Dalby Photography

In late March of 2016 I found myself ice-climbing 3 pitches up a frozen waterfall near Jasper, Alberta. With hazard all around, I was humming, totally in tune with the present moment. From an adjacent climb, a fellow student named Ayanofrom Japan shouted over to me: Nick! This is good vibrations! There is something intrinsically peaceful in watching a skilled high-liner do their thing. From the energy that is in the air even before they get on the line; to the balance of ...being seated on it; to the power and grace necessary to stand up from a seated position, it all leaves me inspired and just... well, it’s hard to put into words the feeling of an environment like that and what it does to the soul. Good Vibrations. Thank you @asasurfswebb , @taylor_stg , @mountainsonmind , @lj_fiorita , @winterlove007 , @jkmasterline , and @naturallybelli for getting some photos of me flailing about. #exploresquamish #tourismsquamish #explorebc #slacklifebc #highline @slacklifebc

In late March 2016 I found myself ice climbing a few pitches up a frozen waterfall near Jasper, Alberta. With hazard all around, I was humming, totally in tune with the present moment. From an adjacent climb a fellow student named Ayanofrom Japan shouted over to me: Nick! This is good vibrations! There is something intrinsically peaceful in watching a skilled high-liner do their thing. From the energy that is in the air even before they step on the line; to the balance of... being seated on it; to the power and grace necessary to stand up from a seated position, it all leaves me inspired and just... well, it’s hard to put into words the feeling an environment like this brings about the soul. Good vibrations. Thanks @asasurfswebb , @taylor_stg @lj_fiorita @winterlove007 @mountainsonmind @jkmasterline ... and @naturallybelli for the photo of me flailing around on the line. #exploresquamish #tourismsquamish #highline #slacklifebc. @slacklifebc

‘Don’t call it a comeback; it was dark now the sun back.’ #exploresquamish #tourismsquamish ... Photo by @embergner

I met my friend Paula ( @paulazonn ) on Canada Day of this year climbing in Ontario near Collingwood. Despite lots of indoor climbing experience it was just her fourth time climbing outside. On her tenth day climbing outside she climbed The Stawamus Chief first summit (610m or 2000 feet). That is some super-hero shit. ... Photo by @nikomyyra (thank you so much Niko) and edited by me. #shemovesmountains #climbing #squamishadventure #climbing_pictures_of_instagram

‘World at your wingspan.’ Coiling my rope on the summit of the Stawamus Chief yesterday after a long hard day of climbing with a great friend and climbing partner @paulazonn . First photo credit to Paula, thank you, its my very portrait of me. ... Second photo credit to Niko Myyra @nikomyyra , who happened to have hiked to the summit as we topped out our climb. Thanks Niko, means more than you know. All day long. @ Stawamus Chief

Very unique experience today hiking Mt Lady MacDonald. For a few hundred metres (of a 6 or 7 km hike), construction has closed off access to the Lady Macdonald trail that climbs to the summit of Mt Lady MacDonald. Having looked at a satellite image of the area I knew there were adjacent trails and paths that I could use to by-pass the construction and link back up with the main trail. So what is normally a popular, busy summer hike, is now completely empty. I’m the only one up here right now and its quiet and peaceful and shit the views are okay too.

Climbing is life; life is climbing. For a long time now I’ve known the value of my work that I’ve been neglecting over the past years. I was a shooter not an editor. It brought me deep peace knowing there was value in my photos, and knowing that ‘all I had to do’ was sit-down to them and give them the love and attention to detail it required. My brain struggles with paying attention to things I don’t enjoy. But I can get locked-in on things I love with ease. I think the amou...nt of work these photos require to be their best would overwhelm me. I would think of all the photos I have to edit, and all the time each one would take. I was subconsciously scared. They sat untouched for years. But I knew someday they would be finished. Thanks to a new found love, patience, and attention span for the creative process and creativity in general (as well as just better editing skills), the time is now to slowly start digging through all the old unedited work and sharing them with people who have yet to see a majority of what I’ve been sitting on. Because that is climbing and that is life. You can’t look up at the top of a big wall or mountain and be so overwhelmed by the task that you don’t even start climbing. You focus on the first move the one step in front of you. Then the next one; and then the next one. You focus on one step at a time until there are no more steps left to take. And don’t forget to slow things down and enjoy the view when you’re done. Climbing is life; life is climbing. Anyway here’s @kellythor_ navigating the slabby (less steep, nothing to hold onto) top-out of a classic Squamish 5.9 called Joe’s Crack, in the Smoke Bluffs. Squamish, BC, August 18, 2019. #squamish #climbing #climbingphotography #climbing_is_my_passion #outdooradventures #outdooradventurephotos #outdoorphotographer @ Squamish, British Columbia

World at your Wingspan; Let’s get lost inside the cloud. Photo 1: Highliners spread their wings across the North Gully of the Stawamus Chief, Squamish BC, August 19/2019. Photo 2: Birds on a wire, Stoney Creek, Ontario, June 29/2018. ... I’ll be back to my large format printer in a few weeks. If theres a print you’d be interested in having on your wall, feel free to message. That’d be neat. #squamish #highlining #slacklifebc #exploresquamish #fineartphotography #outdooradventures #outdoorphotographer @ Squamish, British Columbia

Happy Birthday Ania @ania_saw . Thanks for slayin’ this set. ... #blackandwhitephotography #portraitphotographer #blackandwhiteportrait See more

The Perks of Being a Wallflower @matthewnarea @iraasal climbin’ at Metcalfe Rock near Collingwood. July 24, 2020. Plus a little self portrait of my shadow while hangin’ about. ... #climbing #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #climbing_is_my_passion #outdooradventurephotos #outdoorphotographer @ Metcalfe Rock See more

Climbing, Love, and a Dog: The Climber’s Ideal Trifecta Andi Stull (@andistull ) and Devan Gutierrez (@devangg ) share a moment of bliss after Devan’s send of Black Magic V13 in Squamish, B.C.. Last July I noticed through instagram that these two California crushers were on their way up to Squamish for a bouldering trip. I messaged and offered to photograph them for a day and was grateful to be invited out. I was able to bring my battery powered studio lighting (thanks @...profotoglobal ), so it was a lot of fun to bring studio lighting to the forests of Squamish. Also sidenote : I was put on to a quote by a friend who shared it on instagram (credit to you if you see this ), and I think if beautifully encapsulates why I love and how I feel about photography : I consider myself neither a poet, composer, or [photographer]. These are merely tools used by sensitive men to carve out a piece of beauty or truth that they hope may lead to peace and salvation. - Gil Scott-Heron. #squamish #squamishbc #explorebc #tourismsquamish #climbing #climbingismypassion #outdooradventures #outdooradventurephotos #adventurephotographer #profoto @profotoglobal @ Squamish, British Columbia See more

Making good use of a mountaineering and photography education. Jay Jillard @jillard.starts.with.jay pebble wrestling at Metcalfe Rock, Collingwood. July 2020. ... #climbing #rockclimbing #liveclimbrepeat #grippedmagazine #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #outdoorphotographer #outdooradventurephotos See more

Lindsay Weber @lindsweber climbing at Metcalfe Rock near Collingwood, July 5, 2020. ... #climblikeagirl #climbgirls #climbing #shemovesmountains #grippedmagazine #outdooradventurephotos #outdoorphotographer #climbingphotography @grippedmagazine See more

@paulazonn and @lindsweber climbing at Metcalfe Rock, Canada Day.

Climbing can be art. I shot this during an in class practice on photographing the school’s architecture. I framed this hallway with it’s diagonal support beams and couldn’t help but add something. From the second floor I set up a 10 second self timer, climbed over a railing, onto a support, beam, and up the window frames. Turned a few heads and craned a few necks of people on the first floor below me. ... #climbing #climbing_pictures_of_instagram See more

Cassey Fevriere (@swayze138 ) in the studio at Niagara College, March 2019, for my portraiture portfolio. Thanks Cassey @ Niagara College Canada

Kennedy Lake, Vancouver Island, August 2018. #fineartphotography #landscapephotography #fineartphotographer #vancouverisland #explorebc @ Vancouver Island

‘Jimbo’ James Olmstead was the youngest climber in our mountaineering skills semester group. At 21, he was a year younger than myself. We were the youngest and also the two most keen rock climbers, having spent a predominant amount of hours in indoor climbing gyms growing up. To say that Jimbo was different would be a laughable understatement. He wore his glacier glasses around Canmore when we weren’t in the mountains; he ate two-dollars worth of sixty-seven cent noodles mo...st days; and one time having forgot his sleeping pad slept multiple nights atop coiled climbing ropes to keep his freezing body off of the glacier we slept on. As most Canadian boys born in the mid-90s might grow up idolizing their favourite sports hero or musical artist; Jimbo grew up reading mountain literature. Idolizing climbing legends like Mark Twight or Barry Blanchard. The latter of which- a resident of Canmore, and part-time guide at the company we were being educated by. Barry was with us for a week, teaching us the in’s & out’s of alpine climbing. There are few people in the world who you’d rather learn from. On May 18, 2016, Jimbo, myself, and our guide Renée were half way up the 800 foot route called Dreambed on Mount Yamnuska. At an ample sized ledge we crossed paths with two other students from the program, being led by Barry himself. Since our attempt at ‘Dreambed’ was proving to be too difficult, the six of us climbers decided we’d climb the final 400 feet of Yamnuska on a more pleasant route to the top. This allowed Jimbo to literally ‘hang out’ with his childhood hero in Barry Blanchard. It was one of my favourite experiences from the semester. Not because I got to climb with Barry Blanchard; but because I got to observe Jimbo fulfill what must have been a lifelong dream to climb with his hero. A man he only used to read about. Barry is also an accomplished writer and story-teller. He has too many climbing achievements to name, but I highly recommend reading any of his novels, as they will have you gripped from start to finish. #mountaineering #climbingphotographer #climbingismypassion #canmorealberta #outdooradventurephotos @ Canmore, Alberta See more