The Harbourfront Walkway, boat docks and Nanaimo Water Harbour Airport in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
The Harbourfront Walkway and Fishing Boats in Nanaimo Harbour (Purchase)
-click to enlarge-
I was lucky to spend a week photographing Nanaimo, British Columbia and other parts of Vancouver Island in 2013. I made this photograph on one of several evenings where I walked along the Harbourfront Walkway past many small shops and marinas. I previously shared a different view of Nanaimo Harbour but I think I prefer the wider field of view in the above photograph as it shows more of the fishing and other boats in the marina.
You can view more of my photographs of the Nanaimo area in my Vancouver Island Gallery.
Two de Havilland Harbour Air seaplanes (DHC-3 Turbine Single Otters) at the Nanaimo Harbour Water Airport in Nanaimo, British Columbia
Two Single Otters at the Nanaimo Harbour Water Airport (Purchase)
-click to enlarge-
Last year I spent an evening at Maffeo Sutton Park in the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. I had spent a few previous sunsets at Jack point across Nanaimo Harbour from the downtown area, and was now looking for some more urban photography locations. I was lucky to get some good light (and weather) that evening, and had a decent sunset in the sky for many of my photographs. The first photo (above) shows two of the Harbour Air seaplanes floating at their dock at the Nanaimo Harbour Water Airport with some of the boardwalk and marinas in the background.
The BC Ferry Quinsam entering Nanaimo Harbour (Purchase)
-click to enlarge-
This is the BC Ferry ‘Quinsam’ entering Nanaimo Harbour from its Gabriola Island to Nanaimo run. Though a bit larger it reminds me of the Albion Ferry that used to run across the Fraser River between Fort Langley and Maple Ridge until a few years ago. Biggs Park/Jack Point is in the background (right).
Sunset behind a sailboat in Nanaimo Harbour (Purchase)
-click to enlarge-
Initially I was unable to read the name on the side of this sailboat at the time, but from the numbers on its sail I could determine its name: the Cu na Mara. Here it is sailing past some of the boats anchored at Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park during sunset.
My other goal was to make some “blue hour” photographs of the boardwalk and buildings of downtown Nanaimo. This perspective can be found from the Swy-A-Lana Fishing Pier. You can view other photographs of my trip to Nanaimo and other Vancouver Island locations in the Vancouver Island Photos gallery.
A sunset photograph from my trip to Vancouver Island last spring. This was made on my first trip to Jack Point/Biggs Park near Nanaimo, BC. An “interesting” place to walk out of in the dark, but well worth the results I had on both evenings in the area.
A grove of Garry Oaks (Quercus garryana) and Woolly sunflower (Eriophyllum lanatum) growing along the shore of Pipers Lagoon Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.
Pipers Lagoon near Nanaimo, BC
-click to enlarge-
Pipers Lagoon Park is a great park to visit if you are near Nanaimo, British Collumbia. While not very large, this park packs a lot of interesting plants, trees, and wildlife into a small area. When I was there in June of 2013 I saw a wide variety of marine birds, large numbers of shore crabs, wildflowers, and even some Garry Oak groves. You can see some Garry Oaks on the left hand side of the photograph above, and some Woolly sunflower plants growing in the foreground. Not an easy location to photograph wildflowers though, being right on the water there is always a bit of wind.
Choosing a top 10 list of photos at the end of every year never seems to be easy for me. It might be better categorized as a list of favourites as my choices do not always remain the same over time. I’ve made many photos this year I am proud of, and I think illustrate improvements over my photography from previous years (always a good thing). The exercise of choosing a list of only 10 photos is difficult, but I think it is a task that is well worthwhile – and I always enjoy being a part of Jim Goldstein’s annual Your Best Photos project. I have to ask myself what I like about my images, what I don’t, and which is a stronger representation of certain categories or locations I photographed during the year. Choosing images for my yearly Calendar is the start of this task, but at the very least I still have to weed out two images from that pile.
So in no specific order: My top 10 Photographs of 2013!
The Freighter Geiranger in Nanaimo Harbour at sunset – Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Freighter Geiranger anchored in Nanaimo Harbour at Sunset
-click to enlarge-
I made this photo from Biggs Park (near Jack Point) in Nanaimo, British Columbia a few months ago. I hadn’t really intended on photographing a freighter, but it dominated many of my intended compositions at the time. So I embraced what was there, and made the above sunset photo.
When processing this photo I was curious what sort of cargo this freighter might be carrying. It seems this boat is a “general cargo” carrier, but I found something even more interesting when looking for this information. Apparently a lot of marine vessels can be tracked online and the Geiranger is no different. When I discovered this site it had left Nanaimo and was in China, but now it seems to be up in Kitimat, BC. This is all probably more interesting if you know someone on the crew, however.
Not all pretty photos show pretty things: an invasive Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) growing by the Millstone River at Bowen Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Yellow Flag Iris and the Millstone River (Purchase)
-click to enlarge-
Many regions have invasive plant species that have been “released” purposely by people or have escaped from gardens. These invasives often spread into areas where they force out native species and otherwise change the ecology of the area. Many are familiar with the spread of English Ivy through Metro Vancouver forests and Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) on Vancouver Island.
The Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) is also an invasive species, and is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwest Africa. This photo shows a flowering Yellow Flag Iris on the banks of the Millstone River in Nanaimo, British Columbia. While this is one individual plant the species can spread and cover entire wetlands and completely displace native species. Due to continued popularity in garden centers Yellow Flag Iris has spread widely on Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, and even into the Okanagan and Kootenay regions of British Columbia.
If you grow some of these in your backyard, it may be a good idea to destroy them to avoid further environmental damage.
I had already walked around Colliery Dam Park in Nanaimo on two separate occasions before someone asked me if I had seen the waterfall. I had thought they meant the two spillway waterfalls from each of the two dams in the park, but apparently there was a natural waterfall just a minute or two walk from where I stood. I am rather fortunate that this was pointed out to me, as research of the area and my own exploration had failed to discover Chase River Falls.
Another reason I feel I was fortunate to be pointed to these falls at that time is that Colliery Dam Park itself will largely cease to exist due to removal of the two small dams. This will create large holes where the two small lakes now sit. I do not know if access to the Chase River Falls will change, but either way, strolling through a nice forest next to a lake is certainly more picturesque when compared to a construction site or open pit.
