Pirates and more! - April 20, 2020

I parked at the Bridgeland spot with the intent of heading up onto Tom Campbell hill to see if there were any prairie crocuses blooming. There's been a couple days of warm weather and we're well into spring now so I was hopeful that I'd find some.

After unloading my bike I rode over to the base of the hill and petaled my way up by following a boot worn path to the top. I was secretly pleased that I was able to ride up the hill and had a view dreams about heading out to the mountains to do some actual mountain biking. The old Powderface mountain bike loop in Bragg Creek is calling out to me.

Once on top I scouted for the flowers but didn't find any. I wasn't too surprised, it's only been a couple days of warm weather. Now that my photo idea was squashed I was free to go anywhere and decided to head down the other side of the hill towards the zoo parking lot where the light in the egg/art thing caught my eye. I stopped to take a couple of photos. It took a few minutes before I realized that the animal pattern was repeating and that there was some symmetry to the display.

animals in a cage

Center Street - March 19, 2020

Yesterday, I went out after dinner thinking that there would be a sunset. I had been fiddling with a photography app on my phone (photopills) using it to determine where the sun would set and what the best position to be in would be. I knew as soon as got outside I knew it was all for not.. there was heavy cloud in the west and the sun hidden. I quickly lost interest in the plan but drove around anyway. I couldn't really find the motivation to stop anywhere and with all the flat light so eventually I just drove back home. Today, after dropping Conor off in the Northwest I thought I'd make my way downtown to see about taking some photos. The light still wasn't great and it was pretty cloudy but I wanted to go anyway, possibly to make up for last night.

On the way, I needed gas and stopped at a station on 16th ave over by the Foothills hospital. As I was filling up I noticed the group of workers gathered across the street. It looked kind of interesting (to me) so I parked the car, changed lenses and tried to frame up a photo. For some reason I felt very self conscious about the whole thing. Because I was across the intersection I needed to wait until there wasn't any traffic between me and the scene so I'd end up standing there out in the open waiting to take a photo. Some workers were making their way across the intersection and buying snacks at the gas station or coffee at the Tim Hortons behind me.. As they came close I'd put the camera down and sit in my car and for them to move out of the way. It got a little silly because I'm sure I was in and out of the car about four times before being able to grab a couple shots and then decide that I was going to move on.

On break

Winter returns - March 13, 2020

After performing my taxi duties for today I drove towards downtown thinking that I'd have a photo session in the mid-afternoon. While in the car I saw a bunch of scenes and I though for sure I'd be able to get some shots today. Winter has returned and there was snow and blank skies everywhere. Being a weekday and the middle of the afternoon there's no free parking downtown. I thought that the streets near rotary park might have street parking so I made my way up there.

I was correct in my memory, 3 hour street parking on top the hill. The only downside is that it was pretty cold out -15 degC with gusty winds and I'd have to walk down the hill and across the center street bridge before I could scope out any downtown locations.

Crossing center street bridge, I can't help but make the photo below.. it happens every time if I have my camera with me..

Obligatory Center Street Bridge shot..

It's O.K. though. I was watching a youtube video and the premise was that you should shoot the things you know across different conditions.. so based on that I don't feel guilty for posting this photo as the entry to the rest of the story..

Calgary Skyline - June 25, 2013

I'd parked near rotary park just above center street. I had my bike on the bike carrier, and used it to ride along the bike path's near the river. I rode down the hill and across the center street bridge to the suoth side of the river and ended up going east. The new foot bridge on the end of St. George island that is being constructed was in pretty bad shape because of the flooding and I tried to get a shot but the light quickly changed and it started to rain on me.

I moved towards the Langevin bridge and ended up hanging out underneath it to avoid getting soaked. Eventually the rain stopped. Actually, it didn`t really stop, it just kind of paused. I could see there was a pretty strong rainbow in the east but didn't feel like I was in a good position to capture it. I was on the bridge and was able to make a composition I liked that included the rainbow. The sun was very low and there were lots of very interesting clouds in the sky. The light was almost magical.

Another view of the Langevin bridge.

On my way back to the car, I paused and made this shot of the Center street bridge and some downtown buildings. There was lots of colour and reflections on the buildings. I think this shot turned out pretty good, I've tried in the past to get a similar view but I've not had nice sunset light to complement it.

Thanks for looking.

Brad

Bow River flood - June 21, 2013

The river has flooded due to heavy rain the past few weeks and a lot of the city is under water on this, the first day of summer.

For part of the after noon I played tourist and went down to the river at Center street to see it in person. There were a number of curious on lookers walking around the area. The river is high and flowing very fast with a lot of debris racing by in the muddied water. I could hear the roar of the water and feel the unrelenting power of the river as it forced its way past the bridge. The railing in the foreground is part of the bike path that leads under the lower deck of the bridge. Normally the river water is about 15-20 feet below the lower deck, here the water is slipping just below the road. Curious onlookers risked walking onto the road in order to take some candid photos with the long exposure some of them have turned into ghosts.

There are a lot of people affected by this flood and the cleanup will be a long time. My thoughts go out to those who have lost or damaged property.

Thanks for looking
Brad.

Beaver Flats - March 29, 2911

I was out at Beaver Flats last night and had a good time walking along the ponds and taking pictures of the running water. When I was looking at the shots that I got I felt that they were missing something. Then I realized that they were lacking definition and depth that direct sunlight would help provide. So, I thought if the weather held up that I`d try to go out again tonight.

With that in mind, on the way into work driving across the Center street bridge I was struck by the nice morning light so I opened up the sunroof and stuck the camera out and was able to get this shot.

That evening at Beaver Flats I walked along the river and there was lots of beautiful light. I took a variety of shots using different tools to try and create some nice effects. On this shot, I used the tilt-shift lens to vari the focal plane. I hope you like it.

To see other shots from today, click here.

Thanks for looking.
Brad.