Columbia Township Sunrise

The good thing about the oilfield is that you are outside all the time and you can catch some pretty amazing stuff that you would never seen stuck in an office.  When I was in the field in October, I arrived pretty early on the wellsite and saw a great sunrise erupting in the sky. Well this shot made me happy as I missed all of the fall colors this season in northern PA!

Hell's Hollow

This weekend was awesome!  I had made a good commitment to get some great photos over the Columbus Day weekend.  I ventured up to McConnell Mills State Park again and I took an early morning hike to Hell's Hollow trail.  I have seen some great pictures of the trail and the waterfalls on the web, so I figured I'd check out the fall foliage.  I was quite surprised to see that even though it is fall, there was still water of the Hells Run Creek flowing over the rock features.  Well this was my favourite one of the morning.  I used a 5 stop Neutral Density filter to get a 45 second exposure at f/5.6 and my trusty warming polarizer to cut the glare on the rocks.

Morning Sunrise before Fraccing

A new wellsite, a new picture.  I am amazed at the Pennsylvanian countryside. So lush and green.  There are some great sunrises that I can catch before the start of fraccing.  

©Matt Graham 2010 - Morning Sunrise before Fraccing

Abraham Lake Sunrise

I have to admit, I am attracted to take photos of sunrises and sunsets.  It offers me a better chance of catching that 5 to 10 minutes of amazing light. I guess the cost for that is waking up early and getting going to bed late. Abraham Lake is an amazing place to take pictures.  The mountain range backdrop gives so many composition ideas and the ice patterns and cracks provide great foreground elements.

© Matt Graham 2010 - Abraham Lake Sunrise

Abraham Lake Shore Stumps

The pinnacle of our tour was returning to Abraham Lake.  In the winter this massive reservoir for the Bighorn Dam on the North Saskatchewan freezes up.  Throughout the winter, the lower runoff from the mountains and the requirement to operate the dam makes the lake level retreat. I just love this area.  It has some amazing scenery and great photo opportunities.  Best of all is that it is off the beaten tourist track, so crowds are few and far between.  This picture was taken just before the warm sunrise light peaked over the eastern horizon.  I had to take a 8 second exposure to get it right, while the howling wind blew in my face.

©Matt Graham 2010 - Abraham Lake Tree Stumps

Glory Hole Sunrise

On our second morning of the photo tour, Darwin knew the best place to go for a surefire sunrise scene.  Leaving Jasper and heading towards the east park gates, there is a natural spring system that is open year round.  Its named the "Glory Hole" by landscape photographer Daryl Benson.  Rumor has it thathe came to this spot countless times and never had a bad shoot.  We really rushed to catch the great light as we might have taken too much time stuffing ourselves with some awesome Raspberry White Chocolate scones from the Bears Paw Bakery prior to leaving Jasper.

I tried a lot of filter combinations to create this scene.  In the end, a 1 second exposure blurred the water and painted some light in the clouds.  It was simply an amazing sunrise that I will never forget!

© Matt Graham 2010 - Glory Hole Sunrise