Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sudden Splendour
Ten Thousand Years ago natives camping on the shores of Vermilion Lakes beneath the wind swept slopes of Mount Rundle awoke as the dawn broke giving hope that the hunting for moose, deer and possibly a mammoth would prove bountiful on this day. At the time as is true today, a warm spring kept a portion of the lake from freezing over even in the most frigid weather. This allowed for fish to be caught and water to be drawn at any time of the year. With its abundant animal life, clean water and wood for fuel and lodges, as well as stone nearby for tools and weapons, all was well in this place of beauty just as it was on this morning as I found myself slumbering in the heat of my lodge, actually, that is my truck cab moments earlier, with soothing sounds coming forth from the speakers of my radios.
I had left Calgary several hours earlier with Banff National Park in mind as my destination on this day. I had made a list as to what I hoped to achieve while checking out the back roads of the park and possibly a trail that came to mind with a promising waterfall along the way. So as the dawn breaks with great promise as it did 10,000 years ago, my cameras and I are ready for what I hope will be many fine captures on this day.
Time was of the essence now as the sun was slowing its rush as seen in the shortening of those seductive shadows that are stunning at first light, then lose their charms as the sun climbs higher into the noontime sky. In all seriousness I find the first hour after sunrise all important for great light and then its all downhill from there till the hour before sunset. A advantage this late in the season is the fact that as the earth tilts further away from the sun, the sun climbs (so to speak) less high in the sky giving a less harsh light at its peak.
I shot this capture at "Morantz Curve" made famous by Philip Morantz the lead photographer for the Canadian Pacific Railway who for many years used this location for public relations to show their Canadian passenger trains with the great Canadian Rockies as a backdrop. Unfortunately at this time of the year the Rocky Mountaineer passenger trains have stopped running, so I settled for this eastbound freight train with its empty sulphur cars snaking its way along the Bow River.
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