He’s Back: The Geezer with a Camera

Recently,  I decided to write again as the Geezer with a Camera. For seven years and over 200 articles Geezer with a Camera headed my blog posts.  Some unfortunate circumstances, however, in changing from a U.S. based hosting company to one based in Canada caused me to rethink what I was doing.  Admittedly, my patience or lack of it got the better of me. It’s a sad story. Perhaps in the future I’ll devote a post to the saga of my blog.  I returned to certainty with a U.S. hosting company using my own name, Stu Dale, Photographic Artist to head my posts. Two years later, the Geezer is back. Happily!

At the beginning of a new year I like to review my image library to reminding myself about what is there and to identify images that I might want to develop.  

What became obvious was the change in the number of images I made annually. Prior to the Pandemic I was making between 7,000 and 10,000 images annually. During the Covid years my annual image total slipped by about 75 percent. That’s a dramatic drop but a close look revealed some interesting trends. For  the last 3 years I have not photographed events such as the  Pickleball Nationals, the 55 Plus Summer Games, the South Asian Community’s Vaisakhi celebrations, Victoria’s Dueces Festival,  and  most importantly, our grand children’s sports events. I love being in the midst of the action photographing people competing or those just enjoying their favourite activity.  Due to Covid restrictions access to these events was either limited or in some cases the event was cancelled.

Even though I was not out and about as much as I would have liked I was still pleased with the images I made. I enjoyed photographing the seasonal beauty that is very evident here in the Okanagan Valley. Regardless of the season  in even the smallest nooks and crannies there is beauty to be found.  

April’s Balsamroot bloom is spectacular up and down the valley. Their beautiful yellow flowers transforms the browns and beige hillsides. Even in the the midst Kelowna’s urban setting  a wide variety of wildlife in locations like the lower Mission’s Fascieux Creek Wetland. Great Blue Herons, Wood Ducks, Red Winged Black Birds, muskrat and beaver all make their homes in this small 4.5 acre wetland. With  patience and a keen eye they are easily observable. Summer brings much action to the area with residents and visitors alike enjoying all that the Okanagan has to offer. Fall always brings spectacular colours and winter with its blanket of snow can be very cold and serene. There is so much to photograph and enjoy. 

Photographing old barns, cabins, vehicles and machinery is also an interest of mine. Their textures, colours and overall rustic conditions of this subject matter always catch my photographic eye. With a measure of artistic licence  I love to make some of these look like  paintings. 

We made 2 road trips in 2022. The first was to Pender Island in the Gulf Islands just off the south coast of Vancouver Island. The other was a month long trip to Michigan to visit our son and his family. Getting away after the confinement of the covid years was so freeing.

I find that my image making is more purposeful now. Organizing my thoughts around themes I find to be an efficient way of locating and photographing some of the subject matter I find. It’s not about volume. Rather its about sound fundamentals and the enjoyment of the complete process of  image making. 

The 2 galleries I’ve  included with this article reflect my image making before the pandemic and as we climbed out of it.