Spending so much time in the sand and heat makes me always crave the wetter, greener natural world. Canada is one of those locations that I'm always excited to explore. There are the stereotypical creatures that every one wishes to see (i.e. bears, cougars, moose, beavers - none of which I have seen yet). Despite the fear of getting eaten by a bear or cougar, I do feel relaxed and peaceful when I am there. Canadians treat bears, cougars and moose the same way as I deal with highly venomous snakes back home in Australia and that is with a level of nonchalance, which is reassuring to say the least.
My visit to Canada was not photography-based so opportunistic wildlife and nature photography was the name of the game. The bonus was that Canada is full of locations and fauna that make opportunistic wildlife photography a little simpler. Fortunately, I was based on the West Coast which is milder in temperature than most of Canada during the winter months and cooler, less humid summers. While I was in Canada there was a drought and that somewhat changed the typically otherwise temperate rainforest climate..
Although my time was short I came back unscathed. Mosquito bites were the worst animal attack I suffered! The list of wildlife seen included orca's, river otters, seal lions, amazing hummingbirds, deer, eagles plus a myriad of birds. My bird list grew significantly. I look forward to heading back with the goal of seeing more, especially the elusive cougar, bear, beaver and moose.
Safe travels and happy shooting.
Rob Gubiani