Wintry Times

I awoke yesterday to clear skies and bright sunshine (slept in). At 9:00 am it was still pretty cold at -28 deg C (-18 deg F). I elected to remain indoors and later in the morning I took this first image through the back door. It’s powdery, light snow, a scene I’ll need to shovel away before it warms and converts it to heavy, wet snow, or ice. I like this scene for the texture, shadows and shapes in the snow. Also, it’s very illustrative of our current state of weather.

The day warmed and by early afternoon, the temperature had reached a balmy -19 deg C (-2 deg F). We went out to do a few errands and made a couple of brief stops so that I might take a few pictures of our winter wonderland. The first few were taken around the 8th Avenue bridge, crossing the Bow River. This first one was taken at water level, on the bank below the bridge.

I paused briefly to take this picture of the bridge itself. I really like the combination of light and shadows.

This scene, looking downstream toward the Three Sisters captures the essence of cold. The mist rising off the water shows the evaporative effect of the temperature difference between the cold water and the much colder air.

As I departed the bridge, my attention was drawn to this area beneath it where there’s an interesting accumulation of ice, largely hidden in the shadows.

My second and final stop was where 10th Street crosses Policeman Creek. This is an oft-photographed scene located in the town centre. It’s a view that has it all, a meandering creek, bordered by pine trees and backgrounded by Mount Rundle. At this time of year, you can rely on the mist rising off the water.

Before dashing off to the sanctuary of the nearby Safeway store, I took this final picture of some shrubs along the river bank. The shadowy figure cast upon the water is the photographer, shooting from the bridge.

I look forward to some more winter photography before returning to Arizona for the balance of the winter and a much different photographic environment.