Outdoor Photography Blog - Josh McCulloch

New Image Galleries

2011-03-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

Finally had a chance to do some work to my stock photo galleries lately and have just posted 5 new galleries...

...& you can see them here:

- Sea Kayaking Photos
- Temperate Rainforest Photos
- British Columbia Wilderness Photos
- Canada's West Coast Trail
- West Coast Beaches

Should have lots of new stock images online in the coming weeks and months!

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2011 Josh McCulloch.

This blog has moved!

2010-04-21T13:47:00.001-07:00

This blog is now located at http://blog.joshmcculloch.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For most feed subscribers, you should not need to change anything. If you are having trouble accessing my feed use the link to the upper right of this page. ---->

Gallery Show - Instructors of the Western Academy

2009-10-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let you know I'll be showing a few pieces alongside many of the faculty of the Western Academy of Photography here in Victoria from November 5-11 at the Community Arts Council of Victoria gallery. I attended WAP in 2001-2003 and returned last year as an instructor - I'm honoured to have been asked to return this year as well. Details of the show are below:

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Vancouver BC Skyline

2009-09-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

I've recently uploaded some new Vancouver Skyline images to my Vancouver BC Photos gallery, and thought I'd share a few here too.

Vancouver Skyline

Vancouver BC Skyline

Vancouver's Canada Place Skyline

Vancouver Skyline at Dusk

Vancouver's Yaletown Skyline

Vancouver's City Skyline Reflection

Vancouver's such a great city - always a great place to explore, and a great city to shoot skylines!

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Recent Tear Sheets

2009-08-25T15:49:00.001-07:00

Here are a few recent tear sheets of recent projects...

A large portion of my Spring this year was working on a cool project with Gary McCartie Productions for the Township of Esquimalt on a new tourism initiative called "My Esquimalt". The goal was to develop a library of new custom imagery showcasing the best that Esquimalt has to offer, and then use them to develop a new set of marketing material for the Township. Over the course of 5-6 weeks, I shot over 2500 images of all aspects of the community from landscapes to sports, recreation to history and more. Here is a before & after view of one of Esquimalt's marketing materials prior to this new initiative...

In addition to this 4x9 rack card, Gary and his excellent team of web developers and designers cranked out a beautiful 17x22 inch full-colour "Esquimalt Explorer" map of the Township that's chock full of images, 7 beautiful full-colour walking tour brochures, and a new website dedicated to marketing Esquimalt to tourists from near and far, and to residents of the Victoria area as well. Check out the website here: My Esquimalt. Here are a few examples of the pieces mentioned:

Website:

Walking Tours:

A few other recent tear sheets:

The Access Fund used an image of mine for their website and a brochure on a new national campaign to raise funds to purchase threatened climbing areas:

Finally, Parks Canada selected two of my images from recent assignments to feature in their new National Brochure. They selected only 8 images from their national image collection to showcase our national parks, and I was truly honoured to have these images chosen, including one for the front cover and a double page spread:

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Web Maintenance - July 23rd

2009-07-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

In case you are an image-buying night owl, and plan on surfing my stock galleries between 12 midnight and 3AM on July 23rd, I'd encourage you to reschedule - my stock galleries will be temporarily unavailable during that time for maintenance and a few under-the-hood upgrades. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Why photographers charge "so much"

2009-07-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today, I spent a few hours installing and learning some new software, and got to thinking about how long it was taking. I felt as though I was wasting away a good part of my day doing something that a) should have taken a lot less time, and b) I wasn't getting paid for. Part b) got me thinking about how a photographer makes their living and what we charge.

I was installing some new plugins from Nik Software (review and details to come in a future post once I'm more familiar with it - so far it ROCKS), and as I mentioned I got to thinking about rates, time management, etc, and came to realize that though most of us aren't shooting 40 hours a week, we are constantly working to upgrade our equipment, software, techniques, etc, which enables us to serve our clients better. For example, these plugins I was installing are going to enable me to deliver cleaner, sharper, and more stunning files to my clients than I have in the past, and save me tons of time in the process. Yet, in order to realize those gains in the future, I have to invest in both time and money at the present.

On occasion I have clients asking why my rates are what they are, and I often go into a spiel about rights, usage, copyright, etc, along with the unique creative aspect that only I can bring to the job. All of these are valid points, and I have no qualms in justifying them. The other side of this though, that I rarely explain to the client, is that I spend a large portion of my "working" time (and personal time - I do still shoot for fun!) refining aspects of my workflow in order to serve them better. I am investing financially in the hardware and software to deliver better files to them faster, and, like today, investing my time learning how to do it.

Employees of large & small companies alike get paid their wage or salary for their training, and all of their training materials, software and hardware are provided for them (along with medical benefits, RRSP's holiday time, etc). When you are hired by these companies to shoot, you are providing all of this, and much more for them. Keep this in mind when you're estimating your next assignment.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Follow me on Twitter

2009-06-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note - I'm now on Twitter, and am looking forward to sharing on a more regular basis. I'm hoping I'll be better at updating using 140 characters at a time than I am at updating this blog...

Also note the Twitter updates now on the right of the blog pages.

Been busy wrapping up a whole pile of stuff - and am looking forward to taking a break for a few days this week. Of course I'll be posting what I'm up to on Twitter :)

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Recent Assignment Work

2009-06-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Been a while (a month actually) since my last post, so I thought I'd provide a bit of an update on what I've been up to...

... and instead of writing it all out, I thought I'd show you. Here's a bunch of images from an ongoing assignment that will be wrapping up in about a week. Lots of fun stuff with great people. I'm back at it with lots of post-production over the next while - I'll try to keep posting as much as possible...

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Garry Oak Meadow & Wildflowers

2009-05-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

The weather out this way has been a bit wild as of late, running from sunny & warm to downright miserably wet. With the change in weather & season comes a change on a much smaller scale.

I recently returned to Gore Nature Park (see my post from about two weeks ago - Garry Oak Ecosystem & Wildflowers) to see how the spring wildflowers were doing. It's amazing how much can change in such a short time. The Shooting Stars and Fawn Lilies were gone, now replaced with these:

Common Camas, aka Cammasia quamash. A member of the Lily family, Common Camas is usually restricted to rainshadow areas of the BC Coast, and the bulbs were eaten by First Nations along the coast.

Common Camas in a Garry Oak Ecosystem Meadow.

Fairyslipper, aka Calypso bulbosa. A member of the Orchid family, the Fairyslipper is usually found in the forest and smells great.

The Fairyslipper is known by other common names, including Cytherea, Venus Slipper, hider-of-the-north, pink slipper-orchid, and false ladyslipper.

Couldn't quite get enough of these, they were stunning...

Check out more Wildflower Photos in my Nature & Landscape photo gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Power Poles

2009-05-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

I was out a while back shooting in the fields here on the Saanich Peninsula and noticed these cool utility poles. The sky was a great dark grey/blue, and I was able to use it as a cool, contrasting background.

Check out more images relating to power & energy in my Industry and Transportation Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Revisited: Vancouver's Stanley Park

2009-04-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

OK, I'll admit it. I'm not a big city guy. Up until last summer, if you'd asked my opinion of Vancouver British Columbia, I would've told you to keep on driving. Traffic, skyscrapers, traffic, blah, blah, blah. But a job I shot there last summer changed my mind, and Stanley Park had a lot to do with that...

Stanley Park was Vancouver's first park and is still one of the city's main tourist attractions. Over 1,000 acres of cedar, hemlock and fir rainforest, beaches, and waterfront cycling & walking paths just a short distance from downtown Vancouver. In short, paradise in the middle of the city! Here are a few of my Stanley Park photos I shot while in Vancouver last summer.

A couple walking along the Seawall Trail in Stanley Park, Vancouver BC

Biking along the Seawall Trail in Stanley Park, Vancouver BC

A cyclist passes the Harry Jerome Statue in Stanley Park, Vancouver BC

Harry Jerome Statue at sunset in Stanley Park, Vancouver BC

Lions Gate Bridge near Stanley Park in Vancouver BC

Stanley Park Totem Poles (totems) at Brockton Point, Vancouver BC - According to Wikipedia, this is the most visited tourist attraction in British Columbia. This image was taken at dusk, and the totems were "painted" with a flashlight to bring out the details.

Next time you get a chance to spend some time in Vancouver, take it! Ride the 25km or so waterfront path on a sunny day from Coal Harbour all the way around the park to English Bay, around False Creek to Granville Island, then Kitsilano beach and back. I guarantee your view of this city will change! I can't wait to go back.

Check out more Vancouver photos in my Vancouver & Whistler 2010 Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

McKenzie Bight - Gowlland Tod Park

2009-04-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

Another cool place I visited recently, and not too far from home (also in Gowlland Tod Park).

Cascade Waterfall along the trail to McKenzie Bight

The view north along the shoreline from McKenzie Bight

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The view southwest across the Saanich Inlet from McKenzie Bight to the Malahat - The wildflowers are just starting to come out here.

Gowlland Tod is such a cool place - Rainforest, beaches, ridgetop hiking... and within a short drive from Victoria. What more could you ask for in a park?

Check out more of my Vancouver Island Park images in my Vancouver Island Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Garry Oak Ecosystem & Wildflowers

2009-04-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

Got out and explored a few local parks today, one of which was Gore Nature Park - a beautiful Garry Oak Ecosystem that was protected from development. A great little park, and the wildflowers are out in force right now!

Garry Oak Ecosystem Meadow and Wildflowers

Tall Mountain Shooting Star, also known as Jeffrey's Shooting Star (Dodecatheon jeffreyi)

Satin-flower (Sisyrinchium douglasii) - Garry Oak Meadow

White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum)

Love finding these little gems! Check out more like them in my Nature and Landscape Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Central Saanich - Daffodil Capital of Canada

2009-04-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

Got out during some crazy weather today and got a few great frames of the fields of daffodil flowers here in Central Saanich. Apparently Central Saanich BC is known as the "Daffodil Capital of Canada", and grows the most Daffodils anywhere in Canada, with over 18 million blooms annually, the majority of which are grown by Vantreight Farms, a five generation family farm.

It went from sun to rain to hail in a matter of minutes which made for some great images and dramatic light, I just wish I'd had better shoes on - flip flops are not made for trudging through farmers fields! Here's a few of my daffodil images from the Central Saanich area I shot today:

Central Saanich claims to be the "Daffodil Capital of Canada"

Rainbow and dark storm clouds over a field of Daffodil blooms

A field of Daffodils

Check out more photos of Daffodils and other farming-related subjects in my Agriculture Photos gallery.

Even with this rain and hail, it's starting to feel like summer isn't too far off. I'm looking forward to it, and to bringing more of my photos your way. Hope you're enjoying them - I'm enjoying sharing them!

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Dallas Road Waterfront

2009-04-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Took a trip into downtown Victoria today to run a few errands, and checked out the waterfront along Dallas Road since it was such a nice day to see what was happening.

A few blocks from the water, you could start to see the fog rolling in off the water, and by the time I got to the waterfront, visibility was down to a few hundred feet. I must've arrived just as the weather was changing, and the fog started to lift. As the sun started to come out I got this cool shot of a jogger on the Dallas Road Breakwater:

Runner on the Victoria BC Breakwater

Check out more outdoor sports photos, including running and jogging in my Outdoor Adventure Sports Photos gallery.

Once the fog was completely gone I got a really great series of landscapes with the grass blowing in the wind and the Olympic Mountains in the (distant) background:

Dallas Road beach and the Olympic Mountains

I have to say that since moving from Downtown last year, I do miss coming down to the water as often as I did...

Check out more landscape photos, including other images taken along Dallas Road in my Nature and Landscape Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Olympic Mountains and Race Rocks Lighthouse

2009-04-20T13:59:00.001-07:00

After I posted about the Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park yesterday, I recalled another image I shot recently with a completely different perspective on the area.

This image was taken across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Witty's Lagoon Regional Park near Victoria and is of Race Rocks Lighthouse and the Olympic Mountains. Definitely captures a great "west coast" mood.

Race Rocks Lighthouse and the Olympic Mountains

After taking a closer look, I noticed that the bottom half of the freighter is cut off (see enlarged crop below), and the only reason I can think of as to why this happened is due to the curvature of the earth. I've never actually seen this in any of my images before... very cool.

Earth's Curvature as seen on the Ocean

Check out more of my Vancouver Island Photos, including other lighthouses on Vancouver Island, in my stock photos section. I also enjoy shooting freighters and other large boats while I'm out and have lots more images like this in my Industry and Transportation Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Revisited: Sol Duc Falls

2009-04-19T00:50:00.000-07:00

As an outdoor photographer, I'm privileged to get to go to a lot of cool places. One of my personal favourites also happens to be just a short trip from home...

Olympic National Park is a special place. I've been able to see the Olympic Mountains from Victoria all of my life, but never made it over there to explore until just a few years ago. What an amazing place! I've never been to a place that feels so pure and pristine, which is surprising given how many people visit the park each year. There are a lot of cool places in Olympic National Park, but one of my favourites is Sol Duc Falls (also spelled Soleduck Falls - I've seen both on signs & maps). A perfect three-pronged waterfall on the Sol Duc River spills into a deep gorge in one of the most spectacular rainforests I've ever been in...

Sol Duc Falls

Sol Duc River & Waterfall

And after a day of exploring in the damp rainforest of the Sol Duc valley, there's nothing like soaking in the Sol Duc hotsprings, only 5 minutes from the trailhead! If you ever get the chance to explore the Olympics, do it! Check out more photos of Olympic National Park in my Washington State Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Parksville Beach & Mount Arrowsmith

2009-04-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Had to make a trip up the island to Parksville to visit one of my greeting card retailers yesterday, and had a few minutes to get a couple of images of the famous Parksville Beach. The light wasn't too spectacular, but it was beautifully clear yesterday, and Mount Arrowsmith was looking great in all its snow-capped glory.

Beachcombing in Parksville BC

Daffodils blooming with Mount Arrowsmith in the background, Parksville BC

Walking the dog along the Parksville waterfront

The view from Parksville across to the Coast Mountains on the BC mainland

And I added a new panorama to my collection... I'm really having fun shooting these. This one's a little smaller than some of the others I've done lately: (only) 7 frames stitched together.

Parksville panorama with Mount Arrowsmith in the background.

Check out more of my Parksville Photos in my Vancouver Island Photos gallery.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Revisited: Greenhouses in Central Saanich

2009-04-15T17:09:00.001-07:00

Just came across these greenhouse images in my archive that I shot last spring just a few minutes from my house on the Saanich Peninsula. The day was an odd mix of weather, a bit grey and some blue sky too, so I focused more on the details rather than the big picture, and was pretty happy with these images. Since moving out here to Central Saanich, I've taken a keen interest in food production, as we're pretty much surrounded by it. I love living out here, lots of great photo opportunities...

Saanich Peninsula Greenhouse & Mount Baker

Central Saanich Greenhouse

BC Greenhouse Agriculture

Check out more of my greenhouse and Agriculture Photos in my stock images archive.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Revisited: Bowen Island Artist

2009-04-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

I've been working on processing many of the images I took last year, so I've decided to start a series of Posts titled "Revisited:". Most of these images are feeling old to me, but they're most likely new to you. You'll be seeing more of them in the future, and I'll start them off with a few images I took of BC painter Ian Fry on Bowen Island last summer while shooting a job for the Knowledge Network.

Ian's a Scot (love that accent), a great guy, and a very talented artist. It was a pleasure hanging out with him in his studio and seeing his work. Here are a few images from that afternoon:

Bowen Island Artist Ian Fry

Bowen Island Artist Ian Fry outside his Studio in "Artisan Square" near Snug Cove

Bowen Island Artist Ian Fry

Check out Ian's work on his website here.

Check out more of my British Columbia Image here: British Columbia Photos.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2009 Josh McCulloch.

Vancouver Panorama Photos

2009-04-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been shooting specifically with the intent of stitching images together in post to make large panoramas, and thought I'd share a few with you from a recent trip to Vancouver...

The first was taken on a beautifully clear day from the BC Ferries terminal at Tsawwassen just south of the City of Vancouver, and is almost 30,000 pixels across stitched from 16 different frames in total. Below that is a crop to show some of the detail from the area marked in red in the panorama. The main Vancouver panoramic photo covers the skyline from West Vancouver to Port Moody, and includes Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour, the Cities of North Vancouver, Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, New Westminster and Coquitlam.

Vancouver BC and Coast Mountains Panorama

Crop of City and Mountains

Here's another one from the Vancouver area, taken from a moving ferry. This is Howe Sound and the BC Coast Mountains. The large mountain right of center is Mount Garibaldi just north of Squamish BC:

Howe Sound Panorama and Mount Garibaldi

Check out more of my Vancouver BC Photos here.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2008 Josh McCulloch.

Gowlland Tod Provincial Park

2009-03-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

I've been exploring closer to home the last few weeks. As a photographer, a lot of the time I feel like I need to travel or get away to find new inspiration, but sometimes you just need to look in your own backyard...

It's easy to forget sometimes what a beautiful area of the world I live in. Vancouver Island is a great place to call home with loads of great National, Provincial and Regional parks. Once of those parks is Gowlland Tod Provincial Park. I've known it was there for a long time but never really thought much about it. Anyways, I took a walk down along Tod Creek last week on an overcast day and was floored! A little slice on Vancouver Island rainforest right here on the Saanich Peninsula less than 5 minutes from home. Here's a few photos from the day:

Tod Creek Rainforest

Tod Creek Mossy Rocks

Male Malllard duck in Tod Creek

Remnants from the mining in the Gowlland Tod area

Part of an old Homestead near the mouth of Tod Creek at Tod Inlet

Check out more of my British Columbia Parks Photos here.

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2008 Josh McCulloch.

Still Alive... Teaching and more.

2009-03-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive! It's been a long time since I've posted, thanks to those of you that checked up on me!

This winter I have been doing some teaching and while I really enjoy it, it has taken up a fair bit of my time, and the blog is one of those things that seems to get neglected when time is at a premium...

Anyway, I've been teaching a Nature and Travel Photography course at Camosun College and am really enjoying it. My first class was great, the students had lots of fun, learned a ton, and inspired me! The next course starts April 23 at the Lansdowne Campus. Anyone interested can contact Camosun or visit the Camosun website here. I've also been instructing Digital Asset Management at the Western Academy of Photography here in Victoria. Totally different from the Nature & Travel course! A very technical, but very necessary course for students these days. Lots of fun!

I have a few other things in the works for this summer and fall related to teaching & workshops, I'll be sure to post here when I have more details.

Thanks for sticking around!

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2008 Josh McCulloch.

Free Website and Blog Images?!

2008-11-17T17:51:00.000-08:00

Along similar lines to a recent post of mine (Personal Use Licenses), I am now giving my images away for free! I have not lost my mind. Read on to see why, and how...

In my post about personal use licenses, I said that more people are using images online without a thought to the fact that they may be effectively stealing those images from photographers. One way to reduce the number of those images thefts (aka Copyright Infringement), is to reduce the image licensing fee for such personal, non-commercial use. However, there are still those who feel they should be able to use Intellectual Property online for free. Regardless of whether you agree with them or not, it happens, and will continue to happen. I say, if you can't beat them, join them (and not by stealing yourself!).

In response, I have now made some of my most popular images available for free to anyone that wishes to use them online. Thanks to the great folks at Photoshelter (who never cease to amaze me with the great features they come up with), anyone can now embed these images (think YouTube video style) in their website or blog, for free, with a few clicks. Here's how:

Click on the arrow at the bottom right of the image or gallery you would like to embed in your blog or website.

Click the "Copy Code" button next to "Embed".

Paste the code into your web page or blog. Enjoy!

They get their free (and legal) images, and I get great online exposure. If you click on the embedded image, it takes you straight to that image in my Photoshelter archive where you can purchase a commercial or personal use license, or buy a print of that image. Maybe an editor or art buyer will see my images and hire me, maybe someone will buy a print, or maybe not. Regardless, my images are out there being seen, and they will only spread with time. I'm totally stoked about the potential this brings to photographers... What do you think?

Sound off in the comments.

Here's a link to all of the images I'm currently making available: Free Website and Blog images

Here's what it looks like when they're embedded:

And it's not just limited to individual images. Here's a gallery of my Best of British Columbia images that anyone can use on their website or blog:

Cheers, Josh
Copyright © 2008 Josh McCulloch.