Barkley Sound, BC
Located on the west coast of Vancouver Island and within the traditional territory of the Nuu-cha-nulth First Nations, Barkley Sound is one of the many gems and incredibly unique environments BC has to offer. Because of this some friends and I decided to head to a group of islands near the “Broken Group” during May long-weekend, in order to experience the area for ourselves.
We started our journey off at the Poett Nook boat launch, from where we headed out in the late evening to make landfall on an island we would call home for the next 3 days. After a short boat ride we found the perfect spot to set up camp: a wonderful white sandy beach surrounded by incredibly clear turquoise water.
We set up camp in the shade and decided to explore the unique marine environment this island had to offer. We saw countless tide pools filled with Acorn Barnacles, Moon Snails, Oysters and Green Surf Anemones. But the highlight were definitely the Spiny Pink Sea Stars and bright orange and purple Ochre Stars.
While we spent some day-trips exploring Bamfield and Julia passage, we of course also had to explore the under-water world. So we geared up in our wetsuits, snorkels and fins and wandered into the waves. This was like walking through a portal into another world. Having only dived in the comparably murky waters of Whitecliff park, BC, this was a spectacle of species and colors!
But one of the highlight of the trip was when the boys came back from a successful fishing trip bearing Rockfish and Lingcod. There is simply nothing that beats eating freshly caught fish. The same goes for the Salmon which our camp neighbours so graciously offered us the second night. We prepared the fresh fillets with some lemon and seasoning, wrapped them in aluminium foil and tossed them in the fire. Absolutely delicious!
On the last day of the trip we almost weren’t able to make it back to Vancouver on the ferry due to some trailer length issues. Luckily everything got sorted out and we were back home by 2am, although, I am sure none of us truly wanted to leave.
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 13.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
This photo sums up everything.
This is actually the last post of this quarantine photo challenge series since I need to check out of this room by 9 am tomorrow.
I chose this shot as it really embodies the fact that I can’t wait to just be able to get out there again, in nature and into the city to take photos, but also to just explore what’s around me.
I really love this shot because of the way the vibrant red color of the actual sign combines with the blue/purple tone of the shadows. I am surprised the picture turned out like this, to be honest, as I did not add any split toning…
Anyways, this little challenge I set myself really made my time in quarantine pass a lot quicker.
Nevertheless, I can’t wait to be back out there!
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 12.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
I wanted to try something new with today’s photo.
The apartment I'm staying in during quarantine has this really cool bar seating area in front of a window, and I liked the way the above perspective looked when resting my camera on the countertop. However, while the image did convey the overall theme and look of that part of the room, it did look a little boring and was missing a clear subject
I decided to give it a 16x9 crop to make the whole scene look more cinematic. That was a step in the right direction, but the last punch was still missing.
This is where split toning comes in. Now I do add split toning to most of my edits actually, precisely because it can make photos look more cinematic and dynamic, however, I really increased the saturation of the split tones in this picture. I really went hard on the teal highlights and the orange shadow colors, and I do believe that the final result above makes for a much more interesting and engaging photo than the original image.
Hope you like it too.
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 11.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
Took this super moody photo of my dad’s old Canon film camera which he recently gave to me. It’s actually an EOS 10 and I am super excited to get to try it out soon… just got to actually buy some film.
With this shot, I wanted to pay a tribute to cameras, like my own Canon EOR R6, which has allowed me to really make the most of my time in quarantine and has really made the time pass a lot faster than expected.
I set up the lamp to set the tone by creating some moody lighting and glow on the camera. It actually reminds me of a detective’s office because of the photo’s mysterious feel thanks to the shadows created by the lighting.
Overall happy with this one.
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 10.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
Something a little different today.
I wanted to convey my desire to just get outside with this photo. I think it shows really well how this quarantine has forced me to just dump my shoes in a corner so that even they want to be outside again.
That’s the somewhat dramatic feeling I wanted to capture in this shot. And if you don’t get that feeling from looking at it, I also chose this photo simply because I like the colors and light in this shot.
I honestly can’t wait to be able to go for walks again!
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 9.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
I was just about to start listening to one of my online university lectures when I happened to look out of the window and saw that the concrete building opposite mine was lit up with this incredible orange sunrise glow.
To make things even better, I then noticed that a plane was flying into the scene, pretty fast actually. So I grabbed my camera and tried to frame-up a shot, and oh boy do I love how this turned out!
I absolutely love the light blue and orange tones as well as the dark building that’s just barely visible and lit up thanks to that incredible orange sunlight. In fact, I love this shot so much that I actually made it my new phone wallpaper. Who knows, maybe a future print?
Today’s challenge is certainly complete.
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 8.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
I had absolutely no idea what to take a photo of today. I mean I had something in mind, which I saw on one of my first days here, but I want to save it for my last quarantine day.
I did happen to look over at my bed while I was looking for ideas and saw that my pajamas were just lying on my pillow and how empty that entire scene looked. I thought it might make for a nice minimal photo so I took out my camera and I must say, I actually really love how this picture turned out!
I know it’s not for everyone cause it’s pretty simple, but I think it actually really tells the story of my quarantine with its feeling of solitude and the colors that are also very muted and minimal.
Now on to thinking about what I should take a photo of tomorrow…
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 7.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
Yes, today I broke the retro streak that I was on lately. I think I need another day and another night’s sleep to think of another good vintage-themed photo to take around here.
Anyways, with all of the construction that has been going on on all sides of this apartment from 7 am - 3 pm, I thought it would be great to capture some of this activity that will forever change this place.
Right opposite the living-room windows they are constructing a multi-story building and I constantly see construction workers walk up and down the stairs. I thought it would be quite cool to capture one of them framed naturally within these unfinished stairwell windows. I thought their bright warning vests would also POP against the darker shadows in the staircase which would make the shot more dynamic and interesting.
So the shot above is the one I chose for today. I like how you can clearly see the vibrant blue facemask as well, which definitely reflects what’s going on out there currently.
Stay safe!
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 6.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
We are continuing with the retro theme!
I really love the olive/green color of this wall in the living room, as you can tell cause I’ve used it before, and I thought it would go well with the red/orange tone of this armchair.
So I pulled the chair across the room and positioned it so that part of the dark blue door would also still be in frame. I guess my inspiration for this shot was the color-blocking trend, so I tried to do something similar with the green, orange, and blue colors here.
While I do like the minimal look of this shot, I feel like it might be a little too bland and maybe a bit boring… however, I do like the color-blocking style.
Not too sure about this one.
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 5.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
So it seems like there is some sort of retro vibe forming amongst the photos I have shot so far during this challenge. I’m definitely not complaining because I was not expecting to be able to create some coherent photo sets at all while locked up in quarantine. I simply wanted one good photo a day, even if they don’t go well together.
So, today’s vintage-themed household shot is the one above and features retro cleaning appliances. What I really like about this shot are the popping blue, red and yellow colors, as well as the unique perspective.
I took multiple shots of this scene actually, cause I knew I could create something interesting out of it, but the first couple of shots had pretty basic perspectives which kind of made the photo boring and random looking. However, this perspective really makes the shot unique and tells more of a story, in my oppinion.
Let’s see if tomorrow’s shot will continue this retro roll I‘m on.
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 4.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
I’m happy to be able to say that I am slowly getting over my jetlag and getting used to being back in Vancouver!
When I first arrived in this quarantine apartment I had noticed how outdated the kitchen and its appliances looked. I decided that today would be a great day to try and capture that vintage vibe. Yes, this entire apartment is very vintage based on my previous blog post as well…
I decided that I liked this shot the most out of all of the ones I took because I really liked how the 16:9 crop made it look like an old movie scene. Together with the warm edit and white border, I think I did a pretty good job in relaying that feeling I had when I first walked into this kitchen.
However, the lighting was a little harsh, as can be seen on the kettle, since a huge round ceiling lamp was hanging right above. Because of this, there is a little bit of a glare on that kettle, at the same time, however, this also makes the photo look a bit more dynamic.
Let me know what you think down below!
Here are some outtakes:
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 3.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
Today I woke up at 3am and am definitely not over my jetlag jet!
Even though I should have probably taken a nap in the afternoon I instead decided to look around for today’s quarantine photo of the day. Having looked around the bathroom yesterday, I decided to explore the livingroom today.
As I looked around I saw this kind of vintage-looking lamp in the corner of the room and I thought that its copper-golden color went really nicely with the brown/black color of the furniture and the olive color of the wall.
Above is the final product of today’s shoot. I really went along with the vintage and minimal feel of the photo in the edit. I decided to also give this picture a white border as it emphasizes that old film look and also makes the colors pop a little more, given that the edit itself has quite muted colors.
I must say, that it was a lot easier to get a shot I like today, compared to yesterday. Then again, bathrooms aren’t known to be the most interesting…
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 2.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
Today proved to be a lot more challenging than yesterday.
I had immediately noticed the colors and the pattern of these tiles when I first walked into my bathroom. I knew that I wanted to use them to create some sort of composition for a photo, just not exactly what.
I thought I’d give it a shot today and took a couple of pictures just of the plain wall. I didn’t like how empty that looked, even though the pattern was interesting, I thought the shot was missing a subject.
So next I decided to grab my light blue hoodie as I thought that the teal would work quite well with the orange/red and green/teal tones of the tiles. Because this tile pattern was opposite of my shower, however, it was actually really tough to find a composition that I sort of liked, since I could not get enough distance between the wall and myself to get a lot of the hoodie into the frame.
I then decided to switch it up again and used an old film camera as the subject, instead of my hoodie. I did think it was kind of awkward to shoot a film camera in a bathroom setting… but bear with me here. I took a couple of shots, each from a different angle, and although I liked the contrast of the black camera to the brighter wall, it just wasn’t doing it for me.
Lastly, I tried some shots of the showerhead with the same tile pattern as the backdrop. While I did like those shots quite a bit, cause they had a mechanic/scientific, almost Stranger Things Lab type of feel, I gain felt like the subject was just a little too boring since a shower was kind of to be expected in a place like this.
So after looking through all of these shots, I decided that the shot at the top, with the hoodie, was the one I liked the most. The colors go together nicely and the whole scene kind of gives me an 80s diner vibe with the tiles and warm lighting… but in a bathroom.
Here are some of the other shots I took:
Quarantine Photo Challenge: Day 1.
I’m back!
After spending approximately half a year back home in Austria, I came back to Vancouver yesterday.
After 2 layovers and 18h of flying, I was not looking forward too much to spending the next 14 days in quarantine and self-isolation, not going to lie.
As soon as I stepped into my apartment for this coming period of time, I knew that I was going to have to be more creative than ever. See, I am determined to continue to improve my photography skills, however, I am not allowed to leave my room, which does make things a little challenging. So naturally, I decided to add to this challenge and set myself the goal to create one photo every single day for these 14 days that I was really proud of.
You can follow the whole challenge on my Instagram account here (@sophiemberger).
Day 1.
So it’s 4am and the next day. I am definitely feeling the jet-lag which explains why I went to bed at 8pm and got up at 4am, but nevertheless, I definitely remember trying to think of all of the spots in the apartment I could use for future photos while falling asleep last night.
This first photo however is not from any of these locations, but rather a shot of the North Tower of the building I am staying in. I did not anticipate it to look so gloomy and moody at 4am, and definitely did not expect any other lights to be on in the building!
I chose this as my first photo because I felt that it really illustrated the solitude I was feeling and going to feel during this time. The darkness also perfectly reflects the fact that it was indeed 4am and that I was exhausted after such a long day of traveling. All in all, I thought this shot was able to tell the story of that first day in quarantine the best for me.