First snowfall, Assiniboine Park

A very creepy snowman from the weekend’s first significant snowfall, Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg.  My personal favourite time of year to shoot.

 

Ice storm, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada during the recent springtime ice storm.  As tough as the weather conditions can be, I love the images available in adverse conditions.  Here are a few from my recent road trip.  Above is a fat bike rider braving the elements.

Ice covered tree branches during the height of the freezing rain.

Chain link fencing covered in ice.

Fergus enjoying a post storm hike after much of the ice had melted.

A macro of Pussy Willows with the Canon 5D Mark IV and 100L IS.

A final image of a slightly confused seagull in Dryden, Ontario wondering what happened to the springtime weather.

Fierce Polar Bear, Journey to Churchill

I really got lucky on this day photographing the Polar Bears swimming underwater at The Journey to Churchill.   My wife and I have been members and visited them well over a dozen times and only seen this behaviour once.

Church in the middle of nowhere, Canadian Prairies

You can call it “little church on the prairie” or “church in the middle of nowhere”, but Union Point United Church has a very interesting past.  It’s the last remnant of the small town of Union Point, Manitoba.  Situated in the middle of divided Hwy 75 just south of Ste. Agathe.  The original church was built in 1887, burned down in 1939, and was rebuilt in 1940.  The town vanished in the 1950’s, steamboats, stagecoaches, and steam engines stopped here in the late 1800’s.  The town of Union Point was an important stopover point for many settlers heading west.

Foggy morning, Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg

Foggy morning in Assiniboine Park, definitely one of my favourite times to shoot, and one that inspires the creation of black and white images.

Still deciding on this one, may leave the colour version intact.

Surprise visitors, Stewart Canyon, Banff

These guys wandered into my landscape shot while I photographed the trestle bridge at Stewart Canyon, near Lake Minnewanka, Banff.  Now it doesn’t look like they are very close, but I was using a 16-35mm lens on my full frame camera, so they are very close.  One of those rare lucky moments took a pretty mundane image and made it much more memorable.  A group of tourists along with my wife and two dogs retreated from the bridge allowing them to cross without much stress.

We returned the next day, hoping to get them front on as they crossed, but after a couple hours of patiently waiting had to move one due to time constraints and impatient dogs, I did manage a few other images on the return including the rocky island in Lake Minnewanka, below.

Landscape Photography fail leads to the big marsh.

As a landscape photographer you learn quickly to accept failed attempts when it comes to getting that one great image, particularly when it comes to the weather cooperating.  We set out on the past weekend to find a pebble beach for the forecasted mixed cloud sunset.  Promising for an interesting long exposure image on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.  At very least my wife could find some much prized chanterelle mushrooms and the dogs could get in a good hike.

After several hours of scouting I failed to find that perfect location, the interesting sky was clearing over the big lake, and we found only a handful of mushrooms.  The dogs did get in a moderate hike, however.  We scrapped the shoot and decided to stop by Oak Hammock Marsh prior to sunset in an attempt to salvage the days photography.  Not the best time of year for marsh activity, but we did get in another decent hike and a few keepers.

I particularly liked the image above of the Purple Martin House, although it lacks any bird activity which would have made for a much more interesting image.

Viewing blind at sunset

At one with nature, architecture

An interesting design element of the Qualico Family Centre at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park, is the tree growing through the exterior skylight.  The building also incorporates a living roof.

Icelandic Festival of Manitoba, Gimli

A few images from the Viking Village at the annual Icelandic Festival of Manitoba.  Last year I shot more of the Viking battle scenes, this year I made an effort to shoot the village. Because I arrived a bit late I choose my favourite camera lens combination, the Canon 5D Mark III and the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and shot handheld.

 

Goat on play structure, Pineridge Hollow, Manitoba

Pineridge Hollow near Birdshill Provincial Park, Oakbank, Manitoba is great destination for a short day trip.  The quaint rustic property includes a wonderful store, restaurant, and summer farmers market.  But for me being a photographer and animal-lover, the goat on his/her very own play structure was the highlight.