Crossings Near & Far | Bridge Art Photography

In the course of our day-to-day lives, the bridges we cross often go unnoticed. Perhaps it is an overpass that leads you over a highway, or an unremarkable span crossing a small stream. In the metaphorical sense we travel over bridges all the time, making decisions that can carry us from one avenue of possibility to new paths entirely. With these ideas in mind, here’s a journey through my archives of bridge art photography.

I have spent many years of my life in places with waterways to cross, and I have enjoyed photographing several notable and beautiful bridges. When traveling, bridges often stand out as particularly photogenic landmarks in foreign landscapes. Bridge art can bring to mind the symbolism of transition, change, overcoming obstacles, or reaching across a divide.

An abstract view of the Bixby Bridge with the coastline of Big Sur, California beyond
A friend crossing a bridge of driftwood over a creek at Oakura Beach, New Zealand

Endless Inspiration at the Golden Gate

Photographing bridges is a fun way to study their structural elements. Steel, stone or concrete details become even more interesting when juxtaposed with their surroundings, human figures, or atmospheric details like the swirling fog that often engulfs the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.

The Golden Gate Bridge emerges from a blanket of summer fog as a sailboat passes beneath in a patch of sunlight

One of my favourite angles for creating Golden Gate Bridge art photos is from below, at the Fort Point National Historic Site. Here I always find interesting abstract bridge details and can play with the sense of scale the bridge span overhead provides.

Three abstract Golden Gate bridge detail views and one wide shot, from sunny days to misty morning light, studies in structure, light and shadow.

Linking Cities by the Bay

Joining Oakland and San Francisco is the Bay Bridge, which I have photographed a few times in many years of taking the ferry to and from ‘the city’ and spending time along the Embarcadero waterfront.

It is a stately suspension bridge at one end with cantilever structures at the other. The nighttime photo is from a waterfront hotel, as an evening light show illuminates the bridge cables and water below.

Winnipeg Bridge Art Studies

My current home city of Winnipeg, Manitoba is on the Canadian prairie where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet. As a result this is a city of many bridges. Many neighbourhoods are nearly inaccessible without crossing at least one span. The most recognizable and visually inspiring of these is the Esplanade Riel Footbridge crossing the Red River in downtown Winnipeg.

Different compositions are easy to find here. A new framing of the suspension cables is revealed when taking a few steps in either direction.

Can you spot the restaurant on the bridge? This is the only bridge in North America with a restaurant, and I’ve enjoyed a meal or two there while overlooking the river.

The bridge art photography possibilities at this location are made even more interesting as the light changes with the seasons and time of day.

Bridges from Darkness to Light

There is a rather unique set of “bridges” in Winnipeg at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. I enjoy the abstract photography opportunities presented by the alabaster ramps that lead visitors from darkness to light and up through a vast interior space. Moving across these illuminated connecting ramps offers a beautiful physical and symbolic experience.

Western River Crossings

Further west in Canada, crossing the Kootenay River in Nelson, British Columbia, there is a local landmark known as the “Big Orange Bridge”. These photos are from a snowy road-trip through the forested mountains of interior B.C., and I can confirm, it is indeed a big orange bridge.

Art Deco Details Downtown

In Vancouver, British Columbia, the Burrard Street bridge may be a familiar landmark to locals and visitors alike. Anyone visiting False Creek and the nearby downtown attractions of the city is likely to cross over or under this bridge at some point.

The Granville Bridge in the foreground frames the art deco Burrard Street bridge beyond, Vancouver, B.C.

A Mix of Old and New, Bridging Time

While traveling in the summer of 2018, I collected many bridge art photos in Italy and San Marino. There was a fascinating mix of modern and ancient styles. In the tiny mountaintop nation of San Marino, I marvelled at the arching stone spans in castle walls, bridging the way from tower to tower. In Venice, there were an endless variety of ornate steps over the canals. While boating along the Amalfi Coast, there were dramatic cliffside bridges and beautiful natural arches over aquamarine blue water.

A natural bridge over aquamarine water, seen on the Amalfi Coast, Italy
View of the bridge at Fiordo di Furore on the Amalfi Coast of Italy
A stone arch bridge in San Marino, overlooking the Italian countryside
View from below the modern Ponte della Costituzione, spanning the Grand Canal of Venice Italy
Graceful Venetian bridges arching over canals, Venice, Italy

Around the world, over and under, we move across and through the avenues that bridges provide. Linking neighbourhoods, cities and landscapes, bridges are often striking in their structural beauty, making them a wonderful fine art travel photography subject.

Thank you for joining me on this rambling journey through the archives. I hope my bridge art photography has brought some new perspectives on the bridges your life may bring you to cross.

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Notes From a New Landscape | Craters of the Moon, Idaho

Big Souther Butte, Idaho
Big Southern Butte rises 2,300 feet from the Snake River Plain, Idaho

Last year’s marathon road-trip to California offered the welcome opportunity to experience some new atmospheric landscapes. The stark terrain of Idaho felt particularly surreal, after the rolling prairies of North Dakota and forested mountains of Montana. I have recently had a chance to sit down and edit my photos from Craters of the Moon National Monument.

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, Idaho
A small windblown juniper tree clings to a ridge of a lava flow,
at Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

The geology of the Snake River Plain in Idaho includes a fascinating array of volcanic features, and photography at Craters of the Moon was full of inspiring details.

The calderas and lava flows are the result of a periodically active volcanic rift zone. The last eruption took place around 2,000 years ago, making this a relatively ‘young’ place. Only well-adapted species can survive in the harsh conditions of the region, and it is home to several distinct ecosystems rich in plant and animal diversity.

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, Idaho
The boughs of a pine tree catch the last light of day
at Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

I found the tenacious, twisted trees to be especially striking in the soft light of dusk. Surrounded by dark scree and rubble, the bristling green growth seems almost improbable. Yet trees, shrubs, grasses and lichen are everywhere, scattered sparsely across piles of basalt. These hardy species use what little soil their roots can find in the rocky ground, and over time can establish diverse communities in unlikely places.

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, Idaho
A light dusting of snow across a lava field, at Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

The colour palette and texture of the volcanic environment shifted throughout the day. Golden grasses and blue-green sagebrush in contrast against lava flows. Fast-moving clouds in pearlescent shades of blue and pink, disappearing over distant mountains.

I have released some of these Craters of the Moon photos as prints. Find more atmospheric landscapes and travel photography at prints.apkphotography.com!

Site updates, new print shop, newsletter and more!

You might notice some changes around here…

The past few months have been full of behind-the-scenes website work, logo updates, and administrative maintenance across my portfolio, print shop, and licensing archives. My blog design has been updated too, to improve readability and more prominently feature my art photography.

Announcing my new online fine art print catalogue with custom framing and wall preview features.

Previously my print sales were through a rather clunky interface, and it was difficult to convey the advantages of the carefully chosen fine art mediums I offer. Now you can preview a selected image as a print, unframed or framed, on archival paper, canvas, metal, or acrylic. See framing options instantly and preview your design on a wall to see if all looks good, before you order. Check out my new print shop here!

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Explore my blog for more visual stories and photographic explorations!

A Legacy of Smoke and Fire | Glacier National Park

This was not the scene I had been looking forward to photographing during my first visit to Glacier National Park, while on a road-trip ranging from the deserts of Arizona, up the coast of California, and inland through incredible terrain to reach these dramatic mountains; I had been anticipating lush green forest and beautiful valleys framed by the sharp outlines of enormous ancient peaks, with an excess of crisp late-summer sunlight and atmospheric landscape photography opportunities.

The scale of the landscape did not disappoint, but as we packed up our tent and camping gear from a forested campsite on the valley floor, readying for a scenic drive up Going-to-the-Sun Road, the acrid smoke of nearby wildfires began to settle through the trees. The sunlight had the burnt orange hue now well-known across the North American West as wildfires ravaged huge swaths of wilderness. Still, the park rangers indicated the road was open, and as it was our primary route to our next campsite we set out on a surreal, smokey, sobering drive.

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

As Going-to-the-Sun Road led us up from the valley, the smoke could be seen rising in great grey plumes and settling across ridge-lines, creeping downslope, and filling the sky between mountains. Quickly the views became vast – glacier-carved, rugged, rocky slopes with the clearly defined striations of an ancient geologic prehistory, swaths of green forest punctuated by the first brilliant yellow leaves of fall, and across it all a blanket of heavy, shifting blue smoke.

WM_GlacierNP-8017
Hazy late summer on Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

My eyes stung as we descended through Logan Pass and the air became increasingly more difficult to breath. My husband had fond memories of a lovely forested trail just off the main road, with a tumbling creek passing beneath an arched bridge, and as we watched for likely candidates, the road crossed into a stark landscape of recently-burnt forest.

Signs of recent fire glimpsed beneath a bridge, Glacier National Park

We found the spot, easily accessed at Baring Creek, and decimated by fire in 2015; surrounded by skeletal trees and scorched rocky ground, set against smokey mountains, the creek ran clear and fast, but there was otherwise an eerie stillness to the scene. No rustling of wind through leafy trees, no birdsong, and an unsettling sense that the danger of active wildfires were only a few ridge-lines away.

Rushing water of Baring Creek, Glacier National Park

Having lived most of my life in California, fire season and its consequences are not new to me. I often observe recent fire scarring in familiar landscapes, and have nearly always see a shift in the species that take hold once vegetation starts to return. Seeing a forest in this state of blackened, skeletal remains was new to me – it is unclear whether the trees will ever recover, or if what was once a verdant forested mountain slope may now be destined to become a rocky, scrub-covered slope as the decaying trees eventually fall.

WM_GlacierNP_BaringCreek-8085
Burnt trees after a forest fire, Glacier National Park

Much of our recent trip was shaped by fire; we could not take our planned route up the coast of Oregon due to evacuation orders along the highway, and even our inland detour was so choked with smoke that visibility became severely compromised and the sun disappeared in a cloud of orange-brown haze. We were lucky to drive along the Columbia River Gorge before it became a fiery inferno, and I am now wishing we hadn’t been on such a tight schedule and could have stopped to enjoy more of the old-growth forest before a carelessly-started wildfire stripped the landscape of green trees.

Even after leaving Glacier National Park and crossing through badlands to the open plains of Saskatchewan, we were greeted with news of fires further north in the province, and the smoke has been impacting us at home.

Fire is a necessary element in many ecosystems, but decades of overly aggressive wilderness fire suppression combined with extensive drought has made fire conditions exceptionally combustible. With time, many of these places will recover and life will return, but in so many instances the landscape will be irrevocably changed. I look forward to returning to Glacier National Park, Montana, to see how the landscape changes with the seasons, and hopefully I will be able to document the next phase of recovery from wildfires in this beautiful place.

Glacier National Park, summer
Smoke fills the sky between mountains and drifts through a canyon at Glacier National Park, Montana as viewed from Going-to-the-Sun Road

The Shifting Landscape of Time

Morning light and blowing snow across the rolling atmospheric landscape of Southern Alberta, February 2020⁠⁠

“Antipathy toward time clouds personal and collective thinking.” – Marcia Bjornerud⁠⁠
⁠
⁠⁠One year ago we were settling into a new, strange routine. I had already been working from home, and we already enjoyed the occasional convenience of delivered groceries. But now there were daily news briefings to watch, headlines to anxiously scan, family and friends around the world to check-in on with frequent urgency. Making sure the pantry and freezer were well-stocked and offering to help procure household goods for neighbours. Watching as future plans like concerts and travel were postponed, or cancelled altogether.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Even though the content of my time did not seem to change dramatically, my sense of it shifted wildly from day to day, hour to hour. Soon a pattern emerged, with one relatively productive day of focus and work followed by several days of gnawing anxiety and distraction. We retreated into rewatching familiar funny TV shows, anything escapist we could binge watch. I read books and played countless video games. I digitized an entire library of 20+ years of film negatives.⁠ Then came spring gardening, a single summer escape for an isolated long weekend at the lake, the last warm sunroom days of autumn. And winter again, prolonged dark and cold with hope on the horizon.⁠⁠
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Limbo is a terrible place to be. We all encounter it in some form, at some point in our lives, but many of us are fortunate to have not had to make it our home until recently. It is exhausting to be at odds with time; resisting its relentless march while constantly baffled by how inconsistent our experiences of it can be. I know that a year ago I did not expect a swift solution to the pandemic, I sensed that we would have to linger in this crisis in order to overcome it, but I had no concept of how it would feel a year later. There is still a very long road ahead, and I think my relationship with time may be forever changed.⁠

Failing at Frozen Bubbles | Winter Photography


You know those exquisite wintertime close-up photos of ice crystals forming on bubbles as they freeze? These are not those. You are looking at the messy, interesting results of an attempt at such photos though.⁠⁠
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Despite being plenty cold, it has been too breezy outside for bubbles. I thought the sheltered and well-lit space of my uninsulated sunroom might be a better bet. I was able to blow lovely bubbles and drop them onto a small pile of snow, but the sunroom was, well, too sunny. It had warmed to an ambient temperature of a balmy -10C or so (compared to the -20 to -30C temps outside lately). -10C may not be not quite cold enough for dramatic crystal formations, despite what so many internet tutorials say. The bubbles did freeze, looking a bit like surreal, shattered crystal balls, and I found a few frames from this session that are interesting enough to share.⁠⁠
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I’ll keep trying, since this is one of those winter projects that is relatively simple and contained, and can be done while staying home…⁠⁠in the meantime, check out some of my other winter photography posts!

For more wintery details and scenes, visit my winter photo gallery in the archives, and find winter photography prints in my shop.

Holding Space, Looking for Light

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” – James Baldwin⁠

Fair warning, this is not a happy post, and beyond a shared mood, the text has very little to do with the image.

It has become increasingly difficult to focus on what is right in front of me. There is a deepening, bitter edge to each day, and I know the root of it is a pain which is being experienced at personal and collective levels everywhere. So many aspects of the social contract have been broken, or worse, are proving to have never existed at all.⁠
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The events of January 6th were unsurprising but still a shock; after an hour or so of live coverage, I felt my mind retreat, curled into the fetal position where I sat, and fell asleep. I take pride in not looking away from even the most jarring images, but I’d hit my limit. On so many levels, it was a day of terrifying white nationalism and grotesque systemic racism on full display. And we can expect more of the same because the hatred espoused by racists is rooted in fear and pain, which they will continue to avoid addressing.

Sunset sky and shadows through an old glass window, Monterey, 2017⁠


I don’t know about you, but I find myself marveling at layer upon layer of heartbreak and frustration. Are we still in the midst of a pandemic, bracing for the consequences of holiday gatherings and travel? Did my neighbours have yet another string of visitors every day this week, despite lockdown rules? Have members of my local government been taking tropical vacations while telling the rest of us to stay home, in the midst of a particularly dreary Canadian winter? Has the weather been unusually warm and dry, both here in Manitoba and back in California, indicating yet another record year as climate change grinds away like a foregone conclusion?

I look for the good news. The unassuming heroes and helpers, the small signs of progress. I know that there are reasons for cautious optimism, and I am doing my best to cling to hope instead of hate. Part of that process is to occasionally let the weight of everything fall out of focus and acknowledge the pain. We’re allowed to feel hurt and angry right now, so as to better regroup, refocus and move forward, because we have a long, long way to go.

Winter Light Photography | Personal Work & Studies

As winter settles in, the sun is slipping lower and lower across the sky. During the winter solstice here in Winnipeg, Manitoba the sun barely clears the treetops. Such low-angled rays of light are magical, and to celebrate the season I’ve gathered some winter light photography snapshots from recent years…

Abstract reflection of lights in a window, with a dark sunset in the distance
Soft light falling across a deep, smooth snowdrift

I find that winter light is particularly well-suited to capturing surreal window reflections, allowing for layers of light and colour to blend with abstracted patterns. When illuminated from a low angle, snow becomes a textural wonderland of sparkling deep drifts, painted with fading light and blue shadows.

Trees and winter light

Filtering the last rays of golden hour, or catching a gilded glow in their bare branches against blue skies. Such stark winter forms are welcome whether framing sunsets or arching above city streets, as they lend shape and contrast to the winter light all day long.

Winter sunset through trees at Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba
Late afternoon light in tree branches on a cold winter day
Line of trees in snow at sunset, Manitoba
Street lined with tall trees in winter
Sunset seen through a window, framed by snow and tree branches
Winter afternoon light and river, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Streetlamp illuminates trees in a park on a cold winter's night

Trees lend structure to the frosty winter air, and when they are illuminated just-so, they often compliment the bones of the landscape or urban environment, laid bare by the season.

Winter light photography and interior spaces

Casting soft, surreal shadows in unexpected places, light filtered through old glass windows is particularly irresistible to try and capture with the camera. Something as simple as an unintentional coffee cup still life might appear on a wall for a moment, painted in shadow and quick to disappear as the light shifts.

Winter light and shadowplay
Winter light and shadowplay
Winter light and shadowplay
Winter light and shadowplay
Winter light and shadowplay
Winter light and shadowplay
Winter light and shadowplay
Winter light and shadowplay

Often the swaying of winter branches will make these patches of light dance and shift, like light through moving water as seen at the bottom of a pool.

Varied views of the same cityscape

Downtown Winnipeg features a mix of old and new buildings. As their facades catch and reflect the winter light throughout the day, the mood and feel of the cityscape changes too. With the early sunset, lights in windows twinkle while the dusky sky still holds onto the last of the sunlight. The moon rises over the city with its glow softened by the icy atmosphere.

Winter light in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba
Early evening moon over downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winter light in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winter light, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winter reflection and light in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba

The golden glow of the winter light is especially beautiful contrasted with the blue shadows and snow of the cityscape, and I couldn’t resist the reflection of a sunlit building in the sideview mirror on a winter’s afternoon.

Windows become magical glittering surfaces

Frosted with ice crystals or illuminated by gently shifting shadows. Abstract layers of light are caught and transformed inside and out, and even though the daylight hours are short, there seems to be no end to the beauty that winter can conjure with a bit of moisture or moving light on glass surfaces.

Winter window frost
Winter window frost
Winter light and glass block wall abstract
Winter light and glass block wall abstract
Light and shadow falling across a window screen
Iced-over windows of an old door, interior
Iced-over windows of an old door, interior
Winter colours through fluted-glass window
Winter colours through fluted-glass window

The two images at the bottom left of these wintery window scenes are actually shots of frost accumulation on the inside of an old set of windows. The two images in the bottom right are of the same perspective through fluted glass at different times of day.

Of course a winter landscape is made even more beautiful by the light

Rippling sheets of icy clouds and endless shades of blue. Sunsets last longer, and the blushing glow of their colours is reflected in the snow and ice. Often the sky looks like mother-of-pearl, iridescent and luminous.

Winter clouds over a snowy prairie landscape, Manitoba, Canada
Winter sunset over bridge and water, Vancouver, Canada
Pink winter sunset clouds
Winter clouds over a snowy prairie landscape, Manitoba, Canada
Vivid winter sunset on the Canadian highway, across the prairie of Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Pink winter sunset clouds over the Manitoba prairie, Canada

I love how the winter landscape is often a study in subtlety, with fence-lines and horizons blurred by blowing snow, and the sky a soft gradient veiled in lacy clouds. When the sunsets are colourful, it is always in shades made more vivid by the coolness of the surrounding scene.

Little details of domestic life are illuminated in beautiful light and shadow, turning the long winter months of staying mostly indoors into magical journeys through familiar spaces.

Something as simple as a tissue or glass of water can be transformed by the winter light. Of course the dog loves the winter sunlight too, and can often be found basking in the glow of those fleeting, low-angled rays of warmth.

Abstracted paper tissue in winter light
Prism crystal door knobs, winter light
Kitchen shadows, self-portrait in winter light
Simple wooden dinosaur blocks, winter light and shadowplay
Water glass and winter light
Glass jars on wooden surface, winter light shadowplay
Water glass, winter light
Warm winter light on a wall, red shelf and yellow bird
Yellow stool shadowplay, winter light across a wall
Warm winter sunset light filters into a quiet bedroom
A dog naps in winter sunbeams
A dog naps in winter sunbeams
Dog watching a winter sunset

All of the photos in this post are from various phone cameras. I find that winter light photography often inspires snapshots as it is such a fleeting and beautiful part of every day. To see new snapshots as I share them, just head over to @photoapk on Instagram and follow me there!

Summer Landscape Reflection Photography | Riding Mountain National Park

“After everything that’s happened, how can the world still be so beautiful? Because it is.”

― Margaret Atwood

Blue summer skies and fluffy white clouds mirrored in the water of Whirlpool Lake at Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba. The dazzling colours of summer are fleeting in Canada, and in this scene there are vivid blues and greens. The dark forest recedes along the horizon while a breeze skims the surface of the lake, softening the reflection of trees and sky.

Bright blue summer sky and fluffy clouds reflected in the water of Whirlpool Lake at Riding Mountain, National Park, Canada
Whirlpool Lake on a bright summer afternoon, in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba


This is Treaty 2 Territory, land of the Métis, Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ and Očeti Šakówiŋ (Sioux)⁠.⁠

I encountered this moment of wilderness reflection on a short summer hike last year. Exploring Riding Mountain National Park means many opportunities to view lovely small lakes like this, and I am always hoping to spot some wildlife on the opposite shore. The breeze (mostly) kept the mosquitos away, and nearby meadows were bursting with late summer wildflowers. As a photographer, a landscape reflection like this is impossible to resist. The scenery and elements allow for beautiful compositions and studies of balance, which I particularly enjoy capturing.

Abstract textural reflection of clouds and blue sky on the surface of Whirlpool Lake, rippled by wind


There is often a sense of serenity in photos of natural reflections. When I look at these images now, I am transported to a calm, breathtaking time and place. The texture of air moving across water reminds me of vintage glass windows and how their rippled texture smudges the colours in the sky. The mirror-like surface of the water makes the natural light even more magical. Whether viewed as abstract textural art or as a study in landscape reflection photography, Whirlpool Lake in Manitoba is a special spot that I hope to photograph again soon.

Water Lily & Lotus | Nature Photography

With bright flowers emerging from the water, contrasted by the rounded geometry of simple floating leaves, water lilies and lotuses have inspired artists and poets, symbolizing deep cultural meanings for centuries. Exploring the beauty of a water lily or lotus plant through photography is a welcome creative challenge.

Solitary white water lily flower illuminated by sunlight against dark shadowy lush green leaves
'Nuphar' pond lily, aquatic plant Manitoba, Canada

These aquatic plants are a lovely subject for floral photography, and they make stunning botanical prints full of reflections and texture. The minimal natural forms translate well to fine art interpretations. The flowers bloom in many colours and a single water lily blossom or lotus flower can be both striking and serene.


Water lily or lotus, what’s the difference?

Water lilies (Nymphaeaceae) and lotus (Nelumbo) are most easily identified by observing how they grow. Most water lily flowers and leaves float at the surface of the water, while lotus flowers and leaves emerge to rise above the water’s surface on longer stems. Both of these families of aquatic plants prefer shallow, calm or slow-moving watery habitats, such as ponds, lakes, and streams.

Film photography of a pink lotus flower and green leaves in a shadowy pond
Abstract reflection of trees in a pond framed by water lily leaves
Pond at Pukekura Park, New Zealand

Water lily & lotus flowers from around the world

I’ve been working in my archives lately and have come across several images of these remarkable plants and flowers. Captured over the years, my water lily photography may not be quite like the magnificent impressionist representations such as those found in Claude Monet’s water lily paintings, but I can see why he was drawn to repeatedly explore their beauty.

I have been inspired while in botanical gardens, and the images in this post include examples from New Plymouth, New Zealand and San Francisco, California. There are also wild pond lilies (Nuphar) from Canada seen on a recent summer hike in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba.

An indigo water lily flower in a pond of green leaves and reflections at the Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco
Pink water lily flower and reflection

Colourful symbolism & deeper meaning

Representing rebirth, enlightenment and hope, these aquatic flowers also carry different meanings depending on the colour of their petals; pink for knowledge, white for peace, purple for power. The blooming petals tend to be solitary flowers against lush rafts of leaves, or reflected in dark, glassy water. Water lily flowers are the official state or national flowers of several countries, and their leaves are potent symbols often used in heraldry designs. I think of them as a peaceful plant, thriving in the transitional space between water and air. Do water lilies hold a special meaning for you?

Black and white of leaves covered in raindrops at the surface of a pond
Water lily flower against dark green leaves

Find more examples of these fascinating plants in my
Nymphaeaceae, Nelumbo & Nuphar gallery, with prints and licensing
options available and custom inquiries always welcome.

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Uncertain Road | Late Night Meditations

I woke last night in the darkness to the rumbling sound of a heavy train passing through the city, threading through the quiet neighbourhoods with its horn calling a long, keening wail.

I lay awake listening as the sound repeated, feeling anxious, sad, wishing that I might wake in the morning to a world no longer brought to its knees by an invisible but very real threat.

What a strange, uncertain time we find ourselves in, where the act of waiting quietly for danger to pass has suddenly become a collective endeavour. I have been wandering through my archives, in search of images that can adequately communicate the mood of the moment, and this recent photo from a roadtrip across Western Canada in early February keeps coming to mind.

Snow blows across the landscape and Crowsnest Highway in Southern Alberta, Canada

The trip was a spontaneous one and feels like it happened a lifetime ago now. The foothills and prairie of Southern Alberta were shrouded in blowing snow and quickly passing clouds, and the harsh landscape provided a beautiful contrast to the rugged forests, mountains, and coastal terrain of my destination in British Columbia. When the road was obscured and the weather uncertain, there was nothing to do but continue on to the next waypoint, and I am trying to keep that sensation in mind now as we all travel down an uncertain road together; eyes on the horizon – keeping a safe distance from each other of course – we have to believe that the way will clear eventually if we just stay the course.

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Scenic landscape, closed? | Travel Photography

Winter coastal landscape and ironic sign, Point Lobos, California

⁠A little unintentional travel photography humour from Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in California where crashing waves, rocky cliffs and unique forests come together beneath blue skies.⁠

I’ve neglected this blog for too long while working through a sea of editing, organization and big personal life changes. Lately I have found that when sitting down to write, the words haven’t been the easiest to come by…good thing I speak best through images!

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