A Parting Shot

Or perhaps I should say, a parting image or photograph. We’ve left to go south and so last Thursday, I took the last opportunity to get some winter scenes in the Rockies.

I was fortunate to have a stunningly clear day, crisp and a little cold but perfect for photography. Today, I’m including a single photograph, one that I have wanted to take for some time. This picture features Castle Mountain, about 35 minutes west of Canmore and it was taken at sunset. In winter, the setting sun shines directly on the face of the mountain, my preferred light for this type of shot. Of the many pictures I’ve taken of this peak, I think this one is my favourite.

I like the clouds enveloping the west end of the mountain and the reflected glow onto them. You can also see where mist from the Bow River has formed hoar frost on some of the trees on the opposite bank.

The picture was taken using a Canon 40D camera, fitted with a 24-70 mm, f2.8 lens. Camera settings were aperture f16, ISO 400 and a shutter speed of 0.5 sec.