Sometimes ideas come to you a little too late to execute just as you’d like. When I received some images from Dogpatch resident Traci-Lei Pritchard of Ladysmith Harbour, I wanted to use them, but hadn’t figured out quite how. Then driving in to the Chronicle office next day, the last production day of the Old Year, I was stopped in my tracks by a beautiful scenic of a farm on Chemainus Road. I didn’t even have time to set up; I pointed and shot with the lens I had on before the break in the clouds closed and the illuminating rays of the winter sun on the snow clad forest behind faded. Traci-Lei’s photos of the moon over Ladysmith Harbour, and an eagle perched on a driftwood log were actually taken some time ago, but since I only just received them, I figured they would fit a ‘last takes’ of the year theme. As for the historical shot of Esplanade, it was a new view of Ladysmith for me, and seemed to symbolize the changing boundary between wild and urban perfectly.
