Elk Lake Feature Photo Day

February 6, 2017

– Content – Composition – Creativity –

Four hours of looking for Feature photos at Elk Lake on a bike in the snow.

VICTORIA, B.C.: FEBRUARY 5, 2017- Luisa Hallsall and her dog Tanner go for a walk around Elk and Beaver Lake during a snow storm in Victoria, British Columbia on February 5, 2017. (KEVIN LIGHT).

I made the above photo Sunday night and I left Monday morning on my bike at 9:30 to find more.

Riding a bike is great in snowy conditions because I was able to move through space faster than the subjects. In this case I past two women walking their dogs at the Elk Lake boathouse. I rode ahead and stoped when I found a background to put them in.

I parked, practiced a few shots and within five minutes they rounded the corner.

VICTORIA, B.C.: FEBRUARY 6, 2017- Denise Graham,left, and Nikki Barber walk with their dogs Fritz and Essie around Elk and Beaver Lake during a snowfall warning in Victoria, British Columbia on February 6, 2017. (KEVIN LIGHT)

Next I rode to Beaver Lake where there was a Saanich Parks and Recreation children’s Eco Camp going on. I shoot for Saanich Parks and Recreation but finding the class was a coincidence. After explaining to the teachers who I was I got some nice photos of the kids sledding and playing the teachers and sent them to my Saanich Recreation contact. There are rules where these photos can be posted and how they can be used so there are two generic photo below to give an example of how cool a class it is as well as a portrait of one of the teachers.

I continued around the lake for an hour searching for photos without seeing much.

I did see some nice background but no subjects to fill them.

I wish I had rode back to this spot when the Kayaker I met in 10 minutes left the beach as the yellow kayak would have looked nice between the snowy reeds and the boathouse.

It is an interesting balance between waiting for a subject to fill a nice background and searching for a subject and putting them in the best background surrounding them. As I came up to Hamsterly Beach I saw Robert Woodhead sitting on the edge of the beach and I was hoping he was leaving but not too soon as I wanted to get there quick enough to ask him his name.

VICTORIA, B.C.: FEBRUARY 6, 2017- Robert Woodhead prepares to push off in his kayak from Hamsterly Beach at Elk Lake during a snowfall warning in Victoria, British Columbia on February 6, 2017. (KEVIN LIGHT)

It worked out and except for filling my jacket and pants with sand there were some nice moments.

VICTORIA, B.C.: FEBRUARY 6, 2017- Robert Woodhead paddles his kayak on Elk Lake during a snowfall warning in Victoria, British Columbia on February 6, 2017. (KEVIN LIGHT)

As he was leaving I saw Fisherman Rob Newell casting on the bridge beside the highway. I took a few photos trying to incorporate the yellow slippery when wet sign as the traffic drove by.

VICTORIA, B.C.: FEBRUARY 6, 2017- Fisherman Rob Newell casts his bait from the path running parallel with the Patricia Bay Highway beside Elk Lake during a snowfall warning in Victoria, British Columbia on February 6, 2017. (KEVIN LIGHT)

It worked alright but I wanted a close-up and ended up waiting 40 minutes as Rob told me he casts once every twenty minutes.

Once I knew how he would cast I practiced with him standing to figure out how to compose the photo. I didn’t want any of the yellow sign but wanted to show that it was snowing.

I ended up laying flat on my stomach hanging off the edge of the path over the water in order to move Rob far enough to the left so his fishing pole didn’t over lap with the trees and low enough so the yellow sign wouldn’t poke up into his torso.