Eileen Seto's photos

My first backpacking trip in Strathcona Park took me on the Elk River Trail, where we camped along the river.

I went shooting with a local photography club who took me to a wonderful place with many waterfalls. It was a bright day, too bright for shooting really, but this waterfall was in shade. As we were about to move on to the next waterfall site, I saw the sunlight breaking through the canopy of trees and quickly set up this shot. It became my favourite from that field trip.

A friend gave me his dedicated macro lens to try out for a few days. It's opened up a whole new world to me, just like he said it would!

Pretty in pink! It was a treat to see these pink fawn lilies, as I didn't even know they existed before visiting this ecological reserve.

Chocolate lilies are not very common in my area (fawn lilies reign supreme here in that respect). It's even more elusive to find two blooms on one stem, so I was delighted to see this for the first time on a visit to an ecological reserve.

I was delighted to see this beautiful waterfall on Sombrio Beach. Unlike most of the other waterfalls along the beaches here, this one is totally hidden. You have to follow a brook a short distance through a moss-covered canyon to find it. While I was photographing, a young couple who were hiking the Juan de Fuca trail stopped in to take a shower, hooting and hollering from the shock of cold water!

I took several long exposure shots of the night sky during the peak of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower, which happens every year around this time, thanks to the debris from Halley's Comet. Though I didn't see a single meteor with my naked (or bespectacled!) eyes that night, my camera's sensor caught many, often two or three in a single exposure. This one showed the longest meteor trail. Make a wish!

New camera! I'd been eying the Fujifilm compact systems for a while, and finally took the plunge to own one. After the initial shock of having to use an electronic view finder, I'm starting to enjoy it. Though I'm still hooked on my Canon gear, I look forward to shooting with my little X-E1 more and more.

A nice place to be near sunset, with a view of the Olympic mountains.

The ice storm in Ontario last month made for some slippery perching conditions. Instead of a branch, this Blue Jay is holding on to the thick layer of ice covering the branch!

Much to everyone's surprise, the mourning doves didn't migrate south this year like they normally do. Thanks to all the bird feeders in the backyards, they are staying plump for the winter!

Temperatures rose above freezing today, melting the evidence of the recent ice storm that struck a few days before Christmas. Luckily I got a few shots in before everything turned back to normal.

I've always been a bit intimidated by spiders, but I do love looking at their web work. Here, I used a telephoto lens and cropped in so I wouldn't have to get too close to take the shot!

Shot during Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk 2013 event.

After a less than fruitful season last year, the mushrooms have been popping up like crazy on the west coast this fall. I have a special liking for taking pictures of mushrooms, as they were my favourite subjects when I first picked up photography back in the days of film. I spent many hours in the soaking wet rainforests of the mainland to take mushroom portraits, sometimes flat out with my belly to the ground. They definitely force you to see a different perspective, and for that I'll always continue to shoot them with fondness.

This lovely arbutus tree greeted me on my first visit to Orcas Island. I've loved these trees since first getting to know them on moving to the west coast. Indralaya is a Sanskrit word meaning "a home for the spiritual forces in nature".

A borrowed cat with a borrowed lens: I've been looking after a friend's cat (Olivia) while she's out of the country, while at the same time I have a borrowed macro lens from another friend. They will both go back in a few days.