Cecil and I took a wander along the Elbow River today, easy going in 9 degree heat and no ascent. It was a lovely day to be out and about grabbing a few photos, click gallery below for captioned versions.
0 Comments
I thought I was lucky two nights ago to see a final Aurora before leaving this house for good (next week) But I was even luckier last night as a break in the cloud between midnight and 2am provided a lovely distant display that danced around the horizon for the whole two hour period.I chatted with my mate Russ back in the UK (via text) and sent images of the back of the camera as I snapped away. A selection from the two hour period are in the gallery below.
With just 7 days to go before 'moving day' I had almost given up hope of seeing a last Aurora from the balcony, last night the forecast was great for the northern lights....unfortunately it was totally clouded over, Tonight the Aurora forecast was weak and clouds were due again, but low and behold, a gap appeared in the clouds around midnight and a hint of that beautiful green light filled the night sky behind.
Perhaps not the most impressive Aurora I've seen but one of the most welcome, it was a 'just one more' moment and I really enjoyed standing out in the chilly night air watching until the clouds returned. I also grabbed a couple of shots of the incredible number of stars visible through the cloud break. It was such a nice day today I decided to make the most of it and take a walk in the 400 year old forest behind the house, there wasn't much wildlife around which is unusual but I still found a few things to practice on with the new lens.
Cecil and I set out to walk the Bow River Circuit around Bowmont/Baker and Bowness parks. The Bowness side has been closed since the 2013 floods trashed the place so it was really nice to see it open again. I took along a new huge telephoto lens that I bought last week, I was dubious of its capabilities as it was a low priced item but I confess I am really impressed with the output, all of the shots are handheld at 600mm yet came out fine (I did ensure a very high shutter speed to help it along)
This first 'main' shot is an abstract I've been trying to create for some time, it is a small area of birch trees but I set a shutter speed of around 1 second and raised my camera as the shutter fired, it took a number of shots to get the one I wanted but I really like it. As always click images for larger captioned versions. Every day huge flights of geese take off from the Bow river in the valley below the house and honk their way out to the prairie fields looking for food. Every time they do I think to myself I'll grab a few shots of those geese one day. So, with 'moving day' fast approaching I decided to get it done today, below is an image made of three individual shots of the geese in flight, as always the shots are taken from the balcony. Click image for a larger version.
Snow is something we are rarely short of out here in Canada and today we got a little more. The flakes were well defined and I thought I'd have a go at capturing them in greater detail. This is my first real effort at close macro work so I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, maybe when I've practiced a little more I'll think less of these shots, only time will tell. All of the shots are taken of flakes just sitting on the top of the balcony rail, once they had piled up I just knocked them off and waited for a few more new ones.
I made the 14.2km (8.8 miles) circuit of Prairie Creek/Powderface Creek again today, with just 494m (1620 feet) of ascent it makes a really nice leg warmer without ever working too hard. As usual I stopped on the small bridge at the halfway point to enjoy an orange and granola bar and it wasn't long before the Whiskey Jacks that are seemingly ever present here joined me. The three of them nailed two whole raspberry granola bars and half an orange in just a few minutes, and as always I shared a few of those moments where they sit on my fingers and peck up the seeds without fear. Click the gallery below for larger captioned versions.
|
AuthorWe arrived in Calgary, Canada on 29th December 2011 to continue our journey. This blog is intended to keep our family and friends informed whilst we explore Canada.You can use the RSS feed below to stay updated. Categories
All
Archives
January 2024
The Shaman, West Texas
|