NORTH BAY — Gazing through a camera lens beats staring down an empty bottle.
That’s one fine insight you’ll receive from talking with Garry Waldram. The retired Rutherglen resident is well known around Bonfield and throughout the region for his awesome nature photography, particularly when he turns his lens to our feathered friends.
What most don’t know is how photography helped Waldram put away the booze, which was a big problem for him.
“Alcohol was my way of coping,” Waldram said. “It got to the point where I had to seek help, and it was at that point that I decided that photography was what I wanted to do to help myself.”
Born and raised in Hamilton, Waldram came of working age in the '80s, “and the recession was going so Stelco and Dofasco weren’t hiring.”
He did a couple of years at McMaster University before turning to the mills for work, but that wasn’t a fit, either.
“That’s why I joined the military,” Waldram said.
He served in the Navy from 1982 to 2006. After duty in the regular force, he did several more years as a full-time reservist with two years in Halifax and three years in North Bay at the National Recruiting Contact Centre (before it closed) between 2012 and 2015. That last stop is why Waldram remains in the area today.
Waldren put in two tours to Afghanistan, one to Kandahar and the other to Kabul, where he worked at home leave travel assistance – booking travel home for soldiers to see their families. He also went back to Afghanistan for a time to work alongside the military with a civilian organization.
He spent almost 13 years “attached to ships,” during his time in the Navy, mostly deployed on NATO exercises oversees. The list of places those ships brought him to is too long to list – Spain, France, Germany, Scotland – the list is long, and the sights were vast. To paraphrase the old song, he’s been everywhere.
But some of those stops and travels stuck with Waldram in a bad way. “It did affect me, and I was going through some issues with mental health and PTSD.” In the early phases of these illnesses, Waldram figured he was in a depression, but after working with psychologists and psychotherapists with Veterans Affairs, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as well.
He’s been working the Veterans Affairs’ rehabilitation program, and “It’s really been helpful to me. I haven’t had a drink in over three and half years.”
Waldram is very open about his past, as he knows others may have similar stories. And his tale of overcoming the bottle might inspire others to conquer the same battle. “I mean if I can help somebody, I have no problem telling my story.”
“I don’t feel like I’m addicted to photography,” Waldram joked, “although I do spend an awful lot of time doing it, but I don’t think it’s detrimental to my health.”
Indeed, almost daily Waldram grabs his gear and heads out into the wilds of Rutherglen, or wherever the birds might be. He prefers photographing nature, with birds being his favourite subjects. It’s not unusual to find him in kayak, loaded with long lenses and Nikon cameras, waiting for the perfect shot of a mallard or merganser.
Nature has always cast a spell for him, and when he was younger, he was an ace athlete, part of the Hamilton Water Polo Club, which also led him to McMaster, as it had the top water polo team in the country then.
So being out in the bush and on the ponds and lakes suits Waldram just fine in his older years, camera in hand, waiting for the ideal light for the perfect shot – “And wildlife doesn’t always give you the opportunity,” for the perfect shot, he added.
Waldram keeps tabs on migration patterns, and often has his nose in a field guide, but one very useful tool in his arsenal is a phone app called Merlin. He raved, “It’s an amazing app because you can put it on audio ID, and it will identify birds by their songs or calls.”
He’s also joined the Nipissing Naturalist Club to get out with other members of the Bird Wing Group and share insights into bird watching and photography. Each month they have a “bird bash” and hit the woods with binoculars and cameras in hand.
As for the birds, owls are the trickiest to capture in a photo, Waldram noted. He’s travelled to the Ottawa area to get a good shot of a snowy owl. The Northern Saw-whet owl is the most common owl in Canada, Waldram added, but if you can capture it on film, you should also buy a lottery ticket, because the elusive species has yet to be crossed off Waldram’s list.
It’s not unusual for Waldram to travel the region for photos, and last winter, he even packed his cameras and went to Costa Rica for a bird tour. Apparently, these tours are quite popular, with plenty of destinations to choose from. He plans to return this coming March, and capture some of the 900 bird species that call Costa Rica home.
Waldram posts photos to his social media page and they are always well-received by the community. It’s been an interesting journey, as before he stopped drinking, he didn’t even think about photography, and over a short period of time, he’s taken wholeheartedly to the hobby.
As for posting his photos, “The comments I get from the people are wonderful, because you know there’s so much negativity in the media today, and people on social media are always complaining.”
“I just think it’s amazing that I can put my photos out there and make people happy.”
To see more of Waldram’s photos, learn more about his work, or pick up print, visit his site Big Bear Adventure Photography at www.bigbearadventurephotography.ca. He’s also working towards taking out small groups on photography tours, so stay tuned for that.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
