Vancouver Island Photography with Dave Hutchison

I started my journey with nature photography in 2005 after a pivotal trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA.  I was amazed at the abundance of wildlife to photograph and the unique behaviour of each species.  I was very new and didn’t know much about photography, but I was hooked.

Two years later I did my first of three photography trips (2007, 2008, 2018) to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary in Northern BC.  This fascination with wildlife photography, combined with my business skills from being a self-employed sales consultant in the commercial fitness equipment industry, translated into more photography sales.  In 2007, I launched my first web site, and launched a business selling fine art prints of my photos of the incredible wildlife here in BC.  Within a few years I was licensing images for books, magazines, calendars, brochures and more.

A highlight in my photography career was catching a Spirit Bear (Kermode Bear) in the wild.  Taking two photographers into remote areas of BC’s central coast remains one of my most memorable experiences to date.

Over the last 10 years I have photographed a range of marine life including orca (killer) whales, humpback whales, sea lions, sea otters, etc.  I have been fortunate to have successfully captured one transient orca whale breach sequence, as well as, two humpback whale breaches that have all been commercially successful.

In addition to wildlife photography, I began honing my skills further in the natural world to include landscape photography.  My specialties within landscape photography continue to be long exposure seascapes, forests, waterfalls, black & white and panoramics. 

Presently, I offer a wide range of fine art prints encompassing both wildlife and seascapes of the magical British Columbia coast.  The print selections include high quality photo papers by Epson or Red River paper, canvas prints by Breathing Color, and high-definition metal prints using the ChromaLuxe process.  To date, 90% of the photo paper print sales are produced in house from my home studio in Sidney, BC.

In 2020, I retired from my 25 year career in commercial fitness equipment sales to pursue my passion for photography full-time.  This focus enabled an expansion into commercial photography and namely aerial and drone photography.  I have an Advanced Operations drone pilot license through Transport Canada which allows me to fly a drone in controlled airspace (with permission).  As I have expanded, I have found offering commercial and aerial photography has increased my skills in all areas of photography, both technically and creatively.

I also offer guided tours and workshops to the southern Great Bear Rainforest accessed from Vancouver Island.  The workshops emphasize grizzly bear & whale behaviour, and other sea life, as well as, the indigenous peoples connection to the wildlife and the land.  I also offer ½ day small group workshops in the southern Vancouver Island area primarily on long exposure photography – “The Art of Seeing what You Can’t See”.

I am also well known for my one on one photography lessons, as well as Adventure Guiding where I primarily take visitors to the best kept spots on Vancouver Island that would otherwise be difficult to find on their own.

Over the years, I have achieved several awards.  In 2006 I was voted Victoria’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year.  In 2009, I was accepted into the semi-finals for the Shell Nature Photographer of the Year – sponsored by NANPA.  Most notably, I received a “Best in Class in Fine Art” in the 2020 Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) National Image Competition.  The image “Drop in Time” also was awarded the coveted Loan Collection with PPOC for 2020.