Pemberton photographer Polek Rybczynski saw the light and decided he wanted to share it.
Rybczynski took on a passion project in 2014, to shoot one photograph per day around the Pemberton Valley, and spent 2015 turning the results into a coffee table book called Valley of Light.
"The idea came from a desire to focus on a project, to give my mind some focus because I was doing too much and watering down myself too much. I came across an American photographer who had an accident and as part of his rehab he shot one photo a day... I was really inspired by it," he says.
"Pemberton is such a beautiful place and I thought I'd do it here.
"The big goal of the book is to inspire people who look at these images and have them step outside. They can find these little, wonderful details of where we live. I want them to be inspired by nature."
Rybczynski now hopes to raise $24,000 with a campaign on Indiegogo to cover the costs of printing 1,500 copies of the book.
"Photography is an art and the project explores Pemberton that way," he says.
"It is an exploration of light and how the sun travels through the valley. Wherever I look around, there is so much to show. Each photo was added to a blog I kept over the course of the project."
The subjects range from large-scale landscapes, to close-ups of insects, to detailed light and shadows in nighttime shots.
"The coffee table book will use all of the photos," he says. "We've proofed it and I think it looks great apart from a little fine-tuning to complete it."
It was important for Rybczynski to post Valley of Light online.
"It was a form of accountability. I wanted to use it to see myself through the year... I worried whether three, four or seven months down the road I'd be able to hold myself accountable for the full year. Sharing it with others was my way to keep going," he says.
While he was able to hone his photo skills, there were other benefits that were less expected.
"It was a meditative process," Rybczynski says. "I was able to have more impact on what I was doing because of it."
His son was born in that year and Rybczynski found the wonder of being a father became part of the story of his photos.
"It's such a transformative time and it was great to capture it," he says.
The Indiegogo campaign ends on March 12. Check it out on www.igg.me/at/valleyoflight/x/222244.
"I will start by self-publishing it, but to have it ultimately picked up by a publishing company would be awesome," he says.
To see Rybczynski's photo blog visit www.valleyoflight.wordpress.com.
