It's Fall Y'all

 I had the most wonderful fall experience this fall!  Back some time ago, I entered a simple social media contest.  All I had to do was like and share an Instagram post.  I think that was it.  A few weeks later when I was notified via email that I had won a 4-day OFFBEAT photography workshop valued at $2000, I was incredulous and I believed it was a scam.  The OFFBEAT team had to do quite a bit of work to convince me I had legitimately won this incredible prize.  But indeed I had!  So.... we came back 4 days early from our five week Great Northern Adventure to northern BC, the Yukon and Alaska for me to attend the Rockies Gold workshop in Banff, with internationally acclaimed photographers, Kris Andres (Banff) and Curtis Jones (St. Johns, Newfoundland).  

Given the cost of the workshop, I knew that I would be participating along with some pretty serious photographers who were way more advanced than me.  I was still struggling to figure out my Canon R camera that I had had for exactly a year.  I was still using it with my zoom lens only to take wildlife photos.  A few attempts I had made with the wide angle lens to shoot the Aurora were far inferior to my iPhone and I had a Canon 50 lens I had never used.  I was really intimidated by all the features and settings on this camera and hardly knew how to affix it to a tripod.  

I was very surprised on arrival at the workshop to find there was only five of us.  They had several cancellations because a group could not get reasonable accommodations on a long weekend in Banff.  I had inquired at the Juniper Hotel, where the indoor sessions were held and they wanted $599 per night for a room.  I camped in my trailer at the nearby Tunnel Mountain Campground for $45 per night.  Kris and Curtis emphasized they were delighted to be working with a small group and it would be an outstanding opportunity for us to learn so much if we weren't shy and asked lots of questions.  They emphasized the course was for people of all stages of learning in their photography journey.  That put me at ease, as indeed the other folks were VERY advanced.  Lesleyanne specialized in storm chasing.  Believe it or not, she had been on several storm chasing tours, where the company flies you into places where big storms are anticipated.  When I asked her if she had ever photographed a tornado, her reply was, "lots!!!"  She proceeded to show me some of her unbelievable tornado shots!  Susan specialized in equine photography.  Gregory was from Muskoka, Ontario and had lots of experience.  Finishing the group was Kelsey, a pilot who flew expeditions and scientists into the arctic and antarctic.  His photography was so good he is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.   Talk about over my head.   

While the main focus for us was being "wildly creative" in our approach to photography, I worked on the basics and I must say, by the end of the four days, I was very comfortable with quickly adjusting aperture, shutter speed, ISO settings, autofocus priorities, changing lenses, using my tripod and so on.  I also did do a little experimenting with more creative shots.  Kris and Curtis spent lots of one-on-one time with me and the rest of the class in the field and I was totally, totally blown away by the experience.  We went to some epic locations in Banff National Park.  There was an informative classroom session on editing.  I finally downloaded Lightroom and switched to taking my photos in RAW as a result.   

OFFBEAT offers not only a series of fabulous workshops throughout Canada, but in some of the most beautiful and remote locations in the world.  Although I would have never, ever considered taking a workshop costing this much, I am now considering taking another and I am even contemplating their Mystic Mongolia workshop.  Having taken a workshop with OFFBEAT, I am now a member of their community with access to newsletters, articles etc.  

Here is a link to OFFBEAT photo: https://offbeatphoto.ca. While I am posting five photos that I feel represent this month's theme, here is a link to my complete album of Rockies Gold photos:  https://l.forever.com/XS0Yc0_e.  Enjoy!

Happy shooting!

Mandy

July Photo Blogging Challenge:  Selfies

First of all, I seemed to have completely missed the June Photo blogging challenge.  Oh no! Was that the phone camera photo challenge???  That is my specialty!  Oh well.  Time is passing so quickly these days.  On to the theme for this month: selfies.  Like most of the other photo blogging participants, I am not a fan of selfies.  I had never heard of ussies.  But that makes sense after reading the other blog entries.  All my photos except one are actually ussies then.  Here we go.....

(1) On July 1st, my husband Colin and I were going to go for a Canada Day paddle on Spray Lake.  We loaded up the kayaks and equipment, which is no small feat.  By the time we got to the put-in spot, a strong wind had picked up.  Heading out on Spray Lake in windy conditions is not a good idea.  So, back home we came and quickly switched into Canada Day appropriate cycling gear.  We flew downtown just in the nick of time to catch the Canada Day parade and I remembered to take a selfie (whoops.... ussie) for the photo blog challenge, messy helmet hair and all. 

(2)  Although not a fan of taking regular selfies, for quite some time, I have been a fan to taking pano-selfies, or actually, I should call them pano-ussies.  Do you all know how to do this?  You put your cell phone on the panorama setting.  You spread your participants out along a scenic viewpoint.  You begin to pan the assembled folks, panning slowly.  As soon as you have passed by the first person in the line-up, you call out GO.  They run behind you, taking the camera carefully out of your hands.  The two key actions here are to grab the camera carefully and slowly keep the panning action going.  You then run quickly to the far end of the line-up and position yourself so you are in the photo.  Presto!  A photo with all of the group included, taken by two of the group members.

(2.a) Yup.  You guessed it.  There were three of us on this hike and nobody else at the viewpoint to take our photo.  So I started taking the photo, panning from L to R, then the person in yellow ran behind me, took the camera and kept slowly panning, giving me time to run into the shot on the R.  Cool, no?

 (2.b) Another hiking group.  Another pano-ussie.  This time, atop Jumpingpound Ridge: 

I must say, I love this trick and I love this photo.  It works really well when you are atop a scenic vista without anyone else around. 

BONUS SHOT!!!  This photo is not from this month, but from a few years ago.  But I just have to share this really cool take on the pano-ussie.  You can use this technique to clone yourself.  I have even used this technique to take a photo of 2 people x 2 (two sets of "twins" in other words).  Couldn't find an example looking back in my photo collection.  But here I am on the left and right of this photo: 

(4) I took this traditional selfie when I hauled a big load of stuff home (up a very steep incline) with my new e-bike, Bee and my Burley on a day that the smoke was bad.  I am totally in love with my new light 'n bright e-bike that is light enough to lift up onto the bike rack of Farley, our travel trailer but also strong enough to haul groceries up the side of Lawrence Grassi Mountain.  It is also light enough to ride as a regular bike on flat terrain.  Expect to see more pictures of Bee in future photo blogs.

(5) This traditional "ussie" was taken near the start of our backpacking trip to Tombstone backcountry campground after the initial steep 1.3 km to Elbow Lake, pictured in the background.  My friend Dorothy, who I did this trip with, had just turned 70 a few days before this adventure.  Way to go, Dorothy!  

Before I sign off, I am so excited to share with you that I have a new-to-me camera.  It is Canon EOS R mirrorless camera.  The person I consulted with on my new camera selection assures me this is like going from an iPhone 3 to an iPhone 12 Pro in terms of the advancement it will make in my camera equipment.  I know it is going to be a steep learning curve however.  But I am excited about what I will be able to accomplish with my photography moving forward.  Now, to go and watch my first YouTube video on how to get started with this camera.  Stay tuned! 

 May Photoblogging Challenge:  Telling A Story

This is a transition year for me: a transition year into retirement.  I just happened to notice that Alberta Parks was recruiting for Park Ambassadors.  When I investigated what the requirements were, it was to post semi-regularly to social media about Alberta Parks experiences.  This raised my interest, as I already enjoyed posting to social media about this very thing.  What were the perks of this volunteer assignment?  Free camping!  I was sold and completed my application.  A few weeks later, I was thrilled to learn I had been accepted and as I guessed, after the program had been running for 8 years, I was the first senior citizen to be chosen as an ambassador.

Here are five photos depicting the start of my exciting new assignment:

(1) Alberta Parks visit #1:  Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park

I decided to make Glenbow Ranch, between Cochrane and Calgary, my first park visited in my new role as an Alberta Parks Ambassador.  I had been excited, a few days before my visit, to see stunning photographs of Mountain Bluebirds posted by the Friends of Glenbow Ranch.   After living in the mountains for a decade, I had never seen a Mountain Bluebird.  Turns out, they are more a bird of the foothills than the mountains.   So I spent several hours hiking around Glenbow Ranch, looking for bluebirds.  I did not see any.  On the way back to my car, I called into the visitor centre and asked them where the best place to see the mountain bluebirds might be.  The staff person escorted me back outside and said immediately.... "oh, there is one!" Sure enough, there it was.  She also indicated the nest boxes near the lookout by where my car was parked.  Sure enough, there were two more.  Mission accomplished!  What a beautiful bird!  

(2) Alberta Parks visit #2:  Bow Valley Provincial Park

Bow Valley Provincial Park is a favourite place to go to see displays of wildflowers.  Although the wildflower display will not peak until the end of June or beginning of May, it starts in mid-May with the early bloomers, the Prairie Crocuses.  They were on full and vivid display on May 11th, when I took an Active by Nature guest there.

(3) Alberta Crown Land Visit to See Wild Horses

Although not technically an Alberta Parks visit, I did take a drive through crown land to the Red Deer River Alberta Parks campground on May 13th, with the express purpose of seeing and photographing Alberta's wild horses.  We did see a number of "wildies" and a couple of newborn foals.  Once again, mission accomplished.  Did you know that DNA studies conducted by both the University of Calgary and University of Texas show that our Alberta wild horses are indeed genetically unique?  They have DNA related to the draft horse, Indigenous ponies and the original Spanish horse. There are multiple genetics found, but these studies show that this blend of genetics is only found in our Alberta wild horses. Leading scientific researchers have stated that if we were to lose these horses it would be a very large loss to Alberta.

I will be back later this summer to visit one of the lovely and quiet campgrounds up the Forestry Trunk Rd. (Hwy #40) along which the wildies can be viewed.  I was happy to get some lovely photos on this trip.  Here is my favourite photo of a stallion:

(4) Alberta Parks Visit #3:  Evan Thomas Provincial Recreation Area

The Troll Falls Trail is one of my favourite spots in Evan Thomas Provincial Recreation Area.  It is completely different on every different visit.  On this particular visit, the various waterfalls and cascades were as full as I had ever seen them.  It is such a picturesque hike, with so many photo stops along the way.  Ah.... the challenge of picking out JUST ONE.  Here is my choice - Upper Troll Falls long exposure: 

(5) Alberta Parks visit #4: Sibbald Lake Provincial Recreation Area

I choose to camp at Sibbald Lake Provincial Recreation Area to take advantage of the nearly endless number of hiking trails in close proximity to the campground.  One of the hikes I did with a friend was Jumpingpound Ridge & Summit, which I must say is one of my all time favourite hikes.  I will be back!   

And so concludes my photo blogging challenge for May.  But I am sure future blogs will also contain photos from the many Alberta Parks I plan on visiting.  June's theme of "Where will I go" seems especially suited to that.   Happy summer everyone!  

March Photo Blogging Challenge:  TEN

Being away on vacation in Vietnam and Cambodia for the past month, I completely forgot about the photo blogging challenge.  But I must have taken over 1,000 photos on this trip and when I looked back at my extensive collection of shots, I realized I had enough to complete the challenge this month.  As luck would have it on day TEN of our fourteen day cycling tour, we cycled 80 km which included a TEN km ascent up spectacular Hai Van pass followed by a TEN kilometre descent down the other side.  Much of the ascent was up a TEN percent grade.  So...... here we GO:

1.  On the TENTH day of the cycle tour, TEN members of our group of sixteen purchased a Cycling Vietnam jersey.  What a colourful group we were!  Here they are modelling the back of the shirt which featured a map of our route from Ho Chi Min City to Hanoi.  We cycled 501 km over the course of 9 days of cycling, going by overnight train and bus the rest of the distance.  Most of our cycling days, the temperature hovered around 40 degrees Celsius.  We had frequent rest stops when copious amounts of cold water and lemonade laced with a bit of salt as well as snacks were offered.  We also doused ourselves with cold water which combined with the air flow over our bodies from moving on our bikes, kept us "relatively" cool.  Occasionally, some members of the group took advantage of taking a rest in our air conditioned bus.  

2.  Starting off, in this photo, you can count TEN (oops, I think on looking again, there might be 10 + 1 in this photo) members of our cycling group, plus our faithful sweep/bike mechanic who always brought up the rear, dealing with any problems we had with our bikes.  He could change a flat in the blink of an eye!  He made sure none of us got lost.  Look at all that enthusiasm as we prepared for our big day of cycling.

3. Now the hard work begins..... a TEN km uphill grind with many sections at a TEN % grade.  I was very glad this day that I opted for an e-bike.  I did this because in my training sessions, of which the longest one was 23 km, I was having some knee pain.  Knowing we had two days of close to 100 km of cycling, I did not want to have to spend most of my time on the bus.  I wanted to ride.  Riding an e-bike, my knee did not give me any issues whatsoever.  But there were other benefits.  As I love to take photos, this allowed me to cycle strongly to the head of our "Vietnam Cycling Posse", snap photos of the group as they rode by, putting me well at the very back of the pack.  Then I would repeat this process, cycling back to the front and taking more photos.  This worked like a charm and I was able to get good photos of everyone, as well as the scenery and cultural highlights.  For a comprehensive photographic look at our tour, here is a link to many, many more photos:  https://www.forever.com/app/users/mandy-johnson--1/albums/cycling-vietnam/1fy0pyx8zkx2mutks13q48db1.  The other benefit was this made all my cycling enjoyable.  Definitely most people who were not riding e-bikes felt this challenging ascent was a bit of a "sufferfest".  I would definitely take the e-bike option when I do future cycling tours.  Not only does the pedal assist flatten out those demanding ascents, but the fact that you move quicker keeps increases the air flowing around you, which keeps you from overheating as much.  Riding a regular bike, when you slow down in hot weather to go up a steep hill, you really feel the heat a lot more.  Being as it was so hot and I was riding so much faster with my pedal assist, this was a huge unanticipated benefit.  There were a total of four of us on e-bikes.  Two of the others were already pretty strong riders and they assisted me with photographing the tour in the same manner as yours truly.  The remaining person was the weakest rider on the tour, a fit and active 70 year old.  On the first day, she found the cycling on a regular bike to be a bit of a challenge.  One of the strong riders who had taken the e-bike option decided she did not need it, so switched with her.   This made all the difference for our 70 year old rider, who had never done a bike tour before.  She was absolutely thrilled and ended up having the experience of a lifetime with the biggest grin on her face every moment of the ride, for the rest of this adventure. 

4.  Almost at the summit, Vicky Young of Canmore takes a break at a viewpoint to peer over the edge of the escarpment, looking way down to the shoreline of the South China Sea, where we had ridden up from.  

5. After the challenging climb, our reward was a thrilling TEN km descent down the switch-backing road, back down to the coastline again.

Cycling Vietnam, with Exodus Travels, was an exceptional adventure!  Details can be found here.  Our group of 16 consisted of 14 females and two guys ...... my husband Colin and my friend Marilyn's husband Don.  We were from Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Canmore, Vancouver, White Rock and one expat now living in Australia.  The group chemistry was fantastic, with many new friendships being established and old acquaintances renewed.  It was so much fun doing this with a group of kindred spirits.  The youngest in the group were in their 50's and there were two people in their 70's.  Our tour guide, Tri, was amazing!  He kept us safe in the insanely busy city traffic we sometimes had to negotiate, had a fabulous sense of humour and enthralled us with his knowledge of and passion for his country.   He also shared with us touching personal stories and gave us a fantastic insight into daily life today in Vietnam.  The tour also provided us with a different perspective on the horrendous "American War" and the toll it took on the people of Vietnam.  From day one he referred to us as "my family" and indeed we felt like one big happy family.  The people of Vietnam were so friendly, especially the children who enthusiastically greeted us with "Hello's" and high fives.  The only downside was the horrendous garbage problem everywhere... in the cities, small villages along the roadside in the national parks, along the shoreline and so much plastic waste in the water, even at Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  But this seems to be a huge global problem in the developing world and third world countries.  It is certainly not unique to Vietnam.  But it was a topic of much conversation as it was very distressing to see the scale of it.  Other than that, the country side was fantastic and the towns and villages... interesting.  Colin and I continued on to Siem Reap, going to Angkor Was and the surrounding temple ruins and finding a really cool geocache hidden at a remote jungle ruin that tourists do not go to, only a handful of adventurous geocachers.  After posting a few photos to Instagram, Geocaching HQ contacted me and plan to feature this find as a future Geocache of the week or in one of their upcoming newsletters.  Stay tuned!!!

February Photo Blogging Challenge: LOVE

 When I learned of the theme for February's Photo Blogging Challenge, my idea formed instantly and I was determined to follow it through.  I was going to find heart shaped images in nature.  Heart shaped clouds, rocks, snow or ice formations are examples of what I hunted.  I searched high and low with great intent all month.  But nature only delivered one image worthy of sharing.  It was a pretty good one, I admit.  But sadly, nature did not deliver signs of love for me to photograph.  Although I still did experience lots of natural love:  sunrises and sunsets, beautiful mountain landscapes, icy waterfalls, wildlife encounters.  But I only saw the one heart shape.

(1) Here it is, taken with two of my guided hike clients who were excited to share this image with their husbands for Valentine's Day:

(2) I have seen gorgeous photos where people have created artistic and incredibly elaborate designs by trampling down fresh snow into intricate designs.  I settled for having my two friends on a recent snowshoe outing trample out a heart:

These two assisted me in looking for hearty signs from nature all day.  But no luck.  Dorothy came up with another idea.... a heart shadow.

(3)  A heart shadow made on a fresh blanket of snow: 

(4) With no addition photos to share on that particular theme, I will share a photo of perhaps the sunrise photo I love more than any I have taken to date, which was shot the morning of February 25th at the confluence of the Bow River and Canmore Creek.

(5) To finish of the month of love, a picture of my dearly beloved husband and adventure buddy, Colin, skating on Lake Windermere, British Columbia's Whiteway, the longest skating trail in the world, so they say.

January Photo Challenge:  Nice, New & Looking Ahead

(1) Nice Snow Carving!

The Banff SnowDays Festival featured some fantastic snow carvings.  I photographed this one at night and it was my favourite.  Just look at how intricate this snow carving is.  Look at the detail of the forest, the cabin and the creek that spills out of the sphere:  

 (2)  New Hike

King Creek Ridge is a hike we have been thinking about doing for years.  January 1, 2023 we finally did it.  Unlike Mrs. Geoks experience, we lucked out with great conditions under foot and bluebird skies.  It was one of the best hiking days we have ever had!

(3)  Nice Skate!

What a wild skate it was on Lake Minnewanka in January!  The weather had been quite mild for a few days, which left puddles of water on top of the thick layer of ice.  It was just a bit disconcerting to skate through puddles of water, but the ice was thick and safe and made for some awesome reflections.

4. A New Day Begins at Cascade Ponds

And I was there to capture it and this group of six young elk bulls just waking up.

5. Looking Ahead

I am looking ahead to retiring in a year's time.  This will actually be a wind-up year for my Active by Nature business.  I am looking ahead to having more time to spend on developing my photography skills and purchasing some new camera equipment.  I am looking ahead to capturing more sunrises, like this:

But in the immediate future, I am looking ahead to next month's photo blogging challenge!

Cheers everyone!

Mandy

December Photo Challenge:  Happy Holidays!

What a month December 2022 was!  I enjoyed the holiday season with my immediate family and a very small group of friends, to reduce the possibility of contracting COVID.  Around Christmas itself, the weather here in Canmore was bitterly cold, with temperatures in the high -30's with wind chill on top of that.  It was especially challenging for me because we were dog-sitting my grand-dog from Dec 21 - 28th.  Being a breed more suited to a dessert climate, he had to be dressed with a coat, booties and even a balaclava on the worst days.  After all the time and struggle to get him suitably attired, he no sooner did his business than he wanted to come back in!   But there were many lovely moments to celebrate as well:  the season kicked off with our family visit to Banff's spectacular "In Search of Christmas Spirit.  There was frozen bubble making on the coldest of days, Christmas Day with good friends, the witnessing of glorious sunrises,  and on Dec. 31st, a first visit to William Watson Lodge to ring in the New Year.

1. In Search of Christmas Spirit

Experiencing Banff's "In Search of Christmas Spirit" is definitely a highlight of the holiday period.  We have attended this with my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter for three years in a row now.  Emily is three and it is so special experiencing it with her, seeing the joy and wonder in her eyes and hearing her pronounce "it's magic!"

2. Frozen Bubble Photography

The extreme cold spell in December afforded me the opportunity to re-visit my frozen bubble making and photographing skills, still under development.  I was pretty pleased with a number of my shots and I am looking forward to working on this again this winter, with it not being QUITE so cold! 

3. Practising My Night-Mode Photography With My iPhone

My iPhone 12 Pro does an amazing job on night mode.  Here is another photo from "In Search of Christmas Spirit, this one looking down Banff Avenue from just inside the Cascade Gardens at the Park Administration Centre.  

4. T'is The Season For Sunrise Photography

While any month is a good month for sunrise photography, I appreciate the convenience of shooting the sunrise in December because it happens at the latest time in the morning, given the shortest of days.  That means you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak.  Get a good night's sleep and get up to photograph the sunrise at a most decent time.  December 8th was one of those days.  That particular day, the sunrise peak colour, which of course can be very fleeting, lasted for ages.  Oh, the agony of having to pick just one photo to represent that outing!  I have dozens.  But let's go with this one, taken in Canmore's Spring Creek neighbourhood: 

 

5. Christmas Day Selfie Photo

I was determined to do a Christmas Day family photo.  It was Colin and I and grand-dog Bourbon.   But it was bitterly cold.  This was going to require setting up my tripod, preparing the shot, then lining up the subjects and being very quick about getting the shot.  So.... off we tramped to nearby Quarry Lake.  I had my husband Colin continue walking with Bourbon as I set up my equipment, getting everything ready for a very quick shoot.  When I was ready, I called out to Colin to return, indicated where they were to position themselves, pushed the button on my phone with the 10 second timer engaged, jumped in the photo and VOILA.  Took one shot only.  

Happy 2023 everyone!