Snap happy

Other than taking photos of his children when they were young, Austin Maclin of Darnley pretty much lived life without a camera in hand.

But, after moving from Massachusetts to Prince Edward Island permanently six years ago, he simply got snap happy and the resulting scenic and animal photos have earned category prizes in Tourism P.E.I.’s online Picture the Island photo contest and have appeared far and wide as he unofficially promotes his adopted province.

“(Some of it is) pure luck because I’m always outside all the time, having a blast,” Maclin laughs of his shooting luck.

Some days he’s literally chasing rainbows, as was the case for his winning scenic shot of a rainbow arching between some local wind turbines.

Other times he’s getting up close and personal with Island wildlife to capture candid photos.

“I take great pride in getting close to an animal as opposed to using a (zoom) lens to get a close-up shot of an animal,” he says.

One of Maclin’s careers in his earlier years was as a canine instructor for United States military dogs.

“I’ve never been bitten by an animal ever and I’ve trained some of the most ferocious animals in the world,” he says.

Turns out his dog whisperer tendency came in handy when he took up amateur animal photography.

“My thing with animals is that I usually get through a wall called trust and I take great, great pride in my ability to get close to these animals. Like geese, the day that they arrive to a pond or whatever I start talking to them so they get very comfortable with my voice and comfortable with who I am,” he says.

“So when the goslings are born they just let me come right up to them, they couldn’t care less. I have a blast. I have a wonderful time and I get great, great pictures. . . .”

This has resulted in his series of photos that documents a family of geese from the goslings’ birth to their first swim and their inaugural flight.

Maclin has repeated this pattern with other animals such as robins, foxes and even super skittish coyotes as well.

“(Coyotes) spook easy but she trusted me and when she trusted me she brought back her little ones (so I could) take their picture. And I did,” he laughs.

“And I’ve got pictures of robins. I saw a mother going back and forth to a tree so I went and looked and there were little blue eggs in there.”

Maclin documented their progression to birth and beyond.

“I’d stand over the nest and chirp like one of them and take pictures and they’d think I was their mom and all of a sudden their little mouths come open,” he laughs.

Wanting to spread the word of P.E.I.’s beauty, Maclin sent photos to a Boston television station, which aired his sunset and sunrise shots.

They were viewed by Tourism P.E.I. representatives who happened to be in that city at the time.

Tourism P.E.I. has since posted a video of his photos Finding Your Soul on P.E.I., with music by Ross Kennedy of Truro, N.S. to YouTube, as well as A Geese Story which was complied by his friends Dave and Beth Smith.

An Island Fox Story and a photo collection of Princetown United Church have also been posted.

“I’m just somebody who loves animals and loves taking pictures,” Maclin says.