Salt Spring Photographer John Cameron
Around here, the deciduous leaves seemed to wait later than usual to fall this year. And when they did it seemed a great number became ‘captured’ on their trip to the ground.
This group, just outside the front door shouted,”Photograph us!”. So I did, with a standard 50mm lens at f/4 and 1/125 sec.
Winter visitors on final approach to Salt Spring Island. Welcome back!
A pair of Buffleheads, I think. Yes?
There are still some great leafy autumn vistas in sheltered, west side areas of Salt Spring.
So here’s another quintessential driveway.
The small cemetery on Baker Road, Salt Spring Island.
Heading down to the beach with Cameron, the wonder Westie, I just had to stop at this scene. The maples had just dropped their entire quantity of leaves and the flat light added the appropriate feel for this day of remembrance.
James Christie, a World War I veteran of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, rests here.
More on James Christie:
James Christie was born in 1874, in Perth, Scotland. He emigrated to the Canadian Prairies and, in 1898, became one of the few to make it to the Klondike via the almost impossible inland route from Edmonton.
Part of his travels took him through the pass which now bears his name. He prospected in the Yukon for many years – mostly in the Ross River district. It was near Christie Pass, in 1909, that he was attacked by a huge grizzly bear. His skull and jaw were fractured, his right arm broken and his thigh terribly mangled. Yet he managed to walk seven miles in sub-zero temperatures to a temporary camp.
Here, his partner poured the only medicine they had, Scotch Whiskey, into Christie – and with the help of local native people rushed him by dog sled on a four-day trip to the small community of Lansing.
Here the local trader and his wife nursed Christie’s wounds for two months. On New Year’s day he was taken on 17-day dog sled trip to Dawson City and later moved to Victoria where he finally, after six months, received proper medical help.
Christie was back in the Yukon that same summer prospecting. When World War I broke out in 1914, Christie was one of the first Canadians to enlist in the PPCLI’s. He fought valiantly in France and was awarded the Military Cross, one of the few Canadians to win this highest of military honours.
James Christie returned to the Yukon after the war and continued prospecting until his old wounds got the better of him. He retired to Salt Spring Island in BC.
—Les McLaughlin
We’re approaching the time of year when the very best sunrise vistas are seen out Ganges Harbour. Soon the sun will rise directly out the harbour, and this combined with a drop in temperatures creates some fabulous views.
Sometimes when the temperature drops an extra degree or two, just before sunrise, a shallow layer of mist develops at sea level. The early light turns both the sky and the mist a glorious gold.
But that’s not usually until mid to late December. For now we have to be satisfied with this.
This weatherbeaten chair, on its last legs, made a beachcomber’s day.
Looking southeast from the main Ganges dock on Salt Spring Island.
This is everything I saw, exactly how I saw it.
This is a colour photograph.