With a good aurora predicted for last night I set out from home at 11:30pm to make my way to Banff National Park and the open dark skies around Lake Minnewanka. As I approached the mountains a thick heavy cloudbank hung over everything, the prediction was for 'some cloud' but I didn't expect it all to be in the same place, I still continued to the lake in the hope that the sky might clear. As you'll see in the gallery below it never actually did but I think it really adds to the mood. For much of the time it ruined every shot but occasionally it provided a wonderful addition to the star filled skies. I set up the camera around 12:30am and took shots until about 3:00am. Two girls from France arrived and set up close to me but struggled to get any shots before they got fed up and left again disappointed that they didn't see much of an aurora. It was literally only minutes after they left that the sky behind Mt Astley lit up and sprites danced across the ridge from east to west, for a short time everything was perfect and I made some nice shots that made the trip worthwhile. Mountains being what they are, you never really know what you're going to get weather wise, but sometimes if you put yourself out there you are rewarded for your efforts and last night was one of those nights.
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The aurora is predicted to be very good later this week, unfortunately so is the cloud cover. So I thought I would stay up late and shoot the aurora last night just in case it's too cloudy later in the week. As an experiment I set up one camera and 16-35mm lens for a star trail shot and used a different one and 24-70mm lens for the aurora shots. As it turns out the aurora wasn't great but it did make for an interesting addition to the star trail image. Low clouds to the left of the shot erased some of the star trails but the combined glow of more than a hundred images stacked together made the aurora 'pop' on the right to distract away from the darker area opposite. There's a long satellite trail in there too but I really couldn't be bothered searching it out and erasing it for this shot so it remains. As I was packing up the star trail camera I thought I'd make a few more aurora shots and was lucky enough to see and capture a nice shooting star on the horizon which can be seen the last image on the gallery below. If you're interested in making your own star trail images you can click here for more information on how to do it.
I usually make the 8km hike to Rawson Lake at least once each year in either winter or early spring. Mainly because it gets well trodden by the masses and does not require snow shoes (though a step off the trail will see you waist deep in snow immediately). For anyone wanting to see the hike in detail with maps and parking information you can find a previous wandering here. The gallery below has captioned images from today and the main image is just a shot of my favourite mountain, Mt Indefatigable which greets you as you arrive at the parking area.
We found a new trail by the river today, it is less tarmac and more trees so we were obviously going to take it. We walked down from the house on the usual pathway but then followed a foot trail alongside the river through undergrowth, it stays with the river until the bend where it climbs to the hill overlooking the town and a fine vantage point for the main image. There's still some very thick ice beside the river shown in one of the shots with Sarah for scale. From the top of the hill we circled down to a new part of the housing development and returned home on a different piece of the tarmac pathway that scoots around the neighbourhood. All in all it was a nice sunday stroll of about 5k and it stopped us falling asleep on the couch.
Sometimes you just need to get out and blow the airline germs out of your hair, so after a tough week, Sarah and I headed out to West Bragg Creek to do just that. The place is not the most scenic in the area but it wasn't about that today, it was about walking and talking and blowing away the cobwebs. There's a gallery below showing the arrival of springtime in the area, there's no captions because it's just us walking locally in the various brown shades of spring.
In my spare time the past few weeks I've been busy building a series on basic composition to add to the photography section of this site. Overall there are 17 elements which I've kept as individual sections to facilitate learning. You can read none, read one, read some, or read them all in one sitting. It's not earth shattering stuff but it will help you make better images if you are not currently aware of basic composition elements. You can click the following text to go to the Basic Photographic Composition Page or you can click the image below. Additionally I have added a permanent link on the Photography page so you will always be able to find and refresh your basic composition knowledge.
After getting a good 5km along the river pathway yesterday I thought I'd keep the spring fever going and try another local wander. This time I went to Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park to enjoy the rolling prairie grasslands. The park is just east of Cochrane and very easy to get to for us, and though it is not at it's best at this time of year it is still a beautiful place to walk. If nothing else it's another 8km toward getting into shape for the hiking season to come. At this time of year it also forces me to think hard about my photography to find images for the site. The main image is the visitor centre at the park, the gallery below has captions for more detailed info.
This week the chinook wind is blowing through and we are getting some positive temperatures again, so for now at least, it's springtime in Cochrane. I decided to take advantage of the 12 degree afternoon with a walk on the Bow River Pathway through the town. It's fair to say that it's not the greatest place for photography, but it is a fantastic place for a short walk without driving out to the mountains. I took the 70-200mm along and made a few shots and really did enjoy the quiet contemplation by the river. The weather was perfect and it was great to feel that springtime is on the way......if only for this week.
It's been another week of freezing temperatures in our never ending winter, the squirrels sit on the fence looking over to the bird feeder for quite a while before taking the plunge into the cold snow to dash across the garden. I'm pretty sure they think about it for so long because they end up covered in snow on both the outward and return leg of the journey which can't be much fun when it's -25 outside.
This is just a small selection of shots from a local hiking circuit I did today, distance is about 14 km and total ascent (spread through many ups and downs) is around 500 metres. I've done it many times so there's no new write up but if you are looking for details of the hike you can find a previous full version on the hiking Canada section of this site.
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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
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January 2024
The Shaman, West Texas
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