(This photo was taken at 1am: Read on)

Once I took the universe to dinner
When she failed to yeild the earth's demands
'Oh,' she said 'you mean that little ant farm?
I'm alright, dear, I've got other plans'

And we're sad because we think we don't belong here
We're guilty 'cause we think we should be stars
Floating in a navy soup, we're sailing
There you are

-sarah slean

This is Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park, in Vernon, British Columbia. I have been exploring the area for ages. Over the years, it has been my playground, gym, school, and mental refuge. It means more to me than possibly any other place on earth, simply for the fact that it has been my place to go for so long. I essentially grew up in this park.

Soon I will be moving on to new adventures, and I wanted to capture that in this photograph. I am leaving, but my soul will always have Kal Park in its memory. And the ghost of me shall always remain in Kal Park. This is my true home.


Here is what I wrote the morning I uploaded it.
It is 2am on Christmas Eve Morning, and I shot this photograph under a full moon just over an hour ago. As I drove away from work and the lights of the city, I realized that the sky was absolutely brilliant, and I decided to take a side trip to Cougar Canyon. I never made it to the canyon, instead spending a couple hours shooting photos under the moon and the stars.

A clear, full moon night in the winter is a photographers dream. The lighting is pure magic, and there is something mystical about being in the wilderness at midnight and being able to see clearly from the white shine of the moon.

There must have been a lot of upper atmosphere wind, for at some times through the evening, the clouds were moving remarkable fast. Which explains the motion-blur of the clouds in these photos.

Anyhow, this really was taken at night, if you look closely you will see stars, along with the lights of the distant highway, beyond the lake. I walked out of the frame 15 seconds in, to achieve that faded, ghostly look. I took a few while standing in for the full thirty seconds, and this turned out much better.

This was shot in the middle of Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park, looking down over Cosens Bay, and Kal Lake, West towards the distant community of Predator Ridge. It took thirty seconds to expose the frame on my XT at ISO 400, looking through the glass of my Fisheye lens.

It was a great way to kick off a few days off.

Oh, and as a plus, I just found out I finished the term with an 'A' average. Yahoo.