iN PHOTOS: Kamloops man captures beauty of night sky in the wilderness

Kamloops photographer Dennis Kitto is up at all hours of the night alone in the backcountry with his camera taking magical photos of the night sky and peaceful wilderness. “I feel calm out there in the wilds, it’s my happy place where I have the whole world to myself,”...

iN PHOTOS: Kamloops man captures beauty of night sky in the wilderness
Kamloops photographer Dennis Kitto is up at all hours of the night alone in the backcountry with his camera taking magical photos of the night sky and peaceful wilderness. “I feel calm out there in the wilds, it’s my happy place where I have the whole world to myself,” he said. Kitto has captured northern lights, snowy remote lakes and skies full of stars since he picked up his camera three years ago following the passing of his dad.  “My dad was my nature buddy, I grew up hiking and hunting with him,” Kitto said. “When I’m out there alone at night I can talk to him and remember the adventures we had.” Kitto packs a rifle with him in case of animal encounters and while he’s had to scare curious bears off by firing it over his head a few times, he typically scares them away by making noise. “I respect animals and I’m going into their homes wandering around at two in the morning,” he said. “I make noise and let them know I’m coming. Normally you can scare a bear or cougar away by yelling at it.” Sometimes Kitto hikes through the night while other times he sits quietly and reflects on life. His favourite haunts are all around Kamloops and north to Blue River. The photos he takes are often vibrantly colourful. “People ask me how I get such vibrant photos and it helps to have a really good camera,” he said. “My shutter stays open for 30 seconds and it brings in that much more light to a single photo. Finding places away from people and getting photographs of it is rewarding.” Kitto said the photographs he takes are just a bonus to his midnight adventures. “It’s more about being out there, capturing the moments and reconnecting with my dad.” If you have stunning landscape photos to share, send them to news@infonews.ca.  To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .