Winter Beauty in Photos
Here are a variety of recently (January 2022) captured winter nature photos:
More From the Icy River’s Edge
Here are another set of photos from Edmonton’s river valley. These were taken down near the North Saskatchewan River’s edge late in the afternoon on November 24th, as winter slowly, steadily settles in.
Winter’s Arrival (A Photo Gallery)
Here is my latest collection of photos, featuring the more abstract qualities of subtle textures and forms, of snow and ice in the landscape.
These images come from Edmonton’s river valley in the third week of November (2021), just after our first snowfall of the season.
Wet and Dry
Here is another collection of photos from last week (2021 August 26) on the bank of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton. This group focuses on observations made while looking down at the ground (which was sometimes dry, sometimes wet, sometimes in between).
2018 – The Best of Black and White
As much as I love color there is something about black and white images that has always appealed to me. Inevitably when I go out a shoot a bunch of photos a number of them (maybe 10%) will scream out at me to be represented monochromatically.
Here are one of my favorite black and white images, from each month in 2018:
January:
 Trail in the snow along the edge of the frozen North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton
February:
Plastic pins of a toy for capturing a 3D representation of an object
March:
An exposed and therefore snow-free, south-facing bank of the North Saskatchewan River valley in Edmonton.
April:
Large chunks of ice at spring break-up on the North Saskatchewan River.
May:
Bridge pillars on the Sturgeon River in St.Albert
June:
The bell of a trombone, at the Edmonton International Jazz Festival
July:
Trail in Edmonton’s river valley (upper Dawson Park)
August:
Bend in the road (Rowland Road) in Edmonton
September:
Pillar of the Dawson Bridge in Edmonton
October:
Squirrel sounding off.
November:
Ice starting to form and collect on the North Saskatchewan River
December:
River ice sheet breaking under pressure.
Forms on a Frozen River
It is the end of January and the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton is frozen over and covered with 15 centimeters of fresh snow. I venture to the river’s edge and am captivated by the abstract forms that I see:
River’s Edge
A look at the shapes and tones at the edge of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton (in early April 2016). A few weeks earlier the river was covered in ice but now the river is clear with just a few big chunks of ice sit washed up on the shore. The ice decaying but reveals a captivating crystalline structure:
Moodier in Black and White
Here are some photos taken on the same outing as my hike last Sunday in Edmonton’s Mill Creek Ravine – but taking out the color the images have a much moodier feel.
Spring Slope
Stairs and a Patch of Snow
Trunk on a Diagonal
All Quiet Under the Bridge
Tangled Slope
and as a bonus, a black and white image from beside the river in Edmonton’s Louise McKinney Park:
Promenade Beside the Ice
Late Winter – Black and White
Here is a little collection of black and white photos themed around the patterns and textures of late winter (late February at my home here in Edmonton).
“Last Year’s Plume”
“Irregular Patchwork”
“Up”
“Ice and the Far Edge”
“Temporary Condition”
A few more photos from this photo shoot may be seen on another of my blogs: YEGmonton.
Snow and Shadows
A New Year’s Eve afternoon walk in Edmonton’s river valley revealed interesting patterns made by snow and ice, trees and the sun.
Blue Diagonals
Alien Icescape
Foot Paths
Tangled
Crystalline Edge
Trampled
Like Flakes
Icy River
Images of ice and water from the Bow River in Calgary in early March.
Jagged Edge
Spots
Ice Sheet
Stone Cache in the Elbow
Verticals
Broken Ice
Far Shore
Yukon Landscapes – Black and White
I have recently been reviewing (and cleaning up) some photos from a trip taken a number of years ago. It was June of 1993 when we set off driving from Edmonton to the Yukon and Alaska. In this post I feature 5 landscape photos taken on the way back. I don’t remember exactly where each of these were taken – most likely in southern Yukon but possibly southeast Alaska or northern British Columbia.
These photos were all shot on color slide film then scanned and digitized a few years ago. That process did not yield great results but after a bit of work with Lightroom I have achieved some images that are presentable. Black and white digital processing seemed particularly suited to these landscapes:
Around the Bend With Rapids
Black and White Road
Cloud Build-up
Rock in the River
Trees on a Rocky Bank
Down By the River (Part I)
This afternoon (2014 September 6) I got down by the edge of the North Saskatchewan River. the main purpose was to throw the ball into the water for my retrieving-crazy dog, but I also had my camera with me. Between throws I took a number of shot of the things that caught my eye. After processing as black and white images, here are a few of them:
Rippled Sunlight
Shore Wood
Shadow Angle
A Stone on the Shore
Drift Branch
See more related images in Part II
Northern Winter (Black and White, Part 2)
A continuation of an earlier post sharing some black and white landscape photos taken in January/February 2012 in the Edmonton river valley
Open Water and Ducks
Blue on Blue in Black and White
Stairs in the Valley
Grasses, Trees and a Cloud
Beautiful Trail
Northern Winter (Black and White, part 1)
Winter, in Edmonton, Canada typically means a fair bit of snow and temperatures in the minus 15 to 30 Celsius range. The 2011/12 winter has been atypical. Except for a week in mid-January where temperatures fell to below normal, most of the winter has featured daily highs around freezing. Nonetheless, there has been snow on the ground since November.
This series of photos are some that I took during the last week of January and the first week of February 2012 the the North Saskatchewan River valley in central Edmonton (in fact most are in Dawson Park). Dawson Park lies on the north side of the river valley meaning it gets a lot of sun and the snow can melt (or blow away) relatively quickly on the exposed ridges.
The Ridge
The Steep Path Up
Dawson Park seen from the south side of the river:
The North Bank
One of the fascinating things about Dawson Park is a section of “hoodoos” a geological formation more famously associated with the badlands of southern Alberta near Drumheller.
River Valley Landscape
While the exposed areas have just a touch of visible snow, the sheltered trails are well covered with snow and very wintery in appearance.
Birch and Snowy Path
Winter – Naturally Black and White
Of course there can be color in the winter landscape, you just might have to look a little harder for it. In this post though don’t strain yourself looking for color as I am featuring 5 black and white photos. Although there has not been a lot of snow in Edmonton in this winter of 2011/12 there has still been enough to keep the ground basically white. On the day I took these images the sun was out and the sky was deep blue – which with a color filter in the black and white conversion, yielded a deep dark sky on some images.
Packed Snow Field
Two and the Forest
Lichen
Reach to the Sky
Frozen Bend in the River
Technical Notes: The photos in this group were all taken in the early afternoon on January 7th, 2012, near Laurier Park in Edmonton. I used a Nikon D80 with a 18-55 lens and a polarizing filter. Post processing including conversion to black and white was done with the Capture NX2 software.
November Ice
Three abstract images from photos taken this morning in Edmonton’s river valley but first the natural look of the river:
The North Saskatchewan River in central Edmonton on Nov. 25
This long exposure photo was taken from near the same viewpoint but also included some brush from the near bank:
November River Abstract
This next image captured the river at an angle with a snowy foreground:
River and Snow
and finally another composition featuring bands of color from the open river, frozen river, river bank etc.:
River Bands
Trees and Snow – in black and white
Time: Mid-day, Tuesday January 4th
Weather: -1C and snowing moderately
Location: Edmonton’s river valley, trail on the south and east side of the river north of Dawson Bridge
River in Heavy Snow
Birch Bark and Snow
Snowy Trail
Heavy Texture
Silhouette Four
Snow Beaver Gnawing Stump
Tree Trunk
Randall Talbot - Artist 