I was committed to a sunset shot a twenty-minute drive away from this location when I was struck by a desperate need to evacuate my bowels.

Worse still was the fact that I was a one-hour hike away from my vehicle and the nearest toilet was a 10-minute drive to the airport from my car.

If you're not familiar with the Faroe Islands, I can tell you that there are no trees or bushes to crouch behind and there were zero toilets available on the trail.

My options were to attempt an agonizing one-hour hike back to the grossly overpriced rental car or simply bespatter my pantaloons and accept the indignity of a long hike with besmirched breeches.

I chose the agonizingly painful option.

I confess I almost lost control several times as tears rolled down my cheeks and sweat covered my forehead in a war of wills with my own body.

I can't imagine what the passing hikers thought of this lone photographer, moaning and muttering to himself while shuffling along the trail with the smallest steps possible.

I am glad to report that I won the battle. But it was very close.

After an exquisite visit to the airport facilities, I decided to head to this very famous waterfall in the hopes of witnessing a lovely sunset.

Within 15 minutes of my arrival at Múlafossur, the sky lit up and continued to perform pyrotechnics for at least an hour, almost up until midnight.

I don't mind those days of extreme highs and lows when it ends on such a high.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   Múlafossur waterfall vagar faroe islands sunset fototripper coastal seascape dramatic

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Yesterday my buddy Brent Henderson and I ventured out to Fairy Lake on Vancouver Island to capture the very famous Fairy Tree.

We spent most of the day hanging around for some kind of light to happen but the magic didn't occur until blue hour when the mists rolled in.

This was shot from the road side but I did decide to get tatties deep in the water to get some different angles. I'll post those soon and see which one you prefer.

Not feeling to good today though so I really hope that lake water didn't give me something unpleasant to take away.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle - Fototripper

Tags:   gavin hardcastle Fototripper Vancouver Island fairy lake tree reflections mist misty cold winter moody blue hour

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Sometimes it pays to return to a location and look at it with fresh eyes.

Watch the full episode here youtu.be/udZfxU5atPg

For this image, I really wanted to capture a lovely spring image so I timed it during the peak of the green foliage.

I was concerned that there might not be enough water but to my delight, the water volume was sheer perfection.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   Waterfall spring summer green moss lichen long exposure cedar tree ferns bubbles mystical magical moody fototripper

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During Amandas very first visit to Vancouver Island, I took her to one of my favourite forests on the West Coast.

After a fun day of watching otters on the beach and saying hello to a bear who was happily munching on grass, we decided to head home.

I stopped at this spot on the trail just to play around with this composition but I wasn't very optimistic about getting any good ight.

After about 20 minutes of waiting I decided to quit and was packing up my gear when Amanda said ''wait, I can see some mist rolling in''.

I quickly pulled my camera back out of the bag, placed it on the tripod and held my breath.

Within about a minute, the ocean spray drifted in and caught the late afternoon sun in a magical display of light rays.

That golden light on the underside of that twirling branch was the icing on the cake.

This all happened in just a few minutes and I was shooting with shaking hands while wearing a manic grin on my face.

Amanda says that's when she fell in love with me. Because she'd finally found someone as crazy as she was.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle - Fototripper

Tags:   port renfrew west coast trail Vancouver Island adam gibbs trees light rays Fototripper

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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.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

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

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