Arrow Minded

So I Just Turn Right For Canada, Right?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Luckily I was in the passenger seat when we drove the Top Of The World Highway, from Dawson City in Canada, through Alaska and then back into Canada on our way to Beaver Creek. I had my cameras around my neck, ready to take shots of anything I spotted.

Then we came to a T-junction near the end of the trip (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was the only T-junction on the entire drive) and I figured this had to be one of the more unusual road signs I've ever seen.

(The Odd Shots concept came from Katney. Say "G'day" to her.)

Shoot Happens

You Callin' Me A Son Of A Gun, Betty?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This shot was taken at Beaver Creek in the Yukon. I had actually woken up early to photograph the dawn colours on the mountains that stretch across the highway. Even before the snow started turning pink in the early morning rays, I walked around to take some shots of signage and other unusual sights.

The light wasn't the best when I took this shot, very early in the morning, but I simply had to take this shot. I didn't actually have the time to walk across to Buckshot Betty's, so maybe I'll leave that for the next time I travel to the Yukon.

I'm sure the unique name will trigger my memory.

(The Odd Shots concept came from Katney. Say "G'day" to her.)

The Dam Busters

If You're Beaver, Does That Mean I'm Butthead?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Sometimes, even when you're miles away from home, do you find yourself thinking in "blog mode"? When I have a couple of cameras slung around my neck I'm in photography mode, but I sometimes find myself thinking "Yup, that'd make a great shot for Camera Critters".

So when I arrived in Beaver Creek in the Yukon, I dropped my bags off in my room at the Westmark Hotel and immediately started scouting around. It was late evening and the light was fading, so when I saw this beaver sign I knew I didn't have enough light to make the shot work.

Instead, I was up at the crack of dawn the next morning. There was not much movement and pretty much no sound either, as I began shooting the mountains in the pink light of early morning. I even got a shot of the contrails of a jet, like white gossamer against a clear blue sky - with the jet so high that it was completely soundless.

But before I stopped shooting and headed indoors for breakfast, I had to get this beaver shot. Lucky I remembered - or it would have been a dam shame!

Check out the rules at Camera Critters or go to Misty Dawn.

Worth Its Wait In Gold

Not Quite The Sunset Shot You'd Expect, Is It?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

You just never know when a great photo opportunity is going to come your way. And sometimes when a great chance appears, it remains for only a few fleeting moments, never to re-appear.

I was in the dining area of the Westmark Hotel in Beaver Creek in the Yukon - and as always, I had my cameras within arm's reach. There was a lady a couple of table away from me and I knew she was waiting for her husband to join her at dinner, because I had seen them a few minutes earlier, in the hotel corridor.

She had a long-necked bottle of beer on her table. She faced west, looking towards the setting sun as it sank across the snow-capped mountains. I faced east, looking towards the wall. That alignment was a great piece of luck.

For a couple of minutes, I saw a shadow on the wooden wall, just below the wallpaper at waist level. It was the shadow of her glass and the beer bottle and as I watched, the shadow grew more defined as the sun pierced the late-evening cloud.

I knew if I didn't take the shot, the angle of the sun would quickly change. I picked up my Pentax K100D and hit the shutter once. A few moments later, the lady's husband joined her. He sat opposite her and blocked the shadow. Had I not followed my instinct and captured the scene, I would have lost the opportunity.

Visit MamaGeek and Cecily, creators of Photo Story Friday.