18 wildlife and landscape photos that prove Powell River is a great place to hang out
Powtown peeps, please help us welcome our newest contributor, Photographer Leah Laurie. As her debut, she’s compiled a slideshow of her favourite landscape and wildlife shots from the Powell River area, including the photo on our home page. Below, read Leah’s story of how she came to the decision to teach herself the art of photography, and relaunch a whole new career for herself.
How I got started
I have lived in Powell River, off and on, most of my life. I love it here and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. The small town sense of community and beauty offer more than I could ever want. Sure it has its challenges but it’s a small price to pay to be surrounded by the wildlife and scenery we have here.
I have two daughters, Brooke and Courtney, both live in PR. Courtney has my only two grandchildren who are 6 and 3. My husband and I have a Koi pond, a 10 year old Golden Retriever, a 9 year old cat and a 9 week old Chocolate Lab, who happens to be a very popular photography subject.
Two years ago my hubby bought me a “decent” Nikon camera to take better pictures of my granddaughters; pretty soon I found I was obsessed, although I like to call it passionate and I started taking pictures of anybody who would let me.
I have a huge love of wildlife and scenery photography too, and spend a great deal of time in the bush or at the beach. This past September my husband and I took a trip to the Tweedsmuir Provincial Park (just outside of Bella Coola) to see the grizzlies! WOW, that trip just wet my appetite for more wildlife adventures.
Today, I have a home studio, a website and two Facebook pages…to say it has been a steep learning curve would be an understatement! As a self taught photographer I spend hours and hours on the internet studying tutorials, researching photography styles and practicing my mad photoshop skills….oh yeah, and buying props for the studio!
Photo by Leah Laurie
From the beginning of this journey I noticed that families were not having “professional” photos taken anymore…..after doing a little research I quickly came to the conclusion that it was because they just couldn’t afford to put out hundreds of dollars for pictures! I decided right then and there that I would be affordable AND offer a professional end result. I feel like that strategy is working for me and I have recently branched out to weddings and commercial work, including affordable head shots for websites and business cards.
Check out Leah’s website at LeahLauriePhotography.com.
Leah Laurie