The snow is mostly gone, here on the prairies, but it will be some weeks before we see greenery and flowers blooming. I can’t wait! It has been a long winter and I sure could use a bit of color. Late spring or early summer images are great for it because all is fresh and green is bright and not dimmed by dust of late summer days.
We are lucky here in Alberta, because some nights are full of light show. We had a couple of gorgeous Aurora showing last fall and I have managed to capture some shots without leaving the city.
I know, I know it is winter and everybody posts winter photography, but I am not ready for it yet. I see it outside my window every day, so I want to see something warm, colorful and pretty. Hope you are in need of this as well.
It has been a while since I’ve posted anything about Elk Island National Park. So, I think, it is time for some lovely sunset from the beginning of summer, when all was green, flowers were blooming and days were warm and long.
It is a bit nasty outside today, so it's not a huge surprise I have turned to pictures, I have taken during our early morning trip to Rundle Park, here in Edmonton's River Valley. I can't believe it has been a month since we have visited, though the world looks much changed from that morning. We have lost all that brilliant foliage that was covering all the trees, glowing beautifully in sunrise light..
Our little evening outing culminated at the Hastings Lake. We have never been there before, so a perfect ending to a great drive through unknown Alberta roads :) The first thing we have noticed were hoards of flying insects.
So we are supposed to be in this season called Spring. Well possibly in normal parts of the northern hemisphere, but not in our little city of Edmonton. We received a nice dump of snow at about 7 cm thick. After the first initial shock we decided that we are not going to take this wintery stuff laying down. So we took egg decorating to the outside. The snow was perfect for this, so we created 3 dinosaur size eggs and decorated them for Easter.
It's almost our tradition now, that each summer we go exploring in the back Alberta roads for that perfect sunset location. I think we already realized that we are never going to find one, as the landscape of this province is very diverse, and our explore radius is not very far from home :) Still we can almost always find something interesting to photograph. Today, I'm presenting you with images taken a few months back, when spring was still in the air. Yes, I do have a pretty big backlog of images that need to be touched. We still have our Vancouver/West Coast to finish up, although Kasia has been going through them and posting them on her Flickr stream. We have been having issues with uploading images to our blog lately, and I still haven't figured out what exactly is the problem. Right now it takes 3 times longer to get images on the blog, and it's a bit complicated process.
In any case, back to Alberta Landscape, and exploring. Our trips are usually on the spur of the moment. We'll look at the clouds, and judge if it could be an interesting looking sunset. If the answer is yes, then quickly pack up the gear and off we go. We never know what we are going to get. Yes over the years that we have been doing this, I have been marking the really nice locations on my GPS, so we can come back easily, and we have on couple of occasions. There is one location though that still escapes me. I found this beautiful log shack, that seemed abandoned, but still had a cultivated garden beside it. I didn't mark it, and it's been over a year and I still can't find it.
Here are some images from that long ago trip around Alberta backroads.
Alberta skiers are a hardy bunch. Even lack of snow and generally hot temperatures of a brief summer season, does not deter them from putting on some skis and going for a run. I happened on a couple of them training. It was quite an sight. Lucky I my cameras with me to document the event. Some of you might find it silly, but I had this idea for a very long time. I think the main problem with realizing it, was finding someone crazy enough to actually do it. I finally found that person and the little project could go ahead. It was a lot of fun shooting it. I can finally cross it out of my projects..... or can I? :) Looking at the images after, I think I could go one step further, expand on the idea. Hmmm.... rusted gears in my head are starting to spin, I just hope I don't break anything :) For now I'll let you enjoy the current project....
Choosing an outdoor location for your boudoir photography session can be a challenge. Not only you have to be wary of the general public, who usually like to gawk, but also be wary of mosquitoes and other biting bugs. Gawkers are a normal thing, since it's hard not to look at a beautiful woman, but the bugs can be a bit problematic, since they leave ugly bite marks on your skin. Outdoor boudoir sessions are a lot of fun with tons of ideas that are rather difficult to shoot inside. Since the light is very important, they are best to do in the early morning or in the evening. During those times the sun light takes on a golden color and it is not as harsh as during the early afternoon hours of the day. So with a little planning, an outdoor boudoir session can be very successful. Here are some images from our latest session with Miss N. Enjoy!
A few weeks ago, we had a great pleasure of working with Miss T for her boudoir session in our studio. Miss T brought an unusual item, specially for boudoir, her boxing gloves. That added a new twist to the theme. I encourage this very much in our boudoir photography sessions. The sessions are very personal, and anything that can add a touch of you, something that makes the images unique is just brilliant. We try to make our boudoir sessions an event. Something that makes you feel special, like going to a spa and getting pampered. That's what our boudoir session are like. Fun, full of laughter and energy. Just for you to feel super special. Usually we do not post any images from our sessions. Well because they are kinda private, and personal. From time to time we get permission from our special ladies to show a few, like Miss W boudoir session, and Miss T has graciously allowed us to show some of her images. There are a lot more.... but only for Miss T :)
So why don't you give us a call and setup your own glamour, boudoir, sexy, photography session.
It is a wonderful thing to see the trees bloom as well as get green all over. I've been getting a lot of images here and there while walking with our dog, or just simply taking my camera to my own back yard recently. Such a delight to see all this wonderful color. Hope you like it as well!! Kasia
The weather is finally warm enough that I can start thinking of what to plant in my garden. It's going to be a couple more weeks before I will be brave enough to do so - there is always a possibility of frost and I have had an unfortunate accident a few years back, when I rushed things through and lost almost all new plants to a morning frost.. So, I will wait with planting, but nothing stops me from visiting our neighborhood nursery and doing a little "window shopping" before I can actually purchase things. With that in mind, a few days ago, I have taken my camera with me and had a great time taking pictures of all those wonderfully colorful flowers all just waiting for me to take home :D. I caught a few early insects as well, not mentioning a guarding cat that was enjoying a bit of a nap on one of the shelves, when I rudely interrupted his rest. A cute thing, allowed me to take a picture and then wondered away, in search, I think, of a quieter spot.. I don't know about you, guys, but I can't wait to plant things and watch them grow and bloom in a myriad of colors for my enjoyment all summer long!! Happy gardening guys!! :D Kasia
I am sure, you remember me mentioning a few times over the winter (Missing Summer Skies.. Part 1 and Missing Summer Skies.. Part 2) the fact that I have been missing the beauty of summer skies. It's been such a long time, since we have had something interesting to look at during daytime hours as well as mornings and evening that when I saw what was happening outside yesterday I was up and about with the camera enjoying myself immensely. The warm temperatures brought with it fluffy clouds yesterday afternoon and I took our puppy for a walk in a neighborhood off leash park hoping to capture some of them. Oh, what a gorgeous walk it was!! I was hoping that the sky would cooperate during sunset as well and guess what! It did!! We didn't have much time to go in search of a location and decided to use "our" field close to the city. The melted snow left a huge puddle at the edge of this field and it happen to beautifully capture reflections of the sky, of which we took a great advantage ;D. Here is a few shots of yesterday's beauty. Hope you guys find it as enjoyable as did I! Kasia
As I have mentioned in my post Things to Come, spring has been very slow to start this year. We all are rather tired of grays, dirty snow and cold, and long for things to change. It is rather late, but finally, after almost 6 months the snow has finally melted off my flower beds and lawn and I can see growing things starting to come out, particularly in one, sheltered spot by my house. First there were the tulips, sticking out shyly, followed quickly by delphinium foliage and then, I have seen some buds on the trees in the neighborhood getting nice and fat and finally my crocuses started to bloom. I was so very happy to see them!!! I'm also very lucky because in most places in our city there has been no signs of spring yet except for an occasional, very rare pussy willow.. So here it is, for all of us in central and norther Alberta, a little color with renewed hope that soon our world will turn green again. :D Kasia
It supposed to be spring. My wife posted a few landscape images from this time last year. What a difference. No snow, warm days, beautiful sunsets. This year, Ms. Spring is a little late. Which still allows for wonderful winter sunrise images. Another foggy morning at the end of March, and very cold. I think the temperatures in the park dipped down to -24C. We were both frozen, but very happy. The world looked absolutely spectacular. Kasia posted some of her images from that day, really great landscape images. I took a little longer to process my images from that day, but I think it was worth it. Enjoy!
It was bloody freezing this morning in the park, where we went to shoot a foggy sunrise. The temperatures dropped to -22 degrees Celsius and the fog made it feel even colder. But the sky was blue and the sun was rising so we went for a very long walk and took a lot of pictures. By the time we've gotten back into our vehicle I could barely feel some of my fingers and toes, not mentioning my frozen face.. Oh, well.. I think, it was still worth it! ;D Here is a few of the shots I took this morning and, though, it is not spring yet, for which I am terribly sorry, the world is looking mighty wonderful today! :D Kasia
The gloomy winter weather that we have been experiencing this year has made me appreciate a lot the summer skies and the gorgeous spectacles we have been able to witness over last summer. Even not being able to travel outside Edmonton, I took a lot of pictures on numerous occasions of weird, sometimes threatening clouds that were passing us by daily. I even got to capture a double rainbow, once! I would like to share some of these today with you. Fascinating stuff! I hope you will find them as enjoyable as I did! Have a wonderful Friday, everybody! Kasia
You know? There is really no escaping the fact, that no matter what my wishes are, the winter is really not ready to depart just yet.. In this case lets enjoy it!These were taken on a rare sunny morning with blue sky and mists enveloping the River Valley and Rundle Park here in Edmonton. It was rather cold that morning as well, and the snow was just so very fresh covering earth in a pristine blanket of white. So, so beautiful!!! Well, if you can't get rid of it, embrace it!! ;D
Kasia
It has been mostly a gloomy winter around here, but now and again we are treated to some wonderful skies in the morning. Even though I can't go anywhere out I can still enjoying them through my window. I can't seem to stop myself from grabbing my camera and taking pictures of them either. ;D It gives me a great pleasure to share these with you. For me, there is nothing better than to wake up to a view as gorgeous as these! Hope they make your day as well! Kasia
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
