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St James’s Park London

St James’s Park London

St James’s Park in London is one of the smaller royal parks, but perhaps the most famous. Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Horse Guards,  the lake, and many memorials make up the park and its immediate surroundings, plus Westminster, Downing Street, and more famous spots are close by. 

Purchased by HenryVIII nearly 500 years ago, it has served as a deer hunting area (St James Palace was initially a hunting lodge – crazy to think an area in the heart of modern London was once the King’s hunting grounds), a zoo of sorts containing exotic animals, grazing for cows, and “a meeting place for impromptu acts of lechery.” It opened to the public in the 17th century and Buckingham Palace became the principal royal residence in the early 19th century. 

Today, I’m pretty sure the King no longer hunts there, the wildest animals (not counting humans) are the non-native pelicans, and lawns are too short for grazing. It’s unclear if impromptu acts of lechery still occur.

All photos from spring 2023.

Looking across St James’s Park Lake, the Blue Bridge, to the Horse Guard grounds and Whitehall and the Old War Office buildings beyond.
Skookumchuck Narrows

Skookumchuck Narrows

The Sechelt Rapids, created by the Skookumchuck Narrows, is a natural phenomenon occurring in an inlet on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia (located a couple of hours from Vancouver).

Twice a day, as the tide changes, water flows between two inlets creating rapids (i.e. tidal rapids*) as the water rushes through the constriction. The resulting wave is a playground for kayakers and surfers alike. Why ride a river one way, or have to continually paddle out to try and catch a wave breaking, when you can ride one continuing wave? Boaters and surfers take turns in the wave before kicking out (voluntarily or not), riding a short way down the inlet and back to shore where they walk back and do it again. 

Below are photos from the Roland Point Viewing Area, a short hike from a nearby trailhead in the Provencial Park. For more information, visit the Sunshine Coast’s tourism website

And for more photos of the Sunshine Coast, check out my separate blog post.

* This is different than a tidal bore. I actually thought it was essentially the same thing when first learning about this place, but a tidal bore is when the leading edge of a tide creates a wave. It’s one wave, or a couple of waves, that are moving with the tide, not a continuous wave in one spot.

Looking across the rapid and down the inlet.
Sunshine Coast BC

Sunshine Coast BC

Photos from along the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia. Taken over a long weekend in September 2022.

The district, only accessed via boat (including car ferry) and plane, is lightly populated and a popular destination for outdoor activities (like Skookumchuck Narrows).

We’re Back

We’re Back

We as in the royal “we,” that is. I meant to take a short break after my last newsletter and then, like, 6 months just disappeared. Apparently, some habits are easier to break than others.

It’s not that I haven’t been photographing, or even traveling, but I’ve wanted to continue evolving what I share and it’s just been a busy spring. And summer. This newsletter started out as a photo a week, then a series of photos approximately once per month, and then, more and more, a series of photos plus more background and context of the subject, place, etc. I received good feedback on the latter and wanted to continue with that, but those posts also take longer to put together. 

So, to get back in the swing of things this week, I’m keeping it simple. Four photos from late spring and early summer here in Colorado.

For you who are local, you’ll know that we had a very wet, cool spring, and all around the state it was greener than usual, for longer than usual. While a green, colorful spring isn’t uncommon – depending on rain and runoff from snowmelt – this year’s didn’t seem to want to end. Even driving around the state this weekend I was a little shocked by how green it still was for mid-August. 

Thanks to everyone who has asked where I’ve been. I promise not to go another six months :).

Afternoon sun poking through the clouds near the Eisenhower Tunnel, from Loveland Pass.
2022 Year in Review

2022 Year in Review

Each year I select some arbitrary number of photos that were my favorites from the year. It’s fun to see not only remember trips that felt so long ago, but also to see how my photography evolved that year. This year my photos spanned more subjects in more places, and included more people than they have in the past. Part of that was undoubtedly due to travel becoming easier again, but I think also reflects wanting to incorporate people more often in my photography.

Below are 30 favorites with a little about why they made the cut this year. They’re often not my best photos from a technical standpoint, but they’re the ones with some of the best memories.

Exploring the Black Canyon of the Gunnison with family. A hot, sunny day, but even then you can sometimes get a good photo in the midday sun.