Smoke in the Air

My photographic activity is somewhat curtailed at the present time due to a lingering presence of smoke in the air. This phenomenon is due to a plethora of forest fires, primarily in the US Northwest. The smoke from those fires has drifted in and the haze it creates has virtually obscured the sky and the mountain views.  My friend, Bob Bear and I did venture out on Monday but our picture taking was quite limited. It was unfortunate because the location we visited has great promise for photography. We trekked into a location near the Stanley Glacier, in Kootenay National Park. Given the poor atmospheric conditions, we focused our efforts on photographing subjects not affected by the smoke. In other words, things close to us and to the ground.

I did take a few that show the state of the sky, for example this view of Mount Stanley, looking down the canyon towards the Kootenay Valley. Lost is the beautiful mountain view on the opposite side of the valley. I was close enough to Mount Stanley to get a decent photograph, although I did add considerable contrast to improve visibility of the rock face features.

I also took some pictures from a small bridge crossing Stanley Creek, facing upstream toward Mount Stanley and the Stanley Glacier. The creek is fed by the melt water from the glacier. Again, the view gets pretty hazy as you look off into the distance.

Most of our time was spent taking close-up pictures of features along the trail, such as the creek bed pictured below; too close for the haze to make any difference. I also applied some software techniques I’ve been experimenting with, using a plug-in to Photoshop, Topaz Re-Style. 

Following are two other, stylized images from Monday’s hike. Firstly, an old tree stump. This picture is an exercise is controlling depth-of-field to keep the entire stump in focus, while diminishing the background with less focus and conversion to black and white. I simply wanted to emphasize the detail of its colour and texture.

This next and final photo is similar, picturing some vibrant grass and a plant beginning to show its autumn colour, contrasted by the decaying remains of an old tree.

We did catch a view of the glacier and a nice waterfall near the end of our hike. Given the haze and the anticipated effect it would have on our pictures, we chose to call it a day and plan to return when the air quality improves. I look forward to sharing some better pictures in the not-too-distant future.