Readers of the Richmond News might have seen our daily Good Morning, Richmond (GMR) posts at Richmond-News.com featuring snapshots of the breathtaking scenery around the city. GMR started in 2021 and has featured more than a thousand photos so far.
As we look towards the new year, we wanted to learn more about our regular contributors. This year, we spoke to Dave McKinnon, who regularly sends in snapshots of the city's wonderful wildlife.
Digital photography a easier, cheaper hobby
McKinnon has always had an interest in landscape and wildlife photography and has been an avid photographer for a while.
He began taking photos during the film photography era. However, with the advancement of digital photography, the hobby has become easier and much cheaper, he told the News.
Shooting on 36mm film on a mechanical camera was nothing short of experimental and a test of patience while learning photography on his own.
"The interest has been there for a long time, but in the last few years, after I retired, is when I've had the time to do it fully," said McKinnon.
When asked if he would ever transition back to film photography, he said "Absolutely not."
"I'm in digital now, I'm not going backwards. Not a chance."
After retiring in 2020, the long-time Steveston resident ventures around Richmond, particularly in the morning or in the evenings to capture photos because "these are the times with really nice light" for photos, he explained.
And if he had to choose his favourite spot, it would be Imperial Landing, near Phoenix Pond down by Britannia Shipyards, and London Landing in Steveston.
"When I retired, I started walking my dog down on the river a bit more than I used to because I had more time and I started to look and see how much wildlife we had," said McKinnon.
"It's just amazing when you think about ... all the birds we've got. Then we've got our resident beaver and river otters."
Casual moments of documenting the city's wildlife eventually became a gradual momentum of self-improvement in his photography skills and the need to purchase new lenses to get "the shot."
"I got quite interested in the birds, mainly, and then I started wanting to get a better lens for better reach."
McKinnon's collection of wildlife photography includes several species of ducks, geese and cormorants as well as his favourite - great blue herons.
However, capturing birds on camera is not easy, and it requires patience and some luck.
"You can wait and wait and wait, and you never know when they're going to fly or if they're going to fly in whichever direction," he said, adding an hour was the longest he waited to take a single photo, but only because it was decent weather.
"If it's cold, I'm not going to wait an hour."
While many photography enthusiasts have turned their hobby into a career, McKinnon doesn't see himself ever going down that path.
He said the last thing he would do is turn something he enjoyed into "stressful work" catering to specific parameters and requests of people.
"I don't want that at all. I want to take photos how I like and that way, I'd relax and enjoy it."
When McKinnon is not out and about with his camera in Richmond, he is with his wife travelling in a motorhome to Jasper and Banff every September or to Whistler and down the Oregon coast.
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