Winter Wonderland

Last Days of Autumn

Not long after my last post, “First Winter Day”, we had some more snow, creating an excellent day for some winter photography. This prompted an unplanned shoot to take advantage of the great conditions. On short notice, Bob Bear and I went out for a couple of hours and we were very pleased with what we achieved.

We went to an area along the Bow River, close to the Engine Bridge. This bridge was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1891 on a railroad spur line to serve a coal mine. Coal was transported across the bridge to the main CPR rail line, where it was used to fuel the old steam locomotives. The old rail spur is now part of the Bow River Loop Trail and the bridge remains for hikers to cross the river. The bridge features prominently among today’s photographs.

This photograph was taken from the bridge, looking down the Bow River toward the Three Sisters, enveloped in clouds, with the sun peeking through as it crests the peaks.

I took this next picture on the west side of the bridge, an interesting view of the structure highlighted with patches of snow on the cold , black steel.

This photographs displays the heavy accumulation of snow on the boughs of the evergreen trees, bounding this trail through the forest. This trail is part of a network of hiking trails throughout Canmore, including the afore-mentioned Bow River Loop Trail. Note the solitary walker, sporting a red jacket, at the far end of this trail.

One a snowy, cloudy day colours are very muted, to the point where one is tempted to convert every image to black and white. Stubbornly, I actively sought colour for inclusion in some of my images, including this one.

The following scene was in fact, converted to black and white, conceding that there was virtually no colour whatsoever to be found anyway. It features Ha Ling Peak in the background, largely enshrouded in cloud and mist.

My last photograph features the main span of the Engine Bridge, outlined in snow on its girders, beams and struts. Although it is still pretty much a monochrome image, I toned it with a little blue to bring out the colour in the sky and the water.

We called it quits after a couple of hours, walking back to where we had parked in the town on our ways home.