David Skelhon specialises in aerial photography. He is also a commercial pilot. His aerial photographs have been featured in publications such as Photo Life and BC Magazine and he has had solo exhibitions in BC public art galleries. His clients have included major corporations and organisations. He is "at home" in the air and enjoys sharing this privileged and sometimes insightful perspective with others.
My home is near Vernon in the North Okanagan. I am fortunate to live in an area where I can hike, cycle, canoe and ski in beautiful surroundings (sometimes at the same time of year)! Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park is just a few minutes hike from my home, providing much inspiration and photographic potential throughout the whole year.
In September 2008 I headed north to the Yukon, taking the spectacular Stewart-Cassiar route (Highway 37). I made the short detour from Medizian Junction to the interesting mining and forestry town of Stewart, which receives so much precipitation, that it's existence appears to be a constant struggle against rot and decay. Stewart is at the head of the Portland Canal, next to the town of Hyder in Alaska. A trip across the border and back into BC along the Salmon River Valley provided stunning views of the Coast Mountains and their glaciers. Heading north from Stewart to Dease Lake on Highway 37 takes travelers through some of the remotest wilderness accessible by car, and the precipitous gravel road from Dease Lake to Telegraph Creek alongside the Stikine Canyon is probably best left to 4 wheel drive vehicles except on a good day. This road to the Yukon and Alaska has much more to offer in my opinion than the Alaska Highway in North Eastern BC. More recently I have made several road journeys to the industrial centers of Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George, and Mackenzie, where the lumber mills make interesting subjects. The one thing that has stunned me throughout these trips, is the enormous impact we have had on a wilderness landscape in a a very short period of time - less than 150 years. The sheer number of trees that have been cleared and the volume of lumber that has been processed (and wasted) boggles the mind and is difficult to portray in pictures and words alone. Only a journey through this wilderness can truly convey the reality.
Forestry, mining (including oil and gas) are the backbone of the Western Canadian economy. The extent and impact of this resource extraction is hard to comprehend; only extensive travel - ideally by airplane - can help put it into perspective. True, untouched wilderness is now becoming hard to find as clear cuts, roads, pipelines, power cables, mines and seismic lines penetrate deeper and deeper into the rugged extremities of Western Canada. Photos from BC, Alberta and the Yukon.