Elbow Falls
Earlier this week, Bob Bear and I did two photo shoots in the Calgary area. This is something I hadn’t done in a long time, probably fifteen years. For Bob, it was a first time experience to visit the places we did.
Our first stop was Elbow Falls, near Bragg Creek, a small town west of the city. The primary attraction is a small but picturesque waterfall in the Elbow River. I used to visit this area often with my old friend, Howie Dingle when we first started our photographic pastimes.
This is a different version of the falls from the first photo, above. It was taken with a low shutter speed, one second. The long exposure causes the moving water to be blurred in the image, while the stationery rock surrounding the river is not affected by it. For reference, the picture above was taken with a high shutter speed, 1/3,200 second, effectively “freezing” the motion of the water.
I chose to convert this photo to black and white. I think it works well.
This next photograph features the Elbow River, just upstream of the falls. I like the array of colours in this scene. It took me awhile to balance them to my liking in the editing process, colourful but natural looking.
Fish Creek Park
Our second stop was Fish Creek Provincial Park, located among residential areas in the south end of Calgary. Having lived in one of those areas, I am familiar with the park, but had never photographed there. Fish Creek is a very large park, 60 km in length with 100 km of trails for walking hiking and biking. It’s very natural, containing woodland areas and open, grassed fields. It is maintained in a natural state without manicured lawns, gardens and carefully trimmed trees. A good place for photography.
One unique area stands out, located near the eastern end of the park, the Bow Valley Ranche, pictured below.
The story of the Bow Valley Ranche is nearly twelve decades long. In 1896, cattle rancher and businessman William Roper Hull purchased property along the Bow River and built a sprawling ranch house. Hull owned the house and property until 1902, when it was purchased by Patrick Burns, a successful cattle rancher who eventually became a senator. Almost a century later, local residents Mitzie and Larry Wasyliw created the Fish Creek Restoration Society in 1995 for the purpose of restoring the Hull residence.
In the summer of 1999, the ranch house was opened as a fine dining restaurant. Residing close to the Bow Valley Ranche when we lived in Calgary, we had the opportunity to dine there, most often on special occasions.
My first photograph from our stroll in the park features one of many bridges crossing Fish Creek. I was drawn to this scene by the brilliant spring colours of the tree behind the bridge, complemented by the brilliant, blue sky.
Further downstream of the bridge, we came to another appealing scene; the creek winding through this wooded area of the park.
Another scenic area we encountered features a bend in the creek, with some small rapids. This picture conveys well the typical rugged and natural appearance of the park.
This final image exhausts the selection of pictures I chose for this post. I was able to capture several more but I couldn’t use them all. However, the great variety of photographic opportunities available will encourage me to return.