Happy Snow Year

Ghosts of snowstorms passed stand atop Silver Star Ski Resort while the sun sets on a fine day of skiing. The quality of the light (in this case) almost makes one willing to overlook the quality of the image capture through my cellphone camera. It's been a banner beginning to the ski season so far in the Okanagan. Strong bookings over the Christmas holiday period have been accompanied by bountiful snowfalls continuing into early January. Here's to more good stuff to come in 2013.

Love the D800

The more I use it, the more I love my new Nikon D800 camera. Obviously, image resolution has improved to 36 megapixels. Not noticed so much in the camera statistics, the dynamic range improvement is also a new record available for a DSLR - and something that is readily evident even when you don't require full-size poster prints. Beyond professional photography applications, I enjoyed using my D800 this past weekend during a getaway to the Columbia Valley in B.C. Here's a shot I liked of a seemingly delicate violet flower growing within an extremely rugged rock cavern at Radium, B.C. More scenic photos with other Nikon cameras can be found on my website at kelownaphotographer.com

Colourful season

Away from the work projects of photographing furniture, architecture and other projects, I took some time for some personal photography just for the fun of it.
Weekend sunshine illuminated some fine colours that Mother Nature has stirred up for autumn in the Okanagan. Here's one of my shots from Kelowna's Waterfront Park.
Getting as low as possible with a 20mm wide angle lens, I exposed the shot for maximum depth-of-field, shooting at one-quarter of a second to let the flowing water blur through the frame. Its fluid motion contrasts nicely with the still leaves on the rocks.
I'm hoping for more fine fall days like this before snow arrives ...

Excitement in the air

Lots of excitement was in the air this past weekend in Kelowna, from volleyball spikes and mountain bike jumps at the 4th annual Center of Gravity event, to the dazzling aerial show of the Canadian Snowbirds on holiday Monday.
While it was not the same experience as when I enjoyed a media fly-along with the snowbirds in 1998, it was still a pleasure to photograph these professional flyers today.

Hello, my name is ...

I'm working on some new designs for a new run of business cards. Like these so far?

Aerial Artistry

Another freestyle ski expert who will proudly compete for Canada is Kristi Richard of Summerland, who grew up on the slopes of Apex Mountain Resort near Penticton.
Kristi got to compete against the best skiers in the World last year on the slopes of Apex, finishing behind teammate Jennifer Heil of Alberta - the current Olympic champion in the women's event.
More ski action photos, along with sports and photojournalism is found on my main website.

Aerial Artist

Steve Omischl of Kelowna is expected to soar at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games later this month as a veteran condender on the Canadian mens aerials team. With numerous World Cup titles earned over the past few years, Omischl finished second at the 2009 world championships. Here's a photo I shot of Steve training at Silver Star resort a few years earlier. More ski and sports photos are found on My website

Downhiller on the Rise

Kelowna skier Kelsey Serwa got the news this week that she will be on the Canadian National ski team. The young racer who grew up on the slopes of Big White Resort will compete in ski-cross events at the Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Olympic Games in February. She's just one of the Okanagan skiers to be competing in the Winter Games against the best of the world next month. Tune in again to find out the next Okanagan Olympian it could be someone who's already featured on My main website

Okanagan Olympian

Among the world's top athletes preparing to battle in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, are some notable competitors from Kelowna and the Okanagan.
One of the best known in Kelowna is former Rockets defenceman Shea Webber, an NHL blueliner who grew up about 100 kilometres north of our Okanagan city. Webber (seen on the right, below) was a tough defender when he helped the Kelowna Rockets win the Memorial Cup on home ice in 2003. After five years of solid play in the NHL, he's impressed enough to earn a spot on Canada's National Olympic Hockey team.

Kelowna winery a world-wide winner

Winning international awards is nothing new to wineries in the Okanagan Valley.
The latest award goes to Summerhill Winery - just named the Best Winery in the Canada at the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition in London, England. Two of the five entries from the Kelowna vintner won the best-in-class title.
I'll certainly toast to that when I enjoy the bottle I acquired during my last visit to the winery - during the 50th anniversary of the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club. And that's in addition to the fine photos I took during the magic hour of sunset at the winery.

Beautiful rainy weather?

Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder.
Take Wednesday's weather for example. Cool, rainy day in the Kootenay mountains - almost impossible to see which section of cloud the sun was hiding behind. The kind of day only a duck could love, right?
The damp day led one lady to remark on its depressing sight as she exchanged light bulbs in Greenwood, (the oldest and smallest city in B.C.) I was on assignment for energy company FortisBC, photographing this energy-saving promotion happening in communities across the province.
I couldn't help but contradict her, while exclaiming my pleasure on how lovely the landscapes were on this damp day with the clouds hanging lower than the surrounding summits.
I was glad I brought along my professional Kodak SLR/n and Nikkor 300mm f2.8 lens to capture this detailed landscape, among others.
So as more rainy days approach in the Okanagan, I'll remember that beautiful photos don't always require a sunny, blue-sky day. Happy fall photography everyone!

Celebration time !

Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy anniversary!
The big 5-0 is being celebrated this week across the Okanagan for the Boys and Girls Clubs - an organization that I've been happy to support with my photography, writing and pagination over the past decade.


Yesterday, a few dozen adults toasted the history of the charitable group in Kelowna at the venerable Summerhill Estate Winery. A beautiful location for the event, particularly now as the grapes are ripening among the changing leaves. It's a great time for me to capture colourful scenic and stock photos of the beautiful vineyards the Okanagan is known for.
My compliments to the chef on some fine appetizers served to accompany the fine wine. I guess it's a sample of what's to come in a couple of weeks at the popular Okanagan Wine Fesitval. Cheers to all.

I Shoot to Thrill

My slogan for my photography business seemed to work its way into my recreation recently.
It was on the golf course a couple days ago that I thrilled myself when I shot below 80 for the first time on a championship course!
It was just an average performance on the front 9, however, the back 9 included only two bogies and one birdie to score a final round of 79 on the par 71 Kelowna Springs golf course.
Perhaps there are some advantages to a slower year in business - even more than just the extra attention to quality my clients receive when they call Kelowna Photographer Desmond Murray.
Perhaps I can inspire you with some golf shots on my website From this page, just click on "golf".

Forest Fires renew Fears from 2003

JULY 19, 2009 - Kelowna's scenic surroundings are making national headlines again - for a sad reason.
Two Forest Fires have forced evacuation of almost half the homes in West Kelowna, and closed the highway disecting the town of Westbank.
Recalling the devastation in 2003 when over 200 homes were consumed by fire in the Okanagan-Mission region of Kelowna, national media have quickly descended upon the city.
Fortunately, nobody has been injured and it appears only two homes have been lost to the blaze that began Saturday afternoon.

Water's the trouble?

In the middle of a hot,dry summer in the Okanagan, the most recent news around BC waterways have been sad.
On Okanagan Lake, this year's renewal of hydroplane races has been sunk by the promoter Jordan Schramm.
It's been a few years now since we've last seen the world's fastest boats racing just off the Kelowna shoreline. I enjoyed photographing the event for the sponsor Molson the last time around - even though I had to stretch my 300mm f2.8 Nikkor to its limit with a 1.4x teleconverter to get images reasonably tight.


Even sadder, a death was recently recorded on the first BC waterway I worked beside after graduating Journalism School. A rafting accident led to a fatality on the Kicking Horse River near Golden BC. It was back in the 1980's when I spent a couple summers photographing clients riding the rapids of this mountain river.

Here's a couple photos from these events in better times. More fun recreation on the water appears on my website

Countdown to 24 hours

Can you hear the clock ticking?
It's now just 24 days to the most invigorating and inspiring 24 hours of the year in Kelowna PLUS an opportunity to win a beautiful 24" display print for your generosity.
To help out the annual 24 hour relay on June 13-14, 2009, I have just launched an online auction on Kelowna Photographer.com for a framed, poster-sized display print. ALL of the funds will go to the 24-hour-relay, which funds the Easter Seals Camp in Winfield plus programs at the Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs.
Bidders can choose from hundreds of beautiful photos on my site ranging from stock images of Okanagan vineyards and Kelowna area orchards to lifestyle and recreational images from this lakeside paradise.
Bids will be accepted up to the minute before midnight on Sunday, June 14, 2009.

Rockets Rock the WHL

First place Vancouver Giants - eliminated.
First place Calgary Hitmen - upset.
Kelowna hockey fans cheered their Junior hockey team to another WHL championship on home ice Saturday over the top-ranked Calgary Hitmen.
Next stop - Rimouski - for the Memorial Cup.

Rockets rolling

Excitement is building for the hockey playoffs once again in this sporty B.C. city of Kelowna.

While some are focused on the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL, our local fans have another team to get even more excited about - our own Kelowna Rockets in the WHL.  The team is in the driver's seat in the Western Hockey League championship series against the Calgary Hitmen, returning to home ice Monday after winning the first two games of the series in Calgary.

It reminds me of the 2004 season when the Rockets won the Memorial Cup on home ice against the best junior hockey teams across all of Canada.  That week provided a lot of outstanding action for me to photograph as the newspaper published a special daily section of Memorial Cup stories through that memorable week.

Let's hope history repeats itself this year.

Kelowna writer rising

I'm constantly inspired by other artists around Kelowna - and pleasantly surprised when another is recognized internationally. I recently had the honour of photographing for the Vancouver Sun a fiction writer whose books have become popular world-wide.

Alan Bradley, 70, writer of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and two more mysteries about a precocious English girl, 11-year-old Flavia de Luce. The series of books has been sold in 13 countries; the first of the Canadian books launched a week ago.

Similar to a common hangout for Flavia, an old church in Kelowna became an interesting background for the portrait of the Okanagan mystery writer. I hope local artists continue to be appreciated for their creative works. Some of my more recent creative works have taken life in a re-design of my website.

More news is good news

I hope people enjoy news about new developments in photography, with hi tech equipment continually adding to the digital evolution.
I've just added a news page to my main website with today's top story - the new spark in remote trigger technology.  Here's the new gadget's I've deciding between right now for when they become available in Canada for my Nikon cameras.