Natural landscapes: when the snows of October arrive
SNOWY TREE TRUNK AND WETLANDS, NEAR EXSHAW, ALBERTA
After a Friday night snowfall that put about two inches of snow in Calgary, I headed out before dawn to find snowy landscapes in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Going west, I encountered at least six inches of snow – along with recurrent squalls – in scenes like this.
Might be hard to believe that snow can arrive this early, but it can happen year-round in the mountains and foothills of Alberta. The scene had almost no colour, so it was a no-brainer to make the picture black-and-white.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: dawn at the dam
GHOST LAKE AND DAM, NEAR COCHRANE, ALBERTA
I was heading west of my Calgary home to photograph autumn ponds-and-new-snow landscapes when I drove along the edge of this lake and saw the beautifully lit dam and the sky beginning to glow with the first light of day.
So I parked at the picnic area and spent the next half-hour making a variety of loooong exposure pictures. This composition is one of the best. If you enlarge the photo, you’ll see the boats on the left are quite blurry because they were gently rocking through the entire exposure.
PS: the pod pier isn’t white. That’s snow.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: flowing through fall
MANUELS RIVER, CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, NEWFOUNDLAND
The Avalon Peninsula, in this eastern Canadian province, is filled with astonishing ocean views, rivers and waterfalls. This river has a stunning set of cascades of which I made many pictures, but then I wandered through the shoreline forest until finding a spot that featured this charming view.
A loooong exposure smoothed out the flowing water and highlighted the little rapids. Like all the rivers in Newfoundland, this one flows directly into the Atlantic Ocean. Here’s another view of Manuels River, made on the same day: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1oc.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: along the autumn river
OLDMAN RIVER, MAYCROFT PROVINCIAL RECREATION AREA, ALBERTA
I took a road off the highway that I expected to take me further into the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, but instead it led me to a picnic area with this photogenic overview of the river and surrounding landscape. I have a similar picture showing the horizon and sky, but this composition puts greater emphasis on the colourful foliage.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: autumn on the epic landscape
DRIVING A COUNTRY ROAD NEAR THE COWBOY TRAIL, ALBERTA
There are plenty of nameless dirt roads running off the Cowboy Trail and I took one in hopes of finding compelling fall photos. It was while returning to the trail that I spotted this distant vista.
A telephoto lens drew the scene closer and eliminated the hazy, distracting sky. I actually waited for the occasional vehicle to pass so I could include one for scale.
Nikon D7100, tripod, 70-300 mm. zoom lens, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: a walk in the autumn city
FALL AT BOWNESS PARK, CALGARY, ALBERTA
It was a quiet, peaceful weekday when I visited the ponds and giant trees in this western Canadian park. I liked the leaves scattered along the pond shore, so I added to the effect by grabbing handfuls of nearby leaves and tossing them into the scene.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: framed in colourful glory
AUTUMN AT SHEEP RIVER PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
After living in southern Alberta for over a decade, I only discovered this amazing park this year. One spot features an incredible lookout over a canyon and distant peaks. I spent nearly an hour here, finding good photos despite the overcast conditions. The Sheep River is fed by nearly 20 creeks and streams. In turn, it provides water for three towns south of Calgary.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscape: the autumn place of worship
ST. PETER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, COCHRANE, ALBERTA
I’ve considered photographing this very attractive church many times over the years, but was always thrown off by the distracting powerlines angling down the hill behind the building. Seeing the nearby trees aglow with autumn colour finally convinced me to give it a try.
Once I got the jpeg into photoshop, I carefully used a cloning tool to remove all the powerlines. Glad to see that there’s no way to figure out where they were. Now there’s nothing to distract you from enjoying the beauty of architecture and the setting. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: autumn’s surreal touch
STREAM THROUGH THE FOREST, PORTUGAL COVE, NEWFOUNDLAND
I wanted to soften the flow of the creek through a long exposure, but the weather on that day in 2018 was so windy that I couldn’t freeze the movement of the shrubs and trees. But no matter; I got the silky water I wanted and the blurry leaves add a very different, almost surreal, touch to the scene.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: tiny moments of autumn glow
FALL LEAVES, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I went on what was for me an epic hike – a 16-kilometre round trip – behind Lake Louise in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Just a few kilometres in, I discovered this shrub with colours that were practically fluorescent, and it stopped me for the next 20 minutes. It intrigued hikers who were walking past; they couldn’t figure out what I was photographing until I let them look in the viewfinder. Then they were gobsmacked. 🙂
Because of the soft, featureless grey background, this photo looks like it could have been made in a studio. But what you’re seeing is an out-of-focus shallow pool of greyish water, made so by suspended particles of glacial matter.
Nikon D7100, 70-300 mm. zoom lens, tripod, polarizing filter
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my NEW coffeetable book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
