Springtime bliss

"Portal to Petrichor"

Vancouver Island is home to a lot of mossy maple forests that are absolutely breathtaking to see and photograph. I shot this last spring during a very fun, but also very wet trip with lots of rain. Although not shown in this photo, some of the forests were flooded with over a foot of water! This scene caught my eye because of the way it felt like a window or a portal deeper into the forest.

Though I shot this last year, I only recently got around to the post-processing. Sometimes it just happens that way!

47mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 320

"The Call"

Sometimes the light is worthy of being the subject, and that was very much the case here. Conditions were basically as ideal as they can possibly get for rays at this spot, short of the sun bursting through on a foggy day!

69mm, f/10, 1/4s, ISO 320

"Springtime Bliss"

The title of this photo describes how I felt while hiking around the woods by myself yesterday. Lush greens, flowing water, singing birds. There isn't much I enjoy more than a solo spring hike in such a place. It's a feeling I can only describe as being similar to spending time with someone you love very much, except more liberating. If I want to sit in one spot for two hours watching the light change, I can. If I want to stop and look at the smallest details, I can. If I suddenly want to turn around and head in a different direction, I can. The outside world ceases to matter and I can just enjoy how fortunate I am to be there. When I go home, the urge to have more such experiences becomes stronger, without fail.

This summer I plan on finally doing my first solo backpacking trip in the mountains. I feel like it is something I need to do.

24mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 200

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I hope you enjoyed these photographs.