APS Behind the Lens: Mirror image
My love of travel and photography has taken me to many beautiful and captivating locations around the work, many not on regular tourist trails. My favourites would have to be Namibia, Iceland, Norway, Canada, and Cuba.
Landscape and aerial photography are my passions. More and more I am enjoying getting a bird’s eye view from my drone; however I still get a thrill from a good old camera shot.
This image is from one of my last trips before Covid hit and overseas travel was not on my horizon for the next few years. It was captured on an autumn workshop in the Canadian Rocky Mountains in early October 2018 and I was one of the lucky participants.
On the first day of our workshop the seasons changed. What was to be an autumn workshop turned into a winter one. A month’s worth of snow came four weeks early and it changed our focus entirely. I learned a long time ago to be prepared for the unexpected and this trip was just that. But you go with what nature serves up, and we had a wonderful time, got some great photos, and made some lasting friendships.
Wedge Pond is an iconic location for landscape photographers. It is in Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada. The pond (we’d call it a lake) is surrounded by forest, and is about one kilometre in circumference. We visited it during the workshop however the weather was adverse and the photos not memorable.
At the conclusion of the workshop my host and I spent a few more days together, re-visiting some of the locations which we felt may have yielded some better shots. Wedge Pond was one of those and on one of our last days the weather forecast looked good, and we planned a morning visit to get the sunrise.
Coincidentally, my guide had heard on the grapevine that there had been a grizzly bear sighted in the car park and he was hoping for a bear photo, though I was not so keen.
We arrived at the location early and, armed with our camera gear and cans of bear repellent spray, we headed to the lake and waited for sunrise. I was not disappointed (though we saw no bears) and nature turned on a magnificent display for us.
The wind was calm, so the lake was almost mirror-like and the golden sun’s rays on the snow-capped mountain tops were incredible. It only lasted a few seconds, but the memory will last a lifetime. The overall look is very surreal, and it almost had to be seen in person to believe it.
Very little post processing has been added to the final image. It has received numerous awards, including national and international gold medals, and is an image that I am proud to have taken. ❂
