Natural landscapes: wetting a frozen line
ICE FISHING ON UPPER KANANASKIS LAKE, PETER LOUGHEED PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
Yes, this is usually what the Canadian Rocky Mountains look like as spring arrives. It will be at least another month before spring physically arrives here. After making this photo, I returned to the same viewpoint in mid-summer to capture the scene at sunrise: http://wp.me/p2ccTX-xQ
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: photographing the orca
TOURISTS AND ORCA WHALE STATUE, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
I was in this west coast city for the Greater Vancouver Festival of Hope and didn’t bring my tripod because the weather was supposed to be cloudy and rainy the entire three days. Then this happened on the second day. *Sigh*. Oh well; just walking around the glorious downtown and hand-holding my Nikon D7100 still led to photos like this.
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Rural landcapes: the BIG view
HAYROLLS AND PRAIRIES, NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
I’m constantly amazed that I live within a 10-minute drive of scenes like this, which are etched in the consciousness of Canadians when they think of western Canada. I went with a shallow depth of field so the focus would be on the near hayroll, yet all the background is still sharp enough to let your imagination roam through it, starting with the distant hayrolls (which serve as a secondary point of visual interest).
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: on the edge of spring
SNOW AND SLOUGH, COWBOY TRAIL, ALBERTA
The Cowboy Trail is another, more lyrical name for Hwy. 22, which runs south through incredibly scenic ranching country in the Rocky Mountain Foothills. Outside of the mountain national parks (such as Banff), it’s one of my favourite drives and almost always yields many memorable compositions. In this case, I waded through snow to capture the drowning fence. When the sloughs are no longer ice-covered, you know spring is not far away.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the brooding river
OTTAWA RIVER BEACH, DEEP RIVER, ONTARIO
I’ve made so, so many photographs over the years that I’m often discovering forgotten gems. I like to think this scene is one of them. I made the picture in January, but it feels more like March to me. The river (which serves as the border between the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec) is open, but all the snow suggests winter is tenaciously hanging on.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: the windy sunset
DUSK SKY ON THE PRAIRIES, CALGARY, ALBERTA
The sunset was looking to be quite photogenic, so instead of going straight home from work, I detoured into the rolling prairies just north of where I live. This scene looked very good, but oh man, when I got out of the van, the wind was so crazy that it was all I could do to set up the tripod and make five or six exposures. Even with the tripod, some of the compositions were blurry. Fortunately, this one came out just fine.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Rural landscapes: a view of the mountains
PRAIRIES, FOOTHILLS AND PEAKS, NEAR CARSTAIRS, ALBERTA
A big telephoto lens squeezed together all this glorious western Canadian scenery north of my home in Calgary. The February air was crisp enough, especially with a polarizing filter, to make all this scenery crystal clear. I used a graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: a drive through heaven?
ICEFIELDS PARKWAY, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
As glorious as the setting sun is on the peak, I would not have stopped to make this picture if the trees weren’t snow-covered. That’s the key to this photo having a ‘winter wonderland’ feel. And yes, it was an amaaaaazing drive. I’m truly blessed to live in this part of Canada. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the peak and sky.
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Rural landscapes: under the dawn sky
TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY AT HARVIE HEIGHTS, ALBERTA
This long exposure was made on an overpass near the entrance to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It was a very c-c-cold morning, but as you can see, the effort paid off. The giant mountain on the left is Mount Rundle, one of the most photographed mountains in Banff.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, neutral density (darkening) filter.
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Natural landscapes: a badlands moment
ARTISTRY IN THE BADLANDS, NEAR DRUMHELLER, ALBERTA
Very near this spot is a group of hoodoos that pretty much everyone photographs when they drive through this area in western Canada. I did too, then turned my attention to quieter scenes of artistry like this.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: where the light travels
SHADOW AND LIGHT ALONG THE ICEFIELDS PARKWAY, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
Gotta love how a telephoto lens can isolate a particular element of God’s creativity. Photographed in bitter cold temperatures in the glorious Canadian Rocky Mountains. You can see the scene in colour here: http://bit.ly/BanffPeak.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: wandering through the fields
FIELDS IN THE FOOTHILLS, WEST OF COCHRANE, ALBERTA
When conditions are this good (i.e. snow on the trees and clear, strong winter colours), I like to drive along nameless country roads until I find scenes like this. I’m not quite sure why this picture is so satisfying; perhaps it’s how the trees subtly lead you through the scene, from the foreground shadows to the gentle curves of the distant hills.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: view from the top
BOW RIVER VALLEY FROM THE TOP OF SULPHUR MOUNTAIN, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I had the good fortune to take the gondola to the top of this peak, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, while there was snow on the trees. That made all the difference when it came to producing compelling photographs. Scenes like this are why I love winter. 🙂
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: where the bridge goes
CENTRE STREET BRIDGE AND DOWNTOWN CALGARY, ALBERTA
It’s a tricky thing to capture this scene at just the right time. That time is ‘blue hour’ – after sunset, but before all the light disappears from the sky – and when the buildings are still fully illuminated. I pulled it off here; the only thing that would have heightened this scene’s impact further would be open water on the Bow River (instead of merely the sliver of water you see here).
In this western Canadian city, achieving ALL these things is quite difficult, since Calgary is 1,000 metres above sea level so the river usually comes close to entirely freezing. (And there’s no point in trying this scene during summer; the sun sets so late that most of the building lights are turned off by the time ‘blue hour’ arrives.) Still, I’m pretty darn happy with this photo. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the icy queen
QUEEN OF MALIGNE ICE FORMATION, JASPER NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
This formation, in Malign
e Canyon in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, forms every winter. It’s probably the most awe-inspiring ice formation in the canyon, thus its name.
As you can see, I was there on an overcast day with little colour, so it made sense to transform this picture into black-and-white. I also darkened the featureless white sky so your eye would not be drawn to it.
Nikon D90, tripod
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Rural landscapes: the creeping shadows
FARM AND FIELDS NEAR PETAWAWA, ONTARIO
Driving aimlessly around this region of eastern Ontario, I stopped the car when I saw this foreground fence. What a perfect element to put in a farmscape! It provides something in the bottom half of the picture to offset the farmstead and justify having all the snowy fields in the photo.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: afternoon on the river
OPEN WATER ON THE OTTAWA RIVER, DEEP RIVER, ONTARIO
Most of this river, which forms the boundary between the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, freezes over in winter. Fortunately, I found this break in the ice and snow and I hope it makes for an interesting composition – especially after I put my shadow into the scene. The distant shore hills are in Quebec.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: beautifully abandoned
ABANDONED HOUSE, NEAR BEAVER MINES, ALBERTA
I came upon this beauty while traveling in the deep southwest of this western Canadian province. I like the touch of snow that pops in the scene.
Tripod, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: blue hour at the bridge
LANGEVIN/RECONCILIATION BRIDGE, CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA
This was just an ordinary bridge over the Bow River, until the city of Calgary installed lights that change colour regularly. Now, especially when covered in frost and snow, it’s a fabulous photo subject that I’ve returned to regularly.
Nikon D90, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: under the snowy canopy
OPEN STREAM, KANANASKIS COUNTRY, ALBERTA
I was on a trail in the Canadian Rockies that would eventually take me to Troll Falls when I encountered this stream. Besides not being covered over with ice and snow, what attracted me was the canopy of snowy trees, expecially the angled trunks.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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