Two Favourite Locations
After going into town for a yummy muffin and Latte from The Other Paw, I headed about 20 km south on the Icefields Parkway to a most wonderful lake. There is a small parking area here and no signs except for the board at the trail head. It is just a short walk through the woods, to a creek. Cross the creek and follow the trails -there is one that goes straight ahead and one that goes left along the creek then into the woods. Both ways are short walks that take you to different parts of the rocky shoreline that has, in some spots, emerald green waters and if you time it right , amazing reflections of the water and cliffs across the way.
This is a place where I can spend hours pondering the scenery and on a warm day, soaking up the heat from the rocks.
Just down the road is the junction of highways 93 and 93A. I turned right here to go to Athabasca Falls.There are short walks to various viewpoints of the falls and the gorge. You can feel the energy as the water rushes over the rocks and through the gorge.
I have been to this spot in spring , summer and fall -never the same and always exciting.
Next was Medicine Lake where there was a forest fire earlier this season and further up the road, Maligne Lake, an almost 40 km drive. I will save that for my next post.
River Valley on an Autumn Day
i took these photos from a bridge that spans a ravine that goes into the main part of the river valley, with the intent of getting photos of the Autumn colours. There were interesting challenges with light and shadow, so I took the photos using a polarizer filter and did some post photo work in Lightroom.
Let’s look at Nature in Her various Forms
I have been working shifts and not getting out much but I am taking the time today. First I will look back and post some shots that I like. i don’t want to take too much precious time so my apologies if I have some repeats here.
Take the Time
18 mm, 1/250 sec @ f/8, ISO 800
Take the time to go for a walk. You will never know what is out there if you don’t. After the sun sets, take the time to see what happens next. it is worth the wait.
Glorious
I had a visit with a friend the other evening to welcome her to Edmonton and we both got something we will not forget. As we came up out of the river valley, the sun was setting and rain was drizzling. There was a glorious double rainbow in front of us , in fact we could see the end of the rainbow right in the bushes below us. That prompted a lot of comments from passers by about finding “the pot of gold.”
My friend couldn’t get the entire rainbow in the lens of her point-and-shoot and my camera was at home a couple of blocks away so I ran as best as I could knowing that I might miss it all.The light had changed as had the position of the rainbow that had mostly faded out I still got some images of wonderful colour and light.
By the light of the Moon
Now that the hullabaloo over the fireworks has passed as has the opening night of the show of lights of the High Level bridge, I returned to a park where I could take some photos of both the High Level and the Menzies bridge which serves as a way fare for both pedestrian traffic and Light Rail transit. Usually I like my lights sparkling but not the moon. Will have to work on that.
I used my tripod, put settings on “Bulb” and kept the shutter open for 5-10 seconds with the ISO at 100.
Snow Series #7 – Weighted branches
1/20 sec @f/7.1, ISO 200
I love the look of snow on branches, but it sure is hard on the trees, sometimes permanently forcing them downwards or worse, breaking them. I heard someone on a radio show advising people to gently sweep some snow off but not in frigid temperatures because the branches can break. These are not my trees so I will just take the photos.
Snow Series 1
I like snow for the most part, especially when it is wind-blown and sculpts fine lines in the landscape. I don’t always like shovelling the stuff, especially when I am lazy however I always feel invigorated after the job is done. It has so many qualities: crusty, sharp, melting, fluffy, icy,pristine, dirty.
I thought that I would like to do a series about the different ways I see snow. First is snow in the context of a larger scene. I really don’t know where I am going with this, I was going to post a bunch of images at one time but I think that I can make a stronger statement by posting a single image. How many in the series? I don’t know, but I will try to remember to label them. Here is the first.
1/80 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 200
A Cold Day with Fog and Ice Crystals and a Sun Dog
It is cold today, with low temperatures and biting breeze that gives us the equivalent of minus 28. As I passed the river valley I noticed the fog and could see the ice crystals in the air which look like tiny snow flakes and the air shimmers. The fog was exciting and the play on light created nice effects including a sun dog. I am happy that I took the time to chase the rainbows.
Despite the beauty and wonder of the weather phenomena, the best part of the day was receiving a visit from friends from out of town whom I haven’t seen in a while.
30.5 Centimeters of Snow in One Week
In other words, that is 12 inches. I went out today on a very grey day to capture some images. Much warmer at -15 but that little bit of a breeze – br-r-r. But it is so pretty! Lots of people x-country skiing, walking their dogs and out for a stroll.
This is a stand of mostly spruce trees with some Tamaracks.
1/400 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400 at approximately 3 p.m.
1/60 sec @ f/10, ISO 400
Before and After the Sun Set
I went out too late to take decent shots of fall colours in the daylight but the colours looked promising for the sunset. Holding my camera on a fencepost to steady it I did my best to capture the sun as it was setting.
Then I turned my camera more to the right because I liked what was happening in the clouds.
then waited a bit after the sun went down, because then the reflections hit the clouds.
There was still more to come but more subtle.
Good night.
A Beautiful Night
Took the dogs out for a walk and grabbed the camera as I went out the door – it was that kind of night.
More about Summer -this time the Flowers
I am dog-sitting at friends who also happen to have a beautiful bounty of flowers around the house. The lilies are blooming now as are the clematis. It all is so beautiful and I enjoy being outdoors, picking g off the tops of the lilies and picking raspberries which are numerous. These photos are not edited yet on this computer so there are a few pokies and crooked images. Similar to my life right now-it is what it is. 😉
Overwhelmed
Busy. Overwhelmed. Tired, even exhausted. Back soon, hopefully. Did take a walk in the dog park with my camera. Food for the soul.Love to you all…
A Rarity: A Dragonfly that Stayed Still
There is a surge in the population of dragonflies here this year, not that I mind since they eat mosquitoes. I have trouble getting photos of them because they fly so fast, but lucked out on this particular one almost glued to the clematis blossom. I even had time to run into the house and grab my camera then run back out to snap some shots. Maybe I should have used a fill flash for more even light. I did like catching the detail of the wings
Sun Shines Again after Hail
We had quite the hail storm the other night. At first the hail was pea size then grew into the size that you can see here. I was excited and nervous as the wind and hail picked up, especially in a house with skylights The dogs started shaking a while before the rain started and one hid in the corner of the bathroom- it took some time for them to calm down. I am not on my own computer so find it quite the challenge to work with an editing program that I am not used to but at least I gave it a try.
Spring Flowers and More
Ii had to share some photos from our camera club’s last outing. We visited a greenhouse which was such a joy when all we have been getting is snow the last few weeks but it is melting and today it is actually raining! Amazing variety of things at the greenhouse both plants and gift ware. Another reason to celebrate:it is my 300th blog!
Shapes as Part of a Design
I am talking about organic shapes here but the theory works with man-made shapes as well. Repetition of shapes can unify a composition, for example, series of clouds, a group of buildings, bushes, rocks. Repetition would be boring if it was all the same but repetition with variety makes a picture interesting.
Here is a photo of a tree. Just one tree in the foreground but the upward turn of the branches, which are repeated in themselves, are also repeated in the clouds. The bushes in the distance give balance to the overall picture.
The repetition of round shapes of the snow helps to pull this shot of bushes together.The snow amongst the busy lines gives the viewer’s eye a place to rest while travelling throughout the picture plane.
The next photo demonstrates a strong figure/ground relationship or the positive/negative space in your photo. The positive space would be the object. The negative space is what shape or shapes are around it. Both are important and help balance each other.
And a photo of repeated shapes again. There is repetition of the shapes yet variety so it does not become boring. There are a lot of triangles in the water, sky and mountain combined with the round shapes in the clouds and the little island.
Next time you go out just sit and look at a scene and look at the shapes. Look at whether they are singular, or repeated, large or small. See how the shapes work with other shapes and other elements of design, such as lines. Look at the big picture and look at the small intimate places as well.You might see things a bit differently.Now pick up your camera.
Shapes – Circles, Triangles, Squares and Rectangles
Thanks for the feedback about this blog being blank . I ran out of time when I was composing it and couldn’t erase the blog, only the details.
One of the assignments at a workshop I attended last weekend was to find the basic man-made shapes in the environment around me so I decided to re-visit this assignment and go for a stroll. I found it quite interesting, and somewhat challenging at first when it came to triangles. This is what I found:
Then there were the shapes that were combinations of more than one shape.
The purpose of this is to open my eyes and find the shapes around me and observe how they fit into the environment, also to think about how I would compose a photo using these shapes.In the last photo someone has thought about this when they designed this candle holder using triangle, rectangle and circle, sometimes repeating the shapes.
Sunrise at Preacher’s Point
On the second morning we got up at 6:45 a.m. had delicious coffee and muffins served by our hosts Alan and Madeleine then went to Preacher’s Point on Abraham Lake to see the sunrise. This is what I was enjoying in warm temperatures that hovered around zero celsius. This is one of the sites where I took photos of bubbles.
After shooting for a couple of hours we returned to Aurum Lodge for a brunch and a nap before setting out again.
Always remember to look behind you.This is a photo taken in the opposite direction.
Snow Days
It is warm here, 32 degrees farenheit and icy due to warm temperatures and freezing rain. It will drop 20 degrees again which will make it really icy so I am grateful that I have my spikes that slip on over my boots. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair and save yourself an injury.We are expecting more snow too.
Shovelling snow can be a pain, I am hearing the complaints from some of you in the blogshere and I remember a couple of years ago when we got so much snow that I started to hate it but it got better when I reminded myself each time that it is good exercise and keeps you warm plus provides us photo fiends with many glorious photo ops.
I also got to know the neighbours quite well as we ventured outdoors to shovel and were trying to figure out where to put the white stuff that just kept coming and coming. At least it is drier here and the snow is lighter. I empathize with people in the east. Snow is wetter and weighs a ton.
Here are some scenes from a couple of years ago:
Strolling along Candy Cane Lane
Oh, I thought, I have seen Candy Cane Lane so many times. But, maybe there is something new or a change in the usual.
I am glad that I went because there were new things to see and changes that made it better than last year. It was fun to run into friends and I enjoyed the music, some from the houses and some from live singers. It was cold and my thighs were frozen after eight blocks , even with “long johns” on, but it was worth the trip and the wonder of it all warmed my heart.
I am going out for a walk right after this blog because the sun is shining and it is a beautiful day though somewhat cold and because we are, according to the weather reports, heading for colder weather ( a ten degree drop) and more snow.
So enjoy the tour and blessings of the season to all…
Simple Things
Simple things stand out to me, not always, but often when I am in a relaxed mood or just walking, maybe even somewhat bored. I can be browsing in a store and it will be something simple that catches my eye and delights my heart far more than something grandiose.This time of the year with the bright lights and sometimes excessive decorations that I like to take photos of too, I particularly enjoy resting my eye on the simple composition that quiets me and gives me a breather from the high energy of the season.
© Jane Chesebrough
My Heartsong 