Eloquent Art is the collaboration of three Victoria-based photographers.

Mike Byrne has worked as an independent photographer and filmmaker for over 30 years.  Although he is now based in Victoria, BC,  Mike grew up in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, hiking and skiing, and along the way photographing the famous landscapes and wildlife of the Banff-Canmore-Lake Louise area.  Little did he appreciate how lucky he was to grow up in such an incredible place!

Mike's work has taken him through much of Europe, to Africa, South America, and to 48 American states and all 10 Canadian provinces.  He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, watched a sunset from the Acropolis, dodged howler monkeys in Brazil, explored the Ngorongoro Crater, and marched with soldiers in American Civil War re-enactments.  All in the name of photography.

As part of his work in creating landscape and wildlife photographs, Mike leads small groups on photography tours in Africa, Europe and North America.  These tours offer fabulous opportunities to capture unforgettable images while improving photography skills and learning photo editing techniques.

Leah Gray loves the artistic and technical challenges that must be met each time one creates an image. To capture that essential presence of one’s subject is incredibly fulfilling. Having started out with sports photography many years ago, Leah learned to focus quickly and anticipate the action. Exploring nature, wildlife and other types of photography came about logically. Leah loves looking for new challenges. Contributing to my local photo club (Victoria Camera Club) is another way to share my appetite for photography.

Leah was raised in Alberta and moved to BC in 2009. Over the years she has photographed on three continents, capturing numerous award-winning images. In 2018 Leah entered the world of International Photographic Salons (recognized by the Photographic Society of America) and achieved over 300 acceptances and over 50 other awards including 7 gold medals.

Leah's photographs appear in several different collections including the BC Cancer Centre, the Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site and many private collections.  Her exhibitions include the Sidney Fine Art Show, a solo show at the Metropolis Photo Gallery in Victoria, BC, prints in the Victoria Camera Club print shows, the Oak Bay Library in 2018 and numerous coffee shops.

Steve Smith is a retired Professional Forester who was born on a Thursday. The nursery rhyme told him that “Thursday’s child has far to go”; so he did. Raised mostly in the UK with a few very young years in New Zealand, he also lived in the U.S. before coming to Canada. A well spent youth involved repeated hitch hiking in Europe and his professional career included multiple projects across Canada and in India and S.E. Asia. 

For Steve, photography began in his early teens with a home made darkroom. Later, as the managing partner of a professional services firm, his photography became a means for documenting and illustrating numerous professional reports. Now Steve makes images that express the nature of things as he sees them; wildlife, landscapes and people. He has been pleased to find that his images win awards in international photography competitions.

From rock climbing, mountaineering, skiing, back packing and general travels Steve has seen what an amazing planet we live on. His photography aims to go beyond just looking, to making images that express what he sees.