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

The Duo Dynamic

On the Saturday of our tour we went to the "Galleria" which is an amazing ice climbing venue.  The Cline River flows by in the valley and with the frozen ice and flowing water, I find this an great duo.  I used a 5 Stop Solid Neutral Density filter by Singh-Ray to blur the motion of the water, while keeping the 3.2 second exposure decent. And OK, I realize that the "Dynamic Duo" is Batman and Robin, but I felt naming this the Duo Dynamic is well suited.

©Matt Graham 2010 - The Duo Dynamic

The 7-UP Bubble Monster

On our way back from the amazing sunrise, we stopped at Talbot Lake alongside Highway 16.  This is a wonderful lake that could quite possibly be great for ice skating.  The thing to watch out for is crazy looking bubble designs in the ice.  I took this one with my Canon Powershot G9 which is a great point-n-shoot prior to it dying on me when I got home. Anyway, I wanted to get a cool design and found what appeared to be a goofy face in the ice. Also with all the tiny bubbles in the green hued ice, it reminded me of the bubbles in a 7-UP glass bottle.

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

Maligne Canyon in the Winter

Here are two for Tuesday! The first full day of the tour found ourselves throwing on crampons and heading down into Maligne Canyon.  Lots of people have seen the amazing power of the Maligne River crashing down the canyon in the Summer.  This was my first time seeing what beauty Winter brought to the canyon.

I must admit that for walking up the icey canyon, crampons are essential for safety and staying put when you are lining up your composition. I found the Hillsound Trail Crampon Pro simply amazing.  They have two ratcheting straps per foot and really beefy spikes to give you total confidence on the ice. 

© Matt Graham 2010 - Massive Ice Fall

© Matt Graham 2010 - Bluesky Canyon

Lonely Tree in the Snow Dunes

Heading to Jasper, we stopped at a nondescript part of the Icefields Highway and got our gear out.  All around the area, there were huge snow mounds that looked so unnatural.  I looked around and found out the reason...massive rock slide!  You can look up the mountain valley and find the same pink rock out crop where the uncovered boulders of the same color lay resting.  With practically no disturbance, snow can cover the boulders and create some interesting mounds.  I couldn't help but notice this little tree sticking out of the snow with the interesting mounds and shadows.  

© Matt Graham 2010 - Lonely Tree in the Snow Dunes

Endless Chain Ridge

On my photo tour with Darwin Wiggett and Alan Ernst, our first day was driving up the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper.  After the Columbia Icefield, the Endless Chain Ridge comes into view. It was named by Mary Schaffer, one of the first non-native women to visit Jasper National Park, when it opened in 1907.

A great resource for mountain names and history of the Canadian Rockies is Peakfinder.com.  When I looked up the history of the ridge, it quoted Schaffer wrote:

"A short distance beyond the rock-slide and on the river''s right, begins a low, rocky ridge, which for length and unadulterated ugliness cannot be beaten. We trailed it for a day and a half and then named it ''The Endless Chain'' well named too, for on reaching the Athabasca shores, we found that it still stretched on in an unbroken line for miles down the river."

©Matt Graham 2010 - Endless Chain Ridge