Winter Scenes

Bow Valley

I finally got out to do some winter photography. Conditions (lack of snow) have not been favourable, delaying my first foray in search of interesting scenery.

Accompanied by Rolande, we traveled up and down Highway 1A and then the Lake Minnewanka Road in search of interesting compositions. We did find a little more snow, although less than we would expect and hope for at this time of the year.

This scene, photographed on Highway 1A is a familiar one and I was happy to find it sporting a mantle of snow. I have a small collection of different views of this peak. They all differ as the result of different light, seasonal and weather differences and different perspectives.

Our first stop along the Lake Minnewanka Road was at Two Jack Lake. From my vantage point above the lake I got this photograph featuring Mount Rundle in the background and Two Jack in the foreground. Facing directly into the sun made this shot challenging. I used a circular polarizer filter to reduce the glare on the lake and kept the field of view just below the sun itself to avoid its direct light. I chose to convert the image to black and white, given that most of the scene is in shadow and that there is very little colour to be seen at this time of year.

This scene features much friendlier light. It’s a picture of the Palliser Range, taken from the roadside of Lake Minnewanka Road, facing away from the sun. That’s Lake Minnewanka in the foreground.

This is a scene I photographed a couple of months ago, during autumn. I wanted to re-create it under winter conditions. The Cascade River flows northward in the direction of Mount Aylmer in the background. I like the mix of light and shadow in the foreground, created by the trees behind me when I took the picture.

This last picture was taken earlier in the trip as we travelled west on the Trans-Canada Highway toward the exit for Highway 1A. I’ve always been fascinated by the overwhelming presence of Cascade Mountain from this vantage point. The highway passes very close to the base of the mountain before turning left toward Banff. Again, I had the opportunity to capture light and shadows as we traversed this section of the road, as we approached the turn.

Featured in the header at the top of the post is a cloud formation that I photographed from a moving vehicle on our way home. It’s a very unusual sight, a cloud type that is very rare. Its name, Stratocumulus Lenticularis (I believe) suggests that it’s a mix of stratocumulus and lenticular clouds. I was able to find some photographs online, that although not that similar, share a lot of characteristics with the formation I photographed. The characteristics noted in the following description also fit reasonably well with the cloud I photographed.

Stratocumulus Lenticularis have lens or almond shapes, usually quite elongated, and whose contours are usually well defined. These clouds often appear in the formation of clouds of orographic origin (of clouds or rainfall resulting from the effects of mountains in forcing moist air to rise.)They can also be seen in regions without marked orography, although less frequently. Usually these “lenses” are almost stationary and indicate approaching thunderstorms.