What a great weekend! I managed to get out again to do some photography for the second successive day. Our warm spell continues and it is difficult to forgo the opportunities. We got off to a slow start as the day began quite overcast with snow flurries. It was windy and the forecast was not optimistic. As the morning progressed, the light improved and my neighbour, Stewart Hamilton and I decided it was time. We made the short trip to the Vermilion Lakes near Banff, a perennial favourite location. The conditions continually improved and became increasingly favourable for photography.
I quite liked the hardy reeds protruding through the ice. Combined with the patterns in the ice, they offered some interesting shots. The first picture was taken looking west, away from the sun. You can see from the background that we’ve lost a lot of snow in the Bow Valley. But, as you go west and gain altitude that changes. It remains a winter wonderland just a few kilometres down the road.
This second picture is similar but taken in the direction of the sun. I chose to simplify the scene by including only the opening in the ice and surrounding vegetation. The sky was a challenge to photograph today and I didn’t need that in every picture! I did get its reflection, however in the open water.
I took this next picture before I got out onto the ice. The variety of textures on the water and along the shoreline caught my attention in this scene; so I took it and included it.
The final two images are focused on peaks in the area. The first was taken from the ice, shooting eastward down the valley with the water and reeds in the foreground. The peaks in the distance are Mount Inglismaldie and Mount Girouard, part of the Fairholme Range, bounding the north side of the Bow Valley. I particularly like the band of cloud cutting across the mid-section of the mountains.
Finally, I’ve included the classic Vermilion Lakes scene, Mount Rundle as viewed from across the water (or in this instance, across the ice). The dock in the foreground is one of several along the shoreline for use by canoeists. The light on Mount Rundle, left is very appealing. The face of Sulphur Mountain, closer and to the right of Rundle is in shadow, with the sun behind it and to the right. There is a very strong contrast here between the mountain and the sky behind it. I could have balanced it by using a neutral density gradient filter on the camera, but chose rather to fix it afterward during processing. I don’t really favour strong contrast like this but I wanted to include the dock and a greater expanse of the ice in the foreground. I rarely adjust the colour balance in my pictures but I did on this occasion, going with a slightly warmer look than the “auto white balance” selected by the camera. It shows up best in the light reflected in the ice.
Another great outing!