taking pictures. I trust you will enjoy some of my shots as much as I enjoyed taking them. ………”and so the river runs through it”