Another Cameron River visit

If you have been following my blog for any length of time you will probably have read several posts where I mention the Cameron River. The Cameron River is one of my favourite places to visit and I am there quite often. I go there by myself, I go there with family and quite often I go there with friends. A few months back a group of us went out to the Cameron River to hang out and cook dinner over a campfire. We made a day of it and were there for 5 or 6 hours. We hiked, talked, photographed and had great eats and drinks. I took more photos than I remember and I am now just getting through them all. I thought I should post a couple here for you to see. Here they are. If you live in Yellowknife or are ever here visiting and want to visit the Cameron River look me up, I am always ready for a Cameron River road trip. Enjoy these images, thank for spending some time and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

Family, Friends and Fun!

Last weekend Dale, Megan,  Jenna and I decided to head out for a day on the Ingraham Trail. We were joined by our good friends Alietha Martin and John McKay. We were going to hike to Cameron Falls, spend some time there and then we would move further  up the Trail for dinner over an open fire. John, Alietha and I brought our camera gear and spent quite a bit of time capturing images of what we saw. It was a great time and I did learn a few things. The first is that I like photography even more when there is someone else around with a camera. The second thing I learned is that John is afraid of loud noises, lol (that is an inside joke but, my air horn was involved). We left around 11:00 am and didn’t return home until around 8:00 pm. We had a great day and some great images were created. I have asked John and Alietha to consider writing a blog post about what they photograph and I really hope they do it. They are great people and they take amazing photos. We had lots of fun, joking with each other and just hanging out. Here are some landscapes I captured while we were out. Watch for John and Alietha’s posts. Enjoy the following images, thanks for checking in and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 22 – The Finale!

Today was our last day for this trip. Leaving August 3 and returning August 24, that is actually a short summer trip for us but, this was maybe the most important considering the cargo we were delivering. Kyla is in her new home and seems quite content, I am not so sure we are yet, lol. Today was a wet one it started to rain shortly after we left Twin Falls and it continued to rain all the way to Yellowknife and even continued while we unpacked the RV. We are settled in at home and resting. Good friends brought us dinner (thanks guys) and we had a good visit. Now to get back to our regular everyday lives but, before that happens we just booked a camp site at Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park for the weekend. I guess there will be at least one more trip this year. Did we enjoy our trip? Well I will let Jenna the Ham answer that with her sticking herself in some images. Thanks to all of you who followed along this year and stayed plugged in for some new post. Enjoy the last of the images from this thread and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 18 – Just the four of us!

So, the day finally arrived, today after getting up and packing the RV, we went to Kyla’s place and dropped her off. We said our goodbyes and then Dale, Megan, Jenna and I hit the road to start our voyage home. I will say I struggled with the process. I am very proud of Kyla and I know she is ready to be on her own but, it was still tough to drive away. After seeing some text from her it sounds like she had a pretty good day. Bella the Dog seems to have some issues, she knows we left Kyla and I don’t believe she is happy about it. Not having Kyla around gives me a few problems; one is that she quite often does my text editing (She is doing Education with History, social studies and english so, her role may even grow in the future). Secondly, quite often when I am trying to decided between two similar images Kyla provides her thoughts on which one I should use. She sees a scene very differently than I do and having her eye look at an image is often helpful. Tonight, I had just that problem and Kyla isn’t here for me to ask for an opinion. Even Dale mentioned how if Kyla was here she could help. I guess I will get use to that or I will keep all similar images for Kyla to review at Christmas time, lol. Now back to our travels. We left Lethbridge and headed to Blairmore. Blairmore is along the Crowsnest Pass in Southwestern Alberta. It was a beautiful drive and one we haven’t done before. It was the first time in seven years that I could tell the wind was having an effect on our RV hauling, it was crazy windy today. It was a short day of driving, we left around 12:15 pm and arrived at our campground around 2:30 pm. We had a quick-lunch and rested before going out exploring. We headed west into British Columbia (hey ,we went to Montana on a whim so BC was nothing, lol) and after a few kilometres headed back to the east through Coleman, Blairmore and stopping in Bellevue. From Bellevue we headed back to our RV site in Blairmore. We took several side trips along the way and a few images were created. There are lots of interesting historical facts about this area. The first Communist Town Council was elected in Blairmore, the area was a big rum-running area during prohibition, in 1903 the tip of Turtle Mountain (about a kilometre wide) broke off and covered the town of Frank (The Frank Slide), the last train robbery in Canada happened here in 1920, the Hillcrest Mine disaster happened here in 1914, there have been several floods and forest fires, Alberta’s first female Mayor was elected in Bellevue in 1963, Disney shot “The Journey of Natty Gann” here in 1985 and the best thing of all for you KFC lovers is that the gravy recipe for KFC Chicken was developed here. This is an area we will visit again, it is beautiful. We have seen a couple of additional treats the last two nights. Last night we watched a Prairie Hawk or Falcon (you bird people will know which) fly off with a snake and tonight, as I write this, CP Rail just passed by (literally 40 metres from our RV) with the longest train I have ever seen (the RV moves as it goes by). We are having a great trip. Tomorrow we start heading north again but, for now here is some of what we saw today. Enjoy, thanks for checking in and as always Happy Shooting.

 

The view from the shore of Chinook Lake.

 

The view from our RV site in Lost Lemon RV Park, Blairmore.

 

Along the Crowsnest River in Blairmore.

 

Crowsnest River at the entrance to Lost Lemon.

 

My Furry Friend in Chinook Lake Provincial Park, Alberta.

 

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 12 – Waterton/Glacier

What a crazy day we had today. Each time we visit Lethbridge we will always take one day and make a family trip to Waterton Lakes National Park. This trip was no different and today was the day of our Waterton drive. Something different happen today however, today as we were leaving Waterton, we started to drive each side road coming out of the park. The final road we took was highway 6 south. Highway 6 takes you to the Chief Mountain Border Crossing in Montana. As we drove south I decided maybe we would just cross the border and do a quick turn around and we could than say we went to Montana on this trip. It became the plan but, once we got to the border we asked what was the closes town, we were told it was Babb. Then we asked how far to Glacier National Park and the Going to the Sun Road, we were told about 30 miles. We were off again. Once we got through Babb and got to St Mary (where the east entrance to Glacier is), we ask the Park people how long the drive on Going to the Sun road would take us today. We were told there was construction happening but, normally without stops about 2 hours. It was around 3:30 pm the road closed at 7 pm and the Chief Mountain Border crossing closed at 9 pm. I figure we had time. The Park people then asked where we wanted to cross back into Canada and when we told them they said it might be better if we come back to the east entrance for our return. We were told we should have time to do that. Again we were off. We drove through Glacier until we reached Lake McDonald (just 15 miles from the west entrance). There we turned around to make our way back. The problem became that on the way back I stopped at quite a few places to photograph, places I noted on the drive west. This added just a little time to our return trip. Considering with the construction we were about 2 hours to get to Lake McDonald that started to become a problem. It was 5:30 pm when we started our return and we were about 3 hours getting back to the east entrance. Traffic coming in from the east had stopped by the time we reached St Mary but, we could get out of the park without a problem. Now we had to cross back into Canada at Piegan towards Cardston as the Waterton Lakes area crossing would be closed. That was fine as it would shorten the Canadian part of our return to Lethbridge. We headed back to Lethbridge and arrived a short 14 hours after we left, a great short day of driving, lol. Everyone had a great day and we enjoyed the free spiritedness of just doing whatever came to mind. Of course Dale, the Girls and Bella the Dog all crashed when we got back but, I had to stay up, load images, edit a few and write a blog post. So, 3 parks (Waterton, Glacier and the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park) 2 countries, 1 state and 1 province today, it was Awesome. Here are a few images from Canada and the US. Enjoy thanks for following along and as always Happy Shooting.

 

Red Rock Canyon, Waterton Lakes National Park

 

Driftwood Beach, Upper Waterton Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park

 

Looking to Canada from the top of Logan Pass (6646 ft), Glacier National Park, Montana

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 6 – Moving Day

We stayed in Lethbridge, Alberta today and spent our day moving Kyla’s things into her new apartment. Kyla seemed pretty excited to be getting her own place. Megan and Jenna seemed quite excited as well, they even did a lot of the carrying of boxes. It took less than two hours to get most of her things inside and another hour or so before most of that was put in its new place. Once done, we took a quick drive around the University of Lethbridge campus and while there we visited with a family of deer who were feeding on the University grounds. I was packing my camera for the move, so I tool a couple of iPhone shots (evidence, lol) and we quickly moved on. We grabbed a late dinner and then organized our stuff for our final moving load tomorrow. It has been a great trip so far but, because today was very lite when it came to creating images, I am going to post an image from our first night at Louise Falls (another shot taken while shooting with Adam Hill) and a second from our night in Valleyview. If you have been following our little vacation, you might remember that I discussed that Kyla and I didn’t agree on the sunset image to post. I posted the one Kyla liked best. Well, the one post here is my choice. You can decide which of us is right. Tomorrow there is the final trip to the apartment and some shopping for a few final things for our young adult and I may even carry my camera around (no deer will escape tomorrow, lol). For now here are the images from the first two nights, thanks again for checking in. Enjoy the images and as always, Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 3 – Making your own images!

Day 3 of our journey and it was a short travel day. Valleyview to Devon with no stops. We arrive at the Devon Lion’s Campground around 2:30 pm and set up our campsite. A late lunch and some time to just hang out and relax. We took Bella the Dog for a quick walk (after the thunder showers) and she was a mess. Bella’s first dog bath in the RV, lol! More resting and a quick trip through town to see what we can put on tomorrows agenda. Right now games are being played and a movie night is planned. Today as an exercise I decided it would be a good idea if we made our own landscapes. Kyla napped so she was out, Dale decided to read so, she was out and that left Megan, Jenna and myself. Jenna created a big sunset on a field of canola (she knows we are in Alberta, lol). Megan created a lone tree in a nice field (a prairie shot for sure). I decided to create a nice stream running across the landscape with a small waterfall. I even included my f-stop tilopa camera bag (purchased from Darwin Wiggett) and my Gitzo GT1540 traveller tripod (purchased from Adam Hill). Making our own images was a great idea and great fun. It did use a lot more time then we all planned but, it was a good way to kill an afternoon. Here are the three images we created. You can decide which one is best, I like them all. Thanks for following along, enjoy what we created and as always, Happy Shooting.

@ Jenna Sacrey
Jenna’s Golden Canola Sunset

@ Megan Sacrey
Megan’s Lone Tree

@ Lee Sacrey
Lee’s A Stream Falls Through it

Vacation 2013 – The road to an empty nest begins!

Before I begin, let me first say I am sorry for the length of time between posts. I have been taking a break from this blog to just do some shooting and over the past several months I have accumulated quite a few images and new blog posts will so follow. For now I will start by posting the first image of our annual family vacation. A vacation that will also see Kyla (our oldest daughter) start her adult life. Kyla is off to attend University and we are using this trip to bring her there and help her get settled in her first apartment. Today we left Yellowknife on route to Lethbridge. Our first stop is at Louise Falls Territorial Park. When we arrived we got settled and made dinner and after dinner a friend of mine, Adam Hill, came for a visit. Adam and I took a quick drive to Alexandra Falls and did a short photo shoot there. If you ever wonder how close photographers will get to their subject, let this shot of Adam inches from the 120 foot drop show you. We only shot for about 30 minutes but, had a great time. Adam is now on his way to Lady Evelyn Falls and I am here with the family and writing this post. Enjoy the photo, stay tuned for more from our trip and future post on my past images. Thanks for stopping by and as always Happy Shooting.

The lost October posts – Part I

For the entire month of October 2012 I didn’t do any blog updates. It wasn’t because I didn’t capture any interesting images, it had more to do with an extraordinarily busy life. With a new business starting, some community travel happening and deadlines for photography projects, my time became limited. Tonight, while I sit in front of the computer making sure our fireplace remains lit (our Boiler is out of commission for the night), I thought I would take the time to do a few post about some of the things I did in October.

Early in October I took a trip to Cameron Falls with another local Photographer, James MacKenzie. It was a rainy and overcast day but, that didn’t stop us from making the 30 minute hike to the famous falls. I decided to give myself a bit of a challenge and go without a tripod, so long exposures were out. I took quite a few images of James trying to cross a part of the falls to get to a bit of an unusual shooting location (which he did). I also took some shots of my f-stop bag while at Cameron Falls. I have been doing a few of those for the f-stop Facebook page. Several people have been posting there and I had to join the fun. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. Here are two images I captured, the first is a shot of James in the middle of the falls. I used the trees where I was standing to frame the scene. The second image is of my f-stop tilopa bag at the top of the falls. I hope you enjoy the images, thanks to continuing to follow along and as always Happy Shooting.

Summer Travels 2012 – part 21

So, we are will on our way home, we arrived in Peace River, Alberta with no problems and quickly set-up and BBQd for dinner. My sister, Linda, takes the girls to the movies just as a thunder-storm opens up above us. Dale and I quickly put away everything and I realize that any shooting time I had is gone. Once again the weather has changed somethings but, no matter Dale and I hang out in the RV and organize a few things. We depart the next morning and we will arrive back in the NWT. We have a site booked at Twin Fall Territorial Park. We arrive in the NWT and get everything set-up. We all decide to just hang out for a couple of hours before dinner. After dinner, I decide to go get some images of the falls (Alexandra Falls and Louise Falls). I drive three kilometres to Alexandra Falls first. This is an area that I stop for during every trip in or out of the NWT. I leave the camera with my long lens in the truck as I only expect to capture the falls. My wide-angle should work just fine. Even though I am in a park that is traveled regularly, I carry some bear spray, although I can’t image having to use it here. I get to the edge of the river and go to the top of the falls. As I start getting set-up to capture some images I notice something moving along the river’s edge about 500 metres away. At first it looks like something floating and bouncing of the rocks but, something tells me it is an animal moving. I then see it is two animals. From a distance they don’t look that large and my first thought are bear cubs. Bear cubs would be cool but, if it is cubs where is mom. She may not be as much fun. In the next few seconds I determine it looks to small for cubs and can only be one of two things. It is either two beavers or two wolverines. Wolverines would be scary to encounter especially if I am the only thing between the river and their path. Besides all that I need my long lens. I quickly decide to take an unmarked trail back to my truck, there I grab my other camera with my Sigma 120 – 400 mm lens. I then head back down the marked trail expecting to be behind what I now believe are beavers. As I get back to the river’s edge there are two other people standing and watch something. These people followed two beavers down stream, keeping a fairly go distance. The three of us watched as it appeared to be an older beaver teaching a younger beaver different things (although there wasn’t a big difference in the size of these two). The beavers stay on our side of the river and get to about 100 feet from the falls before turning around and swimming right past us and then they head back upstream. It was amazing to watch. After the beavers move on I get back to my original plan and shoot the falls. Once done at Alexandra Falls I head back to Louise Falls (that is where our RV site is). I quickly grab some images from above the falls before head further down. At Louise Falls there is a spiral staircase which takes you to a trail just above the falls. I take the staircase down and as I get close to the falls I see some friends from Yellowknife. We chat for a bit as I take some photos. Later they come by for a quick visit. It was a great evening. Tomorrow we should arrive home and it was time to call it a night. Here are some samples of what I saw today. Enjoy, thanks for being here and as always Happy Shooting.

 

Alexandra Falls from the look out.

 

 

 

Louise Falls from the look out on the upper trail.

 

Louise Falls from the lower trail look out.

 

Louise Falls from the river’s edge.

 

A Pano of Louise Falls and down the Hay River.