My friend Dave called and said, “Want to go on a road trip to Peachland tomorrow?”
Peachland is an easy two and a half hour drive south from my home in Pritchard along Highway 97, and although the elevation of both Pritchard and Peachland is the same at 1,180 feet, it is still quite cold at my house with lots of snow, while Peachland was a balmy +13°C with slowly greening grass along the road and the lakefront.
So without hesitation I agreed, and when Dave parked his truck in my snow packed driveway at 9 a.m. the next morning, I was ready with a 18-200mm lens mounted on my camera and we drove south through the wide Okanagan valleys toward Peachland.
I like the small community that is mostly located on a hillside beside the 135 km long Okanagan Lake, and I always enjoy wandering its lake front street with my camera.
In the summer the restaurants, shops and park are filled with people, but this time of year it is easy to get photographs without anyone getting in the way, and I walked back and forth across the street while photographing interesting features on the buildings without worrying about cars.
Dave had his 150-500mm Sigma and began photographing some ducks and fifty or so American coots (I think some call them mud ducks) swimming in the small boat harbour.
As we stood talking in the warm sun I looked across the lake trying to see the famous Rattlesnake Island, where the legendary Ogopogo is said to have it’s home.
Ogopogo is the name given to a 40 to 50 foot long sea monster allegedly seen in Okanagan Lake since the 19th century. However, because the evidence is limited to blurry photographs, unbelievers suggest that the sightings are misidentifications of common animals like several big otters or floating logs. I like mysteries and I thought how nice it would be to get a nice sharp picture of that elusive beast with my 18-200mm. Heck; I’d even share the moment with my friend Dave. After all, he had a 150-500mm lens. But the Ogopogo monster wasn’t interested in getting it’s picture taken and was most likely hiding out of site in the lake depths. So, with a sigh, I left my friend to photograph the cute little coots and walked down the street to get a picture of the town clock.
I have mentioned before that I like photographing buildings, and strolling along sidewalks with my camera in cities, large or small, it is exhilarating. Whether the architecture is low and flat, skyscraping, old bricked, wooden or shiny metal and glass, I always find something different to photograph.
This time I was a bit hurried, we wanted to get home before dark, and Dave had almost another hour to go after dropping me off. So I ran back and forth trying to limit my photos to shadows, roof ledges and windows. Okay, I strayed from that goal a bit, oh well. Anyway I expect to be back soon.
Summer is on its way, and the wife and I expect to do some driving around British Columbia. My short trips will always include architectural photography opportunities in the towns and cities I visit, and I think it’s fun to change the visual story by picking out intimate features, or only a small part of a scene instead of making a photograph of the whole structure.
These are my thoughts this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net. Stop by Enman’s Camera at 423 Tranquille Road in Kamloops. And if you want an experienced photographer please call me at 250-371-3069. I also sell an interesting selection of used photographic equipment.