Canmore Spring Day

When I awoke a couple of days ago, I realized it would be a pretty good day for photography. There were low hanging clouds that I anticipated would rise and reveal some very interesting “partly cloudy” skies. I wasn’t wrong (this time). My first photograph today shows the sky as I saw it around 7:30 am. This was the view from our back porch, showing the Canmore Wall, largely obscured by cloud. Not what you call promising for photography, but it is not unusual for the clouds to clear as the day progresses.

Once conditions had improved, I set out for a walk around Canmore. My purpose was to take advantage of the dramatic skies to showcase some of the great scenery we enjoy here. I took this first shot down on the flats by the Bow River, just below where we live. I’ve entitled the scene “Amazing Sky”. I chose to position my shot below this slight rise to obscure some buildings I did not wish to include.

Once you’ve taken a photo like this, it’s a good idea to look behind yourself. Turning 180 degrees from the direction of the previous shot was another good scene, looking eastward down the Bow Valley. This photograph captures an unnamed pond, a catchment for water flowing in from the mountains above it, before draining in to the Bow River.

From the same general area, I took this next photograph of the Three Sisters, Canmore’s landmark. I chose to present it in black and white to better portray the clouds shrouding the Big Sister.

The path along the Bow River, traveling west affords many good views of the Fairholme Range, bordering the northeast side of the Bow Valley. I was able to capture another good shot of the turbulent sky that prevailed that day.

Further along on my walk, in the centre of Canmore I captured this view of the Canmore Skating  Pond. The winter ice is long gone, replaced by some great reflections of the clouds in the sky.

From this area, I strolled along the Spurline Trail, en route to the pathway along the Bow River. This is not one of the many breathtaking views of the Canmore area, but it’s an interesting scene so I chose to include it.  It caught my eye and I was enticed (emboldened?) to shoot it.

This old structure crossing the Bow River dates back to Canmore’s coal mining days. It was rail bridge, used for transporting coal across the river from the mines to the loading area on the railroad line. Today it’s a pedestrian crossing and an integral part of Canmore’s extensive trail system.

Last photograph. This bridge, originally a rail bridge is now the main crossing point for vehicles traveling between the north and south sides of town. It was a little overcast and dark at the time I took the picture but there is a sufficient opening to see Mount Lady MacDonald on the opposite side of the valley, peeking through the clouds.

I logged a few kilometres, shot a number of scenes and simply enjoyed some nice spring weather.