Newsletter No. 62: September 2010
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CONTENTS
- Motherstone: Book Cover meets with Approval
- The "Motherstone" is more than Stone: How about Grasslands?
- Forest Fires Sweep Through the Chilcotin: Evacuate or Not?
- A Visit to Barkerville: Our Historic Gold Rush Town
- Back Yard Artist: Slow Down, be in the Present
1. Motherstone: Book Cover meets with Approval!In July’s Newsletter #60, I revealed for the first time, the cover of the new book Motherstone that is to be released October 16th, here in 100 Mile House. To our unexpected but pleasant surprise, we received dozens of emails expressing delight at the layout and design. Thank you for that response.
We owe this to our good friend, Bill Horne, who has designed my last seven books. Bill is a wonderful artist in several media, and I don’t know what I would do without his brilliant talent and support.
You can visit Bill and his partner Claire Kujundzic, also an amazing artist, at their studio in Wells, B.C., or at their web site: www.claireart.ca .
2. The "Motherstone" is more than Stone: How about Grasslands!Grasslands within the Itcha Volcano
© Chris Harris
Photographer’s Notes: Canon EOS-1Ds Mk.III. This image was made with settings of ISO200; f-22; 1/20sec; with a lens set at 21mm. One couldn’t produce this image without a tripod and that is why I always carry one, even when backpacking with a heavy load. These settings were chosen to produce maximum depth of focus plus a slight softening of the water. Technical proficiency and creative choices require the use of a quality tripod. Well above tree line, and nestled amongst massive volcanic mountains, lie beautiful green valleys carpeted with heathers, mosses, alpine flowers and a variety of grasses. To hike through this landscape is a backpackers dream. It is also the dream home to a lot of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, cougars, mountain goats and Woodland caribou. Within sight of the spot where I made this image were over 40 mountain goats watching our every move. The day before, we had seen hundreds of caribou, part of the largest remaining Woodland caribou populations in British Columbia.
Rita, Mike and I all considered our hike through the Itcha Mountains the premier hiking experience of our lives. Our friends, the goats, caribou, and bears to name a few, were our companions.
3. A New Book Project Begins: An Aerial PerspectiveSmall Island in Green Lake
© Chris Harris
Photographer’s Notes: Canon EOS-1Ds Mk.III. This image was made with settings of ISO500; f-10; 1/250sec; with a lens set at 88mm. Any serious aerial photography cannot be made through a Plexiglas window. So with the window open, my main concern was shutter speed to negate the wind vibration. Also, when shooting over water, I quickly discovered to use manual focus set at infinity, as far too often the auto focus could not detect enough contrast to focus on the water. Apart from that, my main job was to concentrate on the most important part of any image – the composition. As Motherstone goes to press, I have begun two new book projects. One book subject is still under wraps but, in the other, I will take you on a journey around the Cariboo Chilcotin region of British Columbia. This time I won’t be hiking, nor will I be supported by horses. I am being assisted by a number of amazing pilots who have spent thousands of hours flying over every corner of this most diverse area of British Columbia.
Renowned local writer Sage Birchwater will author this book. He is presently interviewing some of the most famous bush pilots who have stories beyond ‘the believable’. These personal stories will combine with research to produce the fascinating history of aviation within the region.
One of the goals of this book is to add to the varied collection of books that describe our rich cultural history. Another goal, of course, is to bring a new perspective of awareness to the beauty of the land to which we call ‘home’. Awareness affects public opinion and public opinion affects political change. I believe that there is an Economy related to Beauty. We spend billions of dollars each year as tourists, searching for beauty to enjoy on our holidays. I have had several people over the years tell me they actually moved to this region because of my books. I too moved to British Columbia because of beautiful images of the Coast Mountains.
The power of photography moves all of us, and it is my sincerest hope, that the photographic imagery I create for these books will help prevent the continuous whittling away of our regions greatest asset, the beauty and diversity of our natural world. There are areas within the Chilcotin that I am sure one day will become “World Heritage Sites” (book in progress). These are areas that should be treasured and preserved, not only for their beauty, but because our children cannot live in our economy of extraction, but will, of necessity, find greater value in an intact land.
Exploitation of the natural world brings not wealth, but scarcity. – Graeme Gibson
My friend and long time pilot, Rick Church, flew me over the southern Cariboo recently in his Cessna 180. The above image was made over Green Lake. The colours from the air are breathtaking. When I look at this image I feel like getting out my canoe or kayak and exploring the entire lake.
So stay tuned. I hope to show you the Cariboo Chilcotin as you have never seen it before!!
4. Forest Fires Sweep Through the Chilcotin: Evacuate or Not?Forest Fire near Bull Canyon
© Chris Harris
Photographer’s Notes: Canon EOS-1Ds Mk.III. This image was made with settings of ISO200; f-9; 1/250sec; with a lens set at 35mm. Compared to the image below, I tried to get a sense of the fires magnitude and the amount of smoke billowing into the air…thus the 35mm lens. Two weeks ago I went west into the Chilcotin with my friend Mike to climb Perkins Peak but was driven back by extreme smoke. Just west of Bull Canyon we discovered one of the culprits. This was considered a small fire by the fire fighters but it looked pretty awesome to us as we drove along Highway 20. Trucks of every description were rolling up and down the highway and helicopters were crisscrossing above fighting the fire-war. They were trying to save the ranch whose hay field you see in the foreground.
Forest Fire near Bull Canyon
© Chris Harris
Photographer’s Notes: Canon EOS-1Ds Mk.III. This image was made with settings of ISO 400; f-8; 1/500sec; with a lens set at 400mm. Here I used my 100-400mm lens, which combined with my 50D camera and its partial-frame sensor, created a lens equivalent of 640mm . This was to get a sense of the inferno. With that long a lens I shot at 1/500 sec. to avoid shutter vibration. I spent that day photographing in burnt forests but when we saw 15 school buses from Williams Lake heading west, we knew an evacuation order had been given. Sure enough, the RCMP soon told us we had to leave.
It’s hard to conceive what it would be like to receive a phone call telling you to leave your home and, along with it, all your possessions. What would you take with you, or would you in fact leave at all? We had several friends who were threatened and some that were told to evacuate. I’d like to refer you to a very well-written blog posting by a good friend of ours, Dave Neads, who was told that he and his wife had to leave everything they had created in their wilderness setting known as ‘the Precipice’. I think you will enjoy it. It’s called “The Lesson of Fire”.
5. A Visit to Barkerville: Our Historic Gold Rush TownChinatown Scene in Barkerville
© Chris Harris
Photographer’s Notes: Canon EOS-1Ds Mk.III.This image was made with settings of ISO200; f-22; 1/5sec; with a lens set at 60mm. Once again it was the tripod that allowed me to make this image at 1/5sec. under such dark conditions. Last year I took a friend to visit the historic gold rush town of Barkerville. Thousands of people from around the world visit here every year, one of the premier historic sites in the country.
Even though I was playing tour guide for my friend, I decided to bring my camera and tripod along. While peering through an iron gated door into this somewhat dark log cabin in the Chinatown part of Barkerville, I saw this remarkable and historic scene, filled with extraordinary details, rich textures, subtle colours, and a dash of light coming in through the window.
For me, the fact of having a camera in hand intensifies the visual experience; I have been told that for others the opposite is true.
The retrospective emotional memory is carried in the image, without which the entire experience would have been lost.
6. Back Yard Artist: Slow Down, be in the PresentSunrise in Front of our Home
© Chris Harris
Photographer’s Notes: Canon EOS-1Ds Mk.III.This image was made with settings of ISO100; f-22; 1/16sec; with a lens set at 73mm. By using a tripod I was able to shoot at f-22 and not worry about the slower shutter speed. This gave me maximum depth of focus so that the vegetation in the immediate foreground as well as the distant trees and sun were all in focus. At 8am I drove down our driveway, turned left toward the highway, and drove past the scene in the above image with only a quick glance at the rising sun in my truck’s side mirror. My mind was filled with the forest fire images I was hoping to capture that day and I didn’t want to be delayed in getting there.
As I reached the highway, I heard my inner voice yelling, “Hey, wait a minute. Why are you in such a rush that you want to miss that amazing misty sunrise?” I have heard that voice before and I have been known to not listen to it. But no, not this time. I stopped, turned the truck around and drove the 1.5 km back to the small lake in front of our house. There before me was what became my favourite image of the entire day’s shoot.
Lesson re-learned. Always be in the present. Always listen to your inner voice. It is not always greener on the other side. On this particular day it was right before my eyes, right in my own back yard!
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