Spring is here, or is it?

Most years, but not every year, for the short period of 7 to 10 days the swans are stopping by here in Southern BC during their spring migration

Returning from their wintering habitat and on their way to their breeding grounds farther north.

For us a sign that spring can't be that far away anymore....even if the first images I was able to take of them this year were photographed in a howling snow storm.

Most of these swans are Tundra Swans. Tundra swans are the most abundant swans in North America. They breed on the coastal plains of Alaska and Northern Canada  but spend the winter as far south as California's Central Valley.

There are two subspecies of the Tundra swan, the so called whistling swan with a smaller yellow patch at the proximal part of it's beak and the Bewick swan (named after an English illustrator who first captured this swan on paper) with a much bigger yellow plate.

 Illustration by Robert Bewick, the son of Thomas Bewick after which the swan is named.

I believe the Tundra swans that stop by here to be whistling swans, as they only have a small yellow patch. The movie below makes it easy to understand how they got their name.

 While observing the swans I noticed, that lots of ground feeding swans were accompanied by a few ducks and as soon as the swan would come up, the ducks went down. I guess they profit off what the swan had stirred up.

The Tundra swans leave their wintering site usually around Mid March to arrive at their breeding habitat by Mid May,

 To my surprise and delight, for the first time this year, I also saw Trumpeter swans. I first noticed that there were a few swans that seemed to be way bigger than the others. Zooming in on them I saw that they don't have the yellow patch. This may or may not be an indication as there are Tundra swans that don't have them but then I heard I heard a sound as if someone were blowing into an old trumpet....

Trumpeter swans are the heaviest birds that are native to North America, They weigh between 15 - 30 lbs and have a wingspan up to 3 m! Trumpeter swans almost faced extintion.. In 1930 there were only 70 swans left in the wild, around the Hot springs of Yellowstone National Park.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the trumpeter swan was hunted heavily, for game or meat and for their quills and feathers. The Hudson's Bay Company alone captured thousands of swans annually with a total of 17,671 swans killed between 1853 and 1877...
Thanks to reintroduction and habitat restoration today the numbers are up to an estimated 46000 birds. The reintroduced Trumpeter swans though don't seem to migrate....which means that the swans that stop by here are from some wild gen pool!

This trumpeter swan seems to check out that funny furry bird....

Tundra swans coming out of the water for pruning and rest 

Bar brawl?

Mrs. and Mr Common Merganser are also enjoying an evening swim 

As elegant as swans look while on the water, their getting in and out of flight looks a bit prehistoric.

 Dinosaurs in the sky?

Nevertheless they are flying thousands of kilometers each year, and very soon they will be off, flying farther north....

...I will miss their whistling and trumpeting....until next spring!

All In The Wild...

 ...was the theme for the 2018 International Ice Carving Competition in Lake Louise.
And photography played quite the role this time as the ten teams could choose their favorite photograph from the many that have been taken over the years capturing the beauty of the Banff National Park. They then had exactly 34 hours to create their personal masterpiece.

Please click on the images to enlarge them, it's worth it!

As every year, it blows my mind how detailed and creative these ice carvings are.
This year though, almost a week went by after the competition finished that I had a chance to visit Lake Louise. Wind and weather, or better, snow and weather, had taken their toll. One of the sculptures had already disappeared, others showed quite some damage.

This piece of art I will call "Aurora" as it had no official title, but the inspiring photo shows the aurora. On second thought, I might have called it "Le Petit Prince" or "B 612"!

Beautifully executed and painstakingly hard to photograph...

This years Ice Sculpture Competition was at the same time the Canada Cup of Ice Carving which is hosted by a different site each year. The creators of "Aurora", Team Samuel and Michal from France/Poland, won the Cup last year in Ottawa.

Another favorite of mine was the "Eskimo Chieftain" by Team Ice Kingdom from China.

Ever wondered why it is called the blue hour? The sun had long set, but the light was still lingering as snow was falling in steady fine flakes.

With total darkness though and the proper illumination the sculpture really shows its full splendor.

"Aurora" was my favorite sculpture of all, but this one comes in as a close second.
Horse, of course....for those of you who know me.

Created by the Baisas Brothers from the Philippines "Catch me if you can" won a very deserved 3rd place this year.

Isn't that detail just amazing? 

Team Sakha from Russia carved my favorite sculpture of last years competition, "The Guardian". This year they won 2nd place and the People's Choice Award for their "Fun" carving.

To give a better appreciation for the sculpture I will include the sketch here.

Fun indeed!

Last but not least, the winner of this years competition:
"Moonlight Meeting" by Team US EH!!, from, you guessed it, the US and Canada.

Wildly stunning!

Black & White Is The New Color

Since the beginning of photography in the early 1800s, photographers were eager to be able to photograph in color. Since 1935 color photography became more and more main stream.

Starting with high saturation slide films like the Fujichrome Velvia and others, color photography took on a new dimension. Photos were as colorful as nature itself...sometimes even more so. In the era of Photoshop color-reality seems to be rather an interpretation of the artist than pure documentation.
I love color and I love Photoshop, but lately I feel the urge to take a step back and focus more on other elements that make a good photo.
Composition, texture, detail, depth of field to name a few.
Will I be able to create as good and impressive photos if I forgo color?

With this question in mind I promised myself to post at least one blog per month in 2018 that is dedicated to Black & White photography.

As you can see, I allow myself a splash of color here and there...

These images were taken at a nearby vacant ranch. I feel very fortunate to have obtained the permission to wander there and to take images.

The ranch is stunning, but my love goes to this absolute amazing former dairy barn.

 A log barn with incredible charm!

Another one of my favorite items on the ranch...

What do you think? Comments here or on facebook are appreciated!

Happy Holidays!

The Holiday Train came to town!

Since 1999 the annual CP Holiday Train is traveling through Canada and parts of the US during the holiday time to raise awareness and money for local foodbanks.

This year, for the first time, I caught it.

Not really knowing what to expect I waited anxiously, standing on the Fort Steele bridge, for the train to come through.
And stood there, and stood there.....and stood there. In the distance I saw colorful lights reflecting in the low clouds...but still no train. Another holiday train hunter arrived, Randy form Delaware, he had followed the train since Lethbridge and was positive the train was to arrive soon. Well, it was another 20 min, by that time I had taken out my camera battery to avoid it draining completely from the cold and my fingers were ice cold.
But then the train finally made it

and it was well worth the wait!

My location had not been optimal, but as soon as the train had passed through Fort Steele, I hopped back in the car, loving the seat warmers once again, and headed for Cranbrook, where the train was to stop for a while.

Finding a parking spot in Cranbrook was quite the challenge, as lot's and lot's of people, despite the late hour, came to watch the train and Alan Doyle performing.

Here I had time to look at the train a bit closer and was amazed how lovingly and detail oriented the train cars were decorated.

"A typical Holiday Train event goes something like this: the train arrives and pulls to a safe stop in front of the crowd. The stage door lowers and the band opens with its first song. After that, a brief presentation takes place with local food bank officials and other dignitaries. Once complete, the band resumes performing a mix of traditional and modern holiday-themed songs.  The whole event lasts about 30 minutes. Once the band plays its farewell song, the stage door closes, and the train heads off to the next stop." (1)

"As part of Canada 150, CP and the Canada 150 Federal Secretariat partnered to promote the Holiday Train and the conclusion of the sesquicentennial celebrations."   (2) This car lit up in different sections, so I took a long exposure to show it in it's whole glory.

By now the​ "19^th annual Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train has completed another successful tour across North America, raising more than just spirits this holiday season. While final numbers are still being calculated, more than C$1.5 million and 300,000 pounds of food have been raised for local food banks and food shelves. 
The Holiday Train has now raised more than $14.5 million and 4.3 million pounds of food since its inaugural journey back in 1999."
This was a short but sweet holiday event and I will make sure to look out for the 2018 schedule and plan my shooting locations a bit better.

While searching for a parking spot I noticed that Cranbrook downtown was decked out for the holidays too, with some unique lights!

An ice climber on the clock tower

the Christmas tree at the end of Baker Street

some intense decoration at "Candy Cane Lane"

and my favorite, the ski jumper at the Rotary Park

With this I wish all of you  

Merry Christmas, 

Happy Holidays 

and a wonderful 2018!

(1) Holiday Train FAQ

(2) CP News