This morning, Howie Dingle and I went out for an early morning excursion, heading west to Banff National Park. The day did not look promising, with low hanging clouds obscuring many of the mountain peaks and any sign of a colourful sunrise. The clouds were moving a lot and by the time we approached the Town of Banff, two of its landmark peaks, Mt Rundle and Cascade Mountain emerged from the mist to catch the first rays of the morning sun.
We didn’t have a lot of time to get the pictures, the light changes very quickly. We pulled over to the side of the highway and took the photos hand-held, without the benefit of a tripod. Despite the low light, I was able to get some pretty satisfactory pictures. Certainly didn’t want to miss the beautiful colours!
The light was getting through gaps in the clouds and the mountains to the east to illuminate these peaks. The bright orange colour lasts only a few minutes, while the sun is still low in the sky. You can see that the light on the mountains was reflecting back on the underside of nearby clouds. A sight worth seeing.
We moved on to a location I had been scouting for some time but had not visited before. It’s just a few kilometres past Banff, at the intersection where the Bow Valley Parkway meets the Trans Canada highway. We set up looking down the valley with the Bow River in front of us. By this time, low clouds had moved back in, obscuring the mountains to the west.
We waited patiently for a break in the clouds but got only a few fleeting glimpses of mountains.
Despite the limited view of mountain peaks, the scenes were quite interesting; some great light and cloud patterns. Looking westward, we could see heavy mist along the north side of the valley. We decided to check out an area known as the Sawback Burn, where we anticipated the fog might look quite good among the burned forest. We were right!
Sawback Burn is an area where fires were lit intentionally, or “prescribed” by park staff to renew the forest for wildlife habitat or to create fuel breaks to protect facilities and communities. This burn occurred in 1993 and renewal is progressing well. The ash from the fires and the subsequent decomposition of the dead trees provides nutrients for the new growth. The scene is a compelling one, the juxtaposition of lush new growth with the still standing, burnt trees. The mist among the trees creates an eerie, graveyard-like feel.
Turning the camera 180 degrees toward the west shows a quite different scene. A break in the mist, a shadowy peak in the distance and the rich growth of grasses, wildflowers and new trees.
What began as a somewhat doubtful morning for photography proved to be quite the opposite, an experience I really enjoyed.
Wow
What a pretty area