christophermartinphotography

[christophermartinphotography]

A photograph of a snowy owl in flight over the prairies east of Calgary on a cold morning. I spent a few hours photographing this beautiful bird east of Calgary near Delacour.  The temperature, and the wind chill, conspired to make it a bit uncomfortable for me.  

[christophermartinphotography]

West Bragg winter

Winter in West Bragg - Light snow and frigid temperature conspire to cast a cold spell over a winter scene photographed in Bragg Creek, Alberta, Canada on February 3, 2019.

The cold which the east has been laboring under reached us this weekend.  Yesterday I was out photographing and this scene illustrated the frigid turn winter has now taken once more.

[christophermartinphotography]

A meeting in Bragg Creek

Photographs of a squirrel foraging at the Bragg Creek Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.

I went to the Bragg Creek Provincial Park just before the latest snowfall.  Wandering along the Elbow River, exasperated chirping voiced several nearby squirrel alerts accompanied me.

Curiosity took over one’s hesitations and he climbed down from a treetop to watch me from a branch a couple of meters off the ground.  I crouched low and stayed still and soon he was digging out a pine cone from…

[christophermartinphotography]

Downtown Calgary - Morning along the Bow River

Downtown Calgary - Morning along the Bow River. Several photographs from sunrise on Saturday, January 12, 2019.

On Saturday I watched the morning arrive on the shore of the Bow River.  I was across the water from Calgary’s downtown and used the Center Street Bridge as a focal point between the sky and the buildings.  I parked along Memorial Drive and checked the sky in a couple of test photographs.  Traffic came by and made for a good start.

  On the other side of the road, the rocks, snow and ice along…

[christophermartinphotography]

Cars in motion

Cars in motion - a few motion blur photographs of cars driving by from the past year.

I have a lot of fun photographing just about anything in motion.  Thinking about how a picture could look, using different techniques to realize that and then the element of luck throwing in a wildcard or two.  Here are a few car shots from last year which came together pretty well.

Night suits this type of photography as the darkness allows for slower shutter speeds.  I set a longer exposure,…

[christophermartinphotography]

Nightscapes from the past year

Nightscapes from the past year. Several photographs from late nights and early mornings in 2018.

I’ve been wanting to put together a couple of posts with common themes using photographs which I have not published.  These aren’t the best of the year series, I’ll look to have those out soon though.  They are simply photographs that I would like to share.

So, I’ll start with a few images taken at night and see what follows after.  Thank you for indulging me in a bit of reverie!

I’m often…

[christophermartinphotography]

A faint light from the north

A faint light from the north - a couple of photographs of the diffused glow of the Aurora Borealis last night.

2 seconds at f/1.8 on ISO 4000

We are in the solar minimum and the Aurora Borealis displays at this latitude have been at a minimum as well.  On a night walk last night I noticed a bit of color in the sky.  Longer exposures showed a diffused haze of the Northern Lights.  Subtle but still beautiful.

5 seconds at f/2.0 on ISO 3200

The quiet show ended quickly.  It was very nice to see them once…

[christophermartinphotography]

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Photographs from the fireworks at Redwood Meadows that sent 2018 off. Welcome to 2019 - may it hold more of what you need.

I spent New Year’s Eve at home with my children and one of their close friends.  We all had fun and enjoyed the evening.  The Redwood Meadows community once more put on a fireworks show.

They always do a great job and this year was outstanding.  Kian found friends to watch and hang out with.  The other two enjoyed the show from the picture window of a neighbor’s home which provided a good, and…

[christophermartinphotography]

Sunrise after the Geminids

Sunrise after the Geminids. Photographs of the approaching dawn and light trails from traffic along the Trans-Canada Highway fron the Jumping Pound overpass west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada on December 14, 2018.

Highway lights and morning sky – 20 seconds at f/11 on ISO 400

Having stayed out late to photograph the Geminid meteor shower, it was dawn much sooner than I expected.  I frequently (always) lose track of time when I have a camera in hand – this was no exception.  The last place I watched for the meteor streaks was near the Jumping Pound Road’s overpass of the Trans-Canada about 15km west of…

[christophermartinphotography]

Geminid Meteor Shower

Geminid Meteor Shower - a few photographs from the shower's peak on December 14th.

Early Friday morning was the peak of Geminid meteor shower.  My camera braved the wind and the cold at the separate locations south of Cochrane near the Trans-Canada Highway.  Apart from setting up at each new spot and checking the gear occasionally, I stayed in my car wrapped up in a heavy blanket.  The shower lived up to expectations and I saw a lot of streaks across the sky.  A few of those…

[christophermartinphotography]

Night photography of ice fog around Springbank, west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Long exposures of traffic, the haze and the moon.

  During a cold night in November where ice fog spread low around the Springbank Airport west of Calgary, I photographed around the area for a couple of hours.  I started capturing light trails from traffic going through the intersection where the Springbank United Church stands.  Most of these exposures were close to 20 seconds to allow the vehicles to pull their lights through the scene.…

[christophermartinphotography]

Curves at the Central Public Library

Curves at the Central Public Library - a photograph of a patron silhouetted against the curved wall which leads to the new Central Public Library's main entrance.

Calgary’s new Central Public Library is an amazing space for many reasons. Last night I enjoyed circling the exterior for the first time, photographing interesting features at interesting moments as I went.

Above a patron standing at the stairs near the main entrance is silhouetted against the beautifully designed curving wall that leads to the doors.  A minute later, and a few steps to the…

[christophermartinphotography]

Dippers and their questionable behavior

Dippers and their questionable behavior. A few photographs of an American dipper's close encounter with the Elbow Falls waterfall in Kananaskis Country near Bragg Creek, Alberta, Canada.

Not bad behavior, just one that I don’t pretend to understand.  When I was last at Elbow Falls, I photographed two American dippers as they flew, dove and splashed around the fast-moving water.  Along the way, one of the birds flew to an overhang beside the edge of the waterfall, and then slid on the ice before finding purchase in the snow.

It paused for a moment and then flew at the waterfall!

[christophermartinphotography]

Dippers at Elbow Falls

Dippers at Elbow Falls - American dippers hunt (or is it fish?) for breakfast in the pools above Elbow Falls in Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada.

American dippers are year round residents below the Elbow Falls.  When I was there before sunrise, I could hear an occasional chitter from one pair as they flew up and downstream.  As the day brightened I saw them a couple of times while I was photographing the landscape around the waterfall.

I shifted my attention to them and had two lengthy sessions photographing them.  The first began when…

[christophermartinphotography]

Winter at Elbow Falls - water, snow and ice. A photograph where light plays across the water streaming over rocks on the edge of the Elbow Falls during a winter morning in Kananaskis Country. There is a beautiful balance of running water, ice forms along the river's edge and drifts of snow at Elbow Falls right now.  

[christophermartinphotography]

Elbow Falls - lit by YYC. The glow from Calgary mixed with the earliest hint of light from the eastern horizon to paint the sky above this waterfall in Kananaskis Country west of Bragg Creek on the morning of November 18th. I went to Elbow Falls yesterday and arrived well before sunrise.  As I stood above the waterfall, the glow from Calgary, ~50km to the east, mixed with the faintest hint of the approaching dawn to paint the clouds and to illuminate the river very gently.

[christophermartinphotography]

Harvest ravens - a photograph of four ravens flying in a dust cloud kicked up by a combine harvester on a farm west of Calgary in Springbank in late October. Late October provided a window of warm weather that gave farmers the opportunity to finish their harvesting.