VN #053: Clinton’s Alkaline Lake
Posted December 8, 2024
Clinton’s Alkaline Lake
A lake such as I had never seen before. 7:54:36 AM
In 2009, after presenting a slide show to the Langley Camera Club, a gentleman introduced himself to me. In a short conversation he said, “I am a pilot and a photographer, and if you ever want to do some aerial photography, give me a call.” He gave me his business card; it read ‘Rick Church’.
While driving home that evening I told my wife Rita about Rick’s offer; it was the third such offer I had received from various pilots, but this time the idea hit home. Before we had driven 50 kms, we had decided the topic of our next book; the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region of British Columbia as photographed from the air.
In 2010, Rick took me on my first flight, and within an hour, while flying over the town of Clinton, I spotted a lake like I had never seen before. I had no idea what it was but I started to shoot.
Rick circled the lake while I made imagery. 7:54:59 AM
Excitedly, I continuously changed perspectives. 7:56:16 AM
A few seconds later, as I looked through my viewfinder, I lost all sense of reality. I had entered another world. 7:56:23 AM
In 1 minute and 47 seconds, my idea of photography, and the book project I had started, had changed! I couldn’t have been more excited about what had just happened and the adventures that lay ahead.
Before leaving, Rick circled the lake once again; the colours had changed as I made one last image. 7:58:32 AM
Thirteen years later, while driving to Kamloops, I passed Clinton’s alkaline lake once again, as I have done hundreds of times. With the morning mist rising, I stopped my car, jumped the fence, and made another image. The memories of that first flight flooded back.
More aerial adventures with Rick and other pilots are coming soon. Stay tuned!
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