Ness Lake Lightning at Dusk

Severe lightning storm over Prince George in Northern British Columbia just after dusk. You can clearly see the purple fringing on the edge of the lightning bolts. The lightning itself emits pure white light however the discharge though the atmosphere actually creates a plasma and the purple colour comes from this ionisation of the atmospheric gases. Ionisation is the same phenomena that causes the colour we see in polar Auroras. Plasma is neither solid, liquid, nor gas, rather it is a fourth state of matter. It is quite rare on earth however over 99% of the matter in the universe exists as plasma, held within stars or as superhot interstellar matter. We had a beautiful display of the storm looking back towards it out at Ness Lake as the cell passed mostly to the east of us and we avoided the flooding rain they received in town. Storms like this are rare up here in Northern BC and we lost power for a couple of hours. I must say it made me a little homesick for the frequent severe lightning storms we used to watch from our property in the mid latitudes of Australia. Love Life, Love Photography

Pasha Bulker Evacuation

This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the grounding and subsequent helicopter evacuation of 22 Filipino and Korean crew members form the Pasha Bulker. The extra-tropical cyclone or east coast low as they are known on the east coast of Australia, was well forecast and the Newcastle port corporation radioed the 56 ships waiting off the coast requesting they move further offshore before the arrival of the approaching storm. Ten of the ships ignored the warning and the Pasha Bulka subsequently became beached with both bow and stern stuck in the sand almost parallel to Nobbys beach in Newcastle. Record ocean swell heights of 14.13m (46ft) were recorded at the deep water buoy 10km (6.2 miles) off Sydney with 296mm (11.6 in) of rain falling in the 24 hour period causing widespread flooding. After two failed attempts the ship itself was eventually salvaged on its third attempt many weeks later at a cost of $1.8 million. The 225 m (738 ft) long, Panamax bulk carrier, was then towed to Japan where the extensive damage to the ship itself was repaired. It was subsequently renamed the MV Drake. New South Wales, Australia. A particularly humbling experience to watch!

Smokey Fishing Ness Lake

Watagan Lightning

The storm season is well and truly underway at Wombanook! This shot was taken at dusk last night from our ridgetop property at Laguna looking over the Wollombi valley towards the Watagan mountains. The highest point is Mount Warrawolong at 641 metres (2,103 ft) above sea level, which is taking a direct hit of lightning in this shot. The severe storm season sees an increase in storms due to the increase in energy provided by the sun during the warmer summer months, coupled with weather patterns that are favorable for storm growth. The Watagan Mountains, or Watagans, is a mountain wilderness area that forms part of the Great Dividing Range, located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.

Ness Lake Ice Fractures

Ness Lake froze perfectly this year without wind or snow, turning it into one large transparent ice rink for a few amazing days of skating. The ice was clear enough to see submersed logs and schools of fish below your feet as you skated. This shot is looking east towards the island and I used a high intensity led flashlight to light up some of the foreground cracks in the ice. The fractured ice reflects the light down the cracks much in the same way light travels down optic fiber. Any light which escapes the primary fracture travels away sideways though the ice without being visible to the observer above unless picked up by another crack and reflected upwards.

Mpemba Effect

You know its cold outside when you can teach your kids about the Mpemba effect with a cup of coffee! Can’t live though a Canadian winter without giving this classic shot a go. Ness Lake, British Columbia.

Fraser and Nechako River Ice Jam

The deep freeze in December 2016 saw consistent temperatures between -20C and -30C (-4F and -22F) that caused the ice jam on the Nechako River in Prince George. The town declared a Level 1 emergency when the ice jam reached the confluence of the Fraser River. Ice jams cause the river level to rise and can lead to flooding and damage to the structural integrity of bridges . The ice in an ice jam is dangerous and unstable and not suitable for walking on.

Shipwrecked Bulker

2017 marked the 10th anniversary of the grounding and subsequent helicopter evacuation of 22 Filipino and Korean crew members form the Pasha Bulka. The extra-tropical cyclone or east coast low as they are known on the east coast of Australia, was well forecast and the Newcastle port corporation radioed the 56 ships waiting off the coast requesting they move further offshore before the arrival of the approaching storm. Ten of the ships ignored the warning and the Pasha Bulka subsequently became beached with both bow and stern stuck in the sand almost parallel to Nobbys beach in Newcastle. Record ocean swell heights of 14.13m (46ft) were recorded at the deep water buoy 10km (6.2 miles) off Sydney with 296mm (11.6 in) of rain falling in the 24 hour period causing widespread flooding. After two failed attempts the ship itself was eventually salvaged on its third attempt many weeks later at a cost of $1.8 million. The 225 m (738 ft) long, Panamax bulk carrier, was then towed to Japan where the extensive damage to the ship itself was repaired. It was subsequently renamed the MV Drake. New South Wales, Australia. A particularly humbling experience to watch!

Ness Lake Apocalyptic Sky

Eerie late afternoon light at Ness Lake. Some super dense smoke came over at about 6pm, and for a time the whole world glowed orange. The light lasted like this for about 45 minutes then when back to the gray smokey haze that we have been accustomed too over this summer. I have made minimal edits to this shot and have not changed the hue or applied any colour cast or filter. Northern British Columbia, Canada

Mt Tekarra Storm

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love both storms and mountains. So when the two come together it is hard for me not to get excited! This shot is looking across at a stormy Mt Tekarra (2694 m or 8838 ft ) in Jasper National Park.

Hail shafts

Hail shafts over the Wattagan mountains, New South Wales, Australia

Misty Forest

Misty morning over the forest in the Selkirk Mountains on the west arm of Kootenay Lake.

Ness Lake Lightning

There was a severe lightning storm over Prince George in the distance. We had a beautiful display looking back towards it out at Ness Lake although we lost power for a couple of hours.

Ness Lake Smokey Sunrise

Smokey sunrise yesterday morning over Ness Lake. When I took this there were over 500 wildfires burning across BC. Northern British Columbia, Canada

Great Bear Rainforest

Constantly shifting the clouds seem to form an integral part of the landscape in the Great Bear Rainforest. The rainforest covers 6.4 million hectare (15.8 million acre) stretch area along British Columbia’s north and central coast and forms part of the larger Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion, which is the largest coastal temperate rainforest in the world. This shot was taken of the remote and rugged mountain ranges that line the narrow inside passage between Princess Royal Island and the mainland of British Columbia. Canada.

Ice Puddle

Crystalline patterns in a frozen puddle, Balsta, Sweden

Doom and Gloom

Another angle of the doom and gloom that was the Lennox Head fire on new years eve 2013. The fires encroached on the small coastal village of Lennox head in NSW, Australia. Flames in excess of 20m were recorded and over 770 hectares of bushland was destroyed. Fortunately no homes or lives were lost as over 80 firefighters per shift, with support from helicopters and water planes fought the fires.

Winter Fog

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated” Confucius. Motivation to do something is a strange thing. It comes in impulsive waves of intense focus, burns bright for a while, and eventually fades like the flickering light of a candle. Before you know it there are too many other fires burning around you to notice the light from that lone fading candle. One has to periodically turn off all the lights in order to appreciate the smaller flames and breathe new life into them. I took this shot of an ice fishing hut on the lake in front of our house. People often wonder what could possibly motivate someone to head out in -30C (-22F) to stare at a small hole in the ice for days on end. It’s just their way of turning off the lights, so they can see what’s important in life.

Dust Storm

Dust Stom at Wamberal Beach. Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia

Double Rainbow

Don’t you just love roads like this ? A double rainbow and summer rain storm on the road next to our camp in a remote upper stretch of the North Thomson River. I drove around these forestry roads for three days without seeing another person or vehicle. Nice to feel outnumbered by the bears ;-) . This is the same location that I took the shot of the ridge next to the Metis Peak massifs (nine shots ago in my feed). British Columbia, Canada

Stratified Sun

The sun is layered into ominous bands of different intensity by thick smoke from approaching bush-fires. The sun had a similar appearance to the naked eye, this is a single exposure which no use of neutral density filters or otherwise. Laguna, Wollombi Valley, NSW, Australia

Wombanook Layers

Layers leading to new adventures. Wollombi Valley, NSW, Australia

Smithers Winter

There is a sense of peace and quiet in winter that you don’t seem to get in any of the other seasons. Fresh snow dampens sound in a way that has to be experienced before you really understand it. The sense of quiet comes from the high porosity of loosely packed crystals of freshly fallen snow which trap sound waves. It looks like summer has arrived here with temps here in the low 30’s C (90F) for this week. One of the problems with having such dramatic seasons is you can tell how far behind I am with my photo editing! The shot was taken on Hudson Bay Mountain just outside of Smithers in Northern British Columbia, Canada.

Wildfire Sun

Having lived with the constant risk of fires on our rural property in Australia, and recently living though two of British Columbia’s worst fire seasons on record since moving to Canada I am grateful that my family has never had to experience the worst of what nature has to offer. I don’t have any shots from California, but I took this shot this past summer in Northern BC when we were smothered in smoke for weeks on end as fires raged about 50km away from us. It is a single exposure taken with a 400mm lens and 2x teliconverter. The smoke was so thick that I did not need to recover any highlights from bracketed shots even looking directly into the sun at 800mm ! Fires are a natural phenomenon, however with a warming climate resulting in more frequent droughts and extreme heat waves, will need to adapt to their increasing frequency and intensity. Northern British Columbia, Canada