A window of sunlight
As a storm cleared out of the Bow Valley, the clouds rose off the floor and climbed over the Massive Range. Here, the sun lit up one of the Brett Mountain’s ridges for a moment.
A soft sunrise over the Vermilion Lakes
Dawn reached across the Fairholme Range and brushed the sky through to Mount Rundle. An eight second exposure traced the motion in the scene, blurring the water into soft streaks and stretching out the clouds above. Photographed on June 4, 2017 on the Vermilion Lakes in Banff National Park’s Bow Valley.
Scribbling with moonlight
The moon was scribbling on the surface of one of the Vermilion Lakes in Banff National Park on the weekend.
Early morning at Two Jack Lake
After a long night of spectacular auroras which I enjoyed from the western shore of Lake Minnewanka (one post here and the other there), I went to nearby Two Jack Lake to catch the sunrise. The clouds, the sun and the mountains all conspired to present an amazing start to the morning. The wind was a bit mischievous as it blew softly but steadily over the water breaking up Mount Rundle’s reflection in the image above and Mount Girouard’s in the one below.
At one point a Canada goose entered the water and I liked the way she showed up in this image blurring slightly during the 1.6 second exposure as it paddled by.
The goose carried on to the far side of the lake. Later a paddle boarder followed the goose’s lead and went out for an early tour around the lake. She was there with a photographer for a shoot – a pretty great morning for that. I liked being able to add in a shot of her gliding across the water.
I packed up the tripod as the colour in the sky started to fade out and with the boarder making several passes in front of the scene which kept the water rippled. I stopped at the overlook above the lake about twenty minutes later and made this last image of the paddle boarder silhouetted against the sunlit mountains reflecting in the water.
The May 21st Minnewanka Aurora – into the early morning
Following on from my last post on this geomagnetic storm, here are a few of the images from later in the night. As the early hours of May 21st dripped past, the sprites in the Northern Lights appeared and then alternated with beautiful glowing arches. These continued painting across the sky well past the earliest sign of dawn.
The rise of the crescent moon came just after 4 am as the aurora’s glow started to fade and night handed the sky over to day. Within an hour the sunlight brushed its own colors across the canvas now shared with clouds instead of stars.
Splashing sunlight on the Rockies
I spent the first half of the weekend in the Rocky Mountains of western Alberta and loved every minute. An amazing display of the Aurora Borealis over Lake Minnewanka and the first Grizzly bears that I’ve seen this year were among several highlights from the trip. In this image, clouds cleared out of the valleys just after sunrise in Kananaskis. I was continually reminded how beautiful this part of the world is.
Day into night at the Palouse Falls
Before visiting the Palouse for the first time this Easter, I was excited to see and photograph the rolling fields with their colours and patterns. While researching the location and mapping out places I wanted to visit, my friend Jack told me about the Palouse Falls and that became one of those spots. Jack and I traveled down to Washington and we both found it to be even better than imagined.
So much so that we went there twice during the four days we were away. Spending a few hours on separate afternoons there each time. It is a beautiful place to watch the day slowly go into night.
Palouse – through the day
I really enjoyed photographing from sun up until deep into the night when I visited the Palouse in April. The patterns in the fields, character in the sky and range of colors in both can blend wonderfully at anytime of the day. These are a few of the ones that stood out from a couple of days on the backroads.
Shadows and light dancing in the Palouse
When I planned my Easter trip to the Palouse, I knew that I would make a couple of visits to Steptoe Butte. It rises roughly 300 meters above the countryside allowing for an unobstructed view of the entire area. That elevation gain provides a great perspective on the waves of farmland below.
The first morning that I drove up, when the butte came in sight I found it capped by a loose shroud of cloud. After stopping to photograph that I headed up and was soon inside the cloud looking out at the sun rising over the clouds that had stacked up low along the horizon.
When the sunlight gently skipped across the rolling hillsides you could almost watch the color warm. I enjoyed almost an hour of truly amazing light dancing with the shadows it created over the fields. Those fields adding significantly to the views owing to their flowing lines, gentle patterns and earthy tones.
It was so beautiful that I had little hesitation choosing to return the next day. The second visit had a subtly different feel but I enjoyed shooting that morning just as much as the day before.
The Palouse Falls into dusk
(Please click on the image to open a higher resolution version)
This waterfall is a very worthwhile detour from the centre of the rolling fields. I’ve visited this park twice during my first visit to the Palouse area. The canyon the water has carved out is beautiful and its sharp edges contrast well with the endless swirl of the foam around the pool below the falls. A great place to spend a lot of time watching the day go by.
Palouse – first impression
I’m visiting the Palouse for the first time over the weekend. The spring landscape in the early light this morning presented many of the hues in the Easter color palette. As for first impressions, this is truly beautiful country and it is a fantastic place to explore. There is much more to say, but the sun is shining and there are many more Easter eggs to find in these hills.
Splashing the clouds with color at dawn
Before photographing down in the fog a week ago, I stopped along the Trans-Canada Highway on the hill overlooking Springbank to watch the sunrise.
The eastern sky was starting to brighten quickly and I hoped the clouds would catch the early light. The fog was quite close to the hilltop when I first arrived but it fell back down before dawn came. The sunlight did bathe the clouds in amazing colors. It was spectacular!
