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10″ x 8″ – Open Edition Printed on Hahnemuhle Photorag 308g, signed, numbered, and shipped http://www.paypal.me/collinorthner/45
30″ x 24″ – Edition of 9 + 1 AP Printed on Hahnemuhle Photorag 308g, signed, numbered, and shipped http://www.paypal.me/collinorthner/350
40″ x 32″ – Edition of 4 +1 AP Printed on Hahnemuhle Photorag 308g, signed, numbered, and shipped http://www.paypal.me/collinorthner/750
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Rare Phenomenon at Shuswap Falls
A rare phenomenon exists at Shuswap Falls so mysterious that geologists remain puzzled to this day. Pot-holes are rather rare geographical features found in hard-rock riverbeds.
Known to geologists as a Giant’s Kettle, Giant’s Cauldron or Pothole these cavities or holes appear to have been drilled in the surrounding rocks by eddying currents of water bearing stones, gravel and other detrital matter. Potholes vary in size and they most commonly occur in shields like the Canadian Shield, where there are ancient rocks (granite, gneiss) with different resistances to erosion. Small pebbles from these ancient rocks can be very hard and can fall into small cavities in stream bottoms and swirl, making the cavities wider and deeper. The hardness of the pebbles must be the same or higher than the rock at the bottom of stream where the kettle or pothole is forming. Where diamonds and quartz pebbles occur in the geology these hard substances can be found trapped at the bottom of potholes that they have carved. That is why these potholes are a good place to find diamonds (the hardest natural mineral on Earth).
The pot-holes at Shuswap Falls are situated in the bottom of the gorge, just below the new bridge, and are visible at low water, however they are being covered by layers of sand and silt carried by the river and deposited in the reservoir backed up by the hydro dam.
Early accounts describe four large potholes, four to six feet in diameter whose depths were difficult to determine since these early observations noted that they were almost entirely filled with sand. One had a communication cut through to the river, as its water was constantly moving. There was a log floating in it that was four feet long. Beside these there are twelve more holes of smaller diameter.
In the spillway channel a few potholes can be seen during low water flows and are present on the side of the canyon. These holes having been cut at a time when the river occupied a higher channel, before the gorge was cut. These sections are about 20 feet deep.
The illustrations of pot-holes in geological text books are usually about two feet in diameter, so the ones found at Shuswap Falls are considered singularly large. Besides it is also unusual for so many to be in one place. Thus at Shuswap Falls these pot-holes are phenomena worth more than a passing notice, however they continue to disappear from the landscape under layers of sand.
Taken from The Monashee Almanac
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8″ x 10″ – Open Edition Printed on Hahnemuhle Photorag 308g, signed, numbered, and shipped http://www.paypal.me/collinorthner/45
24″ x 30″ – Edition of 9 + 1 AP Printed on Hahnemuhle Photorag 308g, signed, numbered, and shipped http://www.paypal.me/collinorthner/350
32″ x 40″ – Edition of 4 +1 AP Printed on Hahnemuhle Photorag 308g, signed, numbered, and shipped http://www.paypal.me/collinorthner/750
Our extended family, including two Japanese exchange students and a friends son (so seven of us), took a trip this afternoon to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and the badlands of the Red Deer River valley downstream of Drumheller. Having grown up in the badlands they hold a special place in my heart and I absolutely love every chance I get to re-visit the area! These were all made at the world famous hoodoos between Drumheller and East Coulee.
[ Olympus E-M5II, Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm II ]
White Pyramid reflecting in Waterfowl Lake, Banff National Park, AB
[ Sigma DP3 Merrill ]
Snow gathers on stone ledges along the Red Deer River southwest of Sundre. There are many tiny pull-offs along the roads in the foothills of Alberta and many times I enjoy stopping to wander around and have a look. This was one of those pull-offs, that my friend Gary and I spent half an hour wandering along the rivers edge watching an American Dipper fly back and forth and listening to the water gurgling along the edge of the ice on the river where it had remained unfrozen.
[ Leica M3, Zeiss ZM 50mm Planar, Fuji Superia 400 ]
While co-leading a photo excursion in Banff and Yoho National Parks, our group made a stop at the Natural Bridge just a few kilometres from Field B.C. We spent a fair bit of time wandering below the falls photographing the many variations of the fast moving water as it tumbles over rocks on it’s way to the Pacific Ocean.
[Olympus E-M5, M.Zuiko 40-150mm]
Situated along the Columbia River Gorge just east of Portland you can view a spectacular falls – Multnomah Falls. It is the highest waterfall in Oregon at 189m (620′). I made this image from the footbridge built in 1914 that crosses over the creek above the lower falls. There were so many tourists it was almost impossible to get the shot. I would love to visit again in fall when the tour buses would be mostly gone and the colours along the gorge would be stunning!
[Sigma DP1M]
Sunrise in the Alberta Rockies is early when you travel there near the summer solstice. Having been up making images with stars until 12:30am with a group of photography students in Banff National Park, and then needing to be on the road at 3:45am in order to catch the sunrise at Moraine Lake, I was pretty tired for the rest of the day. It was a 45 minute drive up past Lake Louise and then a 10-15 minute hike up to the lookout. Surprisingly there was our group and another couple, so it was a very quite morning. I can’t believe there weren’t throngs of people to view this almost unbelievably beautiful place. One of the women from our group commented to me as the sun was just starting to graze the top of the mountain peaks, “Now this is God’s country!” I couldn’t agree more!!
I made the image using my Sigma DP2 Merrill camera to do a multiple image stitch. This involved being sure to level the camera properly and setting the exposure for the brightest part of any one image and locking it in using “manual” mode and manual focus. I also use the self timer on my camera to avoid any vibration from me pressing the shutter button. Once all is set, I Start at one end of my image and overlapping each subsequent image by about 30% (doesn’t have to be exact) I continue shooting until I reach the other end of where I want the image to end. This image required 5 images, all shot as verticals. I got to try out my new Sunwayfoto ballhead (XB-44 w/ DDH-02) The little DDH-02 allows me to level the head and then swing my panorama above the ball of the head which is so much faster and easier than adjusting three tripod legs independently to get things leveled up! Just for fun I rezzed this image up to a 120″ print in Photoshop CS – it could go bigger still!! These Merrill camera having amazing resolution and stitching five images together creates the ability to print incredibly detailed images at very large size.
[Sigma DP2 Merrill]
While we were relaxing for the weekend at Camp Teepee Pole along the James River, I spent some time leisurely strolling along the shoreline. Looking for stones has been in my blood for many years as my parents were real rockhounds when I was growing up and our family would go out looking for dinosaur bones along the Red Deer River valley or Handhills Agates near and around the Handhills east of Drumheller. The best time for agates was in spring before the farmers had planted their fields and after a good wind which would clean all the stones on the surface of dirt making it easier to find. Dinosaur bones are constantly being exposed through erosion. So, after a good rainstorm, and once the ground had properly dried out, newly exposed fossils would be exposed and waiting for eager eyes to locate. I even had my own small satchel with my initial on it to put my treasures in. In fact, I still have that small satchel and many of the fossils and agates I had collected. Finding interesting stones is a genuine pleasure for me as is searching out beautiful textures such as these.
[Sony RX100]
Collin J Örthner - Photographer 