Either you see it or you don't. Photographed at Mosquito Creek in Banff National Park, Alberta. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2016 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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Having struck out at Esquimalt Lagoon when the light all but disappeared, I moved on to Witty's Lagoon. Rather than birds, I was primarily interested in the fast flowing water of Bilston Creek, upstream from Sitting Lady Falls. The water was higher than I'd ever seen it, tumbling over rocks, eating up a lot of normally accessible shoreline. I began shooting as the first raindrops spattered down, and finished half an hour later in steady rain, with steadily falling light levels.

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For a relatively small park - much smaller, for example, than its sister park, Glacier, to the south - Waterton has a great network of forested and alpine trails. In the years before the devastating Keto Wildfire of 2017, I would regularly include at least a few days in Waterton whenever I visited the Canadian Rockies.

In 2015, I hiked the trail along Blakiston Creek, past Red Rock Canyon, past the big waterfall, and found hidden wonders everywhere. I loved the feel of this spot, where the waters surge through a narrow gap in the bedrock. Kept my boots dry, too, as I was positioned on large, flat rocks. The tripod added a bit of stability, lest the sheer force of motion and roar of water - and my need to frame the scene just so - pull me forward a tad too far.

Despite the usual crowds at the nearby Red Rock Canyon parking area and interpretive trail, I explored this creek for half a day and didn't meet a single other hiker. Bliss!

Photographed at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2015 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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I kept working to simplify my compositions; all forests are a challenge because they are very visually complex. Leaning out over the water on an old fallen tree, tripod legs firmly planted, I was able to eliminate all the tangled growth surrounding these slender, golden branches.

Oddly, the lens that worked best for this session was my cheapest - and possibly sharpest - the 50mm f/1.8. In the old days, it was the standard lens that came with almost any camera. It was all I had to shoot with in 1964, and I'd dream of long telephotos. Funny to find myself reaching for it so often, now that I have pretty much everything I need.

Jasper National Park, Alberta. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2015 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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Things I Like About Winter, Part VI: the beauty of ice.

We are looking at a small hole in the ice on top of a beaver dam, where water rushes over the top, away from (not toward) the camera. To reach this spot I lay flat on the ice and pushed my tripod closer and closer to the edge, shooting with a wide angle lens.

It was kind of magical. Imagine the gurgling, splashing sound as the river rushed directly beneath me. Meanwhile with every new framing, different colour patterns appeared in the ice - reflections from the sunlit riverbank. Frost crystals were scattered on the surface, and I'm not sure whether they grew there or were blown off the willow and red osier branches lining the river.

I like to use the macro lens a lot to photograph ice, but once in a while I change it up and see what I can find through a wide angle or fisheye. This is from last winter. Conditions have been mild and decidedly un-wintry this year - until recently. I'm hoping to get out and take a look at the ice this morning.

Photographed on the Frenchman River in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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