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When I was six years old and shot my first roll of film, I photographed a bunch of feet. When my dad saw the photos, he threatened to take my camera away. He just didn’t understand what it meant to be creative. Now, as a wildlife photographer, I still love creating uncommon shots—sometimes even feet. […]
Yesterday, I wrote about Deb’s and my adventure of having to share one of our two favorite Vancouver Island campsites with a Canadian man and his stepson who blasted music and video games at 107 decibels in their tent until well after midnight. This post is about our other favorite campsite, right on the Johnstone […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5170: I watched this great blue heron for parts of three days. She was the only great blue heron hanging out on the gravel beach in front of Deb’s and my Johnstone Strait campsite. The heron was particularly interesting to watch when the tide came in. She ruled a spit […]
When Deb and I explored Vancouver Island three years ago, we found two incredible campsites to pitch our tent at: one on the Johnstone Strait, and one on the Tsitika River. When we returned to Vancouver Island earlier this month, we hoped to return to both of those remote campsites as well as explore new […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5168: Of all the many highlights of Deb’s and my Vancouver Island visit, the moments around the time I shot this photo were my favorite. We had pitched our tent at a remote campsite on the Johnstone Strait, and, like the two previous mornings, I got up before sunrise hoping […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5167: The salmon were running in a river near one of Deb’s and my campsites on Vancouver Island. Most of the time I carried two cameras: my Canon R7 with a telephoto lens for distant shots, and my all-in-one Olympus Tough TG-7 for wide-angle and macro shots. I hadn’t planned […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5166: Deb and I have traveled all seven continents looking for rare and interesting wildlife and have seen creatures that look like they should be from another planet. These pelagic gooseneck barnacles, which Deb found as we were walking a beach on Vancouver Island, are the strangest creatures we’ve ever […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5165: Deb, Nellie, and I just completed three nights at what may be the most awesome campsite in North America. We found a private, one-tent-campsite right on the Johnstone Strait in the northern region of Vancouver Island. From our private beach, we watched numerous bird species, a sea lion, a […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5161: The last time Deb, Nellie, and I visited Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, the many raptors cruising the tidal plain were the highlight of our stay. This time they are even better. Yesterday, I photographed a pair of adult bald eagles and this immature bald […]
Nellie is chilling after a hard day. She got attacked by a swarm of yellowjackets, twice! Today Deb, Nellie, and I scouted the gravel roads at the top of Vancouver Island, looking for possible tent camping sites. The gravel roads there become intimidating quickly, as they pass through dense temperate rainforest, branch off here and […]
I had high hopes that Nellie’s second bionic leg would be ready to engage at warp 9 as of this week. She had TPLO surgery on her right-rear leg eight weeks ago (to remove a ligament, refit the knee bone, and install a metal plate with six screws). Since this is Nellie’s second bionic leg, […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5132: In nine days, Nellie gets the final X-ray on her second bionic leg (she had TPLO surgery seven weeks ago) and, if all goes well, she will once again be off-leash and free to race through the forest at warp-nine. For now, she covers every inch of the Essen […]
I took Nellie out for a walk this afternoon and routed us past where I had seen a nighthawk multiple times. All of a sudden mother nighthawk blasted out from under a pine tree and did her wounded bird act. At the same time, her chick flew off in the opposite direction. I moved away, […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5118: Nellie’s recovery from getting her second bionic rear leg will take at least 8 weeks, so I must restrict her to leash walks to keep her from engaging warp drive too early. Because of that, we are covering every inch of the 25-acre Essen Wildlife Refuge. And since Nellie […]
One of Nellie’s jobs is to protect my red writing chair when I’m not in it. Few people understand how important a chair can be to an author. I bought this chair more than 20 years ago. It’s not a high-quality chair, and it was never intended to be the chair I wrote 10 books […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5108: It’s been three weeks since my dog, Nellie, got her second bionic rear leg (TPLO surgery with a metal plate and six screws), and she is recovering much faster than the first time. She has to stay on leash for eight weeks, and this morning she practically dragged me […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5097: For the second day in a row, Nellie gets credit for my photo of the day. Until her new bionic leg heals, she is restricted to leash walks, and it was during a leash walk yesterday through the Essen Wildlife Refuge that we spotted this nighthawk. The nighthawk immediately […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5096: My dog, Nellie, has amazing senses. She gets credit for this shot. It was well after sunset when we stepped out onto the front porch. Immediately she knew something was sleeping among the trees a hundred feet straight out from us. I couldn’t tell what it was, so I […]
Marty’s photo of the day #5087: This is a Borneo pygmy elephant. It is a unique, genetically distinct subspecies of the Asian elephant, about 20% smaller than mainland Asian elephants, reaching a height of roughly 9 feet. (Photographed on the island of Borneo.)
Marty’s photo of the day #5054: This is Deb and me, laughing after canoeing down the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe and being attacked by a hippo. The hippo bit through the middle of our canoe, lifted us six feet into the air, and dumped us on the muddy riverbank. Deb ended up black-and-blue all along […]
