Wandering Jasper before the snow

September 05, 2021  •  1 Comment

hi guys.

So, I decided it's time that I spend some time in Jasper, especially before the snow flies or the crowds get too large. So, I took a day off work, yes that job that drags me out and makes me not what I want to be. Today's little lesson is even if it is not perfect lighting conditions, you can get a beautiful image, because we always spend time as landscape photographers, listening to individuals tell us that afternoon light is useless. We can only photograph first thing in the morning, or just before the sun sets. This is crap!

 

So as I'm wandering down to Maligne Lake I always find greater vision at Medicine lake. I never do understand why there must be something about the transient nature of the lake. At this moment it is full higher than I've ever seen it at this time of the year. I'm sure global warming has something to do to contribute to the amount of water that is in the lake, and I can only hope that man corrects his ills.

Medicine Lake  Drew May PhotoMedicine Lake Drew May Photo© www.drewmayphotography.com

So the image you see in front of you is a compilation of seven separate images shot vertically, and combined in Photoshop. It makes for an exceedingly large image considering that I am using a Canon 5Dsr with its lovely 50 mega pixel sensor. Yes, gang I'm embracing the old camera I haven't rushed off and bought a mirrorless camera. And to top it all off it was shot with a 50mm F1.2, that's right Canon’s Uber fast 50!

 

I am at this present time changing how I use my equipment, there will be a blog in the future about this change, suffice to say I'm getting rid of my zooms. I find zoom lenses making me lazy and affecting my composition and vision. I am truly falling in love with my 50mm and my new addition, that is Zeiss!

 

Till next time, cheers

Just shut up and shoot!

 


Comments

Ron May(non-registered)
Neat shot. You should go back in November and take this picture from the same location. First, global warming has nothing to do with the ups and downs of the lake. It has been doing this fill/drain cycle for many, many years. The lake is part of a Karst system in the area. The more northerly end of the lake, the first part you encounter driving in from Jasper, is blocked by a very huge rock slide that occurred, who knows, maybe hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Observation: number of very large boulders in the valley at that end of the lake. The Lake fills up during Spring runoff as the rock dam created by the rock slide limits the rate at which the lake can drain, so that by late Summer/Autumn, flow out of the lake exceeds inflow so that eventually, little, if anything, is left of the lake that your picture shows. All that is left is the Maligne River meandering across the bottom of the Lake. The actual level of the lake when full and the time at which it is mostly empty will vary from year to year depending on the amount of water produced by the annual melt. Most water seems to come from Maligne Lake down Maligne River to Medicine Lake. I also believe that there maybe some leakage into the local karst system, depending on the level of the lake - higher the lake, the more leakage, but the limiting factor, in my observation. is still the rock dam at the northerly end of the lake created by the rock slide.

My conclusion is based on 15 years of observation, as a geologist, when I lived in Edmonton and would visit Jasper every year, at various times of the year, including winter (brrr).

If you started on the first weekend in June (May?) and took a picture from the same spot every weekend until the end of November, you would have a great pictorial history of one of its annual fill/drain cycles. Hope this helps.
No comments posted.
Loading...
Subscribe
RSS
Archive
January February March April (1) May (7) June (4) July (2) August (1) September (1) October (2) November December
January (1) February March April May (1) June July August September October November December (3)
January February (1) March April May June July August September October (1) November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February (1) March April (1) May June July August September (2) October (2) November (2) December (1)
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November (1) December
January February March April May June July August September October (4) November December