Molly & Chris, June 12, 2010

Thank you Molly & Chris for reminding me of everything great weddings can be.

.....and thank you Nikon for the incredible tools that helped me capture it all!

Maddi by the Pond

I have come to the conclusion that keeping up with a full post on a daily basis is not in the cards for this blogger, however adding a daily image is much more realistic.

This one is of the daughter of a favorite client shot yesterday at their secluded estate. Nikon D3, 70-200 f2.8 lens. Puuurrrffect!

A Walk in the Forest

Saturday the weather was dismal. Indoors all day. Kids were stir crazy. I hit the gym for a couple hours. Half soaked between the van and the door. That was my outdoors time. Dismal.

That night I told my wife that we would be going outdoors Sunday come hell or high water (seemed the high water was much more likely). It wasn't raining Sunday, just threatening. After dragging them kicking and screaming from video game and television, we bundled the kids appropriately and headed for the forest.

Golden Ears Provincial Park is a short drive and within a half hour of our departure we were feet on trail. My five year old son set the pace, his stride a quarter of mine. He meandered all over, determined to climb everything in sight.

Soon, the canopy engulfed us. The smell was wonderful. Always is in the forest after a rain. We started seeing pictures. The camera came out. Light and composition forming images in an alien landscape far removed from the everyday. We worked quickly, faced with impatient little people.

The quality of light in the forest is dreamy. The light. The shadow. The texture. The form. The lines.

It was therapeutic. It was thirty minutes from home. It was cloudy. Threatening. So easy to stay home and dry and warm and safe. So thankful that we chose not to. Instead we headed into the rainforest and it was a reminder that from that rain we tend to curse comes a beauty that most will never know. We know, and we're determined to pass that appreciation down to our children.

We live in British Columbia, and it is a beautiful place. Rain or shine.

Launch the Dragonfly

Yesterday was the soft launch for our new venture, Dragonfly Print Media Solutions. Our Dragonfly was hatched from it's nymph to serve the Vancouver business market with affordable printing, quality design, and of course, exceptional photography. Quality printing has always been an elusive animal in our fair city. Competitive pricing even more so.

A previous post talked about my love of fishing, and features one image of a series I captured of Dragonflies at Island Lake last year. I fell in love with the little creatures and decided to name the new venture in their honor. They are very fast, can move in six different directions, and can mate standing, flying, or hovering. Cool.

See the Dragonflies at http://www.kevinjamesday.com/

Mention the blog and receive 10% off your first order. Cheers!

The Allure of Flyfishing

I tell people that I love flyfishing. They look at me warily. Especially the city slickers who have never seen a fish out of market. Perish the thought.

Many would be surprised to know that it isn't all about the fish. It's about the solitude. Waking up at the crack of dawn to the haunting cry of the resident loon echoing across glass-calm water. Mist dances  across its smooth surface, broken only by a trout jumping, then gone in an instant leaving only the telltale rings that spread in perfect diminishing circles until the surface is glass once again.

Grab the gear and get out on the water. Six a.m. and no coffee on board. Up late the night before sharing drinks and stories around a crackling fire. Wide awake now, no coffee necessary. Slide the pontoon boat into the lake and head out. Flippers and oars. Silence. No roaring gas motors. No smell. Rig the line and let out a long lead. Wait for the telltale tug and set the hook. A good trout will play it out for several minutes. Leaping. Diving. Running into you faster that you can reel in and slacking the line, then turning hard and kicking away in an effort to break the line and disappoint. Get it alongside and bring it up with the net. Remove the hook and thank it for the good fight before sending it on its way.

The camera always close at hand, I usually spend more time shooting than fishing. These trips are a feast for my visual senses, so far removed from the everyday back home. Flora, fauna, landscape, clouds, reflections.

Attached is a favorite of a dragonfly. Eight or ten of them danced around me for well over an hour. They are truly amazing creatures, with faces that have genuine character. They fascinated me, and my Nikon D3 with the 70-200 f2.8 rose to the occasion and captured a memory I will forever cherish.

For those who ask me why I fish.....