The trip
This was such a beautiful trip. I've lived in Canada for my whole life but this was my first time visiting Vancouver and the surrounding British Columbia area. We set out on a road trip in our little Westfalia van with the amazing Kate as our guide (pictured later). We ran into some trouble with the van and unfortunately became stranded in a little town in the middle of no where for an entire day while we sorted out transportation back into Vancouver. That was a long day, but fortunately it didn't ruin what was otherwise a fantastic trip.
This trip is dear to my heart for reasons I won't get into here. But looking at these images and knowing where I was at this point in my life, brings a smile to my face, and always will.
The Film
I shot two types of film on this trip; Kodak Portra 400, and Kodak Tri-X 400. Two of my all time favourites. I shot both of them at box speed. Sometimes I like overexposing Portra until it produces pastel tones and rich, colourful shadows. But I thought that would have ruined the atmosphere in BC. The landscape had more mood, and I wanted the images to reflect that. I am happy with the results!
Lytton
We arrived in Lytton toward the end of the first day. The sun was going down, and with it, we were treated to a gorgeous blood red sky, which hauntingly illuminated what was left of the surrounding forest, which was burnt to a cinder earlier in the summer in a devastating fire that stole the life of one person, and left nearly a hundred others homeless, as the flames decimated this once lively town.
You can see the branches in the below image (right) curl upwards. This isn't because of the type of tree, this is literally because they were on fire just a few months earlier.
While the blood red sky was partially due to the sunset, it was also being filtered through a heavy smog that sat just above the town in the atmosphere. I've never experienced anything like this before. We made camp just down the street after dark, but before that, there was just barely enough light to capture these images. I used a Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens, wide open. And for the shots of Kate, a 1/15th shutter speed, handheld. I wasn't sure any of these would turn out.
More on Kate
There were so many images from this trip that it was necessary to separate them into two posts. The ones here are my favourite landscapes from the trip, but to view more images with Kate, please look at my post here (opens in this window).
