And once more, the palette changes... the yellows, golds, and earthy browns of fall have vanished beneath the first layer of winter white... as they must. When I saw the snow coming down shortly before midnight, I quickly threw on my winter clothes, grabbed my tripod and a single lens, and went for a walkabout. So different!
I made this shot outside the Seniors Centre on Railway Avenue. Clean fresh snow. Sleeping village in the background. I hoped no one was awake, watching, perhaps thinking I was creepy. I'm not even slightly creepy. Just chasing the light, trying for a different look.
From a 1970 song:
"Now you know what they say about snowflakes
How there ain't no two the same
Well all them flakes look alike to me
Every one is a dirty shame
My ears are cold, my feet are cold
Bermuda stays on my mind
And I'm here to say that if winter comes
Spring is way behind"
- Jesse Winchester, "Snow"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EEnfFe9qn0&list=PLB0A8CF23C4...
More to come. Of course there's more.
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: snow night square sidewalk bench village seniors centre prairie first snow Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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Another night shot from the first snowfall. It has continued to snow all weekend, only stopping sometime last night. It could melt if the weather turns warm, but it could just as easily be with us until next spring. Last winter the prairie was bare until early January. I suspect this winter will be different.
Such a typical view of a small prairie town... a broken clothes dryer in someone's front yard... I have one in my mudroom, and I'd move it to the front yard in a show of solidarity if it weren't covered with empty, clean glass jars that I need to recycle sometime this decade.
Meanwhile, the glorious Palais Royale has been around almost as long as the village. It is our "event centre" for movies, music, weddings, performances, and more. It's where we cast our votes and where we gather for auctions or a warm-up after a cold outdoor Remembrance Day ceremony at the cenotaph. My friend Madonna designed the sign a few years ago. I like the off-centre door; a nice touch. It has been that way forever, and I find it somehow endearing.
Quiet snow falling at night. Not a creature was stirring, aside from some loonie photographer tramping around with his tripod. Tomorrow, back to the wild prairie...
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: night snow snowfall falling snow village prairie buildings house theatre Palais Royale Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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From a midsummer morning, the start of a 4 image set. It was difficult to even get out of town that day - when I saw the low mist rolling over this field, I had to stop. I'd been driving for less than two minutes and had just cleared "city limits"...
To most people, grass is grass, but here on the prairie we have many, many species of grass, at least three of which are visible in this photo. And I should know what they are by now, but I don't.
Anyway, this isn't about species so much as sheer beauty. The light, the ground fog, the wet roadside ditch, the fence line, all quite subtle but I was breathless, in awe of the commonplace. After all, it's just a ditch. But Blake saw eternity in a grain of sand...
... more to come!
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape field ditch fog mist dawn morning morning light beauty grass grassy prairie Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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I made this shot just a few minutes after the previous one, on the same stretch of road. That's an old windbreak for cows, still used occasionally by a local rancher's livestock. It is faintly visible in yesterday's photo, near the upper right - low fog like this has a tendency to dissipate as you drive through it.
What a great start to the day! I could have turned around and quite happily gone home and back to bed... but early morning is a good time to look for critters, especially during the summer months when heat and humans deter them from being too conspicuous later in the day.
Photographed at the edge of Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape dawn mist ground fog fog windbreak pasture prairie light Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024 Explored
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On a spectacular evening in June, my pal Madonna and I looked at this immense cloud bank rolling across the prairie and decided to get out of town for an unobstructed view. A 45-second drive accomplished this, and we followed up with a walk across one of the local community pastures.
We know Saskatchewan is the "Land of Living Skies" because it says so on our license plates, but we notice it, too, by looking up. And sideways. There's a whole lot of sky here!
Photographed at Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape skyscape pano panorama clouds evening green blue lone tree evening light prairie Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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