Two years into this monthly photo blogging challenge and we still haven’t covered all of the seasons – even after everyone shares their winter photographs! I expect that “spring” will eventually come up as a theme (but probably not in 2015).
Old Man Winter’s preoccupation with eastern North America left the Calgary area enjoying mild weather for most of the month. As the days passed, warm temperatures melted the snow blanketing our yard. So it’s a good thing I was out and about with my camera at the start of the month to photograph the snow that fell the first couple days of February.
1. Rocky Mountain Mule Deer – For the past several years, whenever there’s snow on the ground, a small herd of mule deer moves into our neighbourhood. Since there are no fences separating the back yards along our street, the deer move back and forth, browsing on shrubs and tree branches and using their hooves to move snow off the remains of last summer’s strawberries and flowers. We’ve counted as many as eight deer in our yard at one time this winter. This particular deer was snacking when I went to a basement window to try to make a photograph. When I opened the window blind to get a better angle it looked up and I had just enough time for one perfect portrait shot!
2. Icy Comb – This comb-like crystal grew from a thin sheet of ice accumulating along the south bank of the Bow River near Canmore. I like how the details of the structure are so clear against the background of frozen silt.
3. Afternoon Light – As a photographer, one of my favourite things about winter is that it’s golden “hour” almost all day long! Mr. GeoK and I went for a long walk in Canmore over the Family Day weekend, just in time to see the sunlight set the white bark of the birch trees aglow.
4. Avalanche Control – Avalanche risk has been moderate to high for a few months now. I don’t know enough about the science of snow to explain it. One afternoon we parked in Canmore, stepped out of the car and heard “BOOM”. It was an explosive charge triggering an avalanche on the east end of Mount Rundle as part of the avalanche control program. As we watched the helicopter circle around, I grabbed my camera, hoping it would drop another charge. As you can see, it did!
5. Snowy Peaks and Ice Sheets – The higher the elevation, the lower the temperature, so even though the snow pretty much disappeared from the valley bottom this month, the mountain peaks are still covered in snow. And there are still a few remnants of the ice sheets that formed along the banks of the Bow River earlier in the winter. Add a vibrant blue sky to the mix and it’s a striking winter scene.
I’m sure there will be more snow in the photos posted by some of the other participants. If you’re interested, head on over to A ‘lil HooHaa to see PJ’s take on the theme. He lives in the the 2015 snow belt, so I’m expecting lots of white! And since he’s the host of the monthly photo challenge, all the other posts for this month will be listed in the link up at the bottom of the page.
PJ will announce the March theme on Sunday over at A ‘lil HooHaa. We always welcome new participants, so please join us!