What can be simpler than a single curve in snow. It is like an artist calligrapher drew a hieroglyph with a single movement of hand.
What’s interesting is that I found the same curve in a track of foot steps that a fellow photographer left behind.
Tag: sky
Bubbles
The main attraction of the lake by the small town of Nordegg is bubbles caught in the ice. As the lake freezes bubbles of air float up from the bottom of the lake to the surface where they are captured and then enveloped by ice. Those frozen bubbles form amazing surreal three-dimensional structures.
Tough Climate
I think these two quite different photos capture the same feeling of the tough climate of Canadian Rockies in winter. Deep freeze ice with temperatures well below zero kept clean by sweeping winds so strong at times that it is hard to stay in one place on the ice.
One Arrow, Many Photos
Just how many photos of the same subject can be made? Apparently a lot.
One of the key locations we photographed on the last trip to Canada was an artificial lake by a tiny town of Nordegg. The winter is bitterly cold their and the lake freezes deep enough to walk on ice. The constant wind blowing over the lake keeps the ice clean from snow. What’s most interesting is air bubbles that rise from the bottom of the lake just to be captured in ice building fantastic three-dimensional structures.
One of such structures was in a form of an arrow. I was so drawn to it that I spent hours photographing it over two days. Coming up with new and new ways to do it. Here is how it looked:
Now how about using flashlight to highlight part of an arrow? That circle at the head of the arrow seems very attractive:
How about showing the arrow in the context of the area surrounding it? Let it be the lead to othe bubbles:
Let’s step further away. How about hiding the arrow in a landscape for a curious eye to find:
I’ve done much more different photos of the same subject on that trip; they are just not as good.
I guess my point is that I don’t come-see-take a photo. I work with the subject, explore it visually and find many photos of it which eventually dwindles to a few ones I keep.
Up on a Hill
Sometimes you need to get up on a hill to see a view. Just like I did when we drove thru Canada.
We drove thru places of snow and ice that were picturesque enough. But then I saw a hill with a parking lot next to it. I stopped and climbed the hill. The view that opened up to me was breathtaking.
The vast flats of frozen river covered with snow, the soft spots of sun light breaking thru clouds, the blue hazy mountains in the distance and a cloudy sky above it all. The view was worth photographing, the awe was worth sharing. I called up the other guys and we spent some time photographing.
Rear-View Mirror
One of the useful photographic tools: rear-view mirror. I often see a landscape there that makes me stop, jump out of the car and take a picture. Here is one of those photos from the last trip to Canadian Rockies. You can even see tire track from my car as I pulled to the side of the road.
What’s also interesting is that this light was gone in a few seconds. So, catch your moments!
Only Mountains
There is a saying in Russian culture: only mountains can be better than mountains. So, in this post I’m presenting of photos of mountains and only mountains from my recent trip to Canadian Rockies.
Let the Flashlight Be
Another example of playing with light. This time it is not at night but at twilight. There was already enough of ambient light and I had to use two flashlights to highlight an interesting bubble structure in the ice.
Black and White
I do like color. I have whole collection of photos with nothing but color in them. But there is still room for black and white photos in my heart. Sometimes black and white is what’s needed to bring out a drama in a photo. Photo like this one.
Shadows in Fog
I like photos in which fog is taking over, photos where viewer need to take an effort to make out what’s on the photo. So, when I was returning once from Snoqualmie Pass and I saw clouds falling down, dispersing into fog and taking over the mountains I exited freeway at the closest exit and photographed it.
vitali prokopenko | fine art 