Lines in Snow

Although we are well into spring, here is another post on the winter theme.

On a tour up to Elfin Lake in late in April I was intrigued by the patterns of lines in the snow. These lines are apparently formed by rain and called rain runnels.

I tried several angles and crops for the best composition. I wasn't too excited about the colors (it was mid day and sunny when the pictures were taken) and tried Lightroom black and white presets. I found the b/w much more pleasing than the color version and applied it to several landscape shots as well. Interesting how different the results are with various b/w LR presets and their effects on the trees and hazy distant mountains and islands.

The main 'zigzag' divides the image into several triangular shapes. Smaller runnels lead to the main line.

Another set of lines with patches of shade.

How about including the tree top sticking out of the snow?

Pleased with the results on the lines in snow I tried the b/w presets on several landscape shots.

The different b/w presets produce very different contrast pattern.

Yellow and orange presets increase the contrast of the far islands

 

Canadian Heritage Rivers Photo Contest 2012

We have a winner!

A winner in the Adventure category of the 2012 “Experience Canadian Heritage Rivers Photo Contest”. Nice step up from last year's second place! Sharing the honors with other cool images and photographers. I especially like Victor Lu's photo of Athabastca Falls and Peter Mather’s of northern rivers. And the image of the Fraser River at Sheep Junction by Dan Moore. Pete and I love this rarely visited middle Fraser canyons and have done a few exploratory trips (see links below).

Photos can be seen in the 2013 Spring issue of Canoeroots and will be shown at the 2013 Reel Paddling Film Festival. My image was taken on our Alsek trip in 2011. On an evening hike we look back at our camp site below Lava North rapid, as it is dwarfed by the big northern landscape. The rewards: an annual Parks Canada pass and a gift certificate for Blackfeather Adventures.




Exploring the middle Fraser canyons:
Chilko Lake to Lillooet by river
Hiking and biking in 2007

Ephemeral Green

One of my favorite times of the year is when new leaves emerge in spring. They barely hide the empty spaces but the harsh light of winter is filtered into a bright and warm green glow. This magical light is here just for a short time until the canopy of leaves closes and provides cool shade from the summer heat.

Last year a friend took us on a sweet mountain bike ride on Sumas Mt in this magical time and I really wanted to go back and get a shot of a mountain biker riding through this 'sea of green'. But I had some doubts about the patience of my usual model, so I packed my trusty Pearstone Shutterboss timer to take the shots of myself riding on the trail. It took some experimenting to get the timing right, but in the end there was success. Correct timing of the shutter release was one task, the other was exposure time. I envisioned a blurry mountain biker in focused glowing green. Here are some of the images. In hindsight I think a longer exposure time may have been better to get more of a blur - or should I just have pedalled faster?

Spring Skiing

Continuing the snow theme... I took these shots during the Easter weekend when we did a ski tour up Anniversary Glacier on the Duffey Lake Road.

Spring is a great time for ski touring when the return of long hours of daylight, nice weather and warm temperatures allow to travel fast and far. But spring also brings the water back to streams, dries out the rock faces and makes the air rise in thermals. Lots of opportunity for all kind of adventures. After many months of cold and darkness I'm usually keen to move on to warm weather activities. The skis stay at home.

Up high views appear of peaks and glaciers in every direction. A vast landscape of snow and rock where we humans are nothing but temporary specks. Even our tracks will disappear in a short time.

I wanted to capture vastness and bright light and put us humans in perspective. To keep up with my skiing buddies I just brought the light kit lens and left filters and tripod behind. Not ideal for a focused photo session! My way to compensate is to take way too many pictures. As always in such circumstances the best ideas come when I edit and sort through the photos back at home. Oh well, its a good learning exercise.

Powder Video

No photos in this post but I finally got around to put together last years video clips of some amazing skiing on the Duffey Lake road. This was on April 1st, 2012. Best powder of the 2012 season for us. Very different conditions this year. Spring skiing is good fun too, but I prefer the fluffy stuff!


Late season powder day on the Duffey Lake Road condensed to two and a half minutes.

Clouds and Boats

More images from our visit in Victoria two weeks ago. Went to Clover Point Park for a walk. The ever-changing cumulus clouds made for a great photo subject matter! Lining them up 'strategically' with sail boats and big ships further out in the straight for best composition. Later I discovered a male house finch singing away on the Scottish broom bushes and posing proudly for photos. As if he knew the yellow flowers were such an excellent contrast to his red plumage.