The wasp nest.

​The faces. 

There were times I felt I had been transported somewhere very far north (or south)...

... or felt moody and dark.

There were times of remembrance,

and watching the water come in and cover the green rock,

and being captivated by the birds.

And I didn't forget my rocks.

I bought a new camera last week, then returned it the next day because the lens stopped working. 
It was smaller and lighter and meant to be easier on my body - the days of lugging heavy cameras and lenses around are numbered for me sadly.

Long story short, I decided not to get a replacement, but now I'm second guessing that decision. It ticked a lot of boxes on my wishlist, but it's kind of taking a step backwards in the gear world in some respects. And I didn't fall in love with it when I took that first image like I've done when pressing that shutter release for the first time on my other cameras.
As well as the camera tech stuff I take into account when photographing, there's also a connected feeling I get. It may be a wee bit different, depending on which camera I use, but it's always there, no matter what camera I'm using. I didn't feel it during that short visit and I questioned if it will ever come? 
I know photography isn't just about the camera -- there's knowledge of the gear, the gear itself (camera bodies, lenses, filters), the human behind the lens, their unique perspective to their subject, post processing, etc. - reminding me of a story:

"a photographer goes to a friend's house for dinner and the host says 'you're a wonderful photographer, you must have a fantastic camera!'. At the end of the meal, the photographer says to the host 'what a wonderful meal, you must have a fantastic stove'!"

For now I'm mired in indecision so am sharing some of my test images, to "put them out there and add them into my work" to see if that changes anything for me. Some of the images have had post processing, some not.

Thanks for looking!
~wendy
​

i saw some flowers at the grocery store, i'm quite sure they were dyed yellow, but they were pretty nonetheless
i brought them to my studio where i found a dead bee on the floor under the skylight (sorry little bee)
so i pulled out my bone collection to see what I could do with these three pieces
then i grabbed some green velvety fabric, a piece of wood i'd cut and a few other props i have on hand
and started to work

my studio is in a cottage behind my parent's house
so after a bit i went outside to enlist my dad - who'd been working in the garden - to hold flowers
dad had a desk job for years but he always kept busy doing manual work - gardening, painting, puttering in the yard 
the tint of his forearms reflect his time spent outside this year

​i haven't been to my studio much over the last year because of, well, a bunch of reasons
but there's something that happens when i'm there and get in the flow
it's a very cool feeling
and afterwards when i'm done reviewing and editing the images i made, i have to decide what (and if) i'll share - put out there into the word - and often times i don't because i don't want to be judged, or have to explain my fascination with bones or dark subjects, or confuse people as they wonder why i'm not sharing more images of dogs... or whatever people think (or don't) when they see my work

but it's not about that right now... it's about just getting on with it, creating, and allowing that part of me to just do its thing without judgement... and i'm going to try to share it... or at least put it out there, right here.

thanks for visiting,
w

note - images were taken back on june 3, 2021

i've been spending a lot of time
close to home
using tools in my garden, and my garden as a tool
this is part one.

I just re-found this group of images - like so many photos, they were sitting on my hard drive, edited, but not shared. 
Does that mean they existed?

They were taken in May 2019, and I believe Heather holding her hands up in the first photo is illustrating that she dropped Chester's leash and let him walk without tether... although his leash was still attached to his collar... just in case.
I realized there are more photos of Saru the Shiba, Chester's brother, than the other dogs. Going beyond his photogenic-ness, maybe I was trying to show him some extra attention as we were all so smitten with Chester and his ability to figure out jumping logs (it took him a few moments to figure out what to do!) and the fact he didn't run away.  
There's even more of Saru than my own dogs, Mister Coco + Bella Boo.

Whatever. 

It was a peaceful walk with four very different dogs all at various stages of their lives, just getting to be dogs.
Thanks gang. 
xo

the wild - an not so wild - life, including tall trees, rough seas, an eagle, a mink,
some geese + their goslings, a couple silly dogs,
​ and one very busy heron

Photographing the same subject for so many years - adventure walks with my sleddie friends - has made me want to try different ways to share my experiences. I usually pick my favourite photos in the hopes that you will get the same feelings I did while I was on the excursions. So this time I've decided to share a few successions of photos so you can hopefully get more of a sense of not just one moment in time, but a few moments. To give you a sense of the movements of the dogs bodies - their ears, tails, legs, eyes - taking treats and the gong show that is the self-timered group photo.

The last photo is a photobomb featuring ChiChi. I was crouched down readying to get a shot of Tica zooming back to the group and Chich appeared... to know her is to know this is very like her. She will appear seemingly out of nowhere with those expectant big eyes, convincing me to give her all the treats in my pocket. If I had any this day, I would've.

Sleddie roll call: ChiChi, Jasper, MaryKate, Niv, Roo along with their buddies, Tica and Saru.

The commercial and sport dog sledding industries are alive and well in Canada. And as long as they exist, their cast offs - dogs like ChiChi, Jasper, MaryKate, Niv and Roo - will need homes. Please visit I Was A Sled Dog to learn more about dogs leftover from this industry.

If you're looking to adopt a sleddie, both MaryKate and Roo are awaiting their perfect match through the Victoria Humane Society!

For more information and to get involved:
Sled Dogs film
Humane Mushing

Spring is on its way, and the dogs are feelin' full of beans!
With sleddie Kismet in town from the interior, visiting with his mom to participate in my project, I Was a Sled Dog, we met up with the gang at Francis King park for some forest bathing... only Santana didn't get the 'forest part' - she just bathed... and some other silly dogs followed suit.
Here's Niv + Cedar, Knik, Boomer + Jinx (the low rider), Saru (the Shiba), Santana, Jasper, Daisy, Mary Kate + Roo and Kismet!
p.s. Mary Kate and Roo are available for adoption through the Victoria Humane Society!