First Snow at Wedge Pond: A Morning of Winter Photography
Last week it snowed for a full day while we were up in Kananaskis. A day in the saunas, steam baths and outdoor pools of the Nordic Spa in the village was a pretty great way to enjoy the abrupt turn to winter. The forecast called for clearing skies overnight so I set an early alarm for the morning.
Driving along Highway 40 in the dark, I could see the outline of clouds and clusters of stars between them. Walking down to Wedge Pond, the snow was well above my ankles. I hadn’t planned on a snowy shoot so my footwear was far from up to the task. Wet feet and slip-sliding around aside, it was beautiful.
Dawn slowly revealed the lake and the surrounding valley. The trees decked out in white sleeves. Tall grass on the hillside and the stony shoreline both blanketed with snow.
Above, clouds stretched over Mount Kidd and the neighboring peaks. Early light painted the first ones pink, later the mountains looked like the sunlight had spun their eastern flanks in gold.
Across the water, bright yellow peaked out from under the sleeves of a few of the trees. The last remnants of the autumn colors that ring Wedge Pond in September each year.
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A cloud bank at dawn in Punta Cana
It was quite a while ago when we went to the Dominican Republic for a week of sun and sand. I went out photographing most mornings. As the day brightened ahead of the sunrise, this cloud took shape out of the night, slowly brightening from its head down towards the horizon. A 15 second exposure and a wide aperture helped to create a dreamy feel to this seascape.
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Daybreak in Belize
The sunrises on Caye Caulker in Belize are amazing. When we were there in December, we woke up early enough to see most of them during our stay on the island. This morning, on the 11th, I was there before dawn and watched the storm from the night before blow out to sea.
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Sunrise from the east side
I’ve photographed downtown Calgary at dawn from the east side near Inglewood twice in the last few weeks. It is a side of the city that I have not shot before. I have enjoyed the view and the different look from this side.
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Storming towards dawn
Desirée and I met up with the leading edge of a storm rolling out of the mountains on an early morning drive through Priddis just before Christmas. The leading edge of the cloud raced eastward towards the eastern sky as dawn approached. Snow and wind came shortly after this photo and the view through this dip in the hills disappeared.
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Sunrise after the Geminids
Highway lights and morning sky – 20 seconds at f/11 on ISO 400
Having stayed out late to photograph the Geminid meteor shower, it was dawn much sooner than I expected. I frequently (always) lose track of time when I have a camera in hand – this was no exception. The last place I watched for the meteor streaks was near the Jumping Pound Road’s overpass of the Trans-Canada about 15km west of Calgary.
Mailbox sunrise – 30 seconds at f/11 on ISO 800
When I caught the first hint of dawn along the eastern horizon, which was preceded by an unplanned, but much-needed, cat nap, I made my way to the bridge. The wind was howling as I set up. I was glad it was blowing out of the mountains and across the Prairies. If it had been in my face, I would have had a lovely collection of blurry images! I had a few when a strong gust would come up but I was able to shield against most of them.
A view from the Jumping Pound overpass – 20 seconds at f/11 on ISO 200
As the sky lightened the clouds started to separate from the night sky. I got excited as I saw the first hints of color catch in the edges and folds. They were drifting into and out of beautiful shapes as Helios and his chariot approached the horizon. The image below, with Venus glowing through the pink tinged clouds, is probably my favorite from the shoot.
Venus above – 30 seconds at f/8 on ISO 400
In the longer exposures, the traffic below was rendered indistinct by the longer exposures but the trails carved out by their lights gave me strong, dynamic elements to work with.
Eastern fire – 1.8 seconds at f/22 on ISO 50
While the clouds were ablaze to the east just before sunrise, the west was a different scene altogether. My last photograph of the morning was of the farm north of the bridge under a sky sketched in pastels.
Alpen glow and morning calm – 4.6 seconds at f/22 on ISO 400
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Mist in Mont-Tremblant
One morning while I was in Québec, I drove out early and found the mist evaporating off of the Rivière du Diable (Devil’s river) where it flows south of Lac Munroe in Mont-Tremblant National Park. I only explored a small corner of the park but was enchanted by its beauty.
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A superior lake for a morning swim
This was my first view of Lac-Supérieur when I was driving in the Laurentians early yesterday morning. Despite the sign, I really wanted to run down the dock and dive in.
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Morning at a bend in the Elbow River
A morning walk brought me to this scene along the Elbow River a little after sunrise. With snow falling outside as I write this, it feels like that may have been one of the last autumn landscape photographs for me for the year.
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Olympic Plaza contemplations
A morning scene from the edge of the Olympic Plaza in Calgary’s downtown. It’s a small park with a million stories. This was a sunny morning earlier this week where the moment suggested the light and the dark sides of many of these stories.
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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.
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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!
