Boisvert’s GreenWoods, a natural area donated to EALT by Halina Boisvert in 2014, is a gorgeously unique tree stand surrounded by a sea of farmer’s fields. This old growth forest hides many of nature’s gems. Every time I walk through the trails, I notice a new snag, artistically carved out by multiple woodpecker species, or a wacky fungus I’ve never seen before, or a wondrous tangled tree arrangement.
I always bring my camera with me, and I long to photograph these elements and share them with you. But I am only an amateur photographer trying my very best with a point & shoot type of camera. The dark forest makes lighting difficult for my simple equipment and the effect I am trying to capture never seems to translate quite right from Boisvert’s GreenWoods.
I’m sure most of us have this issue, especially when gawking at breathtaking scenery and trying to take a photo to capture the memory forever. Then when you look at the photo later, you think, what was I taking a picture of here? That’s exactly what photographing the breathtaking nature scenes at Boisvert is like.
Which is why my excitement built as I was discussing a new partnership with Steve Ricketts, President of Images Alberta Camera Club. The Club hosts outings for members to photograph varying subjects. I knew exactly where I wanted them to go for an EALT outing and made the suggestion to Steve. It was just a matter of fitting in another exciting, autumn colour outing into their bustling schedule.
Luckily for all of us, Camera Club members made it out to Boisvert’s GreenWoods this past weekend. And to sweeten the deal, each photographer agreed to donate some of their photos for EALT to use in our outreach, with credit of course. And I have to say, spending the day with a bunch of photographers could not be more interesting. Each member had their own style and interest in what they photographed. I watched in awe as the photographers documented lichen, fungus, a wasp nest, colourful leaves, neck craning treescapes, intentional camera movement abstract forest shots, close-ups of rolls of barbed wire, woodpecker snags, and everything in between.
