Squamish

We recently visited our son, Jon and his family in Squamish, British Columbia. Squamish is a town north of Vancouver at the northern tip of the Howe Sound. It’s a very scenic area, located on the ocean and surrounded by mountains. I took the opportunity to take some interesting photographs.

Squamish has a lot to offer. In addition to the mountain and ocean scenery (a draw for tourists), it’s very sports oriented (a mecca for hikers, skiers, climbers, kite boarders and wind surfers). And of course if you’re interested in photographing all these things, it’s a great place.

I was impressed by all the provincial parks in the area, providing recreational opportunities for all ages and interests. I found this appealing scene at Alice Lake Provincial Park, just north of the town.

One of the better known attractions is Shannon Falls, one of the province’s tallest at 335 metres (1,099 ft.). It is difficult to capture the entire height of the falls from below, so I’ve chosen this segment on its merits as a better photograph.

A short distance from Squamish (55km or 34 miles) in West Vancouver is the Point Atkinson Lighthouse. Here I experimented with a number of variations, beginning with this basic shot of the lighthouse. (1/250 sec@f/ 5.0, ISO 50)

I attempted a number of long exposures but the surf striking the rocks was pretty mild. As such I couldn’t get much of the blurred, white effect you can see along the shoreline. I showed the picture to a couple of people who preferred it to the previous one, above. I too like the image, so here it is. It’s a very long exposure (300 sec@f/22, ISO 50) which flattens out the waves and increases the saturation of the picture.

Wind Surfing and Kite Boarding are big attractions to Squamish. There are very few spots in the world where wind, water and land merge to provide an exceptional environment for both wind and kite surfing. The Squamish Spit and Estuary  is one of them.

I took many photographs of wind surfers and kite boarders but in today’s post I betray my preference for kite boarding. It’s faster, very acrobatic and entertaining. And, it offers more exciting, dramatic photographs.

The following sports action photos are all taken using a telephoto lens at fast shutter speeds to freeze the motion and capture moments that would otherwise be lost in the blink of an eye.

I begin with this shot of a kite boarder who has used his kite to lift himself up off the water where he can perform flips, twists and turns. The boarders will often use an elevation manoeuvre to make a turn, dropping back on to the water and skimming off in the opposite direction.

This sequence of two shots shows this boarder taking off from the water’s surface at full speed.

He then reverses his direction and splashes down as he accelerates away in the opposite direction.

Lastly, I’ve included this picture of a wind surfer tacking into the wind. He’s also traveling in the direction of the sun, creating an eye-catching photographic opportunity. I like the backlit figure of the surfer on the board with the vibrant blue of his sail, the only colour in a largely monochromatic setting.