Archive For The “news photo” Category

The CCGS Gordon Reid, a Canadian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel, is seen on a stormy, wet and windy Douglas Channel, off Coste Island, south of Kitimat, on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014.
The Gordon Reid is currently (as of 2200 Oct 17, 2014) towing the Russian container vessel Simushir which lost power off the coast of Haida Gwaii and threatened to run aground on the island’s pristine shores. (CBC story as of 2200 Oct. 17, 2014)


A BC wildfire helicopter flies through smoke and clouds into the sun over the Kitimat River preparing to dump water on the afternoon of July 17, 2014. (Robin Rowland)
Updates with cause, Friday morning situation
A wildfire broke out in the Strawberry Meadows neighborhood, about two kilometres south of Kitimat, around 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, 2014. Kitimat Fire and Rescue quickly responded to the call, setting up a command post at the back of the Oviatt Contracting construction yard which was close to the fire. The District of Kitimat says the fire was caused by an unattended canpfire on the Kitimat River bank. The fire began about 100 metres square and driven by strong winds, quickly spread to two hectares and then about three. (The District release says the fire was about one hectare, the one to three hectare estimate came from those on scene at the time). Oviatt officials say the fire was technically in Haisla territory, within the boundaries of the estuary and river reserve area #1, a traditional Haisla fishing area.
Kitimat Fire and Rescue found that the overgrown brush near the river was too thick and called in the BC Wildfire forestry service firefighters. As they waited, Kitimat Fire organized a firebreak with the help of Oviatt employees on site which luckily had all the heavy equipment needed to cut a gap through the bush to the river. By 5 p.m. winds had spread the smoke and haze throughout the town.
At one point fish camps on the Lower Dyke Road were evacuated as a precaution. First one, then two Forest Service helicopters arrived to fight the fire, and later were joined by a aerial tanker from Smithers which made about six or seven drops on the fire. A second firebreak was pushed through the bush.
The tanker was then redirected to a fire near Terrace while the helicopters continued to drop water on the fire. At the height of operations, according to a release from the District of Kitimat, seven BC Forestry Service Firefighters on the scene and 12 Kitimat Firefighters were there monitoring the fire guards for any hot spots.

A wildfire helicopter picks up water near the Silja Festival in Kitimat harbour to fight the blaze at about 8 p.m. (Robin Rowland)
The firefighters were worried that strengthening winds would drive the fire either toward the upscale homes in Strawberry Meadows or toward the fishing camps along the river on the Lower Dyke Road. While the wind did become much stronger in the early evening, the weather was quickly turning cool and there were light raindrops by the time the District said the fire was contained at 8:18 p.m. Kitimat Fire and Rescue left a crew at the Oviatt site overnight to monitor for hotspots.

Kitimat Fire and Rescue assess the fire situation after arriving at the command post set up at the Oviatt Construction yard. (Robin Rowland)
As of Friday morning forestry crews were surveying the area for “a dangerous tree assessment” and to check for hotspots. The District of Kitimat reminded everyone in the news release that a campfire ban is in effect.


Kitimat Fire and Rescue on scene at a fire on Lillooet St. in Kitimat, July 14, 2014. (Robin Rowland)
A fire that began in the kitchen destroyed a house on Lillooet Street in Kitimat on the afternoon of July 14, 2014. Everyone who was in the house at the time got out safely.

Kitimat Fire and Rescue Ladder 11 blasts the burning house with a high pressure hose. (Robin Rowland)
Update: There is now a fundraising campaign to help the family


A member of the Haisla Nation dances with a cloak saying “No Enbridge,” in Kitimat, April 12, 2014. (Robin Rowland)
Residents of Kitimat, BC, voted “No” Saturday, April 12 in a plebiscite that sort of asked them if they supported the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker terminal project.
The vote was 1,793 opposed versus 1,278 who supported the project — 58.4 per cent to 41.6 per cent. The plebiscite called by the District of Kitimat Council caused rifts in the community during the campaign and raised tensions with the Haisla Nation. If it ever goes ahead, the Northern Gateway terminal would be in Haisla traditional territory and most members of the First Nation oppose the project.
It was a municipal plebiscite, called by the District, and that meant that only residents of the municipality could vote. So members of the Haisla Nation who actually live in Kitimat could cast ballots, but members of the Haisla who live in Kitamaat Village, a federally designated Indian Reserve, could not. All the same, many Haisla felt that they should have some input on what goes on in their traditional territory. Some of the Haisla decided to demonstrate against the vote as polls closed. When the “No” result was announced, the demonstration turned into a celebration.
I was shooting on assignment for The Canadian Press and filed two images, one of a Haisla drummer that appears in The Province and a dancer, in the Globe and Mail.
Many of the images of the celebration, taken at night with flash, were rather noisy.
So I decided to try a technique I’ve used before with night shots, converting to black and white. After a couple of test images, I decided to go for 1960s look, using the Tri-X emulator in Photo Effects 8. (For younger folks, Kodak Tri-X black and white film was the standard for journalism for decades before digital).

One of the Spirit of Kitlope dancers at the No vote celebration, Saturday, April 12, 2014. (Robin Rowland)

Skeena Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen speaks to members of the Haisla Nation at the celebration. (Robin Rowland)

Gerald Amos speaks to a crowd of Haisla and Kitimat supporters at the park across from Kitimat’s City Centre Mall. (Robin Rowland)


A member of the Kitimat, BC, Girl Guides prepares to lay a wreath at the Kitimat Cenotaph, during the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, BC, Nov. 11, 2012. (Robin Rowland)
There is a tradition in Kitimat, British Columbia, that children lay wreathes at the cenotaph, representing those individuals and groups that are unable to attend.
Here are some images of Remembrance Day 2012, in Kitimat.

A group of Kitimat Brownies march to the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012, as the guard of honour of firefighthers and a Mountie wait (Robin Rowland)

United Church Rev. Larry Scott does double duty as a piper at the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012. (Robin Rowland)

Doug Hughan plays the Last Post at the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012. (Robin Rowland)

RCMP Constable Brad Walsh, of the RCMP detachment in Kitimat, BC, salutes during the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012 (Robin Rowland)

Children in Kitimat wait to take part in the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012, as members of the Canadian Rangers stand behind them. It is a tradition in Kitimat that children carry wreathes to the cenotaph on behalf of groups or individuals unable to attend the ceremony(Robin Rowland).

Merle Archer, 82, who served as a nurse in the Royal Canadian Navy, reads “In Flander’s Fields,” at the Kitimat, BC cenotaph, during the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, BC. Nov. 11, 2012 (Robin Rowland)

Kitimat mayor Joanne Monaghan who recently fell andi injured her knee, struggles with her walker to lay a wreath at the cenotaph during the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012. (Robin Rowland)

Another member of the Girl Guides lays a wreath at the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012. (Robin Rowland)

Children line up to lay wreaths at the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012 (Robin Rowland)

A girl prepares to lay a wreath at the Remembrance Day ceremony, Kitimat, Nov. 11, 2012. (Robin Rowland)

In all my journalism career, I was never assigned to cover the Queen on a Royal Visit (always stuck in the office). But as Her Majesty celebrates her Jubilee this weekend, I had a vague memory that, when I was living in London, I had managed to get a few somewhat close shots of the Queen. ( I did shoot the Royal Wedding from The Strand but didn’t get anything that great of the Royals) So I hunted through my slide boxes, to see if my memory was correct and what the pix were like.
The shots were taken at a racetrack in England likely sometime in July or early August, 1980, which track I can’t remember and my notes are long gone. I had worked in the UK for about a year and was about to leave to return to Canada after getting a job offer back home in Toronto. My friends offered to drive me around the countryside to some of the sites I wanted to see. Somehow, we ended up at this race track just as the Royal Family appeared. And luckily, there I was in the stands not too far from the track and was able to get some shots. Not the best, but in retrospect, perhaps revealing. Camera Minolta SRT 101, 135mm lens, Ektachrome film.
So here we have two ladies-in-waiting (?) one in an over-feathered white hat, the second in a broad brimmed black hat and the Queen. This would have been taken about a month after the royal wedding.
The Queen, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and two dudes in top hats. I also like the old lady in the background grabbing the rail so she can get a better view.

The Gitga'at First Nation led the No To Tankers Rally in Prince Rupert, BC, February 4, 2012.
(Cross posted from my Northwest Coast Energy News site)
Click on this link to launch audio slideshow
A crowd estimated by the media at high of more than 2,000 to a low of about 600, marched through the streets of Prince Rupert on Saturday, February 4, to protest against Enbridge’s $5.5-billion Northern Gateway bitumen pipeline and the associated super tanker traffic.
The protest was organized by the Gitga’at First Nation, of Hartley Bay, at the mouth of Douglas Channel . Nearby Wright Sound, known for its tricky currents and winds in bad weather would be the passageway for most of the tanker.
The Tsimshian First Nation, the hosts, welcomed the Gitga’at and protestors from other First Nations and reisdents of northwestern BC, before the the march began at Pacific Marinter’s Memorial Park.
It ended at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, where, iin the afternoon, speakers spoke about environmental concerns, followed by a dancing and concert in the evening.
Gitga’at boats from Hartley Bay rescued passengers after the sinking of the ferry Queen of the North in 2006.
The Gitga’at say oil still leaks from the Queen of the North, affecting some shellfish beds in the area.