Month: July 2008

Rufous Hummingbird

Hummingbird, Tofino Wildlife

These guys are fast and the only way your going to get a shot is to be clever.
Put a piece of tape on three of the four feeding stations. This way he/she has to go to the one that your focusing on. use a tripod and flash. You will need to keep very still and that means your going to have to keep your hands up on the camera. If he/she comes by and you have your hands by your side and you move your hands up to your camera……he’s long gone before you ever touch your camera. If you want to get comfy,lower the feeder so that it’s on a better angle with you sitting down. This way you can last longer. The blood does drain from your arms and you just know it’s going to come by just when you lower your

Dueling!

Tall Ships

Both of these ships were part of theTall Ship Festival. Every three years there is a Tall Ship Festival on the west coast.
I believe the order goes like this: Vancouver,Seattle,Victoria,Port Alberni and than lastly …………Tofino!
On this night,they were dueling! It was the last night of their stay in Tofino and the weather/light could not of been better! We lucked out! Not only did I luck out for weather,but also for traffic!
I was the only boat out there from start to finish! I had them all to myself.
A few whale watching boats dropped in for a few minutes,but took off after 5 minutes.
I realized after shooting for awhile, that Strathcona’s mountains would be a fantastic backdrop . I zipped to the south of them and tried to get as far away as possible!
I than used my big lens and zoomed in them. The longer the focal length,the better the compression factor will be between the foreground and the background! It makes the background “appear” to be closer than it actually is! It’s much more dramatic!
Felice island was blocking some of the view .
I tried to get shots of the cannons going off. I never knew when the cannons were going to fire ,but had to be ready to shoot at any given second!
The Hawaiian Chieftain is the one in the foreground and The Lady Washington is in the background. She had just fired her cannon!

The Lady Washington and The Hawaiian Chieftain at Berth

Tall Ships

I shot this when they both were tired up for the night. They both have such beautiful lines! I noticed the moon and tried to take advantage of this rare opportunity!
They both are from Aberdeen, Washington State.
The Lady Washington was the ship that was used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean ,”Curse of the Black Pearl”.
The Chieftain is the one closest to me and The Lady Washington is on the far side.

The Lady Washington Leaving Ucluelet

Tall Ships

I forgot that they did drop into Ucluelet before they came to Tofino. I can’t remember if they stayed the night or were there for a few hours only?
I was waiting out by Amphtrite Lighthouse. I wanted to get some shots of them coming out of the harbour and around the Lighthouse.
You can see the Lady heading north to Tofino here, and the Chieftain was following close behind. However too far apart to fit them both into this framed shot!