Sunrise over Mount Rundle
The second sunrise at Vermilion Lake this weekend produced some wonderful images this weekend. There was a break between clouds and mountain peaks farther east so the clouds above Mount Rundle and the lake were painted with this amazing light. One of the best mornings that I have had in the Banff National Park.
The hot springs that seep into the water along the chain of lakes allow for a few pools without ice to remain open through the winter. These pools pull many photographers to their shores and this morning was no exception. It’s always interesting how quiet these moments become even with five other photographers nearby. The better the light gets, the quieter it usually becomes. It was silent at the peak of this morning’s sunrise.
-
-
Magic in the clouds above
The sunset in West Bragg Creek was beautiful last night. The warm sunlight alternating with the long shadows striped the land and looked great in every direction. However it was the same light caught in the clouds above that stole the show.
Winter landscape: fire in the sky
The glow before sunrise caught bands of clouds above the forests in West Bragg Creek. With the temperature below -20°C, it was warming to see this early fire in the eastern sky. I enjoyed taking a break from following moose tracks for a few minutes to watch the morning arrive.
A veiled sunrise along Nukoli’i
(please click on the image for a higher resolution version)
The first sunrise of this visit to Kaua’i was spectacular. I watched the clouds retreat towards the horizon under the moonlight before dawn and when the day started to come, they were a heavy veil stretching up from the ocean. A few minutes after sunrise, the sun shone red through a thin spot in the clouds. For the next twenty minutes the sun broke free here and there while the waves kept crashing in and the sky steadily brightened. Nukoli’i Beach is a long stretch of sand along Kaua’i's eastern shore. At this time of the year, the sun rises directly off the beach. When the clouds cooperate, the mornings can be exceedingly beautiful. This morning was exactly that.
Fantastic creatures in sunrise
The winter morning was beautiful earlier this week. I watched the sky brighten and start to illuminate the sparse clouds scattered along the horizon and further off to the west. With the color running into the day, I saw a dragon stretch its wings out as it reached towards the rising sun. Surely a victim of my exuberant imagination, I was little surprised when I saw a phoenix flying low along the eastern horizon when I turned in that direction. Switching from one fantastic creature to the other during the short time that the best light of the day held, I enjoyed this sunrise tremendously. A childhood spent reading legends and myths revisited for a few minutes out on the cold prairie. A warm thank you to my elementary teacher, Alanda, who introduced our class to these stories and kindled the fire of my imagination.
Sunrise in the Foothills
Once the horses moved on, I returned to watching the brightening sky. I didn’t have to wait long for the colour to brush into the clouds.
(please click on any image to open a higher resolution version)
And when the warm sunlight came in, it only stayed for a couple of minutes. It was great to shoot a few different images while the light was really nice. The sun cleared the horizon quickly, the light cooled and the day began.
-
Emerald Lake Landscapes
We stayed one night in the lodge on Emerald Lake in British Columbia so I was able to be on the water’s edge well ahead of sunrise the next morning. In the deep blues of the early morning, I could make out some heavy clouds in the sky so I was uncertain if a fiery sky was coming. The mountains that ring the eastern edge of the lake were streaked with thick fog rising off of the water and mixing with the clouds.
The sunlight was held up by a bank of grey so the drama never painted the sky however the details in the canoes, the bridge and along the shore as well as a slow shutter to drag out the sky and its reflection made for an enjoyable scene to work with.
I’m looking forward to getting back to this literal jewel of the Yoho National Park near the town of Field. A glowing sky of pinks, reds and oranges would be wonderful to see in this valley and reflected in the lake.
.
Hide and seek with a blue moon
(please click on an image to open a higher resolution version)
Last night as the setting sun was painting the broken clouds above Lake Okanagan, the waxing moon was using them to hide as it rose. The colours in the evening sky were beautiful pastels and the bright lunar surface stood in sharp contrast.
This blue moon will be full on August 31st so these images are of the moon in its gibbous waxing phase.
I’ll be watching again tonight to see if our earth’s satellite has any more tricks planned.
A broken cloud sunrise on the Canadian prairies
The clouds make or break sunrises in many landscape scenes. On Sunday, they broke apart just before sunrise leaving a nice gauzy patchwork above the glow on the horizon. A good start to the day just west of Calgary in Alberta, Canada on May 27th.
A Rainbow on the Prairie
Leaving the Calgary this afternoon, I drove through some heavy rain pouring down from some dark gray clouds rolling over Calgary. As I reached the western edge of the city along Highway 8, I was back in the sunshine and enjoyed the drive past the fields. Drawing closer to home, I looked back east and found a rainbow straddling the road. The arch was a mile wide and looked brilliant against the dark clouds still dragging the storm through the city. I pulled onto one of the gravel top range roads and composed this image of the scene.
(click for a larger image)
Prairie Landscapes: Clearing storm and the end of winter?
Winter has been mild here in southern Alberta this year. We had a short blast roll out of the mountains in the middle of the week with snow blanketing the city. That seemed like a last gasp as it lasted only one day and melted before the weekend arrived. It was an interesting run of weather that finished with a wind storm and warming that reached 15° C on Thursday.
These images are from my afternoon drive out of the city with the storm still attacking Calgary but open skies above me in Springbank west of the city.
For March, the prairies have very little snow. Makes for a bit different mid-winter landscape images than previous years.
Hawaiian Landscapes: Rainbows in the clouds over Hanalei
My kids and I were up at dawn this morning and my daughter noticed a rainbow overhead as the sky brightened. Rainbows are not in short supply on the north side of Kauai and with last night’s rainstorms clearing it was inevitable one would appear somewhere. Really wonderful to have this one right in front of us to start the day.
The rainbow faded to just a faint outline for a few minutes and then came back just after my daughter said, “come back Mr. Rainbow I miss you”. A little child magic never hurt my photography – lucky me!
Bragg Creek Landscapes: Fawn Hills Sunrise
Last Saturday Bragg Creek had dark clouds racing across the sky at dawn. As the sun crept close to the horizon the first rays of light shot under the storms and illuminated the clouds creating wonderful hues of color. With the winter sun hanging lower in the sky now, this light stayed around long enough that I was able to photograph and enjoy the scene.
A little later the streaks gave way to a softer diffusion of color across the clouds.
Prairie Landscapes: Golden Fields, Sunset Skies
Driving west of Calgary last week, the colors in the sky at dusk were beautiful. I stopped at a pullout along a range road and photographed a bit of the prairie and the sky during the sunset. A storm was heading east out on to the prairie, its trailing edges spreading across the sky, catching the sunlight in a variety of hues.
The headlights of a car driving towards me created long streaks during the five second exposure. The streaks adding another element to an already interesting prairie scene.
Prairie Landscape: Red light over the fields
The sunrises have been incredible for the past week – beautiful light, textured clouds and great colors both in the sky and in the land as the summer gives way to autumn. This morning was no exception. In this image I put my back to the rising sun and photographed the land as the early red glow lit up the fields in Springbank, west of Calgary, Alberta.
Prairie Sunrise: Springbank Mornings
Right now is a great time for sunrises. The sun is rising much later than in the summer and now is clearing the horizon after 7am. That makes photographs of the Prairie at dawn much easier to be awake and in place for.
This sunrise was in Springbank just west of Alberta. The hay has been harvested and the bales are still in the fields. With the mist from a watering hole and the silhouettes of the fence and the trees, there were lot’s of nice elements to work with.
Canadian Rockies Landscapes: A Kananaskis Rainbow
My wife and I took the children for a morning drive along Highway 40 through Kananaskis this morning. This rainbow followed us in from the edge of the Bow Valley Parkway into Kananaskis and along the peaks of Heart Mountain, Grant McEwan Pea and Mt. Lorette. With the clearing storm clouds still dark the rainbow really stood out against the sky.
Prairie Storm: Dark Clouds, Heavy Rain and a Lightning Strike
This location, just west of Calgary, is one of my favourite places to photograph during the winter months when the sun sets behind the southern edge of the Canadian Rockies. Last night, a massive storm broke free of the mountains and stretched across the prairie. There were some great holes in the clouds that allowed sunlight to streak through here and there. A very dramatic scene to work with and create images of.
Behind the ominous forerunning clouds came the heavy rain. Here the rain is hammering Bragg Creek and moving quickly onto the fields.
As the storm’s intensity built, lightning seemed inevitable and I was lucky to catch this strike hitting along the Elbow River behind a hill in Redwood Meadows.
When the rain did arrive where I was photographing, cover in the car was the prudent option. It was no exaggeration to say this was a torrential downpour.
Midnight Sun – Cochrane, Alberta
Sunset was 10pm last night but the sky was still quite bright in the northwest after midnight.
These clouds were incredible and worth pulling off to the side of the road in the middle of the night.
Summer Storm Breaking Up
I was in a great location to watch the storm that had rolled in Friday night and dropped many, many buckets of rain through Saturday afternoon start to break up.
The drama in the clouds west of Calgary was beautiful to watch build and fall away for a few minutes.
Certainly a different feel in black and white. In the version above I wanted to bring the weathered barn to greater prominence. I ended up shedding the color and adding a little grain to create a more historical, antique feel.
The Spring Storms Come
Now spring seems to have asserted control and with that comes the storm clouds that roll out of the mountains through the summer. Here then are a couple of image from the start of the storm season from this afternoon.
Sunrise behind Mount Peechee
Mount Peechee stands a few kilometers east of Banff. From the First Vermilion Lake, the mountain’s ridges dominate the skyline. Standing out on the ice just before 8am, I really enjoyed this sunrise over the mountain.
Mount Peechee is 9,630 feet making it the third highest of the eight mountains in the Fairholme Range that runs northwest up to Lake Minnewanka. First climbed in 1929, it is now off-limits for hiking which allows it flanks to serves as important pathways for wildlife. A fantastic subject for landscape photography.
As the early morning pink colors faded, I switched subjects and focused on Mount Rundle and the storm that was moving in from the west. I used a Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter to get a long exposure which stretched the clouds and made the most of the last bit of color from the morning.
Storm through the Bow Valley
Following a very pretty sunrise and a great walk with an elk, this storm started to build as it moved through the Bow Valley corridor in the Banff National Park. This great chunk of rock is Mount Rundle which looms above the towns of Banff and Canmore. It is a favourite subject for hikers and artists. I am certainly not immune to its siren call – I really enjoy photographing this mountain – year round it always presents an interesting face and is usually reaching into the clouds to create dynamic compositions.
