Iqaluit (July 17/06) - If you can't be there, the next best thing is having a photo - a good photo.

Many Nunavummiut love travelling across this vast land and marvelling at the spectacular vistas from hilltops and shorelines.

Taking a camera along on the trip, to record panoramas and wildlife for posterity, seems to be a growing trend.

Mosie Pudloo of Iqaluit has been shooting pictures for more than 20 years.

Enamoured by the territory's landscapes, she said she has taken "tons and tons" of photos of local geography.

"It's beautiful out there," she stated.

Markosie Aningmiuq, who has lived in Qikiqtarjuaq and Iqaluit over the past few years, said he can't believe how quickly the weather changes, casting different lights and effects on the landscapes.

His favourite photo is of a towering, silhouetted inuksuk, back-lit by the sun.

"I was glad that I just happened to be at the right place, right time because right after I took the pic, the foggy weather just completely blanketed the community and its surroundings," he recalled.

Over in Rankin Inlet, Arsene Kaput said he also tries to remember to grab his camera for his outings.

He was grateful he had it with him while out on a boat and spotted several beluga whales rising from the water nearby. He snapped away.

"It was such an amazing picture that it seemed like a professional photographer took it," he said excitedly.

Kaput would like to parlay his photography hobby into a career someday, he said. Rapidly evolving digital cameras are attracting a whole new generation of shutter bugs.

Like so many other photographers, Pudloo has made the transition from film to digital.

Now shooting with a Fuji FinePix S5200, she noted that she no longer has to fork out money for film.

She also enjoys the option of enhancing her digital photos using computer software.

It can still be an expensive proposition, though.

Aningmiuq said he has lost track of how much he has shelled out for his Kodak camera and related gadgets. But it is user-friendly and he's pleased with his gear, he said.

Besides, he will always get great satisfaction when he looks at that image of the inuksuk.