Andrew Strain Photography » exploration

My New Haircut

Strain — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:08:13 +0000

You know what this is? This is my new f***ing haircut.

Bush life is good.

Love is in the air

Strain — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:41:00 +0000

One fine day this summer, after running out of gas while cutting a helipad into the swampy permafrost near the confluence of the White and Yukon Rivers, I looked skyward from the pages of Dr Zhivago and instantly lunged for my bright yellow pelican case. I’m not usually one to see shapes in the clouds, but this particular formation was too perfect to not photograph.

I wasn’t planning on posting this shot but someone saw it on my iphone the other day and insisted that I make a postcard out of it. A blog post is close enough, I guess – call me in February for Valentines Day gifts…

It’s been a summer…

Strain — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:20:00 +0000

I’ve been gone from Vancouver for 2 and a half months now, and its time to go home. I’ve had some great adventures working in the Yukon – bears, helicopters, swamps and snowstorms. But, you can only be gone for so long before home comes calling… I’ll be in Vancouver on Monday night.

More photos and words to come when I have a little more time… also looking forward to getting back to a calibrated monitor back in the city. A few other photos are on my flickr.

Offline

Strain — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:39:00 +0000

I am currently working in a remote location and will be unable to receive or reply to any communication until approximately August 1st. In case of emergencies, I can be reached via canoe down the Yukon River. Related posts: Love is in the air The Spell of the Yukon Atlin, BC – my summer home. Related posts:

Down to work (and the wood).

Strain — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:55:00 +0000

I’m finally settling into the routine of fieldwork again after a week in Atlin, but the hot weather has sapped my energy really fast – there’s still a lot of snow on northern aspects, so we’ve been sticking to south faces up high in the alpine, where the sun beats down on us all day long. I’m not complaining – just tired.

The town of Atlin, from the morning helicopter trip to work:

The view from my “office” – Surprise Lake:

More words and photos in the full post:

We went out to the Globe Theatre last night to check out a performance by the Edmonton based bluegrass group Down to the Wood, passing through town on their way to the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival this week in Haines Junction, YT. I’m not big into bluegrass so I can’t give much of an informed review, but the guys were funny, played some killer music, and were well received by the crowd – I might have to start taking my dad’s advice and listen to more bluegrass… Me and the family headed out to a little jam sesh after the show, where we stayed up til the wee hours of the morning jamming with a group of extremely talented musicians (I definitely don’t include myself in that category), and even got a free lesson on upright bass from the band; much appreciated, thanks guys! I used to play quite a bit of bass, but haven’t in years – the upright makes me want to get back into it asap. Just what I needed, another expensive hobby…

Atlin Mountain at sunrise from the Monarch Mtn trail. I was wondering how I would ever bring myself to wake up at 4am to get a sunrise shot… problem solved last night – go to bed at 530am…

A woodpecker hangs from a homemade feeder:

Decades of living off the land has led to quite the impressive collection of antlers above my grandparents woodshed:

Atlin, BC – my summer home.

Strain — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:48:00 +0000

I’ve spent the two weeks since returning from Chile job hunting for mineral exploration work, and with seemingly every inquiry I made resulting in a reply of “sorry, we don’t have financing for a field program this season”, I was about to give up looking and start a summer job in the city when the call came in to send me north. I was on a plane for Whitehorse 3 days later – gotta love the go-go-go nature of this industry. I should be here til August, but there’s really no telling for sure, and I’ll likely be on the road on just a few short days notice, as usual.

I was pleasantly surprised on the flight up to make a flyby of my final destination, the small town of Atlin, BC. I lived here when I was a little kid, and the last time I visited was in 1998. I snapped a photo of the town, the lake, Atlin Mountain and Teresa Island from the plane:

Many photos to come over the next few months, as I roam the hills looking for gold (and photo-ops, of course). I still need to post some of my RAW edits from South America – maybe tomorrow.

Blast from the past

Strain — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 07:11:00 +0000

Haven’t shot much lately, been busy looking for work / preparing my photo submissions for this season / getting ready to head to Argentina and Chile for a couple weeks. Hopefully, my camera doesn’t get jacked and I have a ton of photos to post when I get back in mid-May.

Here’s a couple old (2006) photos of the Mandy Glacier, northwest of Stewart, BC – she lights up vibrant blue when the light hits her. I miss working there, even though I recall the day I shot the pano being absolutely miserable.

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