Okanagan Wildfire

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

This series of photos was taken in August 2009 while on a camping holiday with my family at Ellison Provincial Park on Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Across the lake from the provincial campground where my family was camping were a number of small wildfires sparked most likely by lightning strikes. During the weekend of August 1, 2009, the wildfires surged out of control into a maelstrom of fire that consumed the whole mountainside of Terrace Mountain, lighting up the summer sky with candling trees exploding into flames towering hundreds of feet into the night sky. The photos in the series portray the scene from the "safe" side of the lake, where campers and boaters viewed the natural phenomenom in awe of nature's power. The first photo in the series looks across Okanagan Lake to Terrace Mountain, with plumes of smoke smoldering. The second photo, which I've titled "Okanagan Siren", shows my wife knee deep in the lake, looking at the ominous scene of billowing smoke on the far mountainside, a prelude to the firestorm that subsequently erupted. The third photo in the series is a night shot of the Terrace Mountain fire in full blaze. The fourth and fifth shots depict the hazy aftermath of the firestorm, which cast a pall over the sunny Okanagan skies, and cast a red glare across the lake as sun set. As to myself, I can say that photography is an abiding interest I have had for a number of years. I'm self taught, without any formal photography training. I would see the World Nomads scholarship as a great opportunity to grow as a photographer, to expand my knowledge and technique, and to hopefully capture some images that will resonate and inspire.