Solstice Sunrise in the Rockies - Landscape Photography

  It is truly a wonderful experience to welcome a new day in the mountains. We were lucky to be able to do just that during our recent trip to Banff National Park just before Christmas. The changing colors of the sky, reflected in little pools of open water at Vermilion Lakes made it all seem like the most exotic place, even though we have visited it so many times before.. Met a few photographers who, having the same idea, were already positioned in various places along the lakes capturing all those colors of a beautiful solstice morning.  Experiencing such natural splendor makes landscape photography even more enjoyable. Even though you are spending long time outside, in the cold, you are rewarded with such wonderful views that it is all worth it! I have managed to shoot a few close ups, too (can't really help myself, you know ;D) I have also been finally able to play with Sony NEX-6 and NEX-7 during this trip enjoying not having to drag my heave Canons along and must say, I do like the results. I hope you do, too ;D.

Kasia

Welcoming new day

Sharing the moment

Cold morning

A colony on ice

Lovely beginning

Colors of the morning

Welcome to the shortest day of the year

Rising sun

Marked by love

Far away..

Morning at Vermilion Lakes

Summer Memories of the Beautiful Lake Louise

I know I've already shared some pictures from our visit at Lake Louise in July of last year (Lake Louise - how I saw it..), but I cannot resist posting more of them. Especially today, when the world outside is so dark and gloomy I can't help but look at these pictures and feast my eyes on summer colors... It is one of the most beautiful places in Banff National Park here in Alberta and every time I go there I am enchanted by the sight of it.  I was lucky to have taken my macro lens with me as well and managed to snap a few shots of the beautiful wild flowers growing around the lake. I hope you enjoy all this color as much as I do... Kasia

Elk Island Sunset - Landscape Photography

I have a confession to make... I love Elk Island National Park.  I love going there and getting lost in the silence of nature.  It's a perfect place for landscape photography, lifestyle, family photography, and of course wildlife photography.  It's not far from where I live, and makes a great trip if you want to just get away for a few hours. Of course sunsets at the Astotin Lake are always quite a sight.  Each is different, and each offers unique opportunities for really great images.  I have a lot of these in my library, and I never get bored looking at them.  Since our cold and white Canadian winter is in full swing, I thought adding a little color might brighten up the day.  So here is yet another sunset, at Elk Island.  Enjoy!

Lake Louise - how I saw it..

Several weeks ago, in his post Lake Louise, Mac has shared some wonderful images taken during our short stop over at that beautiful place. Today, I would like to show you my pictures from that visit.  Such a gorgeous place! Every time we visit it I am amazed at it's beauty. Every time I see it differently and enjoy being there even with tons of tourists walking around.  We have been fortunate this time having the sun low on the sky.  Not yet sunset, but still it made the surroundings so much more interesting.  I have taken some shots from the area around the lake, as well, including a few macros.  Such a treat seeing it all in the middle of summer with lush greenery and abundance of wild flowers growing everywhere!! Enjoy! Kasia

Yup! Fall is here...

Summer is over. Not only by the calendar but you can see the colours changing almost in front of your eyes out there and turning the recently green world into a myriad of golds, yellows, oranges and reds.  Since the day was wonderfully sunny and warm yesterday we have pretty much spent it all outside on photo shoots.  First we've decided to check Elk Island for morning mists (which have never showed up, BTW), than I took a walk about the neighbourhood with my camera and then, towards the evening, we have taken off to check out the countryside again... Wherever we went the colours were there. In just a couple of weeks everything has changed... Let's start with a sunrise at Elk Island:

And here is a few shots from the city, which is also quickly changing it's colours:

The morning sun has highlighted everything beautifully bringing out the colours and shapes of fall  :).  And , as the day progressed towards the evening and we took a ride in the country, the evening sun has brought out the colours out even more..

Our luck held and we were given a beautiful sunset to enjoy as well, with a big sun on a hazy sky giving the world a beautiful glow..

As you can see, the signs of fall are everywhere. The gathering of birds that are already flying south, the colours of leaves and ripe fruit on the trees, the general feel of the world are all crying out: Fall is here!!!   I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can hoping, that the frost and winds won't come too early and cause the beautiful leaves to fall and leave the world naked and monochromatic again..

Kasia

Golden Hour at Elk Island

Elk Island National Park is a great place to take your family to for a few hours of close contact with nature or a loving couple for a little romantic photo shoot. Not only it's peaceful and quiet there but you can experience an amazing golden hour, of which, I was taking a shameless advantage every time I was able to.  Here is a little collection of shots I have taken this summer during that wonderful time of day when the sun hangs low above the Astotin Lake.

It's gorgeous out there and when the sun gets low in the sky the world turns magical. I hope these images will bring you as much pleasure as they  bring me and I am sure I will gladly be coming back to them when the cold winter months arrive...

Kasia

A Summer Sunset at Elk Island

It seems Elk Island National Park is one of those handy spots to escape the city and enjoy a bit of nature at it's finest.  Close enough that the trip can happen spontaneously, far enough to be able to enjoy quiet and peace and one or two of amazing sunsets.  Mac has recently shared some of his images from one of our trips in his post Nature walk with the Fuji X-Pro1 and here are some shots from our most recent trip there.  It was one of those spur of the moment escapades that paid of with a gorgeous light and a wonderful colour of the sky beautifully reflected in the quiet waters of Astotin Lake..

And after the sun has finally set the view has changed yet again and granted us yet another set of wonderful colours:

There just isn't anything more peaceful than watching a beautiful sunset surrounded by nature.. Even the hoards of mosquitoes were not able to keep us away from the view for a long time. ;D

Kasia

Chasing the Alberta Sunset

It's always a lot of fun to travel on unknown little dirt roads in Alberta.  You can discover so much.  In my travels I try to get myself lost in a sense.  I take turns where I think the area might present itself with something interesting.  This little trip was no different.  Completely by accident my wife and I found ourselves on the road and passed by this beautiful lake.  It's not big enough so it did not show up on maps that I have, but I had my GPS handy so I marked the spot for future reference.  It was late spring, and noise coming out of the surrounding reeds, was almost deafening.  Ducks, geese, and other flying species were making quite a racket.  It was quite amazing.  Unfortunately I wasn't prepared for fowl photography, as I was testing my Fuji X-Pro1, and did not bring any long lenses.  My main reason was landscape and HDR.  As always it was a great trip.  Enjoy!

The Rockies This Summer

We were very lucky this summer to be able to travel through the Rockies twice - so far :D.  The first time we have visited only Jasper National Park in Alberta visiting some of the places we have not seen yet.  The weather, again, was on our side and in spite of the very strong wind the temperature as well as the sky cooperated and allowed us to stop by and take lots of pictures...  It was a very wet beginning of the summer and the lakes and rivers were full of water (as you can see on pictures of both Jasper and Talbot Lakes below). We have made a little detour before we entered the park to visit another site in the mountains, but the roads were closed due to flooding...  There was still quite a lot of snow high in the mountains and we have been granted wonderful views of glaciers and snow covered peaks (Mount Edith Cavell with her glaciers, below).  Here is a few shots from the first trip:

It was a wonderful trip, filled with great views and animal sitings that are always a pleasure...

Our second trip took place just a week ago and it took us a very long way through the mountains to British Columbia and back home to Alberta. We were a bit short on time and could not stop too often to take pictures but we have still managed to take a few stops here and there admiring the views and the abundant flora.  It's amazing how of the wild flowers full the mountain meadows were this time of year!! It was simply gorgeous and since I did take my macro lens with me I took advantage of it and here are some of the results:

On the way there we could not resist a short stop at the beautiful Moose Lake, B.C. It was a gorgeous day, the clouds providing a lovely background to the mountains surrounding this lake and the wild flowers bloomed with abandonment making the views even more appealing...

As before we have decided to take a different way home and could not resist stopping at Lake Louise (since we were travelling through Banff National Park this time).  After we left there, the views became even more beautiful... We rarely have a chance to travel through the mountains with setting sun and moon accompanying us. This time we were granted both of these and it was such a gorgeous set of views that, regardless of a long travel ahead, we have decided to stop a few more time to capture the wonderful scenes.  I hope you like them as much as we did :D

Kasia

Heading back to Edinburgh..

Well, it was time to say good-bye to Glenfinnan and head back to Edinburgh.  We have decided to make a circle and chosen a different road this time, as always, trying to fit as much new views as it was possible in the short time we had.  It was definitely not a mistake and, though, we had been stuck for a while in a traffic jam in Fort William (road constructions - what else?!) we were not sorry at all.  The weather system that we've encountered at the end of our nature walk seem to have been chasing us and the sky was truly amazing. So even stuck in traffic we have snapped a few shots of it.

Starting to be short on time, we weren't really planning on stopping too many times on the way, alas the views were so gorgeous that we have made numerous stops here and there taking pictures, every time promising it was the last..

How can you not stop when the rainbow shows up invitingly?!

Seduced again and again by colours and textures we were in awe of the beauty of the views we've encountered...

Oh.. to live in this little house for a while.. That would be something, for sure.. See it all in the changing seasons and colours would be something quite extraordinary, I think...

With such amazing textures and colours and ever-changing sky it was very hard not to photograph the same views over and over again, because every time we turned the light has changed and showed us yet another aspect of the landscape.. Glorious,wonderful places, all of them!!

The weather has started to catch up with us. There was a serious rain on the horizon and yet we still took our time to stop, not willing to miss anything...

See what I mean about the changing sky?!  Well, it was time to hide in the car, since the rain started to fall and the road was calling.. What we've found next, I will share a bit later.  I hope we were able to capture the wonderful beauty of these places. I can imagine them in the late summer or early fall when heather is in bloom, adding more colour to the ground... I would love to be able to truly explore this stretch of the road again, with more time and the ability to actually hike in the mountains a bit and visit places farther away from the highway..

Kasia

Scotland - on the shores of Loch Shiel

As I have mentioned in my previous post: Scotland - the Road to Glenfinnan, we went to visit the shores of Loch Shiel as a kind of a joke because of "Highlander" the movie. But that is not the only movie that has made this place famous. Some of the scenes from Harry Potter movies were filmed there as well. The movies aren't the only thing that makes Glenfinnan interesting, though... In August 1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Price Charlie") has landed on the shores of Loch Shiel starting the second Jacobean Rising that has ended tragically for Scotland at Culloden in April of 1746.  In 1815 the Glenfinnan Monument has been erected to commemorate the start of that event as well as in tribute to the clansmen who fought and died in the Jacobite cause. For those who would like to learn more a lot of information can be found on the web.  Now, for the scenery, I am going to leave that for you to judge:

I was paying attention to the little things that surrounded us, while we were hiking to the viewing point, so here is a little macro as well ;D

I am sure you will agree with me, that it is a beautiful place, well worth hours of driving from Edinburgh. I just wish we've had more time to spend exploring this area, though we did take a little nature walk and I will share some of the pictures in my next post.  Hope you enjoyed!!

Kasia