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.
Sunrise in the mountains is as great as a sunset, enjoyed the best in peace and quiet. Unfortunately, that was not the case that morning. It seems like a lot of tourists decided to go shooting in the same location as we did and they were running around yelling and generally making a nuisance of themselves…
It is so much easier to wake up for a sunrise trip out of the city this time of year. The only problem is, there is not always a good weather for photography. In Alberta, we are blessed quite often with cloudless sky and very cold weather, which, as any of you, who practice landscape photography know, does not make good conditions for interesting shots. There is also the issue of road conditions, which can be problematic at the least and the cold itself.
After a busy time of Christmas preparations, we finally have some time to continue with our New York trip. We already covered our day in Manhattan and Central Park. Now it's time for what we love doing best.
I have been slacking. Mostly because .... I guess I'm lazy. I do have a backlog of images that are asking politely to be posted somewhere... maybe someone will like them? What if no one really cares? Will that have an impact? Should it have an impact? Should our creativity be influenced by someone liking or disliking or simply not caring about the images we create
Early morning. Hordes of mosquitoes, tall wet grass, and me, frolicking with my Fuji X-Pro1 camera and a Fuji 10-24mm lens, trying to get a good angle on a beautiful Alberta sunrise. I stopped on the highway near the back of Villeneuve airport, trying the catch the Boing 737 parked there in the middle of a canola field. I really like the juxtaposition of a big passenger jet just sitting there in a farmer's field.
When I finally got this lens, I had my doubts that it might not be wide enough for landscapes. I like to shoot landscapes at least at 17mm on full frame camera. and this 14mm translates to roughly 21mm, when factoring the crop of Fuji X cameras. I decided to give it a try. I was really impressed with the results. I think 21mm is wide enough for me, although I'm still looking forward to the new 10-24 f4 Fuji lens. Best of all, all this equipment is light, easily transportable, which makes shooting with it so much more fun.
It was a perfect day. The morning was beautiful and we found a few photographers already positioned at Vermillion lakes waiting for the sunrise. The weather conditions were quite perfect for a great sunrise shoot. After the sunrise, we traveled to Lake Louise. Another great iconic location for landscapes. A day of beautiful light, beautiful mountains, and great time shooting it all.
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
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
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
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Day 3:
It was brutally cold last Sunday when we ventured, before dawn, outside the city hoping for a nice sunrise. The temperatures were steadily dropping while we were driving away from Edmonton and by the time we reached our destination it was -30 degree Celsius. It was a blessing that there was barely any wind because it felt very cold and we were very happy to be able to take a break in a warm vehicle every 5 minutes or so.. But it was well worth it! We were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise, full of colors and great clouds - a rarity this winter. What I found fascinating, though while staring at the sky, was the the industrial installations that were surrounding us looked quite amazing against such sky and the light of raising sun was making them even more interesting and, dare I say, beautiful. All that smoke highlighted by the low sun just added to already interesting and dramatic sky. It is rather strange to use term "beauty" in the same sentence as industry, smoke and pollution, but judge for yourself. I guess, in a certain light, almost everything is beautiful ;D.. Hope you are going to enjoy this set of pictures from our frozen, beautiful prairies during winter sunrise. Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!! Kasia
Oh I know that this is already 2013. I know we should all get a fresh start to everything, but I still have so many images from last year that I haven't posted. Like this set, for example. Taken during the early fall, morning at the Elk Island National Park. Me and my wife went out in the early hours to see if we can catch a sunrise in the park. We got lucky with wildlife as well. Not only we found some silly bison, but a sneaky coyote as well. At that time I was testing the manual 70-210 Vivitar lens on the Sony NEX-7... and ended up with a few missed shots, but also quite a few good ones. Here are the best of the bunch, from that lovely day. Enjoy!
What is the best way to celebrate New Year? Why, shooting a sunrise, of course! ;D Thus we were quite excited to get up way before dawn on January 1st and take a drive in the country. The temperatures were pretty high (considering that we've spent a month of close to -20oC, whether with windchill or not..), but the cold wind has decided to pick up and blow snow through the prairies, creating picturesque snowdrifts on the sides of the roads. At places there was a very deep snow in the shoulders (way above my knee), which I tested trying to get one particular shot of a small heard of horses in the sunrise light (below). All in all, the trip was very good, even if we have returned slightly frozen and windblown. After all, if the animals can roam the prairies in such a weather, why not us? Hope you enjoy these wintery images of rural Alberta in the light of, fist, the moon and then, the fist sunrise of this year!
Kasia
