Category: Travel Photography

Travel Photography

My travel photography captures the mood of a place, featuring cultural details and atmospheric landscapes alongside food and historic landmarks. From road-trips throughout the North American west, to the prairies of Canada, New Zealand, Italy, and the occasional tropical escape to Barbados and Hawaii, the APK Photography Image Bank contains an extensive library of creative and evocative travel photos.

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!

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.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
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.⁠

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.

Portfolio | Newsletter | Prints | Image Bank | Instagram

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!

Portfolio | Newsletter | Prints | Image Bank | Instagram

Summer Horizon | Big Sur, California

  • Seen through a line of stately coastal cypress trees, fog rests along the horizon of the deep blue Pacific Ocean off the California coast of Big Sur

Having spent a couple of years on the Canadian prairie now, I realize that what I miss most about the California coast is not exactly the ocean itself, but rather the air; dense fog, constantly shifting breezes humid with sea mist, and the resulting ethereal quality in the light. I find that this image captures that sense of layered expanse very well, shot along the Big Sur coast where a stately line of trees delicately screen the distant horizon beneath a blanket of swirling fog. Blue and yellow-gold are the summer palette of my childhood, and I love how these colours become more vivid as the season progresses toward autumn.

Prints available here!

More moments like this can be found throughout my photography archives, especially in the California galleries, with stories and travel tips shared here on the blog:

Of Land and Sea | Point Lobos, California Photography

As a favourite slice of coastal Californian wilderness, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve has captured my photographic eye on many occasions. Every season brings new colours and light to the landscape and seemingly endless sea, but every now and then, I like to investigate a familiar place with shades of black and white in mind.

Bright California sunlight glitters across the surface of the Pacific Ocean with the rocky coast of Point Lobos in the foreground, and mountains of Big Sur beyond.
Abstract detail of light and shadow falling across whale vertebrae at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

These two images were both created on the same day; bright sunlight at water’s edge with the sparkling Pacific ocean waves along the rocky coast fading into the distance, and dappled soft forest light falling over the repeating natural pattern and texture of whale bones.

I love discovering how the larger features and themes of a place are so often echoed in the details, and it can be particularly satisfying to use black and white photography to explore and emphasize these similarities and contrasts. The bones and smooth shoreline rocks catch the sunlight in similar ways, highlighting their beautiful natural textures.

To see more Point Lobos photography, visit my archives – licensing and fine art prints are available.

Lost in the Details | Venice, Italy

Italy is all texture and patina, and in summer the city of Venice is rich with seemingly endless variety; every detail and architectural style basking in the luminous reflected light of warm sun on water.

While I only had a few days to explore Venice, the number of photos I captured there far outnumbered all other locations I visited in Italy. Around every corner was a striking new visual surprise, a glimpse through history, and an invitation to keep walking just a little further…

Accommodations were in a historic palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal, and the rich textures of age and time could be found throughout the halls. From ornate plasterwork and window details to the high-water mark of the historic 1966 flood, carved into the stone door frame.

On one day’s wander toward the university district, I came across a quiet courtyard and art gallery on the campus of the Università Ca’ Foscari; exquisite venetian glass windows and beautiful architecture were a welcome quiet escape from the bustle and heat of the summer crowds just outside the university gates.

Textural brick and stone, plaster, faded paint and layers of patina, all mixed with the cascading light and shadow of winding, narrow passages. Enjoying these details required an acceptance that I would get lost somewhere in the streets of Venice, and it quickly became one of my favourite feelings as I relinquished all sense of direction and simply soaked up the sights.

And on and on…for weeks after visiting Venice, Italy for the first time, I dreamt of being happily lost there, following the winding streets past softly-hued pink and yellow brick walls and ornate, elegant cathedral windows. Find more sun-splashed piazzas, shimmering canals, and Venetian details in my gallery of Venice, Italy images.

My first impressions and more beautiful scenes from Venice, Italy can be found in my blog archives, Venice, Italy : Love at First Light.

Bright and Bold | Barbados Travel Photography

This January morning, I am sitting at my kitchen table, watching the deep midwinter pre-dawn gloom just outside. Cars hiss along the street in icy darkness, their headlights illuminating canyons of piled snow. It is 7:29am and there is still no sign of the sun.

Being from California where gardens never stop growing, I am particularly drawn to the quiet, dormant beauty of this season in Western Canada; the stillness and insular peace of a snowbound prairie horizon is more comforting than I expected. When the wind whips down from the North, the cold air carries drifting curtains of snow, and even the trees appear to shiver.

However, while I genuinely enjoy these philosophical moments of winter from a cozy indoor perspective, it has also become my habit to use the short days and dark hours to escape into editing colourful photos from warmer places and times. I’ve started 2019 off with a dip into last year’s visit to Barbados.

Details from the relaxing and luxurious experience of a Silver Moon catamaran cruise in Barbados

This was my first trip to a truly tropical climate since living in Hawaii over a decade ago. Immediately, the vivid blue hues of the water and the unabashed lushness of the plant life were a tremendous relief after a few months of monochrome winter weather.

Barbados travel photography of colourful boats in a calm harbour
Harbour scene of a yellow and blue boat on a calm morning in Barbados
Travel photography of a bright red, colourful flowers and lush green foliage from the gardens of Barbados
Bright, colourful flowers and lush green foliage from the gardens of Barbados

Gentle sea breezes filtered through curtains of palm fronds and the constant soft movement of clouds and waves were hypnotic and soothing. Looking at these photos, I can almost feel the calming warmth of this slice of Caribbean paradise. Barbados travel photography is all about colour and contrast, with a perfect palette of tropical colours to explore.

Palm tree and an blue tropical ocean horizon seen through a geometric window screen, travel photography from Barbados
A palm tree and blue ocean horizon is framed by the barred windows of a house in Barbados

If you need a little more warm weather and colourful, tropical escapism, this batch of scenic details and many more have been added to my Barbados travel photography gallery.