Fundy Rocks

This group represents Rockhounding Adventures, scenic photo excursions and hiking on the shores of Nova Scotia’s Blomidon Peninsula and along the Bay of Fundy. We are outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy the adventure of searching for world-class agates, amethysts, and other minerals found along these shores in all seasons, capturing the awe-inspiring beauty of these shores with photography. FUNDY ROCKS: OUR MISSION We encourage safe, environmentally friendly rockhounding, hiking, and photographic excursions. Our goal is to promote the incredible beauty here in the Upper Bay of Fundy and around the Minas Basin. We advise inexperienced hikers and rockhounds about rock-finding sites, tidal and cliff dangers, equipment needs, and what rocks to look for along the Fundy Shore. We can help you plan your Rockhounding vacations too and make suggestions based on your specific abilities and interests. We recommend those who will guide inexperienced hikers to and from difficult sites and sometimes we take individuals and groups on rockhounding and photographic treks. We provide top-quality photographs of Nova Scotia minerals and specimen rocks. We provide photographic images of the Fundy Shores, especially from hard-to-access and sometimes dangerous and always exciting viewpoints. We promote enjoyment of the outstanding beauty of the Bay of Fundy and its shores as a Natural component of physical, psychological and spiritual well being. We promote hiking, rockhounding and scenic photography through educational presentations in schools, museums, Mineral Clubs and Parks. [For two years we have presented at Blomidon Provincial Park and taken as many as 40 on a Blomidon Shoreline hike.] THE PHOTOGRAPHY Although David worked extensively in photography during and after university, it is a new skill for Chris, who started in the past year. The photos are all taken with amateur equipment—a digital Canon SX20 IS Power Shot—(although we are in transition to professional equipment). The rigors of carry many pounds of rocks & camera equipment into and out of hard-to-reach spots along the Fundy shore, means that Chris had no room for extra lenses and filters, and rarely used even a tripod! (Most tripods won’t stand the rugged, rocky shores and climbs up and down cliffs, although we now have a top-notch Manfrotto built for the tasks) There are photographic limitations using amateur equipment, but as a novice photographer it has been a tremendous learning curve for Chris, with excellent results as he learns the craft. He is now developing skills in using filters for the landscape work, which likely means more camera equipment and fewer rocks to carry on future hikes! FUNDY ROCKS is not a commercial enterprise, although we have sold specimens to world renowned mineral collectors. Some of our Golden Flame Agates have gone to the museum of natural history in Ottawa and to a famous mineral sculptor in Germany. We do sell photographic images. We do not accept payment for taking people on hikes. FUNDY ROCKS is also interested in donating rough jewelery grade agates to Artists who want to have the opportunity to work with rare local materials. PRESENTATIONS AND EXHIBITS As a group we have offered presentations in Parks, schools and to mineral clubs and other groups. Fundy Rocks has most recently put together an exhibit of photography and exceptional rock specimens. Guided field trips for Rockhounds, photographers and other explorers may also be arranged. Please contact Fundy Rocks for more information. ABOUT THE FUNDY ROCKS CREATORS CHRIS SHEPPARD Chris Sheppard is the driving force behind Fundy Rocks, created in 2011 to promote hiking, rock collecting and outdoor photography. Chris is a classically trained actor who graduated from Acadia University and from Circle in the Square in New York City. He has been a professional pastry designer and chef at a fine dining establishment in Halifax, and now counsels and instructs clients at The Flower Cart in New Minas. Three years ago, after returning to his home town of Wolfville, he began hiking, then rockhounding and now is emerging as a photographic artist, combining all three hobbies. He has been taking photos and teaching himself photography for less than a year. The photographs and rocks in this Show all are made or found by Chris. David E. Sheppard David is a retired literature teacher who taught at Horton High School for 36 years. After retiring, he spent 18 months in the UK, where he hiked and travelled, writing an 87-Chapter travel/history/literature blog about his adventures. His re-introduction to hiking, given up after his teens when he spent several months hiking around Europe, was in 2010, when his son and other rockhounds took him down the 500-foot ropes to Amethyst Cove. Now limited to easily accessible sites, David is the Chronicler, Photo Editor, Archivist and Organizer for Fundy Rocks, which already has a catalogue of several thousand photographs of mineral specimens and photos from the nearly 300 Bay of Fundy hikes Chris has taken in under three years.