Family

Fabulous weekend at the cottage with the family.  But that's not what this post is about (or maybe it is...).  Watch the video below - but don't read what follows (I know this is a PHOTOGRAPHY blog - but this video is way cool...)

Sorry for the poor quality - had to downsize for this site.

At first I thought the larger fish was eating the little fish - it looked like a feeding frenzy!  But after a while of watching, it became obvious that the big fish wasn't eating the little fish - she was protecting them - from me!  Heather looked up 'cat fish' in our cottage reference book and saw that this behaviour is normal for this breed of catfish.  They will hover around the brood and protect them - vigorously if needed.

During the course of the weekend I encountered a couple other examples of close knit families.  Here are a couple other pictures.

OK - without sounding too proud of myself - this may be my favourite picture I've ever taken.  Hannah, Grandpa and me were out in the boat taking a little travelled route behind a couple of islands.  The water is VERY shallow and we were going very slow.  Because of our slow speed I saw this Momma Loon with her two little ones.  We sneaked close and Momma, while keeping a very close eye on us, let me take a bunch of photos.  After a while she had enough and moved quickly away while letting out several loud calls.  Grandpa wondered is she was calling Dad for help!  What a way cool experience.

Here we have another happy family!  A Merganser family.  They were happily fishing until I came around in the kayak.  Then, Momma decided to move them away.  Slowly at first, but then the young ones grew uncomfortable with my presence and started doing a very cute run/flap/swim.  They made it across to the shore of an island and then happily continued their fishing.

Together (times three...)

Talk about a near perfect day!  On Sunday June 30 (right before Canada Day) I got to spend time with each of my kids doing something special with each at the cottage.

Zac and I went for a canoe trip from the cottage to Norland (about 10 km).  The winds were behind us and the current carried us wonderfully!  Along the way we spotted lots of cool stuff - including this Heron.  Our trip ended with a great lunch at the Riverside Inn in Norland (Fish and Chips - yummy!).

In the afternoon Hannah and I went out on the pontoon boat for a casual cruise.  Along the way we encountered this loon who was preening himself in between fishing dives.  I let Hannah gingerly pilot the boat closer to the loon while I frantically snapped pictures (like Humming Birds and mushrooms - I never tire of taking pictures of Loons).  

After a delicious meal of Ribs and Wings (and Grandpa's coleslaw), Joel and I set up for the evening finale!  Joel is big fan of things that go boom and I was a very willing assistant.  The picture does not do justice to the fun we had lighting up the night sky.

Af the end of a day like this it is impossible to not feel very blessed.  Not only do I have amazing kids - but they actually seem to enjoy doing stuff with their old man.

Travels (Travails?)

Austin, TX

Austin, TX

Austin, TX

Between LA and Bakersfield, CA (shamelessly showing that we had a Mercedes Rental car!)

Phoenix, AZ ("Hole in the Rock" front side)

Phoenix, AZ ("Hole in the Rock" back side)

Over the last several months I have had to travel for business.  I haven't done that for quite a while and certainly not this frequently.  To be honest, I don't travel well - I miss my family and my 'space' and my routines.  Having said that, there certainly are some great aspects to it.  I have gotten to see some new places, meet some great people, eat some good food - and take some photos!  I've posted some of these pictures on Facebook, so sorry for the repetition.

Monochrome

This picture looks like it had the 'monochrome' effect added to it - it didn't.  It's a panorama picture taken at Beacon Bible Camp (the men from our church had a retreat there).  On the far right of the picture is the corner of "Uncle Charley's Cabin".  This modest cabin belonged to the man who founded Beacon Bible Camp and donated the land (400 acres!) for the camp.

This scene is really beautiful - both the beautiful simplicity of the monochromatic imagery and the beautiful simplicity of a very generous man.

Eyelashes

If you zoom in you will see that hummingbirds have eyelashes!  Who would have known.  I love these happy discoveries.  This picture (and about 15 others) were taken from inside the cottage through a fairly dirty window.  Very surprising how sharp this picture turned out.  Yet another example of the serendipitous joys of photography!

Hunter-Hunted

Another great set of pictures by my son Joel.  Here he captures the age old saga of the hunter and the hunted.  In reality, it was much more cute than cruel.  There's no way our cat would have caught this very agile chipper!  I think the chipper knew it as he sat up in the tree teasing the cat.  Our cat (Pita) is actually quite a timid thing - hence the harness and rope - she actually wants it on to feel more safe and secure outside.

So, there you have it - the timid hunter and the teasing hunted.

Together

Loons are amazingly beautiful creatures.  I like photographing them almost as much as mushrooms!  

It is rare that you can get pictures of two loons together.  I managed to get this pictured because my son Joel and I were together out in the boat.  He drove; I sat at the front of the boat snapping pictures like crazy (172 to be exact!).  I would not have been able to do this without Joel.  He carefully and gently piloted the boat in such a way that the loons felt safe with us so close.

Cool things happen when you do stuff together.