This image was one of those ideas that presents itself entirely by accident. I'm not usually one for environmental portraits but as soon as I saw my wife Amanda holding out her hands to touch that lovely cascade I knew I'd found my shot.

Ricketts Glen is one of the most enchanting areas I've ever photographed. With so many waterfalls one after another I almost overlooked this final waterfall but something about the quality of light over the creek told me I was about to witness something special. As soon as I saw this scene unfolding before my eyes I knew I had just a couple of minutes to capture shot before the sun moved over the horizon. Luckily I found it just in time.

Donegal is a treasure trove of spectacular coastal scenery and this three hour hike to the sea stacks of the Atlantic was well worth the sweat equity. We braved fields of sheep cakes, death defying cliff edges and ankle breaking post holes to reach this majestic overlook just in time for the sun to go down over the ocean.

What do you do when a beautiful scene is crawling with humans? You wait of course.

Then you wait some more.

After waiting all afternoon I finally had my moment and managed to capture this image without a single human AND during gorgeous afternoon light.

Now if I hadn't told you this and you saw this photo you could almost call it false advertising but you've been warned.

These conditions are possible but you'll have to be patient and share the trail with several hundred other purveyors of majestic beauty.

Not many photographers are stupid enough to wade into a river at -15°C wearing just pants and hiking boots just to get a photo of an ice encrusted waterfall. Nobody ever said I wasn't stupid.

While the town of Lunenburg is very picturesque it was the foggy harbour that captured my attention. Just as I'd dialed in the ideal camera settings I noticed the ancient galley approaching from stage left and knew I'd found my shot.

I waited years for these conditions in my favourite forest on Vancouver Island. I made countless fruitless visits with the hopes of encountering fog only for it to evaporate as I climbed the hill. On this day however, the conditions were perfect and I knew just the tree to make my vision come to life. Can you see the tortured souls trapped on the trunk?

It's not often that my plans work out perfectly but on this day they did. The sun dropped to the perfect low angle to creep into this canyon and ignite the spray from the waterfall behind my back. The camera and I were totally drenched but there was simply no other way to capture the moment. You know you're alive when you're standing directly under a cascade of cold mountain creak.

Bobcats are one of my favourite animals so I count this as one of the best days of my life. We shared a few minutes of this late winter afternoon while she hunted near a lake not too far from my house. I was able to get about 12ft from her to capture this photo and then left her to her duck stalking. I wonder if she caught her buffet.

Landscape photography often requires some questionable maneuvers on the edges of cliffs but this was a tight squeeze even for me. I picked my spot and stood uncomfortably for an hour while waiting for the light to reach it's peak. Just as my calves were going numb from the prolonged awkward stance, I finally managed to capture this lovely Nova Scotian sunset.

My very last shoot on Vancouver Island was one to remember. We enjoyed crashing Pacific waves, swooping cormorants and a lovely golden sunset before leaving the Island to find a new home on the other side of the continent.

Who said you can't get great images during terrible weather? For me, the grey moodiness of this day makes the image much more atmospheric than those blue sky days. The puffins and gulls didn't seem to mind either.