No Prizes for guessing where we are this week, Vegas Baby Vegas! To escape the Canadian winter for a couple of weeks Sarah and I have gone south to Vegas. It has been a great first week with lots of sightseeing, shopping (of course) casino nights, a Cirque du Soleil show and visits to some great desert locations.
The main shot below was taken from our hotel room window on the first night, soon after this we walked the strip as far as the Venetian and made a few shots along the way. The next morning we made our first desert trip to the Mojave where we dropped the top on the rental car and enjoyed the relative warmth of the day. We had another day on the strip and a rainy night which made for some nice reflective images of the Las Vegas neon on the strip. We spent a little more time in town to let the rain blow through and took in a Cirque Du Soleil show. The next day we made the short hop to the Hoover Dam and then on to the Valley of Fire State Park where we ran out of daylight whilst walking among the stunning coloured rocks. Today we drove out to Death Valley National Park so Sarah could experience the beauty of that wonderful location. Though it was busy we did walk out onto Badwater Basin and explored the 45 miles along the Badwater Road before dropping in at the Area 51 Alien Centre on the way back to Las Vegas. A fantastic first week with one wet evening which made for some lovely images. This week is the huge New Years Eve party on the strip culminating with fireworks from the rooftops of the hotels alongside. We hope to get more desert trips in but I'm not sure if there will be time to post again before we get home. So far the casinos have been good to us with some big wins keeping us away from any loses, I'm not sure we are winning but we're not losing and that's all that matters. The gallery below has captions to identify locations, the main shot is the view from our hotel room.
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After our Elk encounter yesterday Cecil and continued south along highway 742 hoping to find some interesting ice and maybe some methane bubbles on Spray Lakes Reservoir. We called in at Rundle Forebay, Whitemans Pond and Goat Pond along the way to make sure we didn't miss any opportunities.
This was to be our last day shooting together for several months as we'll be moving in opposite directions for a while, so we hoped for a good one. The elk got us off to a great start and we did find some fantastic ice and just a few methane bubbles too. All in all it was a really enjoyable last session, by the time I see Cecil again it will be springtime, the ice will be gone and we'll be chasing storms and reflected sunsets again. Cecil and I were out for our usual photo day yesterday when we came upon a huge herd of Elk just south of Canmore. They were loosely scattered in a small clearing in trees to the south of the town. The bulls grouped together in one part of the open space and the cows grazing in and around the edge of the clearing.
I fully expected them to trot away into the trees when they saw us on the small trail cutting right through the herd, but they didn't. We talked at a good volume to show we weren't trying to sneak up on them, and we moved slowly through the group making shots along the way. It is by far the best elk encounter I've had since we moved to Canada, it's also one I would have avoided in September/October owing to the aggressive nature of the beast during the rut. Today they were sedate and unmoved by our presence so we were able to make the most of the encounter. As winter settles in, the garden is still busy with bird life and our ever present squirrels. The coyotes have become regulars, as have the deer now the cold nights and snow cover has them foraging in gardens once again.
There's still an abundance of colour thanks to the birds with their vibrant reds, yellows and blues, and an abundance of characters thanks to the squirrels. As always the wildlife is a beautiful distraction on a cold winter day stuck in the house and makes for great photo practice. I made a shot of a little sparrow this month (second shot in the gallery below) which is a favourite from the bunch. There are captions in the gallery and the main shot is the white winged crossbill who still returns with a group of others frequently. After an eight day stretch without seeing the mercury rise above zero, finding open water in Kananaskis to make a sunset reflection wasn't going to be easy. Cecil and I set out at lunchtime yesterday to shoot what we could of the area and seek out a spot for sunset.
Things didn't look too good at Barrier Lake, a complete whiteout meant we didn't even exit the truck, we drove a circuit and moved on. As we got to Mt Lorette Ponds we stopped and got our first shot of the day. You always feel better once you've made that first shot, you feel that you have 'started', the first shot is rarely the best of the day but it opens the door and gets the mind working toward image making and composition. Our next stop was the bridge over the Kananaskis River at Mt Allan Drive, with almost any amount of warming, the river will gain water from melting snow and break free of it's icy skin leaving photo opportunities along the banks. Today was no different and we spent quite a while walking along the bank making shots. From here we moved on and found a small amount of open water at the north east corner of the lower lake, after making a few images we continued on to our usual sunset haunt at the south west side of the lower lake. Unfortunately our usual haunt was iced over and covered in snow. It was now only an hour before sunset and we needed to make a decision, so we returned to the small section of open water at the north east corner of the lower lake. I already knew that this corner lost the light early at sunset, so the very best light (the last light) misses this spot but we had little option today. So we stood in the shaded corner, huddled beneath layers of winter gear avoiding the light breeze that cut through exposed skin like a razor and eventually got a few nice images before the light was gone indicating an early ride home. The main shot below is the open water at the north east end of the lower lake, the dam can be seen on the right side. The footprints on the snow are from a little dipper who was scavenging there, he needs open water throughout winter just to survive, which puts our pursuits into perspective I think. Since the clocks went back I have been waiting for the the right moon phase to return to Kananaskis at night and capture a milky way image. 'Done it before' I hear you cry, and you are right to say so, but I still don't feel I have made a great milky way shot. I've made a few good ones now but not a great, stand out, stunning milky way shot and to be honest, after tonight I still haven't.
The right moon phase was earlier this week when a new moon would mean perfectly dark skies, but low cloud washed out every evening, tonight the moon was at 1/8th and low enough to get away with it. Even though some of that hazy cloud from earlier in the week ultimately stuck around beyond predictions and washed over the Milky Way it was well worth the trip. I had a wonderful time all alone in Kananaskis. Fresh snow and a week of temperatures below freezing meant a night in the mountains at -22 was not very high on other peoples agenda, and that's what makes it so great. I always tell everybody that Kananaskis rewards those who take the time to visit, and today was no different. As I made my way along the Kananaskis Lakes trail an enormous owl swooped toward me and landed on the roadside sign for William Watson Lodge. I jumped on the brakes and reached behind me pulling the camera bag from the back seat, I grabbed the 200 mm and fired off 3 shots before he flew into the trees out of sight. Fortunately in one of the shots he had turned and looked right at me. A Great Grey Owl, the worlds largest owl by length with a wingspan around 5 feet and body length about 2.5 feet he is an impressive specimen. It was the most fleeting of sightings but wonderful to experience for that moment. I arrived at the upper lake in good time and wandered around grabbing shots of the beautiful hoar frost on the snow covered ice. Every movement of my feet sounding like tiny shards of glass breaking as the frost was disturbed. Sunset was curtailed for the most part thanks to a thin cloud that passed through, not only killing sunset but bringing moisture that caused lots of frost on my lenses and camera, and worse still, misting of the glass. I did a little 'wool spinning' through the blue hour and this time I added lights along the cable to fill some of the black hole that remains in the centre of the spin. I chose differing blues to compliment the orange glow of the sparks. Ultimately that hazy cloud causing lens misting also impacted the Milky Way shots so I didn't try too hard to make that 'great image' tonight but I really did have a wonderful evening in spite of that wayward cloud. |
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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