Natural landscapes: what the camera captures
KICKING HORSE RIVER,
YOHO NATIONAL PARK,
BRITISH COLUMBIA
I was blessed to visit this river shortly after a fresh snowfall, creating a wonderland of photo opportunities as I walked along the river bank. I often like to make a picture of my camera in the scene for social media; in this case the result was so good that I saved it for this website. As an extra creative touch, I converted the picture on the back of the Nikon D7100 into black-and-white. Kinda cool, eh? 🙂
IPhone 8, processed with Photoshop
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Natural landscapes: when November looks like January
SHERBROOKE CREEK,
YOHO NATIONAL PARK,
BRITISH COLUMBIA
I parked on the side of the Trans Canada Highway, near the Alberta-British Columbia border, and waded through 18 inches of snow to reach a viewpoint where I could clearly see the gobsmacking beauty of this mountain stream in late autumn.
There wasn’t much colour in this scene, so it was a no-brainer to go black-and-white. The other thing I had to do was go for a long exposure to make the water silky and help lead your eyes on a diagonal path through the picture.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, two neutral density (darkening) filters
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Urban landscapes: the city wonderland
PRINCE’S ISLAND PARK, CALGARY, ALBERTA
This gorgeous island, on the northern edge of the Calgary’s downtown, is one of my reliable “go-to” photo locales after snowfall. It has lots of pathways winding through tall trees and, if you’re facing south, you can easily add skyscrapers into the mix. I usually get there early in the morning, before any other people arrive, so I can get pictures like this. (Here’s another photo from the same delightful morning: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1ej).
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Urban landscapes: piercing the sunrise sky
CN TOWER AND RAIL LINES, TORONTO, ONTARIO
During a recent trip to Canada’s largest city, I drove over a bridge that afforded this amazing view of rail lines in a canyon of office buildings and condo towers. I made a picture, but it was so close to sunrise that the building and street lights were obscured. So I returned earlier the next morning and was rewarded with this glowing, glittering, glorious scene.
I like the colour version (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/YYZdawn), but knew it would be even more dramatic in monotone. Was I right? 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod
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Rural landscapes: grabbing hold of the wind
WIND TURBINES NEAR PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA
Southern Alberta is one of the windiest places in Canada, so it’s no surprise that the landscape is dotted with hundreds of turbines. I’ve discovered lots of people intensely dislike them — especially as they’re not the solution to producing “clean” energy that some of their proponents claim — but turbines make an intriguing subject for landscape photography.
Nikon D90, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Wildlife: the peaceful autumn moment
MALE MALLARD, LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA, WHITBY, ONTARIO
The waterfowl at this peaceful place east of Toronto are accustomed to human presence, so they didn’t bother much with me and my camera. The result, on my first digital camera, is one of my best wildlife pictures.
I did a lot of processing work to achieve what you’re looking at. Cloned out a lot of tiny bits of dirt and fluff in the water. Also replaced the duck’s distracting and disturbing red-eye with a cloned bit of the duck’s feathers. Worked pretty well, eh?
Nikon D50, fill-flash (to illuminate the duck’s underside), tripod.
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Rural landscapes: the early winter landscape
HAY ROLLS, FOOTHILLS AND ROCKY MOUNTAINS, NEAR BLACK DIAMOND, ALBERTA
I was blessed to be able to get outwith my photography equipment right after a late autumn snowfall decorated the glorious landscapes south of Calgary. On a morning like this, it was hard to make a bad photo and I wandered along random country roads to find many compelling scenes.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the flow of autumn water
RAPIDS ON THE ONAPING RIVER, NEAR SUDBURY, ONTARIO
While in this central Ontario city for work, a colleague graciously drove me to this river, which is well known for a spectacular waterfall. I photographed that waterfall, then moved up the river to find many other photogenic spots where the river flows over Canadian Shield rock. This was one of those spots and I went monotone to highlight the drama of whitewater and dark rock.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, neutral density (darkening) filter.
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Natural landscapes: in the colourful shade
AUTUMN LEAVES, WATSON STREET PARK, LONDON, ONTARIO
Following the paths in this urban park guided me to a surprise wetland. This was one of the pictures I made there; I like how the background is brighter than the leaves, but the leaves retain detail and colour. The shallow depth of field was vital here, to make the background a gentle wash of colour that helps the leaves stand out.
Nikon D7100, tripod, 70-300-mm. zoom lens, fill-flash, (probably) a polarizing filter
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Natural lanscapes: the sunny autumn viewpoint
FALL LEAVES AND CANADIAN SHIELD ROCK, SUDBURY, ONTARIO
While in this city on a work trip, a colleague and I visited Ramsay Lake, one of 30 lakes surrounding Sudbury, and found all sorts of colourful leaves with water drops.
I followed his lead, carefully picked up some particularly good leaves, then carried them around until finding a compelling scene to highlight them.
I went for a shallow depth of field so the lake and horizon would complement, rather than compete, with the leaves.
Nikon D7100, polarizing filter
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Urban landscapes: the ancient cathedral
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, DUBLIN, IRELAND
During our 2017 European cruise ship vacation, I had most of a day to myself to roam through downtown Dublin and make pictures. Finding the city’s cathedrals was at the top of my list and one look at this photo tells you why.
I was truly blessed to be permitted to use my tripod, since a six-second exposure was required to capture this dimly lit scene. Here’s the picture in colour: https://bit.ly/IrishCathedral
According to Wikipedia, the basis of the present St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built between 1191 and 1270, though little now remains of the earliest work beyond the baptistry. It was a Roman Catholic church until about 1537, when the English Reformation (under King Henry VIII) caused it to become Anglican.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Wildlife: preparing for winter
PIKA AT LAKE LOUISE, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I fished back into the archives and landed this photo from October 2007. According to Wikipedia, pikas prefer rocky slopes and graze on grasses, flowers, and young stems. In the autumn, they pull hay, soft twigs, and other stores of food into their burrows to eat during the long, cold winter. Pikas are also known as the “whistling hare” for their high-pitched alarm call when diving into their burrows.
At Lake Louise, these creatures are quite accustomed to people. In fact, I recall this little guy often came so close to me that my lens couldn’t focus on him (her?). Oh, and the white-ish spots you see in the photo? That’s autumn snow! Nikon D50
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Natural landscapes: the intimate colours of fall
AUTUMN LEAVES AT BIG HILL SPRINGS PROVINCIAL PARK,
NEAR COCHRANE, ALBERTA
After the splashy colours and dramatic sunshine of my previous autumn leaves post, I decided to go the opposite direction and present you with subtle hues, soft lighting and a very uncluttered composition.
It seems restful and contemplative, doesn’t it? 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: autumn’s red world
FALL MAPLE LEAVES,
TORONTO, ONTARIO
I was in Canada’s largest city a little too early to enjoy peak autumn colours, but I still found a few highlights like this maple tree near my parents’ condo apartment.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: basking in the glory of sunrise
AUTUMN DAWN ON THE OLDMAN RIVER, NEAR FORT MACLEOD, ALBERTA
I was driving in the southern end of this western Canadian province, aiming for Waterton Lakes National Park, when the sunrise started looking very promising. Then I crossed the bridge over the river, saw the possibilities and quickly did a U-turn. The next half-hour was spent capturing the river and sky in various ways, including this one. It was heavenly! 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the intimate colours of autumn
FALL LEAVES, EMERALD LAKE, YOHO NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
I don’t have many autumn pictures from Canada’s westernmost province, so I’m glad to find one to show you. I hiked around this spectacular Rocky Mountain lake and found many close-up opportunities like this in the light of morning. What a blessing it is to be shown this small examples of God’s artistic handiwork. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, fill-flash and (probably) a polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: the stunning autumn morning
RANGE ROAD 30, MILLARVILLE, ALBERTA
The rolling hills southwest of Calgary are awash in cottonwoods, aspens and poplars and, come the end of September, they all turn glorious shades of yellow and orange. I was blessed to find this section of road with a particularly colourful stretch of trees, made even more compelling by the warm early-morning sun. This spot is just a kilometre away from the Millarville Race Track, which has often been used in the long-running CBC-TV drama Heartland.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the pools of autumn
PONDS ALONG BLAKISTON CREEK,
WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I wanted to go beyond the usual fall calendar-style photos showing gigantic swaths of colour and, often, not much else. This one fit the bill for me, even though I know it won’t be all that popular.
I was intrigued by the series of pools near the creek and the group of leaves in this one made me stop and make a photo. I like that there’s something of interest in every part of this composition.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Natural landscapes: the ocean of autumn yellow
LARCH VALLEY
BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
This place – a nine-kilometre return hike from the parking lot – is justifiably one of the most popular autumn hikes in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Once you arrive (a challenging 500-metre climb with many switchbacks), you’re greated by thousands of flourescent yellow/orange larches. Normally green, they change colour and then drop their needles each fall.
I liked this perspective, with the distant mountainside in the background, then found a giant boulder to climb on and gain additional height.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: me and the autumn peaks
LARCH VALLEY PEAKS, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
These gigantic mountains tower over the end of Larch Valley, one of the most popular and spectacular autumn hikes in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. All those orangy-yellow larch trees aren’t dead; like their cousin the tamaracks of eastern North America, they simply shed their needles in the autumn. The lack of a strong element in the bottom half of the scene caused me to put myself into the photo, setting the timer on the camera, then running back and forth several times until I liked where I was in the composition.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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