Woofstock, held each summer in Toronto, is packed with amazing — and adorable — photo opportunities. (Julia Pelish/Vacay.ca file photo)
Photos by Julia Pelish
Vacay.ca Visuals Editor
It is that time of year when you look back as much as you peer forward to anticipate what’s to come. Photographers always tend to reminisce through the images they have captured. A big chunk of my life has been visually catalogued and stored on some computer just waiting to refresh my memory. So this week I have dived into my Vacay.ca archives for 2013 and come up with 11 images, including the one above, that resonate with me today as much as they did when I took them.
The past 12 months offered their share of fascinating trips across Canada, featuring challenging, rewarding and humbling surprises. My aim with the selected photos for the following slideshow was to find a cohesive theme. They are images that I hope show scenes that are vibrant, energetic and colourful. Each one connects me to the emotion I felt when I first experienced the moment.
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As I looked back through my digital image files, I realized once more how many frustrating moments there are when you venture out in search of that essential image. Travel photojournalists hunt for the perfect, oftentimes indescribable shot that defines a sense of place or the quality of an individual. When done well, the visual impact is powerful. Lofty goals, and in the end I realized it is always those simple, fleeting, honest moments that allow images to stand the test of time. The quest for such moments of truth is what motivates me to photograph and travelling has provided me with rich opportunities to do so. In my career, I have come to realize there is nothing I like more than getting closer and closer to a photo that makes me say to myself, Wow, that was worth the journey.
