If you don't already know, I bought a 100 yr old church to convert into a home.

Sadly, this isn't it.

No, my church doesn't have such a lovely belfry as this beautiful church in Canning, Nova Scotia.

The belfry in my church (or more accurately, the attic right next to the belfry) had a good 6 inches of solid bat poo which yours truly had the pleasure of scraping and shoveling into approximately 70 garbage bags.

This event is logged in my memory as one of the dirtiest jobs I've ever done. A whole week of shoveling and scraping.

At least I've got one more week of scrubbing with an enzyme cleaner to look forward to.

Ah bats, don't you just love them.

Luckily, the bats in my belfry are long gone, and I'd bet money that this open and well-lit belfry in the church at Canning has no such piles of guano.

Perhaps a few bird plops and squirrel skids but none of the dreaded filth-encrusted insulation I had the pleasure of dealing with.

I wonder if it's for sale?

Thanks for looking
Gavin

Tags:   church fototripper blue hour snow winter cold freezing sunset

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Half the battle with photography is being able to let go of a composition and move on to what's working for you.

The sun was setting over a nearby hill and just barely hitting these gorgeous lupins. I can't wait to show you this vlog.

About 10 seconds after I took this shot the sun went down and the lupins lost their magical glow.

I'll show you the difference that 10 seconds makes as the composition vanished before my eyes.

On another note, I hope you're managing to deal with the spamming scammer that's bombarding my comments section to try and fool you into some scam or other.

I decided to make a video explaining how to spot these scammers and also how you might have a chance at winning one my beloved cameras.

youtu.be/HKvw_UF2Vrg

Thanks for reading.
Gavin #fototripper

Tags:   fototripper lupins flowers wildflowers summer cape breton cabot trail sunset backlight backlit

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We finally managed to find a couple of days to go on an adventure. We figured we might as well make our first shoot a classic.

It's impossible to get an original shot of Peggy's Cove so I just went for the low-hanging fruit.

If you know me, you'll know that I avoid tourist traps like the plague but I was pleasantly surprised at how lovely Peggy's Cove was AND how quiet it was.

As soon as the sun went down, most visitors left and I was able to capture this shot without any humans.

You'll get to watch this first Atlantic Canada vlog in a couple of weeks. There is no video for today but next week I'll point you with two episodes at the same time as I'll be announcing my new Youtube channel 'Hardcastle Towers'.

Here's the new channel if you fee like subscribing before we go live www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXJjtDVM7dhs-bhKr5QBkA

Watch this space.

Thanks for reading
Gavin #fototripper #novascotia #peggyscove

Tags:   peggys cove nova scotia Fototripper blue hour

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Today's video features one of my best days of forest photography ever.

Vancouver Island has a lot of beautiful forests but the chances of getting fog like this are very rare indeed.

Well finally, after waiting many years, it finally happened.

Tune in to watch the creation of this image.

youtu.be/myKX5Ju36Q0

Thanks for reading
Gavin

Tags:   vancouver island forest woodland Photography trees fog foggy mist creepy fototripper

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On a rare day of dense fog, I received a last-minute invite to Notch Hill from the odd couple Adam Gibbs and Brian Barnham.

For years we've been wishing for fog up on this hill only to be thwarted at every turn.

Not on this day.

As soon as I arrived, I knew the conditions were perfect for this image.

Having hiked the hill many times, I'd made mental notes of where the most ornate and 'characterful' trees gather their moss.

This particular tortured tree is now falling into decay and might not be around for long.

At the time of shooting, I was so fixated on my composition that I totally missed the ghoulish face trapped in the trunk of the tree.

That's one of the things I love about landscape and nature photography, those little surprises that become glaringly obvious when you study the image in the comfort of your own home.

For this image, I really wanted to make the tree stand out to give it an almost 3D appearance.

The fog made this easy but I wanted to take it to the next level by shooting with a wide aperture of f/1.8 on my 55mm lens.

It's the lens I use least often but on those rare occasions when the scene calls for it, I'm always delighted with the results.

I hope you are too.

Thanks for reading.
Gavin

Tags:   fototripper scary tree fog mist myst misty creepy forest vancouver island

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