Botanical Beach Provincial Park, is located on Vancouver Island, BC near Port Renfrew. The beach is a wonderful place to visit, during low tide some amazing color is revealed. This is the edge of a tide pool that looked like it was about 8 feet deep the purple holes in the center are carved out of the sandstone by sea urchins.

I have been looking forward to the Nanaimo 2010 Photosalon. In February I submitted two of my images for a adjudication, which were accepted. When I dropped off my prints this last Tuesday, I had a glimpse of some of the work that had already been dropped off, I was blown away by the sheer outstanding quality of images that were already there. This left me feeling like this years’ Photosalon was going to be a stupendous event. The last time I participated, in 2008, the venue was at the Vancouver Island University Art Gallery (then Malispina College). This year the Nanaimo Museum is a great partner, offering a suitable gallery space that houses 70+ outstanding prints from all over Vancouver Island. My wife and I arrived just after 1:00 pm to find several photographers already gathering. After enjoying some great company over Serious Coffee and several other conversations with friends, the big 2:00 pm announcements of the winners commenced.

The three judges that came over from Vancouver are professional judges from The Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA). The comments that some of the judges made for each image were read and I found out that both of my entries placed.

In the open category,
“Make it Stop” – model Michael Ward,
took both the Gold Medal (1st Place) and Best in show.

Make it Stop ~ 38"x24" on canvas.

Mother's Treasures ~ 42"x14" on canvas.

When the announcement came for Mother’s Treasures my wife who was standing beside me started to cry. The image had been her idea and is a photograph of her collection of “bunnies” that our daughter has sewn by hand for her each year as a Christmas present, for the last 14 years. Our daughter was unable to attend the Photosalon opening, we purposefully did not show her the image before it was entered and we are hoping to bring her to the museum to show her the image before she sees or hears about it from elsewhere.

I wish to thank the CAPA  judges; [Allen Bargen, Francois Cleroux and Lynne Kelman], Peter Gyorffy ~ Chair of Photosalon 2010 Organizing Committee, the Harbour City Photo club and the Nanaimo Museum for a wonderful opening. The feature exhibit runs from April 10 to May 24, 2010.

I also need to give a sincere thank you to the amazing model Michael Ward, without his help, “Make it Stop” would still be stuck in my head.

Make sure if you are on Vancouver Island to visit the museum and take in the show. All the images are outstanding in both presentation and quality.
(I will be updating this post with the official list of winners when I receive it from Peter)

If your a photographer that likes flowers, plants or gardens then this is the place that you will never want to leave. In the last few years taking photos of flowers and fauna is not my first choice when deciding what to take a picture of but I was asked recently if I wanted to join a group of friends on a trip to capture the fall colors that are so prevalent at the gardens right now. I always keep an open mind and love to explore new places, plus the chance to have a great day of photography with friends, that all like taking pictures, is just not something I am willing to pass up. Spending quality time with like minded people is very enjoyable and rewarding. It will do wonders for your creativity and growth as a photographer.

The Butchart Gardens is a place that will not fail to please you just about any time of the year. Even if you are not a photographer I am sure you will absolutely love visiting. The gardens are immaculately maintained and offer some of the most peaceful and beautiful manicured scenery I have seen on the Island. For more information about the gardens go to their website.

Here is a gallery of some of the pictures I took during my visit. I want to thank my friends for inviting me to join them on their beautiful adventure.