Tofino Time: 5 Days Gone

I have since returned from a five day Tofino photography trip. The trip was a success and Tofino local Peter DeVries came out the winner of the Coldwater Classic Surf Competition I was partly focusing on. The photography from this trip is part of a bigger editorial photography project on the west coast of Vancouver Island and here are some sample photographs of things I shot away from the surf during my 5 days in Tofino. Plus a couple more pics of Peter DeVries during his epic competition....

Tofino Time: Wave Riders

Just a few more photographs from yesterday where the competitors were surfing a good distance off shore at Cox Bay. It made for an ideal opportunity to get some overall photos of waves. Sorry about the lack of captions but here on more pics from my 3rd day in Tofino shooting the Coldwater Classic.

Tofino Time: Day 3

Today the Coldwater Classic Canada lived up to its reputation as the "coldest event in professional surfing" as surfers competed in a blustery Cox Bay and comfortable overcast skies gave way to rain in the afternoon. No matter how wet or cold my feet were at the end of the day, and no matter how unprepared I was without rain gear for my camera.... it was still a very nice day to photograph some waves. More pics later....

Tofino Time: The Desert of Tofino

A series of pictures that I took yesterday afternoon, towards the end of my second day in Tofino, have been among my favorites this week. The photographs are of a group of people, a couple of them carrying longboards, walking on the sand between north and south Chesterman Beach. Yesterday was quite windy out here and so dried sand was blowing over the wet sand which made the beach look similar to a wind-swept desert. The group was walking at the top of the beach and I was down by the water so from the angle I was shooting, it looking like a group of people with surfboards walking through the desert. I find that humorous because as anyone who has ever been here will tell you, Tofino is anything but the desert. Not only does more rain fall here than almost anywhere else in North America, but the land here is absolutely entrapped by water, Tofino itself being situated on a peninsula! Anyway, here is this series of photos, behold the desert of Tofino, British Columbia....

Tofino Time: Day 2

Tofino time has ticked into day 2.... It was another sunny day on the west coast of Vancouver Island and the O'Neill Coldwater Classic got underway first thing this morning at North Chesterman Beach in Tofino. The story of this competition has without a doubt been local Tofino surfer Peter DeVries who had the top score on Sunday and advanced again today. These are a couple photographs from the morning shoot(more to come manana) including a strip of DeVries showing his stuff during heat 8....

Matt Myers watches the waves while preparing for his heat.

A group of surfers walk between North and South Chesterman Beach as wind blows along the sand.

Tofino Time: Day 1

This morning was spent frantically getting organized back in Vancouver to make the lunchtime ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Vancouver Island and drive across the island in time to take some pictures while there was still some daylight.

Success. I pulled up to the parking lot of Tofino's epic and appropriately named Long Beach just before sundown with the chance to take a few photographs of people wrapping up their day in the surf.

Why am I here?

The O'Neill Coldwater Classic Surfing Competition is happening this week in Tofino and I thought it was the perfect excuse to get out of Vancouver and photograph one of my favorite places in British Columbia(and the world.) Today was the first day of a five-day photography trip to Tofino where the plan is to do some surf photography and work on some other photojournalism projects that have been cooking in my head for awhile.

Here are the pics I could grab as the daylight disappeared...

More pics tomorrow as I head to the competition and have fun with nothing to do but make pictures.

A Gulf Island Wedding

I photographed the Galiano Island wedding of Andrea and Scott earlier this month at the Bodega Ridge Resort. It was beautiful and HOT weekend for a Gulf Islands wedding but the couple, their guest and the location of this wedding made it a near perfect event.  It was my first time shooting on Galiano Island and so it was a real treat to check out Bodega Ridge.  Here are some photos from the day!

Getting ready.... (the impressive veil was homemade...)

Getting it done...

Getting the groomsmen to cool off...

Getting to spend time with guests...

Getting toasted...

Getting to dance with the bride...

Getting to dance with the dog...