From The Road

Canon EOS - EF 10/22 @ 10mm - f8 - 1/30 - ISO 200 - minus 2 stops

I must say that I believe that I found myself in all four seasons this past weekend. I had decided to make the drive through the Highwood Pass in Kananaskis Country before they closed the road for the winter. The drive started out in fall conditions, but by the time I reached the pass, I was in full blown winter as this photo of my truck at the summit of the pass shows as snow falls. I have mentioned before that the Highwood Pass is Canada's highest drivable pass, and in all the years that I have camped, fished and hiked this most pristine part of Alberta, I have seen all seasons out of season in the Highwood Pass and area. By now you are asking yourself what the sunrise capture that I shot of Fish Creek has to do with my drive through the pass. This sunrise shot of Fish Creek took place earlier in the morning just before I pointed my truck towards Kananaskis Country. I shot this scene as the sun rises over Fish Creek just upstream from where the creek enters the Bow. I had been checking out a wooded area where a Great Horned Owl had been roosting and could not pass up on one more sunrise shot over Fish Creek as I must confess that I have stopped here many times, but this time I had noticed the thin layer of ice on the creek and liked the effect of the light playing on it.

Back at the summit of the pass I pulled in to the parking lot planning on a capture or two before making my way north down to the Kananaskis Lakes. As I was about to make the turn into the parking lot, I could not help but notice a photographer with camera in hand standing in the middle of Highway 40 in the falling snow. I was about to meet James a very enthusiastic photog from Calgary who also was making his last trek of the year through the Highwood Pass. We bantered back and forth for a bit and I left James headed south while I made my way north. (Unknown to us at the time, Anne a mutual photographer friend known to both of us was up on the Ptarmigan cirque above the pass with a friend looking for Ptarmigan to photograph). By the time I reached the trailhead to Elbow Lake where I found these Bighorn Sheep grazing, the snow had diminished with improved visibility. My stop at the Kananaskis Lakes was brief as I found the restaurant at Boulton Creek closed and decided that a stop at the Fortress Mountain gas station was in order for a snack (junk food) to go.

I found various creeks still running although they were flowing at much reduced rates allowing for neat captures with the snow now part of the landscape. I love shooting photos of moving water and will stop to practice my craft when given the opportunity. This creek was tucked away in a heavy treed area and to overcome this I had to overexpose the capture by a stop after taking several readings with my light meter, otherwise the detail in the shadowy areas of the scene would have been lost. I had left home at 6:30 am and now it was mid-afternoon and the shadows were growing long and I had to be home by 6:00pm so with a final capture of a favorite pond created by beavers that have dammed a back water arm of the Kananaskis River, I layed my camera down and vowing to return before long, I headed for home after a final look back to the high country of the Kananaskis .

Canon EOS with EF 70/200 @ 155mm - f8 - 1/20sec - ISO 100