This seashore dragonfly is called a twelve-spotted skimmer.
During the many years I've traveled as a photographer around Nova Scotia, I've shot hundreds of thousands of photographs, some good, some not so good.
Many of those images were captured in the Southwestern part of the province and, to me, some stand out more than others. Some are my personal favourites while some others were selected time and again for publication in various Nova Scotia Tourism literature and brochures.
So, for my last full blog of the season for Destination Southwest Nova, I'd like to share a few of these photos with you. Hopefully, they will inspire you to get out to see, and perhaps photograph, these things for yourself.
In parting, I'll share a piece of advice that I've passed along to people I've taught photography to over the years . . . no matter how many times you visit a place, there is always something different to photograph.
The seasons change, the time of day might be different, the tide might be high one day and low the other, or the weather might be good or bad. These changing conditions offer new opportunities for pictures that are not the same old - same old.
As I've learned over the years, good photographs are 80% luck . . . being in the right place at the right time; 10% is recognizing you are in the right place and it is the right time; and the other 10% is the skill to take the picture.
Enjoy!
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This image of the lighthouse at Cape Forchu near Yarmouth has been used extensively in a lot of tourism literature since it was shot in 2002. I had an hour or so to kill one evening in Yarmouth and drove to the nearby lighthouse to find the setting sun and cloud formations photo-perfect.
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The church at Grand Pré National Historic Site near Wolfville in the Annapolis Valley is a focal point for many picture takers. The front of the church is lit by the sun in the morning and early afternoon. Add a few summer flowers and a clear blue sky and another 'keeper' photo is born.
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This photo, taken at the fishing village of Northwest Cove on the Aspotogan Peninsula along the South Shore, is a prime example of being in the right place at the right time. The deep blue of twilight contrasts with the yellow fishing floats. The colourful buildings in the background add to the feeling of tranquility.
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When the whale watching boat I was on first approached this humpback whale off Brier Island, the whale appeared to be dozing at the surface. With my boat on one side and another whale watching boat on the other, the humpback suddenly performed a series of tail whips where it lifted its massive tail high out of the water, twirled it around the air and then slapped it on the surface causing water to spew out in all directions.
This photo looks like a classic setup shot. In actual fact, I happened to stumble upon basket maker Murray Moores at a farmers market in the Acadian village of Belliveau's Cove and asked him if he minded if I photographed him while he worked. I used a little flash to fill in the facial shadows, but otherwise this is Murray as I found him . . . pipe, beat-up felt hat and all. Nova Scotia has lots of characters like him, so look for them during your travels. You'll almost always find them to be obliging photo subjects.
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This image of the crashing surf at Peggy's Cove on the South Shore was not totally the result of good luck. It was taken a day after a hurricane had hit Nova Scotia and I purposely went to Peggy's knowing that the surf would be high. The warm glow of the crashing wave is the result of the setting sun which always provides a great backdrop for the much-photographed lighthouse.
For more information on Southwest Nova Scotia visit these sites:
www.novascotia.com
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