Rural landscapes: grazing under the peaks
KILLARNEY COWS, COUNTY KERRY, IRELAND
A fishing expedition deep into the archives landed this tranquil beauty from my 1993 trip to Ireland. I recall the soft evening light was ideal to capture the grazing cattle. The only problem was a dull, blank off-white sky. So I used Photoshop to improve it – not super-saturated, just something that would be realistic with the overall scene.
Nikon FM2 film camera, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: me and the new day
MORNING POND, GLENBOW RANCH PROVINCIAL PARK, NEAR COCHRANE, ALBERTA
Since opening to the public in 2011, this 3,300-acre park has become a favourite photo locale in any season. Me and my photography equipment visited on a summer dawn with this unnamed pond in mind. I was surprised to find a new viewing platform and, after initially thinking it might ruin any pictures, I found it to be very useful.
After making a few exposures, I decided to put me into the scene and that involved hitting the camera timer, then sprinting to the correct spot. It took a half-dozen attempts to get me in the centre of the scene. And even as I did it, I knew I would process a version of the resulting photo with me in colour and the rest of the composition in monotone.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: canoodling with canola
FARM FIELDS NEAR LONGVIEW, ALBERTA
Mid-July is always canola time for me, when I cruise rural roads to find glowing fields of eye-popping yellow canola on the prairies of this western Canadian province. On that morning, I caught a break; the smoky skies of southern Alberta (caused by wildfires in neighbouring British Columbia) cleared up enough to offer a compelling mix of clouds and blue. The next day was, sadly, smokier than ever.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: alone with the lake
GREAT LAKES SKY, WHITBY, ONTARIO
I was wandering the leafy, restful lakefront grounds of the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences when I spotted a solitary bush/tree against a backdrop of lake and brooding sky.
This kind of minimalism usually makes for compelling pictures and that’s certainly the case here. The composition is so uncluttered that pretty much any kind of sky would have worked. In this scene, the sky offers the only significant colour.
Nikon D7100, tripod and, probably, a graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: the clash of icons
CANOLA AND OIL PUMP NEAR AIRDRIE, ALBERTA
July is canola season on the prairies of western Canada. That’s when I like to drive country roads looking for good compositions that highlight the glowing yellow canola flowers. This scene highlights canola with an icon of Alberta: the oil pump. Love it when they come together. In fact, this scene made for several compelling pictures. Here’s another one: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1kb.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the monotone mountain view
PEAKS ALONG THE ICEFIELDS PARKWAY, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
The light was decent and the sky interesting, so I put a telephoto zoom lens on the camera and captured Rocky Mountain views like this from a viewpoint near the Saskatchewan River crossing. The colour version is good, but going black-and-white increased the drama. A heatwave arrived a few days later and melted many of the snow patches you see here.
Nikon D7100, 70-300 mm. zoom lens, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the flowering of summer
LUPINS, REVELSTOKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
These gorgeous flowers simply grow along the country roads in this mountainous region of western Canada. While on a camping trip, I had fun designing compositions with various colour combinations and arrangements, along with deciding which blooms would be in or out of focus.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: flowing into the canyon
MALIGNE RIVER, JASPER NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
You’re looking at this beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountain river just before it enters an incredible canyon, smashing its way through all kinds of waterfalls and rapids before entering the Athabasca River hundreds of metres below. (Here’s a view of that canyon: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-xL.)
Every time my wife and I visit Jasper, we make sure to check out Maligne Canyon because we just can’t get enough of its raw, incredible beauty.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the tangled beauty of falling water
TANGLE FALLS,
JASPER NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
One of my all-time favourite waterfall subjects, this stunning beauty is all the more remarkable because it’s literally beside the road (the incredible Icefields Parkway). The water you see here flows under the road and down into a valley hundreds of metres below.
I went with black-and-white because, as is so often the case, removing the colour increases the drama. This waterfall is just as gobsmacking with a coat of autumn snow: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-JO (note the difference in the amount of water).
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the flowery meadow
WESTERN WOOD LILLIES, JASPER NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
As I hiked along Maligne Canyon, little splashes of orange kept grabbing my attention, so I pursued them and, upon finding these gorgeous wildflowers, looked for a way to make a compelling landscape image. Was I successful?
Nikon D7100
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Natural landscapes: the pond reflections
SUMMER SLOUGH ALONG THE COWBOY TRAIL, ALBERTA
The Cowboy Trail is 700 kilometres of incredibly scenic driving along the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The southern section is one of my favourite photo locations; there’s never a bad season to experience the foothills, mountains, ranches and waterfalls. (Here’s proof from winter: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-EX.)
This pond grabbed my attention and when I found the right spot, the glowing mix of clouds and blue sky completed the picture.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: the beautiful rocky dawn
SUNRISE LIGHT AT NOSE HILL PARK,
CALGARY, ALBERTA
I’ve spent more than 20 years of my life in this western Canadian city, but I can count on one hand the number of times I bothered to take my photo equipment into this 11-square-kilometre park (the fourth largest urban park in Canada). I just didn’t see it as having much potential.
I decided to challenge that recently and, thanks to a dramatic sunrise and a decent-sized boulder, found some excellent, artistic possibilities that included the city’s downtown skyline. I’ll definitely visit Nose Hill Park again soon. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, enhancing filter, two graduated density (darkening) filters on the sky
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Natural landscapes: have canoe, will travel
PARC NATIONAL DE LA JACQUES-CARTIER, NEAR QUEBEC CITY
The sun was so high in the sky that the light was becoming harsh, so I was soon to end my morning photo outing. But then I hit paydirt – a glowing red canoe with a stunning backdrop of river, forest, mountains and glowing sky. This ended up being one of the best pictures from that 2007 vacation trip, which leads to the question: why did I wait 14 years to show it to you??
This park is a stunner; the Jacques Cartier River flows through a series of steep, forested valleys that can only be called fjords. Here’s another picture of the park: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1zw.
Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the gloriously rocky shore
MEDICINE LAKE, JASPER NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
This wonderfully scenic Canadian Rockies water body has ‘lake’ in the title, but according to Wikipedia, it’s not. Instead, it’s an area in which the Maligne River (flowing from Maligne Lake into the Athabasca River) backs up and suddenly disappears underground. During summer months, when meltwater runoff is high, the river overflows. Much like a bathtub that is filled too fast to drain, Medicine ‘lake’ becomes laden with water until it can slowly empty out through a vast underground drainage system.
Perhaps that’s more information that you need or want, but I find it fascinating. Indeed, scientists used biodegradable dye to discover the underground drainage system is one of the largest in the world. Very cool!
I like the colour version of this picture, but monotone nicely increases the contrast/drama. And deleting colour also removes the evidence of extensive burned trees, all the result of the 2015 Excelsior Wildfire.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the flowery viewpoint
ARROWLEAF BALSAMROOT, NEAR WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
As you approach this park, in the deep southwest of this western Canadian province, you come across this stunning view of prairie fields and forests with a backdrop of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. On this trip, the wildflowers grabbed my attention and one of my photos put everything but the flowers out of focus. This approach meant the gobsmacking vista complemented, rather than competed, with the flowers.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter and, probably, a graduated density (darkening) filter on the peaks and sky.
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Rural landscapes: under the epic sunrise sky
THE VIEW FROM HORSE CREEK ROAD, NEAR COCHRANE, ALBERTA
I was absolutely blessed with a stunning cloudscape that caused me to stop several times to try out various photo compositions. The key was simply to wait for the sun to shine between clouds. This was one of those sublime moments. Thanks, God! 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: joining the river
STREAM FLOWING INTO THE BOW RIVER,
CALGARY, ALBERTA
I crossed a pedestrian bridge over the Bow River, which flows through the centre of this western Canadian city, then I looked back and saw an unnamed stream flowing into the river.
It was a precarious series of steps over and around boulders to get from the pathway above to the river’s edge but, as you can see, well worth the effort. The setting moon added nicely to the overall scene.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, two graduated density (darkening) filters on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: the road to darkness
RANGE ROAD 13, AIRDRIE, ALBERTA
The curve of this prairie road has attracted me and my camera more than once, so when I went searching for images in murky, foggy spring weather, this scene stopped me once again. I used a filter to darken the sky and create a sense of foreboding. Turning everything but the centre lines into black-and-white emphasized the mood I was going for. (That said, you can see the full-colour version here: http://bit.ly/AirdrieRoad.)
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: where the spring flows
WATERFALL AT BIG HILL SPRINGS
PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
One of my reliable photo locations (no matter what the weather or time of year), near my home in Calgary, has been closed for a year for rehabilitation. So I fished back into the archives and found this scene from 2014.
There are nearly a dozen waterfalls of varying sizes and shapes at Big Hill Springs; the viewpoint you see here is so close to the water that I needed a wide-angle lens to take it all in.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the glorious spring sunrise
DAWN AT SOUTH GLENMORE PARK, CALGARY, ALBERTA
I woke up pondering potential photos locales in what was supposed to be a cloudy dawn, but when I saw there would probably be a good sunrise, I rapidly changed plans and drove to the Glenmore Reservoir (the primary source of drinking water for this western Canadian city). As you can see, it was a good decision.
The spindly tree trunk you see here was pointed at me when I arrived at this spot. That wouldn’t work for the photo, so I managed to turn it and create a stronger visual point of interest in the picture’s bottom half.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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