Evening Light

My good friend Dwight was kind enough to point me in the direction of these beautiful red flowers growing alongside a slough just a few kilometers from Red Deer. I have no idea what they are and have gone through all my wildflower books with no success and suspect that maybe they aren't wildflowers at all but escapees from a nearby garden. [Update: August 18 - I found out these are really escapees from a local garden called different common names such as Star of Jerusalem or Maltese Cross. Scientifically they are known as Lychnis chalcedonica] I arrived with about ten minutes of sunlight left with the sun skimming the flowers and grasses.



As the cool of the evening took over from the heat of the day the reds of these flowers seemed to glow in the fading light.



And then the mosquitoes came out en mass which convinced me it was time to vacate the area.
[Canon 5D, 16-35mmL, 24mm Nikkor]

Lacombe County

I have been shooting stock imagery for the county over the last few months and had a chance to get some showing off the canola crops in all their glory.
[Canon 5D, 70-200mmL, 24mm Nikkor, 15mm Fisheye Sigma]

Trout Stream

I can't tell if this is a Rainbow or a Cutthroat Trout. I don't see the red on the chin so am thinking Rainbow. All that aside, it was a real treat to watch these fish jumping up Castle Falls in Castle Wilderness of southwestern Alberta in early July!
[Canon 5D, 16-35mmL]


"...the things fishermen know about trout aren't facts but articles of faith."

John Gierach
Trout Bum (1986)

Sweetgrass Hills

A closer look at the storm that descended on the Sweetgrass Hills in Montana recently.

[Canon 5D, 24-105mmL]

At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Luke 21:27 (TNIV)

Writing-on-Stone

My family drove south for a short vacation recently and visited Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park which is virtually as far south as you can get in Alberta. In fact the distant hills in this view are the Sweetgrass Hills in Montana. This park is also known as the Áísínai’pi National Historic Site of Canada. Áísínai’pi in southern Alberta is one of the most important spiritual sites for the Niitsítapi or Blackfoot People. The Niitsítapi associate spirit powers with the weathered hoodoos and cliffs of the valley and with the nearby Kátoyissiksi (Sweetgrass Hills). Áísínai’pi, known in English as Writing-on- Stone Provincial Park, contains the largest concentration of rock art images on the Great Plains. These images are an expression of the meeting of this spirit world with the physical world of the Niitsítapi.

As my youngest son Alexander says "If it doesn't rain, then it isn't a vacation". As I enjoy rain very much I would have to agree.

[Canon 5D, 16-35mm]

Thunderstorm Warning

Red Deer had a fairly decent light show last night. Unfortunately, because it was a cluster of storms and not just a single cell, which makes it virtually impossible to predict any pattern to where the lightning could come from, I didn't feel safe getting out of my vehicle to set up my tripod. It was also raining and seeing how my camera doesn't like rain very much I felt it best that it stayed in the vehicle with me. So I made hand held images. I didn't worry about blurring anything as it was dark out and the flash of lightning is so fast it freezes my motion just like an on camera flash would. This was one of the better images I got from just east of Red Deer.
[Canon 5D, 50mm]