Morning Glory, a photo from Alberta, Prairies

Photographer's Note

The pristine Rockies have been a revelation to me, as I always favored traveling around the world before my own country.

The unspoiled nature there is easily accessible and considering the moment that we were there, we sometimes feel that we had the whole territory to ourselves, at least in the early morning and late evening, when people prefer to sleep or to eat.

Maybe because we like photography so much, we would rather have a quick banana milk and a muffin at 4h30 am, jump in the car, drive to location, and have our breakfast later when restaurants are less busy from morning crowd.

The way people travel in general is completely against logic, rising late, waisting time forever at the buffet of their hotel with dozens of other travelers ( waiting in line for toast and fighting over the last jug of orange juice...), missing the best light of the day, overpacking sites with bus load of visitors, pushing elbows, taking photos of themselves in front of every monuments and iconic landscapes while blocking the view to others, talking loudly, shouting at kids and making sure to scare away all animals.

sevy, Sonata11, jjcordier, annjackman, delpeoples, paololg, Angshu, ktanska, robertosalguero, Suppiluliuma, Suppiluliuma, scroller, cdmonson has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

siudzi (23837) 2011-05-13 1:16

Hi Andre,
A really impressive shot of this wonderful winter landscape. It's full of mystery through the fog and clouds. You achieved also an interesting saturation specially of the water and rocks. Well done.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Malgorzata

jemaflor (68837) 2011-05-13 2:17

Salut André,
Toujours splendide ces lieux en toutes saisons, l'ambiance enneigée et la vue des eaux bleues est magnifique, bon cadrage en vertical et netteté.

HimalAnda (5618) 2011-05-13 2:37

Bonjour André,

Le format portrait convient idéalement à cette image. Il permet de bénéficier d'un premier plan avec les sapins et d'avoir une vue complète de la montagne avec un peu de ciel au-dessus d'elle.
J'aime bien la façon dont les nuages entourent le sommet comme une écharpe.

Stéphane

sevy (13269) 2011-05-13 3:40

Bonjour André,

Ta note m a bien fait marrer. Tu connais bien le milieu des centres de vacances a ce que je vois :-)
Un paysage sauvage comme je les aime. Ca change un peu du rendu carte postale ensoleillé, qui s il est tout aussi appreciable et bien trop courant. Un peu de variété, c est bien aussi.
Bien hivernal pour une photo prise en Juin.

Yves.

dta (51334) 2011-05-13 3:46

Salut Andre ,
Une très belle photo des Rocheuses sauvages , un peu froideà mon goût , l'effet étant accentué par les nuages ui enveloppent les sommets . Mais alors , quelle atmosphère !
Note amusante . Les lumières du matin et du soir sont sûrement les plus belles . Quant à moi , voyageant en famille , j'ai résolu le problème . Je pars tôt le matin à la chasse photographique , et je reviens quand tout le monde se réveille .
Amicalement

cbrman (21637) 2011-05-13 4:19

Hello André,

Tu vois, je suis encore là...
Encore une très belle image pleine de contraste.
La tâche de couleur du lac est parfaite ici.

A+

Dominique

Sonata11 (28273) 2011-05-13 4:35

Hello Andre,
beautiful composition and framework as well. Wonderful management of light and great colors, POV super.The view on those mountains are a very impressive and interesting. Lovely image. My congrats,
All the best,
Barbara

annjackman (13183) 2011-05-13 10:48

Hello Andre,
One of my favourite places. I see this was not taken in the winter which suprised me although I know that snow storms can occur at anytime. We experienced one on the Icefields Parkway in August. I find the cloud over the mountain in your picture and the beautiful colour of the water captivating. The framing is excellent. Worth leaving the crowds for.
Regards, Ann

npecanhuk (53881) 2011-05-13 18:27

Hi André!
Wonderful canadian landscape!
Truly attractive nature & winter photograph!
Sharpness, exposure, chosen pov, colors, vertical format and composition are all excellent here!
I love the contrast between the color of the water and the white snow!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

jjcordier (62280) 2011-05-13 22:52

André
J'ai bien aimé ta note mais j'aime encore plus ta magnifique photo. On se damnerait pour un matin comme ça! lumière, composition, couleurs, tout est impeccable.
Amitiés
JJ

samson (1227) 2011-05-14 3:27

Hello Andre

A very beautiful winter scene. I like the combination of the rock, trees, mist, and water all in one picture.

regards
sam

delpeoples (44904) 2011-05-14 7:44

Salut cher Andre'

Never a truer word has been said. There is nothing quite like getting up early to a completely uninhabited scene and shooting away in that magnificent silence without being shoved or yelled at. Your Blue Hour morning photo of the Trevi Fountain is one of the best examples of that I can think of. I remember Pixelterror saying to me once that 9am to 5pm are the rest hours for us lovers of photography. As you say, this photo is pristine, the lines are immaculate and the image is so crisp it hurts. Beautiful clean colours, so naturally rendered and the effect of the mist is enchanting. Worth the cold and the early morning for sure. Congratulations.

Amities et belle journee
Lisa (PS: Many thanks for your WS on my Anzac photo)

paololg (31442) 2011-05-14 13:01

Captured in June? Incredible! It really looks like a picture captured in the winter. Wonderful composition, dear Andrè, an absolutely fantastic landscape with beautiful color contrasts and an atmosphere of pure nature. Excellent shot! I am totally agree with your notes, the majority of tourists do not know how to enjoy the beauties of the world!
Ciao, have a nice weekend!
Paolo

Bartleby (12741) 2011-05-15 4:29

Salut André,
pfffiou, ça envoie les paysages du Canada! Compo nickel! Ca fait envie même s'il a l'air de faire vraiment froid!

Philippe

Angshu (51174) 2011-05-15 4:37

Dear friend Andre!

Not often do we see landscapes from winter from your country...more so from the Rockies! You've taken this pictuer in June & yet with the amount of snow, my first impression was this was taken during the winter months, before I actually saw the date....June! Supposed to be summer even in your country..no?

Exposure on the whiteness is difficult but done well here. The deep turquoise of the water is alluring & the stone massifs towering up into the clouds ...that's wild & beautiful nature

Not so great light judging by the clouds...or was it taken in the wee hours before sunrise...I don't know...but still a jewel!
Best Regards
Angshu

ktanska (21499) 2011-05-15 10:11

Hi Andre,
A precious moment with a fresh layer of snow. And the sky just starting to clear up. The colour of water is special, typical toclean mountain lakes. Tall and narrow spruces work well with vertical framing.
Well, if work means waking up early, then holiday often means not waking up early. Most of us don't have the same hunter's instinct to good photos as you do.
Kari

bergese (6699) 2011-05-15 12:27

Bonsoir André
Une belle image trés rafraichissante,avec un décor hivernal à couper le souffle.La couleur du lac est magnifique et contraste bien avec la neige.Bravo.
Bonne soirée Isabelle

robertosalguero (196) 2011-05-15 14:53

Hello Andre,

I enjoyed reading your note. I have to agree that early mornings and late afternoons are the best to take pictures in the Rockies. Moraine Lake is not the most impressive lake I have visited in the Rockies(too many tourists make it spoiled and too civilized), but your pictures make it look like a billion bucks! Your angle is excellent as are the colours. Beautiful work!

Roberto

stevesaba (8019) 2011-05-16 4:24

Hi Andre!
Really nice one of what I am gathering is the morning after of an early June snow storm....certainly not unheard of in that part of the country. Very natural feel to this one, with a beautiful cast to the lake, and you have managed to somehow portray the slight chill in the air! Nice to see photos from Canada. And as you mentioned, when you travel around, you start to realize that Canada has some of the most amazing landscapes in the world, as well as crystal clear skies with great light! I particularly liked your notes about the tourists; gave me a good chuckle. Warm regards,
Steve

Suppiluliuma (3841) 2011-05-17 0:40

Nice and entertaining observation of mass tourism.

The view is fantastic. My only nit-picking is the loss of distance differentation thru the choice of a small aperture. Maybe a bit of burning could be used in the foreground as well, to give more details of the snow mass.

TFS Dear André.

Cheers,

Erdem

scroller (3407) 2011-05-19 2:06

Hi André,
I just love your note. Me my self has 4 kids and sometimes you have to compromise. :)

I love your combination of the snow white and the beautiful colour of the moraine lake. Its amazing that the snow still remains in june!
Best regards
/Stefan

hemantbuch (1649) 2011-05-21 8:25

Hi Andre, superlative image, capturing the essence of winter. The balance, colors and atmosphere are perfect. TFS and regards, Hemant

cdmonson (4301) 2011-06-01 15:48

Couldn't agree more on the tourists, but I love it! It means that those of us that truly appreciate the beauty of nature have the wild to ourselves when it's at its most beautiful. I hope it never changes and that the 10 to 6 crowd keeps visiting nature from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. I'm happy to enjoy it the rest of the time.

This is a really nice shot of what I presume is the Tower of Babel from the Rockpile at Moraine Lake. Even though the light's not there, the hint of blue sky and wispy clouds really make it a nice shot. You also did a fantastic job managing the glare from the snow.

Overall, it's a heck of a shot.

Clark

Robert1969 (6224) 2011-06-04 9:30

Hallo Andre,

Ik heb meerdere malen deze foto gezien, maar ik kom niet lekker uit mijn woorden als ik het in het Engels ga vertalen, dus doe ik het in mijn eigen taaltje.

Heel uitgekiend heb je de meer erop staan. Het creërt zowel de diepte in de foto, maar omdat het meer in een kleine percentage erop staat wekt het ook nieuwsgierigheid op bij de kijker. Een aangename combinatie.

De sneeuw is in deze foto ook mooi maagdelijk wit ( mooi overbelicht), zonder dat er overbelichten stukken in de foto aanwezig is.
Ook aangenaam is de rustige overgang van de bergen naar de wolken toe, alsof je deze foto met een fluwele handschoen hebt gemaakt.

Samengevat: je weet niet alleen de mooie plekken te vinden, je weet ze ook heel knap vast te leggen.

Vriendelijke groeten,
Robert