Dear Reader (2020-08-16),
Today’s post is the third day and hike of my 3 day camping trip along the Icefields Parkway. The previous two walking reports (13, 14) covered the previous two days.
Thursday July 30 – Bow Glacier Falls < 9 km – Out and Back
The day begins with coffee, a short wander to the water’s edge (01 – Waterfowl Lake), camp tear down, and packing. Vultures looking for a camping spot are circling through the campground. I speak to a pair of friendly and appreciative vultures, and let them know my campsite will be free in a half hour or so. I recognized the couple’s camper from the previous night. As I was sipping scotch by a fire, they were late arrivals looking for a campsite and had found nothing. As I finish packing, they register, and then wait on the road until I leave.
I drive a short way south to Bow Lake and park near the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge (02), which is closed this year. In normal years, the place would be bustling with people coming and going. This year there are two summer employees painting chairs red. The lodge looks forlorn and abandoned.
The first half or so of the walk is nearly flat, as it goes around the north end of Bow Lake. The trail then turns away from the lake to follow a creek. There is a set of stairs. Once upon a time, I’m sure the steps had a reasonable run and rise. With time the stairs have slipped, slid, and become stairs for giants. I climb them in a series of deep knee bends. Just past the top of the stairs there is the first lookout of the falls. I pause to pepper a couple of conservation officers with questions, which they happily answer.
The falls are surprisingly difficult to photograph, as there doesn’t seem to be a good angle from which to capture the water falling vertically. Only one of the walk’s many panoramas (06) make it to this post. On the walk back to the lodge I photograph a log for Keith (07). I then turn the truck towards home – it has been a good 3 days. Later in post-processing, I decide to give many of today’s images a copper tone to give them some continuity. I also like selenium toning but that seems too blue for these vistas.
FYI: As you are scrolling through the filmstrip please note that you can click on any image and see the image with a nice dark background and no annoying band across the top.
As always, your comments are sought and welcomed.
Cheers, Sean
All rights for all material on any media reserved – © Sean P Drysdale 2020-2024
I’ve come back for several strolls through this walk. Let’s just say I’m having some difficulties here. You’ll note my own blog hasn’t been updated in several days, and you could appreciate the difficulties I’m facing in a series of xl spreadsheets with arcane comparison formulas that mostly don’t work. Too arcane for their own good, built under insufficient information. I digress.
We start with that lovely reflection shot. I like reflection shots. The scene is peaceful, until the tree on the right.
I’m liking 2, the dot of red at the bottom of the mountain gives some scale and helps create layers and visual interest.
3 is another lovely reflection. I’ve tried to do similar things without the success you have here. I like the arcs in the grass in the mountain reflection.
And then 6, 8, 9, 10, 11. These are not my style. I’m having trouble appreciating the scene. The flat sky isn’t doing anything for me, and my brain keeps telling me that isn’t the colour of the rocks. That isn’t to say they are not good images. I’ve actually spent more time looking at them than the others, along the lines of the conversation we once had about looking at photos on the wall at a gallery, that one didn’t like, but that someone, presumably with more grounding in what a good photo was, liked them enough to put them up on the wall. So maybe this is just my limitations.
And 7, you knew I’d like it. I somehow see a cheerful elephant waving it’s trunk.
Thank you Keith for visiting, commenting, taking the time to consider the images that didn’t work for you, and for identifying the happy elephant (I had missed that). We both see so many images, and my responses run the gamut from ignore, indifference, wow, not to my taste, to masterful, and everything in between. If a set of images do not resonate with a viewer, I don’t believe that implies any limitation on the viewer’s part. The best any of us can hope for, as I have mentioned before, is that some images evoke a response with some viewers some of the time. Cheers
PS Good luck in dealing with someone else’s broken logic and formulae – never an easy task.
Another great post Sean. I really like photo #3, the reflection of that mountain is amazing.
Thank you kindly anon.