About Me:

First off, thank you for visiting my website! My name is Mike McCumber and I am an artist and explorer specializing in landscape and nature photography. I was born and raised in London, Ontario, Canada; a city located a few hours away from Toronto. As a young child and youth, I spent almost all of my free time in the local forests exploring and observing nature. The small creek that ran behind my childhood home first ignited my passion and interest in nature and offered my first real look into our beautiful and truly magical ecosystem. As a young adult I began to explore my mind as well as my local physical surroundings, I noticed very early on, that I needed some sort of creative outlet to express the confusing and passionate feelings about what I ‘observed’ in nature. I got my first camera in my late teens and began with wildlife photography, shooting lots of birds, bugs, and local wildlife; whatever I could really, while being so close to the city. My vision began to broaden slowly, as I became captivated by the places I would go to find these animals and bugs. One morning, after wanting to take some photos of deer, and learning that they are most active in the early mornings and evenings; I set out for a sunrise hike along a local river in a forest. I was greeted by one of the most beautiful sunrises I had ever seen. The sky was filled with beautiful vibrant pink and purple clouds, as the warm orange sun slowly rose along the horizon, illuminating a frost covered forest floor. A slight fog slowly meandered through the tree lines and along the winding river through the forest. At one moment, everything came together and looked like a painting, the frost, the fog, the river, the trees, the beautiful sunrise, everything in combination made for a magical moment and image. This was the moment that sparked my passion for ‘landscape' photography. I began to chase these scenes ever since. But, where I was located in Ontario, there was not much ‘landscape’ to shoot, so I relied very heavily on weather and lighting conditions to create captivating images. This meant a lot of very early mornings, and uncomfortable shooting conditions, which was not ideal. It is very easy to become envious in the realm of landscape photography while viewing the works of others and the ‘locations’ they shoot. I loved photos of waterfalls, coastlines, mountains, caves, the remote stuff, the stuff that looks like fairytales; but this did not exist around me. I really struggled to capture what I envisioned and wanted to portray with my own photography work, given my location. A few years ago, my family and I decided to take advantage of the COVID real-estate market and make a move. At 35 years of age, I quit my cushy job, sold my cushy, cute little home and property, bought an RV, and hit the road with 3 cats and a toddler; headed west. It was the adventure of a lifetime to say the least. About a year and a half ago, we bought a home and settled in on Vancouver Island; and it is here where I feel my photography journey has really flourished. Vancouver Island offers some of the most diverse and unique landscape and photo opportunities on planet earth. From rugged coastlines, ancient old growth forests, snow peaked mountains & waterfalls to intimate geological terrain, wildlife and sea-life diversity beyond imagination. Since arriving on the Island, I have been exploring the more remote areas, far away from tourists and people. I have recently enjoyed including a human element in my imagery (often self-portraits) to show the true scale and give perspective of the massive areas and enormous beauty of the Island. This website is dedicated to my time on the Island and what I have captured thus far. After many requests, I have decided to offer guided photo tours as well as offer high quality fine art images and prints for purchase. I hope to continue to showcase the true beauty of nature and the planet we live on. I also strive to teach others how they too can take images like these and provide them with ‘adventures of a lifetime’ in some of the most remote and beautiful places on the planet. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and visit my website. I truly thank you!