Rural landscapes: the spring country road
MT. YAMNUSKA, BOW VALLEY PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
I drove deep into the Canadian Rockies on a fruitless search for landscapes with snowy trees. But on the way back home, I was blessed with ideal conditions on the very edge of the mountains. This is one result of that wonderously wintery early spring day.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the stunning sunrise light
DAWN ALONG THE ICEFIELDS PARKWAY, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I don’t know the name of these peaks, but I see them every time I drive the parkway. On this morning, the first light of dawn forced me to stop and record the stunning beauty. The colour version is wonderful (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/BanffSnowyMountains) but, as is so often the case, going black-and-white increases the drama.
Nikon D7100, 70-300 mm. zoom lens, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: will it open in spring?
MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD, NEAR BALA, ONTARIO
I visited the archives and found this scene from about 15 years ago. The Muskoka region is renowned for its charming lakes and landscapes, to the point where it’s a summer cottaging haven for the uber-rich.
I was wandering nameless country roads when I found this homestead. It was a challenge to find a compelling composition until I stepped behind these trees and found what I hope is a good mix of near and far.
Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: The St. Patrick’s place
GIANT’S CAUSEWAY, COUNTY ANTRIM, IRELAND
This incredible tourist attraction, on the north coast of the island, is made up of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. My wife and I visited on a blustery, wet day in 2017 and before the rain resumed, I managed to find compositions like this to show you.
Ireland is my favourite place on this planet. I have some Irish roots (being born in what was then an Irish hamlet in the province of Quebec), I feel more at home there than anywhere else. Here’s another scene from the same incredible stretch of coastline: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1N7.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: a capful of snow
WINTER AT EMERALD LAKE, YOHO NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Because it’s on the western side of the Great Divide, this western Canadian lake usually receives a heaping pile of snow every winter. That means more often the not, the trees are laden down with snow, making for great ‘winter wonderland’ pictures.
That was certainly the case during this visit. And that snow-capped rock made for a great focal point. There was almost no colour in the scene, so going black-and-white was a no-brainer to increase the drama.
Nikon D7100, tripod
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Rural landscapes: wrapped in a blanket of white
SNOWY HAY ROLLS NEAR DRUMHELLER, ALBERTA
Hay rolls always grab my attention when I’m roaming around this western Canadian province. Their perfect roundness is such a contrast to the surrounding landscapes that it often makes for compelling pictures.
That was certainly the case here, where prairie winds cast an artful blanket around this roll.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: under the mountain sky
ALONG THE COWBOY TRAIL, NEAR PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA
I couldn’t tell if this was a house or maybe some kind of business. But its setting, under a compelling foothills sky, stopped me in my tracks. This section of the Cowboy Trail is among the most spectacular drives I’ve ever made in this western Canadian province, especially in winter.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: parked for your pleasure
ANTIQUE TRACTOR NEAR LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA
I’m a sucker for old vehicles and the glowing late-afternoon light on this snowy tractor caused me to stop my travels and explore the photographic possibilities. I couldn’t eliminate the distant buildings, so I reduced their contrast and put them out of focus in order to fade them into the background as much as possible.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: beauty in the low-flow
KANANASKIS RIVER, KANANASKIS COUNTRY, ALBERTA
Controlled by a dam upstream, this picturesque Rocky Mountain river can often flow quite low. That was the case when I visited on a frigid day (temperature: -20C). Fortunately, a layer of snow cleaned up the scene and left the water open enough to make pictures like this possible. Look carefully in the distance and you’ll see mist coming off the river.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: the glorious fenceline view
PRAIRIE CANYONS NEAR DRUMHELLER, ALBERTA
About 90 minutes’ drive from my Calgary home are these amazing badlands and prairies landscapes around Drumheller. I did several takes on fence-and-snowy-canyon pictures from this spot. It was a tough pick to finally decide on this one.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter and, probably, a graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Urban landscapes: one of the intriguing levels
EDMONTON CONFERENCE CENTRE, EDMONTON, ALBERTA
I went fishing in the archives and pulled this fascinating example of modern architecture onto the boat from back in 2012. I was in this western Canadian city for a trade show and had time to explore the conference centre, which opened in 1983. It’s an intriguing structure, built into a giant slope that, eventually, makes its way down to the North Saskatchewan River.
There are ten levels with water features, escalators and windowed ceilings – about 70 percent of the $82 million centre is underground – so I had a great time.
Nikon D90, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: the fickleness of late winter
CHINOOK MELTING IN
WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK,
ALBERTA
Chinooks – warm, blustery wind that blows in from the west – are quite common along the front ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. In a matter of hours, chinooks can transform a wintery landscape into a warm and wet spring melt.
I liked the patterns created by this melt and spent considerable time working them into what I hope are interesting images like this.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the snowy mountainscape
WINTER IN THE BOW VALLEY, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
Morant’s Curve is a Canadian Rockies photo location made famous by the curving train tracks running through a breathtaking mountain valley. These peaks (anyone know their names? I couldn’t find out) are across the valley.
I was blessed to visit right after a significant snowfall – and before wind blew all the snow off the trees. This is truly an incredible place amidst the silence of a winter morning. I like the subtle colour version (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/SnowyMountainDawn), but knew it would make a dramatic black-and-white picture. Was I right?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Rural landscapes: the frosty winter fence
FRIGID WEATHER NEAR GLENBOW RANCH PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
The temperature was -25C – perfect conditions to make authentic winter pictures, so out I went with the camera. It was so, SO cold that I couldn’t spend much time outside of the car. Thankfully, this beautiful scene was beside the road, so I had time to make several photos. This is the best of the bunch.
Nikon D7100, tripod, fill-flash (to make the fence ‘pop’ against the background)
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Natural landscapes: winter’s touch on the badlands
DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK,
NEAR BROOKS, ALBERTA
I was hoping to find more snow at this remarkable place (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) on the prairies of western Canada. But even a bit is better than nothing to show what badlands are like in winter.
The park is well known for being one of the richest dinosaur fossil locales in the world. Almost 60 species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums around the globe.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: when ice and sunrise meet
THE BOW RIVER AT DAWN, COCHRANE, ALBERTA
It was a pretty cold morning, but I don’t recall much wind so it wasn’t hard to spend close to an hour working with all the ice formations along this western Canadian river. My biggest challenge, other than darkening the increasingly bright sky, was staying upright on some pretty slippery sections of ice.
Nikon D7100, tripod, enhancing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the artistry of ice
WINTER AT ABRAHAM LAKE, ALBERTA
This man-made lake in the Canadian Rockies is famous for the methane that produces cascades of stunning ice bubbles. I wasn’t there at quite the right time (a recent melt obscured many bubbles), but still managed to find compelling scenes like this.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, one or two graduated density (darkening) filters on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the frigid beauty of a winter morning
OLDMAN RIVER AND HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE, LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA
The fog coming off the river makes it clear just how cold it was that morning. But I was able to withstand it simply because the photo opportunities are usually abundant in bitter winter conditions and that was certainly the case here.
The low southeast sun created loooooong shadows and, eventually, I saw the value of putting my shadow into one of the compositions. That distant railroad bridge is one of the longest in North America. Here’s a closer view: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-22h.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Natural landscapes: welcome to the new day
WINTER SUNRISE, VERMILION LAKES,
BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
It’s easy to understand why this is one of the most popular sunrise photography locations in the Canadian Rockies. Hot spring water feeds this part of the lake and so it stays ice-free no matter how frigid the winter day.
Every time I’ve visited here, other folks are there with their cameras and tripods set up to capture the new day. That was the case this time, but I still found a good, unoccupied spot to make this picture.
Nikon D7100, tripod, enhancing filter, two graduated density (darkening) filters on the sky.
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Check out my coffeetable book “BLUE SYMPHONY: Winter in the Canadian Rockies”: http://bit.ly/kFb3Xw
Natural landscapes: flowing through the snowy landscape
SINCLAIR CREEK, KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
I liked the curve of the stream and the mix of rocks and white water, until I looked at the resulting picture in my camera viewer. Then I thought “meh, big deal.” When I got home, uploaded all the photos into my desktop and looked again, the minimalism of the composition really grabbed me. The only colour was the rocks, so I knew I’d create a monotone version to remove the colour distraction. (That said, here is the colour version for you to compare: https://bit.ly/SinclairCreekWinter.)
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, neutral density (darkening) filter
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