Happy New Year’s Eve!
We are two hours away from 2018 here in Alberta. I hope you are enjoying a great last night of 2017. Our Redwood Meadows community had a great fireworks display to closeout the year. This image was shot at the start of the show tonight.
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Winter’s return
Snow fell hard last night across southern Alberta and we had several inches blanketing the landscape by morning. Here, my hound and I went out for a walk late.
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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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Flashback Friday – kids in motion
This image is from 2011 and was taken along the Elbow River. Kezia was 2 1/2 years old and running with Kian who was 4 1/2. I used a shutter speed of 1/6th of a second for a relatively long shutter and panned with the kids as they raced by. I love playing with motion and creating, or capturing, movement in these types of images. The blurred lines that layer to create the scene remind me of an Impressionist painting.
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Snow day, snow play
A storm hit southern Alberta yesterday and laid down the first thick blanket of snow in Redwood Meadows. Early October always feels too early for winter to come but this should melt in the next day or so. My children are not ones to miss an opportunity so they were outside as soon as the howling wind had eased a little.
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Autumn Aurora
I walked my dog early this morning and when I looked to the north could see the Northern Lights rippling and snapping above the horizon. The hound was returned home and replaced by my camera. I walked down to the Elbow River which runs nearby and spent a couple of hours photographing the Aurora Borealis before it faded out against the approaching dawn. I’m feeling very lucky to be able to enjoy such a show in my backyard!
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Happy New Year!
I hope you have a lot of good moments doing what you love with those who mean the most to you in this new year. My own goal is to make those happen whenever I can for myself and those people important to me. We had a fun night doing crafts, playing games and taking in the Redwood Meadows fireworks.
We walked up to the Redwood Meadows sports field for the display where neighbours had gathered for skating and a bonfire earlier. The snow was falling hard and that seemed to suit everyone just fine. It was a great vibe to welcome 2017 with.
The fireworks were beautiful. I haven’t seen them during a snowstorm before and that was cool. The explosions were cheered by the crowd so it was an unqualified success. And definitely a good start to the year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and yours!
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First day back to school
It was a busy morning getting ready for the first day of school in time for the bus this morning. Bobbi did a great job having everything planned out for the kids so it wasn’t chaos. Kezia is super excited to get back to class to see her friends and get Grade 3 started.
Kian and Bobbi are embarking on a home schooling adventure this year which will be amazing for both of them.
Kian is very excited about the opportunity to dive deep into subjects and be more in control of where his efforts are placed.
Both the kids are excited about each other’s path this year.
It was fun to photograph them together, and get one with Kezia and I (thank you Bobbi), before she got on the bus to get her year started.
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Happy Canada Day!
To my fellow Canadians, and anyone else with a soft spot for the country, Happy Canada Day! 149 years old today!
This was the annual bike parade in Redwood Meadows led by our local Fire Department. And followed closely by my daughter, Kezia, in the middle looking back.
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A Great gray owl in Redwood Meadows
I’ve lived in Redwood Meadows for over 9 years and have never photographed a Great gray owl in the daylight here. A little while ago, I was driving back from Bragg Creek and spotted this owl perched on a fence post. I watched him in the sun for a little while before he flew. Then he quickly moved from post to post for a couple of minutes, with short breaks between flights.
Eventually he flew to the top of a nearby tree for a better view. That did not last long and he flew directly in front of me as he crossed the road (the first photo int his story) and flew into the heavier forest on the edge of the Tsuu T’ina Rodeo and Pow Wow grounds.
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Elbow River Dawn
I went out for a mountain bike this morning along the Elbow River. The temperature was near -20°C and the snow-covered trails were a bit slippery – and it was a great ride. It was before the sun had come up and the land was emerging from the dark draped in soft, bluish light. The alpen glow in the clear sky to the west added a magical pink hue to the scene.
These two images were taken before and after the sunlight lit up the Kananaskis mountains. The first was at 8:27 and the next 13 minutes later, just a minute after sunrise.
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Halloween Tricking and Treating
The kids in Redwood Meadows were out on the prowl last night tricking and treating their way around the town. Our troop of cousins, friends and a couple of adults headed out just before dark. The neighbours were characteristically generous and all of the children made out like bandits.
Kian was a skeleton assassin and Kezia was a leopard. Both stayed in character for much of the night – except when daddy asked them to pose together for a quick shot together.
The Redwood Meadows firefighters had one of their trucks parked outside and stopping there was a highlight for the kids (and another source of heaps of candy!)
Everyone had a really great time – running between houses, jumping around and sharing a lot of laughs.
