From a rare view of the Milky Way and the Northern Lights taken in a single frame in Iceland, to a breath-taking panorama of a bright blue ice cave in Antarctica, photographer Rick Vyrostko’s exhibition at the Niagara Pumphouse inspires viewers “to get back out there and start travelling again.”

“Travel Inspirations,” the November show in the Joyner Gallery, offers a glimpse into some of the Niagara-on-the-Lake photographer’s favourite spots.

He has visited more than 46 countries and the collection features images of unique global locations selected to show why a “journey to these places is worth taking.”

Through his art, Vyrostko wants to “elicit a sense of awe and wonder of a new location, to make people curious about it” and maybe add it to their travel list.

“My dream is that through my images, I can create a desire for anyone looking at them to say ‘Wow! I need to see that place for myself.’ ”

For viewers who have already visited the scene featured in the photo, Vyrostko hopes to help bring back to them the memories and sensations from their travel experience.

He said he is driven by an “insatiable love and curiosity of the world and desire to explore and capture as much of its beauty as I can.”

Vyrostko is predominately a still life photographer and he combines the use of professional equipment with traditional photographic techniques to capture and refine a photo that results in his fine art images.

He describes it as a “visually captivating, bold and dynamic image that straddles the line between the realistic and artistic enhanced impression of a given scene.”

Born and raised in Welland, Vyrostko divides his time between Niagara-on-the-Lake and Toronto.

Photography has been his lifelong passion and he deals with a versatile range of subjects including travel, architecture and nature.

His exhibit is on until Nov. 27 and the public is invited to an opening reception on Sunday, Nov. 6 from 2 to 4 p.m. and to meet Vyrostko in person.

For those interested in learning more about the stories behind some of the captivating images in the show, he is hosting a lecture called “Travel Photography: Antarctica and the Stories Behind the Photos” on Sunday, Nov. 27.

Registration for the talk is available through the niagarapumphouse.ca website.