Expressions of Winter

Today’s blog contains a mix of winter scenes, all taken recently in Canmore. I’ve chosen to use a variety of photographic styles to portray the varied conditions we enjoy in winter.

The first picture was taken in the course of a walk near home in late December. My subject in this case is the Fairholme Range of Mountains, bordering the Bow Valley on the opposite side. It was a beautiful, sunny day albeit pretty cold, with a temperature of -23 deg C (-11 deg F) when it was taken. The photo displays the prevalent sunny weather we enjoy in winter.

This second photograph was taken from our back porch, looking northwest toward Banff. That line of peaks is actually a single mountain, Mount Rundle, extending 12 km (7.5 mi.). It defines the southwestern boundary of the Bow Valley between Canmore and Banff. This photo works very well in black and white; I found it more appealing than the colour version.

Today was an exciting day to photograph Mount Rundle’s east end (EEOR), seen just left of centre in the photograph below.

Why? Because an Alberta Parks Mountain Safety crew was performing avalanche control on EEOR. I took a large number of pictures from our kitchen window, including this scene showing two cascades of snow falling down the steep eastern face of the mountain. This is done to protect Highway 742, the Smith-Dorrien Trail which ascends along the base of EEOR to the Spray Lakes area south of town. The road is closed while dynamite is dropped from a helicopter to trigger the avalanches. When the “bombing” is completed, the snow is removed from the highway, making it safe to travel until the snow conditions once again approach risky. For more information, try this article from one of the area’s weekly newspapers…https://www.thecragandcanyon.ca/news/local-news/bombs-away-behind-the-scenes-on-helicopter-avalanche-control

During a recent walk, I noticed a pattern atop the snow piled beside the sidewalk, after it had been cleared. The pattern was created by a light accumulation of powdery snow covering the chunks of packed snow pushed up onto the pile. Shadowing added to the appeal of the pattern and I think it makes an interesting photograph.

I was learning about the use of filters that can be applied to images using Photoshop, to create a picture that looks like a painting. I experimented a little and chose this filter for the photograph you see above. It’s an interesting novelty, fun to work with. I only wish Adobe would share the names of the artistic styles and the artists who made them popular. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a Picasso style.

I noticed this scene out the window of our basement exercise room, while pumping away on the elliptical trainer. Something about it interested me so I photographed it. I like the windswept snow, shaped by the column and the shadows which give it definition. I see this as minimalism, another genre of photography that I like.

That’s it for today’s blog. I hope I didn’t chill you out. Despite the cold, this is one of my favourites times of the year. Winter is beautiful here and the photographic opportunities are endless.