Abstract

Abstract paintings have always grabbed my attention, and I am gradually starting to see this way myself. It is my aim with this type of image to alienate the viewer a bit, almost making them uncomfortable, because they can't identify immediately what it is they are looking at. Many abstracts grab our eyes simply due to interesting patterns and colours and it doesn't have to be anything, or it can mean anything we want it to.

Dogrib Creek Burn was a massive forest fire back in 2003 along the Forestry Trunk Road west of Sundre, Alberta. Gerard(good friend) and myself were out exploring as many small forestry roads as we could without getting stuck and after travelling maybe 10km along one particular road happened on a dead-end. We got out and hiked up to the nearest ridge to explore a bit and here was this amazing pattern created from a devastating fire. I zoomed in to eliminate all the surroundings that helped make this an easy interpretation.
[Canon 10D, 100-400mm]

Leach Lake

Leach Lake along highway 93A in Jasper National Park is so small it doesn't show up on any but the largest scale maps, but what a gem! A perfectly calm evening with loons calling and a beautiful sunset, you think you are in a dream. Whirlpool Mountain is reflected perfectly and thankfully a few clouds joined in. A perfectly blue sky would make for a rather bland sky. This image is made from three images which were stitched together in Photoshop(Thank-you Dan)
[Hasselblad 501C/M, 50mm, Fuji Provia 100F]

Cool temperatures

I thought I would dig up an image of cooler days. I am writing this about 9:00 pm and the humidex(the opposite of wind chill) is around 36 C. The image presented was made on a day trip with my friend Gerard along the forestry trunk road(734) near Seven Mile Flats after traversing Corkscrew Mountain. It was quite a trip and one we both fully expected to be digging snow after getting stuck, but Gerard managed to keep the vehicle on the two hard packed tire tracks and thankfully no one came along driving in the opposite direction. The image was originally made in colour and converted to a B&W.
[Pentax 67II, 55mm, Fuji Provia]

Snow Dome

Located on the continental divide on the Columbia Icefield between Dome Glacier(centre) and Athabasca Glacier(off left side of image). The mountain's summit is entirely covered by the Columbia Icefield. The glacier is about 30 m thick.

Norman Collie named the mountain "The Dome" in 1898. In 1919 the name was modified to "Snow Dome."

The day after climbing Mount Athabasca, Norman Collie and his party ascended the right side of the Athabasca Glacier and bivouacked for the night. Setting off at 1:30 the next morning they headed for the chisel shaped, glacier draped mountain (Mount Columbia) they had seen towering above the opposite side of the icefield. At noon, when they seemed no closer to their goal, they turned back, more aware now of the size of the icefield they had discovered.

Collie and Hugh Stutfield later wrote, "To the eastward of where we stood, and almost on our way home, rose a great white dome, and we determined to ascend it. After a hot and very tiring climb through snow that broke under our feet at every step, we finally reached the summit at 3:15. We have named this peak The Dome."

The broad, smooth summit of what is now called the Snow Dome is the hydrographic apex of North America. This means that water from this point flows to three oceans; through the Saskatchewan and Nelson Rivers to the Atlantic, through the Columbia to the Pacific, and through the Athabasca, and eventually the Mackenzie to the Arctic.
[Olympus E410, 14-42mm]

William A. Switzer Provincial Park

I found this unique view of the small lake called Kelley's Bathtub in William A. Switzer Park. At first glance it appears to be the sky behind the trees until you realize you are looking down. Really it is the reflection of the sky on the lakes surface.
[Olympus E410, 14-42mm]




Another image from William A. Switzer Park showing the complexity and beautiful subtle colouring of nature. What really grabbed my eye was the strong circular motion of the branches working their way up the trunk of the foreground tree .
[Olympus E410, 14-42mm]

Lakeview

It's been a few weeks since my last post simply because I was on a holiday through Jasper National Park as well as a few other destinations. This image was made in William A. Switzer Provincial Park just north of Hinton, Alberta at a place called Kelley's Bathtub.
[Olympus E410, 14-42mm]