Niagara Falls on Vancouver Island? YES! At Lovely Goldstream Provincial Park

(+ 7 insets) (Please view large!!)

Trip Talk: Cameras for Travel

Some months ago, one of my contacts, George (Tiabunna), wrote an article about the fast-rising quality of phone cameras and how they are impacting the industry. He even compared pictures of a subject taken by his DSLR and his phone, showing all of us how similar they are. The interesting discussion solidified my feelings about my phone and I decided not to discriminate against these pictures when picking my main image to share. I think phone pictures look great--and even if they may not be the quality of a DSLR, who of us is really needing that all the time? (This is George's article, well-worth reading! Smartphones and cameras)

It would turn out that on our trip, I used my phone’s camera more and more, to the point that by the end, at least half of my pictures were taken with my phone. I used my Sony for most of the others and just a few days-worth were taken with my Canon and 100mm macro lens.

Isn’t it interesting how your expectations can sometimes be so far from reality? I imagined many happy days filled with me creeping around with my macro lens, photographing endless cool subjects that I’d never seen before. I did have a few days like that but for the most part, I didn’t use my Canon. I need to feel relaxed and creatively free but I rarely felt comfortable enough to escape into this mode. Seems like there was always something in the way…too many activities calling our attention to go do. Wrong place/wrong time, or just plain not in the mood.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Steve and I discussed our shared feelings of needing open-ended travel. With this set-up, we’ll be able to do things like Steve dropping me off at a trail that we hiked previously—one that brimming with zillions of super-cool macro subjects. (There were countless trails like this on our trip—but had I brought my macro lens, we’d never see any of the trails at all except the very beginning!) And while I am lost in my macro world of bliss, Steve would be able to go fishing nearby or perhaps just hang out in the car. Steve understands the importance of being alone for my macro outings and he also loves fishing on his own because he can just kick back and enjoy all things fishing without worrying whether or not I’ve had enough. We do love fishing together but sometimes I’d rather do something else.

Regarding travel photography, I have to admit that when on a trip, the best sort of pictures highlight the places you went to, the things you saw. No matter how much I love macro photography, those sorts of images aren’t as important except as specialty highlights. So, though it would have been awesome to have the time and freedom to do more macro photography, it’s not the end of the world!

Today’s Pictures
The first place that we stayed at on Vancouver Island was at Malahat Mountain. Though situated in a park-like area, we were only 30 minutes away from the British Columbia capitol of Victoria. That was perfect because we were looking forward to at least a couple of days in town.

For our first adventure, we went to the extremely popular provincial (state) park, Goldstream, just a few minutes from our campground. There were many hikes available but the one we wanted to do included a visit to Vancouver Island’s very own Niagara Falls! We really enjoyed this hike, which took us to the Falls and then onwards to a railroad trestle (those pictures will be posted another day) and through extremely beautiful forests along meandering, well-maintained trails.

My main picture features this beautiful and elegant waterfall, which drops from an impressive height of 156 feet/47.5 meters to an enticing swimming pool below. The number of people playing around and enjoying this noisy waterfall and its chilly pool made it challenging to get an unpopulated picture but eventually I succeeded!

Inset 1: With the extreme drop of Niagara Creek down to the rocky bed below, the view upwards and through the trees was really breathtaking.

Inset 2: Looking up the steep canyon walls revealed beautiful, lush ferns that got my attention.

Inset 3: Take a look at this Bigleaf Maple growing out of an old Red Cedar stump! The roots are so fascinating to me and remind me a bit of strangler figs that grow in the rainforest. I’d never seen a tree growing out of a stump like this before, but apparently Red Cedar stumps must make a nice place for tree seedlings to grow, as I saw a bunch of these while we were on the Island.

Inset 4: I saw some Spring Beauty blossoms at the edge of the canyon walls and couldn’t resist taking a picture with my Sony.

Inset 4: Moss grew on everything it seemed and it was fun to take a picture of Steve in a setting with some moss-covered branches.

Inset 5: The shadows on this trio of leaves were so pretty to me, along with the lovely russet color.

Inset 6: The dappled light on the road that led to the Niagara Falls trail was just too lovely to resist this picture!

Pam, this is a place that Steve and I sat at for quite some time. Partly waiting for the hoards to leave so we could take pictures, but also to soak up this glowing place. It was also fun to watch people enjoying the area as well. I even watched a supervised toddler tossing rocks into the water that she could just barely pick up! A lovely place you would have surely loved. I'm sending my love and hope all is as well as can be today!

Explored on 9/12/19; highest placement #2.