Newsletter No. 6: December, 2005
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
CONTENTS
Burnt Sage
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.This summer season at the gallery saw a large increase in print sales, both framed and unframed; and it was wonderful for us to see Chris’ work going to be enjoyed at home with so many great folks.
With that, I was inspired to change the framing style for prints hanging here in the gallery, and this led to the decision to offer the previously framed prints at a discount to make way for the new look. We’ve set some dates aside to invite folks to drop in and take advantage of some great buys. We also wanted to showcase some of the more recent imagery and invite visitors to the gallery, so we’ve scheduled a series of slide-sound presentations for the December season as a way for Chris to share some of this year’s images, stories and adventures.
There will also be several new prints featured. Burnt Sage, for example, has been a limited edition print for some time but has never had a showing in the gallery; it has only gone directly to clients. It’s a wonderful pallet of greens and black in a previously burned grasslands landscape. Salsify is a fabulous impressionist rendition of that sun-following flower so prevalent here in the Cariboo; Aspen Copse is also an impressionist, or semi abstract creation depicting the snowy white vertical lines of an aspen grove in the grasslands.
We are very excited about all these developments and invite everyone to drop by and join us for a truly celebratory winter season.
Rita Giesbrecht
Aspen Copse |
Salsify |
Christmas Sales Discount
On selected inventory
Nov. 17-19; Nov. 24 – 26; and Dec. 1-3Slide Show Presentations
BC Grasslands
Featuring new stories and images
Dec. 10th @ 4:00 pm and 7 pm
Dec. 16th @ 4:00 pm
[Dec. 22nd CANCELLED]Our winter hours are as follows:
Nov. 15 – Jan. 15Thursday-Saturday 12:00-5:00 pm
Other times by appointment or by chance
2. Exploring in the Grasslands
Earlier this fall I brought Mike Duffy along with me on one of my grasslands photo expeditions. I’ll share more of our exciting adventures in future newsletters but on this particular morning I brought Mike to one of my old photographic discoveries from years ago.
Patterns of Erosion
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: Lens: 17 to 35mm, Focal length: 17mm, Aperture: 18, Shutter speed: 1/100 sec., Exposure compensation: +1/3Immediately below a large sloping area of pristine bunchgrass and sage, where the land drops off out of sight, there is this amazing area of extensive erosion. This is where water has drained off the sloping grasslands for centuries resulting in what you see above.
Mike exploring the patterns
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: Lens: 17 to 35mm, Focal length: 30mm, Aperture: 14, Shutter speed: 1/100 sec., Exposure compensation: -2/3Above, Mike searching for an ever better photo composition in a spot where I had seen a beautiful fox earlier in the year traveling through these incredibly textured and colourful rock crevasses.
3. What it’s like to do a professional photo shoot? Part I
In mid-September I was hired to do a photographic shoot in Bowron Lake Park for Tourism British Columbia. They wanted some Super Natural ‘WOW’ images with fall colours and snow-capped mountains to use for marketing the province. What makes this kind of shoot stressful for both parties is that the area I felt I needed to get to would take a few days and there would be no guarantee about the weather when I got there. Tourism didn’t want to spend money on models and myself if the weather wasn’t good and I too didn’t want to come back from a 5-day shoot looking like a poor photographer with nothing to show for my efforts. So I promised I would check with environment Canada before I left and that I wouldn’t go unless the forecast was promising.
I then had to find three friends who could travel with me so that I would always have another canoe to photograph. Fortunately my friends Shayne, Dave & Cherly gave the OK and we all went on stand-by. On the 13th, the 5-day weather forecast looked fantastic so with our red and yellow canoes (good colours to photograph) we headed off.
Oh . . .oh . . .where is the sun?
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: Lens: Lens: 28 to 135mm, Focal length: 50mm, Aperture: 8, Shutter speed: 1/800 sec., Exposure compensation: -2/3Well, as you can see, there was no sun! In fact, it was down-right stormy! Where was that high pressure system we were promised? Even though stress levels were mounting, we decided we’d still have fun. We discovered a new beaver dam, so we portaged our canoe over to it so we could make this image.
Beaver dam
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: Lens: Lens: 28 to 70mm, Focal length: 28mm, Aperture: 10, Shutter speed: 1/200 sec., Exposure compensation: -1/3vNeedless to say, it didn’t take the four of us very long before we really got carried away! We portaged the canoe around the beaver dam and set this shot up for a laugh. I doubt Tourism will use this image to sell the province but we had a good chuckle anyway!
Good for a Laugh!
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: Lens: Lens: Lens: 28 to 70mm, Focal length: 70mm, Aperture: 10, Shutter speed: 1/320 sec.In my next newsletter I’ll tell you what happened with the weather and what the results were!
4. The World Wilderness CongressThis October I attended the 8th WWC, a project of The Wild Foundation, which has been held every four years in a different part of the world. This year the Congress took place in Anchorage, Alaska. Some 1500 people came from over 60 nations; from government, private business, aboriginal communities, as well as conservation organizations, scientists, writers and photographers. It’s main goal is to protect and sustain wilderness and wildlands, while meeting the needs of human communities-in other words, how to enrich, inspire and inform our life and work.
I saw incredible imagery and heard amazing stories of both destruction and conservation being carried out around the globe. It was both depressing and inspiring, like an emotional roller coaster. At the end of the week I spent a day trying to consolidate my thoughts and feelings from all that I had heard. Here are a few that stand out.
I heard and sometimes had the great pleasure of chatting with some absolutely amazing individuals who almost single-handedly have accomplished incredible feats of conservation and enhancement of life for individuals and communities. These were heartwarming and inspiring stories that every person should and would love to hear. I felt it was a privilege to listen to them and I left feeling hopeful and inspired.
I also saw the power of partnerships. Private companies, governments, conservation organizations, aboriginal communities and individuals around the world are working together in every combination possible and are accomplishing incredible feats of conservation. Of great interest to me was the importance in these partnerships placed on photography. It was clear that great imagery is considered the most powerful conservation tool there is. Good photographers can do more than just document the landscape or create works of art. They can create images that inspire people, educate people, and encourage people to take action. When combined with scientific knowledge and creative writing it can empower people to make behavioral changes.
Conservation is not about ‘we’ vs ‘them’. Conservation is about embracing all people living in or deriving their livelihoods in a particular landscape. It’s about understanding their traditions, cultures and economic activities. It should not be about taking lands away from people and just turning them into parks. It’s more about partnering and fostering a greater understanding for the cultural, economic and spiritual value of all ecosystems on the Earth.
The Grasslands Awareness Project that I am presently working on with the Grasslands Conservation Council of B.C. is a three year project of which I have one more year to photograph. I came away from this Congress completely inspired with new creative ideas and a personal commitment to raise the bar photographically. I am also comforted to know that I am not by any means working in isolation but am part of a huge conservation effort taking place all around the planet. The week left me totally excited about the year ahead.
In conclusion, my commitment is to create more inspiring imagery than ever and work with the Grasslands Conservation Council of British Columbia to promote a greater understanding of grasslands so that they can be conserved for future generations, and for all the plants, birds and animals that live there.
5. The Bowron Lakes: The End of an Era, Part IMorning Mist, Day 1
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: 28 to 135mm; Focal length: 28mm; Shutter speed: 1/125sec; Aperture:11; Exposure compensation: +2/3On September 3rd I headed off to Bowron Lake Park to lead another photo/canoe tour around the world famous Bowron Lake canoe circuit. While snoozing in my tent on the very first evening it became suddenly clear to me that this was going to be my last tour as a guide. After 35 years and over 100 guided canoe tours, it became absolutely clear to me that the time to "hang up the paddle" had come. To end this era, I will celebrate by publishing two new books on the Lakes; one will be a guide book to be written with my two long-time canoe guiding friends Jim Boyde and Dean Hull and the other a photographic coffee-table book which will replace the soon to be out of print The Bowron Lakes: British Columbia’s Wilderness Canoe Circuit. I’ll keep you posted on their development and of course the publication date.
After lunch, Day3
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: Lens: 100 to 400mm, Focal length: 105mm, Aperture: 8, Shutter speed: 1/500 sec, Exposure compensation: +1/3I shared my last trip with a wonderful group of people representing four nationalities: Polish, German, American and Canadian. Over the next three newsletters, I’d like to share a few images taken on this trip. In Part II of this article I’ll talk about some of the abstract images I made on the trip while in Part III, I’ll share with you one of my favourite images that I’ve ever made on the Circuit. It’s called Last Light, and it was taken on the last night of my last guided tour – what a farewell!
Evening Light, Day 3
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: 100 to 400mm, Focal length: 400mm, Aperture: 8, Shutter speed: 1/80 sec., Exposure compensation: -1/3The images above and below were both made from our campsite opposite Betty Wendle Creek on Isaac Lake.
Sunset, Day 3
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Lens: Lens: 28 to 135mm, Focal length: 35mm, Aperture: 8, Shutter speed: 1/80 sec, Exposure compensation: -1/3