A walk in the forest
I wandered through the trees west of Bragg Creek near Kananaskis this morning. Little scenes drawing my eye as I went along.
I went looking for a resident great gray owl I’ve known for several years. She’s an energetic hunter in the morning as we get into the second half of summer here.
It took a while but eventually she let me find her perched on a tree and then continued with her plans. I watched her fly through the forest, perching on branches and a couple of fenceposts inbetween.
With the sunlight playfully fighting past the leaves, it was a beautiful morning.
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A Saddle Bronc Ride at Tsuut’ina
The 50th anniversary Tsuut’ina Nation INFR Tour Rodeo is underway this weekend. It’s easily my favorite rodeo to photograph every year. I was along the rails for the Friday evening performance last night. One cowboy stopped for a quick chat and when I was reviewing the day’s images, found that I had a few good shots of his Saddle Bronc ride.
Marvin Young from Maskwacis, Alberta was the cowboy and these are shots from his full time ride on the day. Well done Marvin! Look forward to seeing you out there again this weekend.
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Green kingfisher fishing in Belize
A recent encounter with a Belted kingfisher near my home made me think of another encounter earlier this year in Belize. We spent a few days in Hopkins and found this Green kingfisher fishing on edge of a marsh just after sunrise one morning.
A small, beautiful bird. With explosive speed he dove through the long grass – escaping from my view each time. After one he reappeared perched with a surprisingly large catch.
He gave me a few moments to frame his trophy catch before swallowing it and flying across the water.
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Kingfisher at rest
I love capturing almost anything in motion. The images of this Belted Kingfisher flaring its wings landing are the challenging photographs that I enjoy realizing. That said, I found this portrait of the bird resting on this branch that is losing a long running fight with gravity to be beautiful. Kingfishers are active so it felt like I was sharing a brief, calm moment.
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A Belted kingfisher flaring
I caught this Kingfisher braking just as it touched down. These beautiful birds fish throughout the day at a small lake near Bragg Creek. Their clicking during flight helping to find them as they dart out of the trees and skim over the water.
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Barrel Racing at the Calgary Stampede
I had a chance to shoot the rodeo midweek for a little while. I was happy to catch the barrel racing as it’s one of my favorite events to photograph. With the rider and her horse leaning hard into the barrel turns, the dirt flies and the images can be amazing. When they make the last turn and takeoff for the finish line, there are few long shutter, motion blur opportunities that I enjoy more.
Above Carlee Otero from Perrin, Texas sprints towards her winning time of 16.79 seconds on Day 6 of the 2026 Calgary Stampede Rodeo.
Katelyn Scott from Odessa, Texas corners around the second barrel on her way to a 17.05 second run.
Jordan Driver from Garden City, Texas coming off the barrel in the first image and then racing to close out her run on Wednesday, July 8th in the image above.
Blake Molle from Chauvin, Alberta kicks her boot and stirrup over the barrel on a tight turn.
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Keel-billed Toucans in the Treetops of Belize
We had a tumultuous last couple of months but are excited to get into spring’s positive vibes with the weather starting to warm. It makes looking at my library of images from our trip to Belize, and the warmth of central america in February, easier to look at.
I have dreamt of photographing toucans in the wild for a long time. Probably goes back to the cover of the Fruit Loops cereal box as a kid. It was absolutely magical to have multiple opportunities on a morning on the backroads near Hopkins.
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A merganser crèche
This momma common merganser and her babies swam across the lake just before sunset the other night. I thought she would angle away when they got close to me. Instead, the crèche came right along the water’s edge in front of me. The babies jostled for a place on mom’s back while she briskly paddled past.
Near this same spot, a loon had favoured me with a evening show a couple of days before. The lake is always beautiful and I’m appreciating the wildlife enjoying it so far this summer.
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Common loon – uncommon photographs
I have photographed a solitary loon at this small lake in early summer for years. It is unlikely that it is the same one each year, more likely just a convenient spot to fish and rest for a couple of weeks before continuing on its migration. I went out near sunset, close to 10pm presently, and enjoyed watching the loon preen, shake and then settle down for the night.
When I arrived at the water, it was overcast. The weak light was great for longer exposures. As the bird raised out of the water to shake itself dry, I liked the motion blur of the wings and the water.
After a little while, the sun fell below the cloud line and lit the water up in golds and pinks. Before it dove behind the hill, I went to the far side of the lake to photograph the loon in silhouette. It was a special evening for me with one of my favourite birds.
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Elbow River: Witnessing the Beauty of the Northern Lights
Our sun was exceptionally busy last week. Sunspots hurled increased volumes of solar plasma earthward resulting in an aurora storm that lasted close to a week. We had a few cloudy nights but I was lucky on two outings. This image is from the second trip down to the Elbow River at a bend near my home. It was half past 3 in the morning on the 3rd. The Northern Lights were painting the eastern half of the sky. The lights from Calgary brightened the clouds low on the horizon adding another element to the scene. The most beautiful display of the Aurora Borealis here this year – so far!
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A Coyote for Lilac Festival
I found this coyote trotting around some acreages on the western edge of Calgary yesterday. She grabbed a spot of shade under a lilac bush which seemed to be foreshadowing for a great outdoor event going on downtown today.
The 4th Street Lilac Festival in Calgary is a great outdoor party with music performances, artisan vendors and a variety of other entertainment. I don’t know if the coyote decided to check it out. Yesterday was really hot and today has cooled off a lot – so, maybe, she will. Either way, I’m just happy the flowers are in blooming, wildlife is out and summer is here.
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Cold coyote crossing
One of the many short blizzards that have been part of this spring’s personality caught this coyote’s passage through this field. She didn’t look particularly excited about the chilly wind or the snow that it carried down from the mountains. I appreciated how beautiful this animal was framed in the layers of this scene. For her part, a brief, disapproving glance was her only acknowledgement of our shared moment. After a few seconds, she sauntered into bushes ahead of her. I hoped she had a den to shelter in nearby.
