I’ve never been a very good landscape photographer. I’d like to, really I would. It’s quite possible that I’ve never really been presented with a stunning enough backdrop to take a decent photo, or perhaps it’s my desire to always get a little closer and a little tighter with my shots that keeps me from seeing things properly on the wide end of my lens lineup. Whatever the case may be, there are times when you have to leave your comfort zone a bit and take on the challenge. It doesn’t hurt when you have Niagara Falls as your inspiration.

I took a trip into the Great White North a few months before they instituted the policy that you have to show a passport, license, social security number, birth certificate, high school diploma, your baseball card collection, and triplicate copies of your web browsing history to cross between the U.S. and Canada. I won’t get political, but I enjoyed the ability to walk across a bridge between two countries for about $3 and a little bit of sweat.

Although the trip provided with some photo opportunities outside of the falls, I focused on finally getting some landscapes I could blow up and mount on my almost barren house walls.

I was not disappointed with the end results.

I happened to find a way to mix both the wide angle shots with my own closeup style to create some excellent portrayals of the falls both during the day time and when they throw the lights on at night.

It was a fun trip, a profitable one with some good play at the poker tables at Casino Niagara, and a chance to finally mount my first photo on the wall in my pad.

Who would have thought Canada would have given me Picture #4 on my favorite shot list?