Big Hill Springs Provincial Park

I was on my way to Banff and decided to stop in for a couple of hours at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park a couple weeks ago. This is a fairly small park about 1.5 hours drive from my home just a bit north and west of Calgary. It was quite cold and windy (-13C), but hey I didn’t have to worry about any batteries freezing up, just my nose and fingers!! I had the place to myself for at least an hour and had a good time exploring along the creek which flows year round from underground springs. There are quite a few small waterfalls as well which add to the interest of the place. I followed the creek for maybe a kilometre or so along very icy paths, and made it out after falling only once. Bruised my butt, and I managed to keep the camera away from impact and it still looks really pretty.  My exposures ranged from around 30 seconds to a couple of minutes on Lomography 100 ISO film.

 

 

 

 

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

 

 

Renewal

 

 

 

[Chamonix 045-N1, Schneider 90mm f/8 Super Angulon]

 

 

Old Growth

Giant cedars in Revelstoke National Park, B.C.

 

 

[Chamonix 045-N1, Fujinon 300mm f/8.5C]

 

 

Quiet Evening

My good friend Doug Williamson has been doing an Artist in Residency at the Banff Centre this month and he suggested I come down for a visit. Obviously it doesn’t take me very long to decide when I get to go see a good friend and visit Banff at the same time! On Sunday he spent the better part of the day in the studio and I had freedom to wander around the Banff Centre campus, which included visiting the Paul D. Fleck Library – oh my, if you want to see an art centred library, you need look no further than this one! Anyway enough about the centre and library. In the evening we grabbed a bite to eat and decided to head over to the Vermillion Lakes, which is immediately west of the town of Banff along the old Trans Canada highway. Following the road for a few kilometres we found a small bit of open water and clear ice with some of last years’ reeds reflecting beautifully with Mount Rundle gracing the horizon. It is so amazing to be able to see a scene this beautiful so close to home! It was getting later and the light was falling quite quickly and I had managed a couple of different compositions when the idea of light painting came to me. I had no flashlight with me and quite obviously my iPhone doesn’t have have nearly the power necessary to light up anything, but hey, what about my cars headlights? I quickly ran back to where we had parked it and drove over to where my camera was set up. I needed to turn the car sideways on the road so the lights hit the composition where I wanted the light. Many people have suggested on different forums that the Sigma DP2 Merrill is incapable of doing long exposures – well this is a 13 second time exposure and I can see absolutely no reason to complain. I re-sized this image in Photoshop to a 50″ print and it holds up excellently.

 

 

[Sigma DP2 Merrill]

 

 

Snow Squall

A heavy snow squall, that lasted only a minute or two, blows through the trees in Banff, Alberta.

 

 

[Sigma DP2 Merrill]

 

 

Spin It

 

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.”

John 3:8  ESV

 

[Olympus E-M5, Olympus 40-150mm R]

 

 

Bower Woods f/235-3

 

 

 

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]