It’s going to be interesting to see what everyone came up with for this month’s photo blogging challenge on the theme get low. Including me! Because until I started writing this, I mistakenly thought the theme was get down. It’s similar enough that I hope another scroll through July’s photos will surface five suitable photos. Here goes…

1. Bee’s Eye Level

I hadn’t seen too many bees in Canmore until July. So this one caught my attention as I walked along the Loki Trail. It’s on the large end of the range for bumble bees, lazily buzzing between Giant Scarlet Paintbrush blossoms.

2. Get Low Before Lightning Strikes

The last week of July, we hiked to the summit of The Onion in Banff National Park. Five years ago we hiked 80% of this route. But due to bad trip planning, we had no idea we should have carried on a little further.

The views from The Onion are stunning: a chain of turquoise mountain lakes in one direction and the expansive Wapta icefield in the other. But Mr GeoK spent most of his standing lunch studying the clouds. And thinking about how low we could, and how fast, due to concern about a possible thunderstorm.

Spoiler: the thunderstorm never materialized. Phew!

3. Just Above the Water Line

I shot this photo with my big camera. It’s weather-sealed, but no waterproof. So I hung it over the side of the kayak, just above the water, to frame this reflection. There were absolutely no waves, so I didn’t worry about an accidental dunking.

4. Just Below the Water Line

We also have a little point-and-shoot waterproof camera. Since I am the helmsperson when we kayak, Mr GeoK obscures my sightline over the bow. So I have been trying to get better at framing above and below shots, holding the little waterproof unit over the side so that part of the lens is submerged. This shot, from our last kayak outing in July, is one of my favourite above/below shots so far.

A lightbulb finally went on this month. Being careful to keep my phone dry, I can use an app and wi-fi connection to the waterproof camera to view my framing on my phone screen and trigger the shutter using my phone. I’ve done this on two kayak trips so far, and the resulting images have more level horizon lines, mountains that aren’t cut off, etc. Hurray for technology!

5. Get Low, But Not Too Low

One of our neighbour’s posted something on Facebook about an Art in Nature Trail in Banff. So we pedaled from Canmore to Banff, across the bridge and spent a wonderful hour or so enjoying the art. “Healing Power of the Forest” consists of several several “wood cookies” with fused glass centers. They are attached to a strongly geometric fence beside the Bow River.

I got low, but not too low. I wanted to line up the water line in Deanna McGillivray’s piece with the surface of the Bow River. I held my position for a half-second exposure – just long enough to smooth out the turbulence of the river to that the art piece and nature kind of blended together.

If you’re interested, I made a Relive video recap of our exploration of the Art in Nature Trail.

Get Low in the Garden

I’ve reached my five picture limit. But since I spend several hours each week getting low in the garden, I need to at least mention how weeding, loosening the soil around seedlings, pruning, climbing down the rock wall in the backyard to look for bees and butterflies, kneeling down to peer under the leaves for ripe raspberries and all the other things I do in the garden might require me to get physically low. But all these things help keep me in good health. And keep my spirits high.

Now I feel done. Be sure to check out the link up at the bottom of host PJ’s post and click through to see what everyone else came up with.

And please consider joining the Photo Blogging Challenge for August. The theme is Pooch (this will strain my brain, since we don’t have a dog). All you need are five photos that fit the theme. The amount of accompanying text is entirely up to you. If you don’t yet have a blog, you can start a free one using WordPress, Blogger, Squarespace, Tumblr or any other blogging platform that’s out there. We’re a small – but mighty – community that’s really supportive. Try it! You might like it!