There’s So Much to See at Home!
With amazing trips this year to Machu Picchu and then to Ireland, Wales and Scotland, 2017 was a great year for exploring our beautiful world. But our visit to Vancouver Island in September was right up there with the others, reminding us that we don’t have to go far to see amazing beauty.




























About the photography
This fellow seemed to be checking us out with his sensitive olfactories.
To get the images of the bears (and most of the other wildlife), I used a Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 lens on a D500 camera. This is an amazing lens, allowing for very sharp images and, with Vibration Reduction, can be used effectively in low light. A tripod was not used for most of the wildlife pictures. Since the D500 has a cropped sensor, I had an effective focal length of about 700 mm. Occasionally, if a bear or whale wandered into close range, the lens was too long to include the whole animal.
The bears were photographed from a safe distance in viewing platforms protected by a high fence. Even when they did seem to notice us, they paid no attention, with all that food at their feet. Our tour from Campbell River with Eagle Eye Adventures took us to Bute Inlet, where the Homalco First Nation guided us to the viewing platforms.
I would highly recommend this trip!
Related Posts
January 2, 2023
Twenty-two from 2022: My Picks from the Year
September 21, 2022
Dennis, the Super Natural Vancouver Island photos here are just wonderful… I was laughing along with your captions! Keep it coming!
Ha ha, on my next visit, I’ll make you and Denny looks supernatural!
Really enjoyed your Island images. Excellent work! One correction, your image of a Hooded Merganser was actually of a Common Merganser female, Mergus merganser. Always enjoy your Double Exposure posts Dennis.
Hi Ernie. Thanks for looking and correcting me. I wasn’t sure and should have looked it up! She looks uncommonly beautiful to me!
Wow…you sure saw a wonderful diversity of land form and animal life. Very enjoyable to share in what you both experienced. I can tell you worked hard and for long hours too! Fabulous…thanks.
Thanks, Chris! We’re so lucky that we don’t have to go far to see such great beauty.