K-Country Autumn

Last week, I went to nearby Kananaskis Country with Stewart Hamilton, a longtime photo companion. Our purpose was to take some autumn photographs. We timed it very well, capturing the seasonal colours at or near their peak.

Speaking of peaks, I begin today’s report with an impressive one, the peak of Sarrail Ridge at the Upper Kananaskis Lake. This photo did not capture of lot of autumn colour, but you can see some groups of golden aspens interspersed with the predominant pines.

Now for some serious colour, I’ve included this photograph of the ever popular Wedge Pond. We were fortunate to have a calm day enabling us to capture some great reflections in the water, including that of Fortress Mountain in the background on the left.

While taking some photographs at Mount Lorette, my attention was drawn to the sunlight on the water of the Kananaskis River. The sparkling reflection of the light on the river’s surface is a real eye-catcher and a welcome complement to an otherwise unexceptional scene.

This next photograph is a panorama, consisting of five photographs, stitched together to encompass the full breadth of Upper Kananaskis Lake and the surrounding peaks on the opposite side (left to right); Sarrail Ridge, Mount Lyautey, Mount Putnik, Mount Invincible and Mount Indefatigable.

This picture was also taken at Upper Kananaskis Lake. The scene was a little distant from where we were, so I used a telephoto lens to get a better view of the detail along the shoreline. I like the reflection of the glowing aspen trees in the water and I was able to include some people exploring the rocky beach.

This is another telephoto shot, including the peak of Sarrail Ridge, an extension of the 3,159-metre (10,364-foot) Mount Sarrail. Sorry, there isn’t any colour in this picture, but I like it more than the colour version, included earlier. My attention was drawn to this peak by the arc of light, illuminating the aspen trees bordering the cliff in the foreground.

This picture was taken at the Wedge Pond, aiming almost vertically at this stand of aspens, resplendent in their autumn gold. Blue and yellow are complementary colours on the colour wheel and it’s not surprising that the sky and trees work well together in this scene.

Our last stop for the day was Mount Lorette. We walked down to the shoreline of the Kananaskis River for this view of the mountain. This area offers a good mix of colour, including brilliant green, yellow, red and orange.

And finally a closer view of the array of colours in and along the river.

Despite some early challenges averting substantial crowds, we did find some lesser populated areas where we could get our photos without difficulty. Combine that with the superb weather and it was a great day.