Oh What a Beautiful World
Personal August 20th, 2010
What is Beauty?
Its hard to express sometimes what beauty is. It is something we each have our own idea of, our own experiences with and so obviously beauty is also subjective. Luckily, it is something that we can easily find if we simply choose to see it and with that mentality, beauty can be found all around us in this world. Beauty is in the people around us, the love shared between friends and family, within the nature surrounding us, inside our body’s with every breath and heartbeat and around us in the color, smells, and sensations we take in absorbing this beautiful world. All of that beauty is there for the taking, the viewing, the seeking and longing.
The way I capture beauty in this world in through adventure, nature and memories. The easiest way I have to share those memories is by capturing them with photography and by finding beauty in the resulting image so that I can remember it and share it more easily. I’ve recently shared some other photography from various day trips hiking in the mountains and learning about the important of perseverance when climbing a mountain but I have to say this most recent trip of mine tops those in beautiful by many times and I want to share some of it with you.
Backpacking
So during some of my holidays this summer, I had booked a week long backpacking trip with my brother who I don’t get to see all that often living across this huge nation.  We planned a backpacking trip in the Kootenay National Park on the edge of British Columbia next door to my home province here in the great Rocky Mountains of Canada. Anyway, we planned to do about 75 km of backpacking through and around what is known as the Rockwall. I understood it to be one of the most beautiful scenic trails with fantastic views and open landscapes through several incredible passes and camping destinations. This was also my first overnight backpacking trip so there was plenty of prep to do, unknowns to discover and a clueless approach that is the perfect recipe for discovering beauty with no expectations.
I have to say that those elements I listed for me to capture beauty in this world were in perfect combination with this trip.
- Adventure since it was something I had never done before and being out for 5 nights tenting in bear country sounded awesome to me!
- Nature since its 15km away from any roads and the wilderness offers majestic views when there is minimal human intervention.
- Memories since it was a great vacation, good time spend me my bro and a chance to spend a lot of time in thought, photography and simply remembering the trip.
Photography
Photography is definitely something I enjoy and as a 3D artist and life long hobbiest with video, photography and artistic imagery, I certainly have some skills in capturing the moment and scene with a camera. I don’t use elaborate equipment, or any fancy camera, I simply use a simple and old Canon Elph Powershot SD700IS point and shoot. Do I know how to use it well? Definitely, I get the best photos I can from it and am looking forward to getting a newer camera when this one finally dies. I’ll always be a point and shoot pocket camera kind of guy as I know I can still get a good shot, despite not lugging around an expensive DSLR with extra lenses. I just like to have the camera in my pocket wherever I go and being able to quickly snap photos at a moments notice and have it securely tucked back in my pocket in the rain or rough terrain just a couple seconds later is my favorite part of a compact point and shoot.
Landscape and nature photography is definitely my favorite and so this trip provided endless opportunities for shooting great photos. My brother is a big fan of photography as well so two addicts on the trails together meant scouting out the best shots, best angles, best lighting and an onslaught of photos of course. I’ve said before my favorite kind of photos are definitely panorama wide shots and they are best with the kind of scenery we were surrounded by. I generally take about 4-8 shots wide for panoramas but this time I did a lot of bracketed exposure panoramas that stitch together into high dynamic range panorama images so I had total control of the colors, light dynamics and contrast like you cannot get with standard shooting. I’ve included a number of those final images in this page and gallery along with some regular photos and a few of my favorites. Obviously I have many others I could share, but here is a sample of the beauty I lived in for the week. Hard to compare with that is for sure upon returning to the concrete jungle landscape. I will definitely admit I was happy to come home though to my beautiful wife, wonderful food and some clean clothes and things to do again. I didn’t have those luxuries in the woods.
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Mike King
August 20th, 2010 at 6:23 AM
Mike,
Okay…and now I’m wanting to visit this area, too! Wow, the scenery is amazing! And it goes to show just how amazing our world is…and that some of the best things in this world are just the natural things all around us.
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:23 PM
Got me all nostalgic there Mike. Miss the Rockies!
August 31st, 2010 at 10:43 AM
Hi Mike, these pictures are absolutely stunning, you can almost sense the energy of the place.
August 31st, 2010 at 4:22 PM
@lance – Thanks for the thoughts, it is definitely a great place to visit. I have to find more places like it now. I totally agree that the best things are nature around us.
@Khalid – Hey man, good to hear from you. I am happy to see you still stopping by from time to time. I guess you know what I’ve been up to lately. We’ll have to talk sometime, I’m curious how life is going and changing for you lately!
@Steve – thanks, I’ll definitely take that as a compliment then that I was able to capture at least part of what this magical place was all about. Its funny when you have experienced something the pictures just don’t do it justice at all, yet they certainly bring back the feelings associated with the location. Appreciate the comment…
September 1st, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Hi Mike,
You said:
And I love the way you expressed that. Experience has taught me that the only reason we are able to appreciate beauty in the world around us, is because we have beauty within us. That beauty within “every breath and heartbeat” is our reference point. That beauty is our base.
Coupled with imagination and curiosity it’s no wonder why we feel compelled to explore life and go on backpacking trips. There is so much beauty to discover. And the beauty we discover becomes a mirror that we learn from.
We learn about our inner beauty as we see it displayed before us in the natural world. And what better in-your-face beautiful place than the Kootenays 🙂
Best,
John
September 1st, 2010 at 5:15 PM
Thank you John for your insight with this point about beauty and for outlining what you see valuable in the self reflection. It is true how both relate and for some perhaps the external comes first and then the internal, and perhaps others the internal comes first in order to see the external. They certainly are related to have a mind and eye for beauty, I look forward to exploring it more in my life and eyes within it… Take care, I appreciate the comments!
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:59 PM
Oh MIKE!!! Okay, I’m blown away! I can hardly believe this post and these photos. I can hardly believe this MAGNIFICENT Earth. Every single photo here is a work of art, both in the way you or your brother took the photo and in what nature gave you to photograph. This is a place I HAVE camp in my lifetime. It is a literal Heaven on Earth. I couldn’t possibly come up with words that could describe the beauty of your photos. Or this post. I am so enjoying getting to know you.
I too love what you wrote about beauty. And once we feel, experience and see that beauty within ourselves and then see it all around us, to connect with beauty just makes the beauty within even stronger, more, and then we want to share it even more. It’s a wonderful circle.
What a special memory you and your brother created. I am so happy that you are doing this. You will never forget it. What an adventure on every level.
Just beautiful. (I looked at every photo here, and am speechless). Hugs, Robin 🙂
September 6th, 2010 at 3:35 PM
Hi Mike.
That is a very pretty location. You have many good pictures from the event, and I know it was an enjoyable experience. “I believe I can fly” says some of the snow that tumbles down those mountains. I sure like snow. Moss is always interesting because it grows on rocks that seem like they would not allow anything to grow on them.
The lack of luxuries in the woods does a lot to remind us of what we have when we are not in the woods, at least temporarily.
September 26th, 2010 at 3:58 AM
Wow Mike, I am just in love with your photography! Love the scenery and views you always manage to capture! 😀
Till then,
Jean
January 17th, 2011 at 11:27 PM
Great pictures Mike. I would love to be able to take pictures like these. You really visit a lot of interesting places on your travels. Sounds like you had a great time backpacking with your brother. Thanks for sharing.
– Robert
February 1st, 2011 at 3:11 PM
Looks like a beautiful place. I too have the thought it is nice to be able to just take out your camera grab a quick shot and be on your way with out having to worry about different lens’s and such. while out and about that is good, but sometimes I like to take time to set up the shot and use various lens’s to see what different types of shots I can get. So I make separate trips photo trips and fun trips.
April 11th, 2011 at 5:36 AM
Hello Mike,
These are superb pictures, Very close to nature n look like heaven on earth.
November 2nd, 2011 at 10:40 PM
Wow Mike, I love the scenery! I really like seeing that snow touching the water. What a beautiful world it is…