A long exposure view from the "rockpile" of pink clouds and predawn light at beautiful Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

This is a shot where the Singh-Ray 10-stop ND really made the scene much more colorful, allowing the rose colored alpenglow to infuse the scene and the thin pink cloud streaks to stretch across the sky above the Valley of the Ten Peaks.

Reached #16 on Explore for 9/23/2014. Thanks for all the visits, comments and faves.

Tags:   Moraine Lake Sunrise Banff National Park Alberta Canada Nikon Landscape Morning Dawn Alpenglow photobenedict Clouds Long Exposure Lake Louise 16

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In the transition between dawn and daylight, amazing methane formations tier like sculptures in the ice layers worn smooth and clear by the incessant gales whipping across the dark glaze covering the glacier-born waters of Abraham Lake, Alberta, Canada.

By way of extreme understatement, suffice it to say a lot has changed in the world since I last posted some months ago. The present challenges and loss affecting much of the world surely reveal the relative triviality of things like photography, but even so I've found taking a moment on my computer and reconnecting with photography to be quite comforting. I've always found the beauty of nature quite a salve to the stresses of the world, and this feeling apparently holds even when nature has interposed a good bit of the stress.

This image comes from an impromptu outing Sky and I quickly put together back in January after we saw a weather forecast predicting that temperatures at Abraham Lake--which had been hovering around 40 below zero (the cold, cold point on the thermometer where Celsius and Fahrenheit align)--would rise just a few days later to a much more palatable range but without getting warm enough to soften the surface layer of ice and thus destroy the transparency so crucial to revealing the beautiful methane forms within the ice.

We were intent on going when it was a bit warmer because everything we'd read over the years described the lake's surface as being scoured by winds of such persistent ferocity and frigidity as to be almost beyond belief to someone from warmer and calmer latitudes. And the wind speeds were as advertised! Stories you may have heard--like your tripod skidding away from you as if under sail the moment you release it from your grasp?--well, they're true!

But, as always, the sometimes challenging conditions only heightened the experience, even if it was quite a trick to get a steady shot during the windiest stretches. Though we had only a short visit, I found Abraham Lake to be one of the most beautiful and varied photographic locations I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and the subtle hues around sunrise on this morning only increased my feeling.

Thanks for viewing!

Tags:   Abraham Lake Alberta Canada Methane Ice Bubbles Winter Sunrise Nikon photobenedict Cold Frigid Freezing Wind Reflection Reflections Mountains Lake Glacier Frozen Clear Cracks Canadian Rockies Banff National Park Cline River Saskatchewan Crossing Beautiful Landscape

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Late in the evening, fast moving clouds rise above the Wapta Icefield's frigid expanse and stream over Crowfoot and the other stoic peaks ringing Bow Lake's clear but still-icy waters, in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

I've been to the Canadian Rockies a number of times, but never before in spring until last week. And spring was magnificent. The still snow-covered mountains couldn't have been more stunning, and the dynamic, volatile weather regularly added interest and photographic opportunity in between brief showers. On this night by Bow Lake's rocky shallows and reflective edge waters, sunset never could quite find an angle to color the undersides of these clouds (what a sunset show that would have been), but this wonderful golden light stayed on some of the cloud tops and shone through the gaps between almost until night fell!

Thanks for viewing!

Tags:   Banff Alberta National Park Bow Lake Wapta Icefield Icefields Parkway Bow River Crowfoot Mountain Mountains Canada Spring Ice Winter Icy Lake Thaw Melt Reflection Sunset Evening Dusk Night Reflections Canadian Rockies photobenedict Light Clouds Nikon Landscape Travel Num-ti-Jah

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A long sunrise show blazes amber and orange in its final act from behind Mount Rundle on a very cold winter morning at Vermilion Lakes in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

With the year's first real cold snap hitting us now here in generally temperate North Carolina, it seemed a good time to post a shot from a trip with family last winter to Banff that reminds me of the joy of getting out with the camera even in the coldest weather. This shot is from the same morning as a previous post showing the earlier stages of this stunning sunrise when and pink and reds dominated the skies before giving way to these glorious apricot hues. It may have been -20 C or so, but what a sunrise!

The pool of water in the foreground is one of several small openings in the otherwise frozen expanse, kept ice free by warm springs seeping into shallower areas near the shores of the Vermilion Lakes.

Thanks for visiting!

Tags:   Banff Alberta Canada National Park Winter Sunrise Mount Rundle Mt. Rundle Warm Spring Hot Spring Frozen Lake Water Ice Dawn Morning Freezing Cold Nikon Landscape photobenedict Travel Reflection Tree Clouds Snow Vermilion Lakes Singh-Ray Long Exposure

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The magnificent Banff Springs Hotel rises among snow covered spruces and firs under the light of a full moon before dawn on a cold winter morning, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

My wife and I were lucky enough to visit Banff this Christmas on our way to a family get together further west. We'd been in this area before during warmer seasons, and I've yet to see a more beautiful landscape than the Canadian Rockies, and likewise I'm not sure I've ever seen a more beautiful hotel than this most classic construction of the railroad age in North America. Winter proved especially stunning here with light snow clinging to the boughs and branches of seemingly every tree.

I thought this iconic scene might be particularly pleasing in the moonlight, with the hotel's warm lights welcoming the eye among the cold, darker forest that surrounds, but when I got to the overlook, I was concerned that the large steam plume from the hotel's physical plant would ruin the shot, especially as the steam was catching a lot of light from the large lamps illumilating the hotel and grounds.

Somewhat to my surprise, the plume turned out to be sort of interesting, especially since the shifting wind pushed the steam plume to and fro throughout this long exposure, leaving an interesting, almost blossoming effect once the shutter closed.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday season! Thanks for visiting.

Tags:   Banff Alberta Canada Winter Sunrise National Park Canadian Rockies Calgary Christmas Banff Springs Tunnel Mountain Bow River Forest Snow Travel Nikon Landscape photobenedict

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