Dan Jurak
Dan Jurak is one of the finest Prairie photographers I've come across and has been a true inspiration to me personally.
When I was starting out I came across Dan's photos and was instantly amazed. At the time he was doing some heavy processing and I found his images incredibly imaginative and it made me rethink what an artist could convey through photography.
Dan has since toned down his processing but his images are more powerful than ever in terms of expression and mood. While most of the photographers I follow are shooting famous scenes Dan is out scouring the Prairies and I often find his work more intriging and just as stunning.
One of the things that I still can't figure out is how Dan produces such large quantities of quality work. I follow his blog (he is also a very good writer) and he churns out provoking ideas on an almost daily basis. I'd highly recommend spending a couple hours going through his portfolio and his articles; you won't be disapointed.
To see more of Dan's work check out his website.
All images in this entry are © Dan Jurak. Used with permission.
My Personal Weather Machine
This might alarm some people... but the fact of the matter is that I have the power to change weather patterns based on if I have my camera with me or not.
the weather
WITHOUT:
my camera
The world seems to glow with the fires of fifty burning suns. The temperature is always pleasant and it’s always calm with just the right amount of cloud cover.
the weather
IF I HAVE:
my camera
What it would look like if Tim Burton made a movie about nuclear winter. This happens to me even when the forecast calls for “mostly sunny with periods of rainbows”.
I used to seriously believe this was happening to me. These days I remind myself that if the weather was crazy beautiful all the time no one would want to look at nature photographs (they'd probably switch their desktop backgrounds to wookies juggling rabid ewoks).
On Canada's Left Coast
During a vacation to Tofino British Columbia I discovered another part of the world I love.
The pull of the coast.
I've always wanted to visit Vancouver Island, which is almost as far West as you can go in Canada. It houses wicked coastlines, ancient cedar forests, and armies of wildlife. If it were a nation their flag would feature an otter surfing on a killer whale and they would be led by a bear instead of a person. My wife and I stayed on the North end of the island near a small town called Tofino which is moderately transient and full of tourists and surfers.
That's one way to get there.
This wasn’t meant to be a photography trip; in fact Carrie and I were celebrating our anniversary. I booked a flight to Comox British Columbia, rented a car, and we drove across the whole island which was crazy beautiful. I highly recommend renting a car because the trip would take forever in a golf cart. During our driving adventure we saw several bears, passed through Cathedral Grove, and went by some gorgeous lakes.
Like nowhere else I've been.
We caught a water taxi to take us to Refuge Cove, which is inaccessible by land vehicles, for a short hiking trip. On our way we passed by sea otters (which float on their backs while holding hands to form rafts) and a pod of killer whales. It really feels like civilization hasn’t been there long enough to screw it up yet.
The native culture is celebrated in the area too. The Haida are known for Totem Poles and their art which features psychedelic beavers. I read up on them and they’re like the vikings of pre-Canada. Their war canoes were built out of cedar trees and some were large enough to accomodate 60 viking-like paddlers.
Did I mention the tacos?
Tofino isn’t just a bunch of indiginous people wandering around unspoiled wilderness though. They have a very progressive tourism industry. The food truck behind the surf shop had world class fish tacos. Our accomodation was celebrity worthy. My favorite moments though were walking along beaches with my wife. We would look in tide pools and pet the starfish then RUN LIKE HELL FROM THE RISING TIDES!. One of the best trips I’ve been on.
How to get noticed... or not.
I'll probably always classify myself as an aspiring photographer even if I become world famous. I've had some very positive affirmations recently, even some commercial success, and I've been thinking about getting my name out there more. Then I started thinking about why I follow certain photographers; is it because they have amazing social media strategies? Is it because their images are getting printed on cereal boxes (landscapeeios)? If you want to get noticed my advice would be to put energy into creating something beautiful. The figurative "magic beans" to popularity in nature photography are consistently capturing great images over a long period of time. Enjoy the journey, stick to your passion, and everything else will happen naturally.
Our Four-legged Forest Friends
JASPER
[velocitus tremenjus]
He has an over-abundance of self esteem and I’m pretty sure he believes that he is Batman. This certified crazy dog is a Shephard/Husky/Flying Squirrel cross.
SATURN
[fraidii anythingus]
This dog is terrified by the existence of any bipedal creature including humans and velociraptors. Because she is so fraidy her adventures are always frought with danger
I
remember the first night we brought Jasper home. It was almost three years ago and my wife, Carrie, had talked me into getting a dog -- it was that or another child and I still stand by my choice. We fell in love with this little Shepherd / Husky mix from the Humane Society. After a few meetings, interviews, and providing stamped engineering documents describing the technical details of our fence they let us take him home. Upon arrival he began sniffing every room in the house in rapid succession. When he got to the living room he started running around in circles. He went faster and faster until you couldn’t see him anymore. At one point he was spinning so fast that I thought he was in a state of flux breaking apart the space-time continiuum. That was my first and only moment where I thought we might have been better off with a calmer pet like a clam.
Having a high energy dog changed our lives. All of a sudden our main forms of entertainment were walking the dog, going to the dog park, or attending agility classes for the dog. Somedays it was a chore for sure but I found a profound happiness in the energy of this animal. We’d take him to a field and he’d be the happiest dog ever; we’d lock him in his kennel and he’d be the happiest dog ever; the vet would stick needles in his bum and he’d be the happiest dog ever. The fact that I will probably never own a Ferrari didn't seem worth being sad about after being around him.
I believe that it's always good to give everything 100% (except donating blood) and Jasper did just that when we moved to the forest; he seems determined to sniff every tree, chase every squirrel, and eat every stick. I felt he was adjusting to country life well but my wife wanted to get a second dog. Not just any dog though; she had her heart set on a white Shepherd / Husky mix she found living in foster care. We drove 300km to go visit the white dog but I didn't think she was the right dog for us. Carrie picked her up the next day.
Both of our dogs are reservation-rescues and both had problems early in life. Saturn is timid of people but gets along well with other dogs. We've been
working hard with her to overcome her fear issues and she has been making lots of good progress. One of the amazing things about animals is their ability to drastically change their behavior with proper training. I'm happy to report that Jasper has been a perfect gentlemen and now our dogs are best friends too.
As Saturn becomes more comfortable with us her personality has been showing itself more and it's quite comical. She is the great Killer of Bugs and watching her chase butterflies or play with grasshoppers is really entertaining. When you rub her tummy she spreads her legs and makes everyone involved feel really uncomfortable. We'll have to be extra careful not to lose her in the Winter because she kind of blends in with snow.
I'll keep up with the puppy reports every so often to let everyone know how they're progressing and inform you of any new adventures they have. We're off to another puppy class today to teach Saturn to be less fraidy and it's actually graduation day. Until next time: keep those tails waggin.
When we moved to the country we knew things were going to be different. Although we had encountered wildlife living on the edge of the city we were warned that it would be more extreme in the foothills; owls the size of pterodactyls would swoop down and carry away the dogs, there would be cougars hiding in trees waiting to pounce on unsuspecting victims, and if you weren't home bears might sneak into the house to make themselves sammidges.
We also learned that most people in the area name their acreages. Carrie and I decided that we needed to name ours too but it's a lot harder than you think. We tried to brainstorm ideas but nothing was sticking. We'd come up with a name like "Happy Tails Ranch" and then shoot it down right away -- it sounds like a brothel house and we don't really have a ranch.
In the meantime we had our first wildlife encounter on the acreage. I opened the door to let our dog Jasper out before bed and he immediately bolted across the yard in pursuit of something. Luckily, I called Jasper back and he returned to the house. Whatever he was chasing ran over a hill in the forest and started making a very strange animal sound. It sounded like a dog crossed with a cat that was possessed by a poltergeist with a smoker's cough. This went on for almost 20 minutes.
The next morning I was out on the deck having coffee and the animal from the night before was wandering through the yard. It turned out it was a fox and this particular fox had a den right on the edge of our property. What's more is this fox was a mommy fox who had three pups at home still (no wonder she was so mad at our dog). The whole thing inspired Carrie to come up with the name: The Barking Fox. I like it because it will remind us of the first nights we were out here and it kind of sounds like a pub. Now we just need to make a sign :)
The fox has since moved dens but we still see her a couple times a week and she still barks at us. She kept her pups near the den in thick bush so I didn't get great photos (I also didn't want to intrude on their privacy) but it was fun watching them play from a distance.
Landscape Photography Magazine
Read my article in the latest issue of Landscape Photography Magazine or view a scan here.
Published I have an article in the latest issue of Landscape Photography Magazine. I’ve actually written a couple articles for them and although my column is stuck way in the back somewhere I feel really lucky to be in the same magazine as the likes of Guy Tal, Ian Plant, and a slew of other internationally recognized photographers.
If you look at the newstand and are turned off by a bunch of mags designed to fill your camera bag and empty your wallet, with more advertisements than content, you should pick up Landscape Photography Magazine. Simply put LPM plasters their pages in beautiful images from cover to cover. If I were putting together a magazine I would use the same format: lots and lots of really great photos and a couple words to glue everything together. The whole reason I got into photography was because I like looking at pictures. Am I right?