Smoky summer sunsets
The rain the past few days has cleared the air west of Calgary. When the wildfire smoke was heavy before that, the colors from the sunlight filtering through the haze were surprising and very unusual. It made sunset an interesting little photographic adventure.
I thought these images looking at the eastern flank of the Rockies near Bragg Creek from the first day of August were stunning.
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Blurring the forest
A dragged shutter and a flick of the wrist stretched out the trunks of the trees edging a meadow in Bragg Creek. When the mood strikes, I enjoy playing like this when I’m out shooting – luck and creativity rolling around together. Sometimes I like the result over the natural scene.
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An evening hunt
It was just after 9pm when I spied this owl on a fence across the field. He seemed to be trying to get one more vole before dusk and I didn’t have to wait very long for him to fly low over the tall grass. He didn’t dive into the grass on this flight. Wheeling back towards the forest edge, I lost him in the darkness of the trees.
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Red in the green
A simple composition from a walk with my pup in the forest west of Bragg Creek.
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Moose on the Prairies
Driving the gravel roads that divide up the fields north of Calgary, I found this moose in the tall grass near the end of August this past summer. She was alone and seemed relaxed laying down under the late afternoon heat. I stayed for a minute, the peaceful scene one to enjoy before retreating to leave her as she was.
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Kananaskis Stormset
The setting sun backlit the tail of this clearing storm before dropping behind the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Stunning colors as the evening started its summer-slow fade to night.
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A fawn through the trees
We had a pair of mule deer fawns hanging around our backyard for most of the summer. From wobbly little babies to bouncing youngsters, they entertained us as they learned how to be deer. This was a rare moment where one stood still.
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Desirée along the Inner Harbour
We spent a couple of days in Victoria recently and walked along the water more days than not. Here we were walking between the waterfront downtown and Fisherman’s Wharf. A beautiful red bridge that connected a wonderfully green garden drew our eyes. I had a great time photographing this beautiful lady over the water before we went out for dinner.
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A short spell with a few of Invermere’s belted kingfishers
It seems longer than a month ago when Kian and I went to the Columbia Valley in British Columbia for the Labour Day long weekend.
(please click any image to see a higher resolution version)
We had a great time skateboarding in Invermere, touring around Fairmont and even did a little swimming which was unreasonably cold for the late summer.
Photography wasn’t the focus of our trip but, unsurprisingly, I fit a little in here and there. Easily the best of these was our walk along the narrow channel of the Columbia River where it meets the northern tip of Windermere Lake. We found five kingfishers chattering, flying and occasionally diving along the water.
This juvenile alighted on the pillar near us as we were watching another one flying on the far side of the river. He stayed for several minutes. Drawing a flyby from one kingfisher but mostly left alone to scout for dinner before the sun set.
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Springbank electrics
The thunder and lightning rolled over the prairies several times over the past couple of weeks. On August 1st, I went out to photograph dusk as the smoke from the wildfires has helped create some beautiful evening scenes. The haze thinned after sunset and a large cloud took shape from it as the sky cooled into night.
While the color slipped away, the cloud grew and I caught a flicker of lightning on the northern edge. Rain didn’t fall and the wind never really picked up. However a fork crackled through the air every few minutes for the next couple of hours.
The storm slowly churned east towards Calgary and the open prairie beyond. The trailing edge left behind a clear sky dotted with stars. This last photograph caught the moon illuminating the cloud as it rose.
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Lightning over Lac Mercier
This lake is near Mont-Tremblant and has a lovely beach where my son and I swam the day before this heavy storm blew through the Laurentian Mountains.
The lightning strikes came in sets, striking the hills across the water. Beside the beach is a pier and a small covered area where I was able to hide from the rain. That afforded a wonderful view of the lake and back towards the vibrant little town. Of course, much of that view was illuminated only by the flashes of lightning – most along the hills across the water but a couple were over the community.
I felt the accompanying thunder from those deep in my chest. Frequently, the wind ripped through the valley and drove the rain horizontally. The temperature dropped fast when the storm approached and stayed cool through the evening. I was glad for the rain gear I had stashed in my pack.
There were occasional stretches where everything calmed down, almost to catch a collective breath, but the storm crashed across the mountains relentlessly otherwise. A proper summer storm by every measure. After a couple of hours, the rain picked up even more and I thought it was well past time to get home.
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A smoked sunrise over Springbank
Smoke from wildfires to the west has brought a haze to the sky around Calgary. That saturated the sun’s appearance as it rose off the horizon. I watched the sunrise at the same time as the moonset from a hill near of Springbank.
Christopher Martin Photography 