I am recently back from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. I have a lot of careful editing to do, the ocean and surrounding landscape captured my complete attention these past two weeks.
I am just now glimpsing back at images of these recent memories. How could I ever really capture the majesty of the sea, I wonder? Without the sounds? Without the salt air? Without the dampness from the fog rolling over your body? It is humbling to stand at the shore of such vastness.
All images © Karen McRae
draw and shoot 
Stunning photos. It seems as if the natural lighting did all the work for the photos.
Yes, there was beautiful light! Thank you.
So lovely, Karen! The last one has this beautiful rusty sanguine color that I simply can´t resist. Congrats!
Marija, I love that colour, too. Thanks.
MAGNIFICENT ( and yes I am shouting it from the rooftops) these are so..so.. you karen. Welcome back.. I for one have missed your mellowness. That last one is to die for!!!
Helen, thank you so much, you are too kind! 🙂
It’s good to be back!
I love the mood of the photos. Thanks for sharing Nonoy Manga
The mood of the ocean is wonderfully changeable, thank you.
So beautifully written and photographed. It is transporting!
Thank you, Mimo!
Very dramatic. Quite powerful photos !
Much thanks, Yoshizen.
Wow! Visiting Nova Scotia must have been amazing. I’m sure it’s nothing like being there in person, but to me these beautiful and fantastic pictures is a great taste of the place 🙂
Hi Inga, it really is an amazing place. Thanks so much.
Wonderful pictures, they seem to have the secret of the ages.
Thank you, Carlos. I’m sure there are many secrets on these shores.
Welcome back! Peaceful and calming as always.
It is good to be back, thank you, David!
The softness of the fog with the subtle illumination is stunning! And so cooling!
Patti, thank you. There is something incredible about the fog and sun in combination.
beautiful and expansive–love your work!
Thank you so much, I appreciate that!
Welcome back Karen! Your words allow us to feel through these images: “Without the salt air? Without the dampness from the fog rolling over your body?” I feel it and taste the salt. The 2 gulls on the rocks is lovely and serene.
Hi Marina, thank you! I’m glad you get the sense of the place.
Welcome back Karen!!! Beautiful photos!! – looking forward to seeing the rest!! 🙂 **
Thank you, Xandre. I hope I don’t bore you all with my tons of images! 🙂
“How could I ever really capture the majesty of the sea, I wonder?”
Yet somehow you do, you always do. If not “the” majesty, then a majesty of your own that comes from an unfailing eye and deft reactions. More, please.
Ah Martyn, thank you. There is lots more! You words are much appreciated.
Second one down – it’s so melancholy. I think it shows the boundlessness of the sea, and I feel the dampness of it too.
That one struck me right away too. Love how the ocean just flows out of the fog. Seems to me you’ve captured it all beautifully, Karen.
Thank you both! 🙂
It looks so cold there.
It was a bit chilly, for sure!
Oh I ache for such wildness and beauty..thankyou for taking us there, I’ve missed your journeys! I hope you are renewed and inspired by your trip and can hold some of that mist and space with you for a while longer..
p.s one of my favourite sensations in the world is damp fogged seaspray on my face…I am feeling it as I look at these..
Thank you, Cath. It is a magical place, I’m glad you feel a sense of it.
Welcome back Karen. Beautiful photography.
Hi Simon, thank you.
The last photograph is my favourite. I love the hint of coppery-red, and the swirling mist – beautiful!
Thanks, Eve. The mist was especially gorgeous that morning.
Glad to be back in your beautiful oasis, Karen. Oh, but you have captured the essence extremely well!
Marina, a very kind description. Thank you so much. 🙂
Great, the last 2 especially. I tend to think that we can’t recreate the physical, tangible things that we experience through reproducing it in a photograph. We can create abstractions, reminders, interpretations of parts of it. Your best images do that.
I think you are right, Karl. Reminders, impressions – it’s really the best we can do. Thank you!
A beautiful selection – absolutely sublime.
Thank you very much, Louis!
As atmospheric as your work always is! I feel like I am there. The colors in the last photo are stunning.
Thank you, Sandy.
You asked the question about how one can capture the experience of standing at the edged of the sea? I think you are one of the few who are able to embrace the moment and suspend the experience through each image. Mystical.
Elena, you are always so generous! Thank you.
Half the places in Cape Breton appear to be haunted.
It’s likely they are…
I love cape Breton. Especially in the fall.
It is such a gorgeous place. This was my first visit and I would love to go back in a different season.
Beautiful as ever – especially love the sense of space and of course your use of light and shadow is very special. Glad you’re back! Kathleen
Thank you, Kathleen! 🙂
These are beautiful Karen! You certainly know how to capture the majesty of the sea… Your memories might be more vivid but these photographs beautifully capture the moments you had by the sea in Nova Scotia! I’m a tad envious of your travels… I was thrilled to see an email in box telling me you’ve posted. I always look forward to your work. Great job!! 🙂
Hi Polly, I’m glad you like these! It was really nice to be there.
Thanks for your comment! 🙂
extraordinary… i prefer n°5
Thanks, Antonio.
Thought I hadn’t heard from you for a while.
I will now bombard you with images… 🙂
wonderful images to remember your trip and to share with us!
Thank you, Lisa.
so beautiful Ms. Karen. We will be in Cape Breton in July and I am looking forward to it now that I have seen how beautiful it is. I am trying to learn a little bit about photography before I go 🙂 You are amazing as usual !
Isabella, I look forward to seeing your pictures from Cape Breton! You will love it there! It will be amazing in the summer. 🙂
Thank you!
Karen is back! I hope you had a wonderful time! These are all lovely images, and the second one down is really really lovely! I’m a sucker for those minimal horizon shots!
I did have a wonderful time, thank you, Steve!
We have been longing to go to Nova Scotia – I’m hoping sometime in the next year or so. And now…well, you’ve made it all the more important.
Oh, I hope you get a chance to go, Lois. There is so much beauty there!
It is hard to capture the sea without those other stimuli… but you did it anyway! I can smell it and hear it…. really love the second to last picture–the mist seeps into the bones.
Thank you, Moofie! The dampness really does seep into your bones…
Just fantastic. I don’t miss anything.
Hi Bente, thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing these wonderful and so beautiful photos !
It’s my pleasure and I’m happy you appreciate them. Thank you!
Stunning…and I love the final shot in the series…so soft with the pale rose light. Thank you, Karen.
Thank you, Scott. Early morning light is the best!
You are very welcome…and there is something almost magical about the early morning light. I prefer to shoot then, as well.
Gorgeous images Karen – thank you so for sharing this first installment – looking forward to seeing more. Nova Scotia and Cape Breton have a huge and very special place in my heart. You are absolutely right – there’s something impossibly perfect about the fogdamp on skin and the perfect heartbeat of ocean in concert with the landscape that gets into the soul and stays there. I think though, that you have done a remarkable job of bringing all of that together in your images. Thank you, yet again … Ah makes me homesick for the place even more than usual, but I’ll be in Halifax for a few days soon, so this also reminds me of all I have to look forward to.
Hi Sydney, thank you.
It is a gorgeous place. Enjoy Halifax! I love that city, too.
The last one !!! I love it !!!
Thank you, Mathias. 🙂
Cape Breton is a favourite of mine. The sense of place and timelessness often seems to permeate the sea air. Your images of it have such an ethereal quality to them. Beautiful.
Thank you. Cape Breton is new favourite of mine, too! This was my first visit there.
Karen, I’ve got to say the last one in this gorgeous series is perfect, especially the warm colors. 🙂
Thank you, Shez. I’m happy you think so! 🙂
beautiful images–I love Salt Pond Mist II
Thank you, John. 🙂
Really enjoying your beautiful photography and blog. Your question about capturing the essence or experience of the sea prompted me to comment, to tell you about the book ‘Ocean Sea’ by Alessandro Barricco. I highly recommend it, I think your poetic mind would appreciate it.
Katherine, I love that you are recommending a book about the sea! Thank you, my daughter and I are book shopping tomorrow. 🙂 I will pick it up.