I can't count the number of times I've photographed this tree over the years.

There's always the temptation to not bother because it's become something of a cliché.

That negative thinking had me almost driving past until I saw the light in the background. I immediately pulled over.

Not content with merely shooting from the road, I dutifully bush wacked to the lakeshore to wade out into those icy waters.

After about an hour of shooting at -4 °C I could no longer feel my feet but I didn't care.

I'd got the shot and the mile-wide smile on my face was totally worth a pair of numb feet.

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Gavin

Tags:   fairy lake Vancouver Island gavin hardcastle Fototripper sunrise freezing winter subzero cold

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Half of being a productive landscape photographer is making the right choices regarding weather and location.

I often see photographers complain about failed shoots due to bad weather and while I've done more than my fair share of that, there are ways to avoid such disappointment.

I guess disappointment stems from a mismatch between our expectations and our reality.

My favourite way to ensure success is to visit locations that look beautiful even during awful weather.

Learning how to compose images in a way that harnesses the beauty of bad weather is very liberating. It just depends on your definition of bad weather.

I've never enjoyed sideways rain more since I became passionate landscape photographer. In fact the only people that you usually see out in all kinds of weather are either lunatic marathon runners or landscape photographers.

I can't decide who is the craziest.

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Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   isle skye scotland photography workshop highland fairy pools Scottish gavin hardcastle Fototripper 2019

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I've visiting this waterfall more times than I can possible recall but I've only ever seen these conditions once.

So glad I decided to bring my camera on this impromptu visit.

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Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   little qualicum falls Vancouver Island British Columbia light rays waterfall sun beams

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One of my favourite shoots of all time was the day F4 visited Cape Disappointment during a king tide storm.

The waves were gigantic and when the sun opened up for a brief visit, they really came to life.

As busy as it was, it reminded me of a New Year's Day fireworks display that I'd once witnessed in Australia. Cries of ''Ooohh'' and ''Aaaaah''could be heard pretty much constantly.

I may have even indulged in a few very un-English ''whooops'' myself.

With this shot I'd found my rhythm. After about two hours of shooting waves, I'd become quite good at predicting the behemoths.

I saw this titan rolling in and tracked it with my 100-400mm telephoto lens using auto-focus.

With my camera set to shoot high speed continuous burst, I was able to capture that moment of ultimate grandeur just as the wave reached it's peak before collapsing.

It was one of those mornings when you know you've witnessed something special.

I count myself very lucky to have seen this and even luckier to have documented such an adventure.

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Watch this shoot and the entire 10 episodes of fun and education that IS the F4 ROAD TRIP.

www.f4roadtrip.com

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Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   cape disappointment storm waves birds danger action drama power f4 road trip Fototripper gavin hardcastle

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There are places on this Earth that look like they were plucked straight out of a kids fairy tale story.

This ice cave in the East Kootenays of British Columbia is one of those magical places.

Reaching this cave involved a 2 hour hike through deep snow while carefully avoiding the treacherous snow shelf along the cliff edge to the canyon.

This was my second visit to the cave during the depths of that long winter and I decided to bring Brent along for the journey.

To say that he was blown away would be an understatement.

After about an hour of creating test shots I decided I wanted that human element in my image to provide more of a story as well as some much needed scale.

Brents bright orange jacket provided that pleasing warmth among so much coldness.

I had to shoot a long exposure while Brent carefully exhaled so that his breath caught in the light of his headlamp.

The entire scene reminded me of sci-fi movie 'The Thing' from 1982 which has always been one of my favourite films.

After a brilliant shoot we hiked back out of the canyon and all I could think about was the other half of my Subway sandwich patiently waiting for me in the car.

You can imagine my crushing disappointment when finally we arrived at the car starving and exhausted only to discover a rock hard frozen sub covered in ice crystals.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I ate it anyway.

Check out my workshops at www.fototripper.com/store/category/photography-workshops/

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle - Fototripper

Tags:   hoar frost ice cave cold frozen winter freezing icey bc british columbia haffner creek caving icicles Fototripper gavin hardcastle brent henderson

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