A Bad Day With A Camera

Return to Carburn

My trip to Bowness Park was a bust the previous evening, so I made a point of heading out to Carburn Park in Calgary, Alberta, for round two. I figured there would be plenty of parking if I got there at 10:30 am. Um, no, not really. I got one of the last two spaces at the far end of the lot. It meant extra walking, but I was grateful to have found a parking spot.

Busy docks, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Busy docks, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

Carburn Park is very clean, pleasant, and family friendly. It’s obviously a popular spot with kayakers and paddle boarders. The water got busy at a few points and everyone exhibited very good manners, except for some teen girls who seemed giggly and scattered. One of them bumped into me once, but it was no big deal.

Siblings, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

It is recommended to have a 15m or longer floating throw rope in your safety kit with your watercraft. I learned today why it is a good thing to have handy. The little girl on the left was about six and having a heckuva time paddling her small kayak. She had gotten herself into the middle of the wide part and was flailing and crying. Her paddling wasn’t getting her anywhere because she was slicing her paddle blades horizontally through the water rather than using them vertically to push against the water. There was panic, tears, and even snot (that last one is how you know it’s getting bad).

I was I able to paddle over and show her how to use her kayak paddle slowly and properly and she got going and did okay from that point on. Her mom on the shore, who looked like she was at the point of swimming out to get the kid, called thanks to me. If I hadn’t gotten the kid going I would have thrown her my rope and towed her back to her mom. So that’s one of the reasons why we carry one. Cool.

Up close and personal, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
It was just out of reach, Carburn
Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Family buffet, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Everything’s just ducky, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

Today’s big thrill for me was the ducks. You can float right up to ducks on the lakes at Carburn Park and they just ignore you because they are used to humans and know we won’t hurt them there. I’m not sure if this is a good thing, but this is the first time in my life I have photographed wild ducks so close I could reach out and pet them. I loved it.

Getting a grip, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Not polite to point, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Chillaxing, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

I captured my perfunctory paddle board selfies so I can show them to people in winter and pass myself off as someone who is physically active (hah!). The GPS says I traveled 5.3km today so I’m allowing myself to feel a bit sporty.

Looking toward the docks, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
My ass is grass again, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28 copy
In the green, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Beeline for the treeline, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

Carburn Park is just a nice, clean, and picturesque place. Even better, there are practically no insects, at least not at that time of the day. I had put on bug repellent, but didn’t have a single bug bump off of me the entire time I was on the water. The only insects I saw were the ones that skate along the top of the water.

I took many breaks from paddling to get some images along the way – not just paddle board tip shots, although I have more of those, too.

Cruise control, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Slow and easy wins the race, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

Told ya. Of course if you have a camera that works underwater, you might as well take a look and see what is below, too. So I did.

In the weeds again 01, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
In the weeds again 02, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
In the weeds again 03, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

I made a point of getting some shots in constrasty lighting that I thought might look good converted to black if the highlights were recoverable from the RAW files. I underexposed by a stop to be safe.

Bad neighbourhood, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Various and sundry, Carburn Park,
Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28
Daily special, Carburn Park, Calgary,
AB, 2024-07-28
Empty dock, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

At this point it was about 1:30 pm, it was getting hot out, and I was starting to wilt. I hadn’t put a cooler with beverages on my board like I should have. (I have one that bungees to the back.) I decided to call it a day. I hit shore, disembarked the board, and padded back to my car to deflate it all the while watching cars circling the parking lot like sharks trying to find an empty spot.

Rode hard and ready to be put away wet, Carburn Park, Calgary, AB, 2024-07-28

I signalled to one fellow who was actually driving politely and let him know it would take me about three minutes to deflate and stow my board, so he waited patiently at the edge of the lot right behind me. I got everything packed away and rolled. He took my spot and blew me a kiss as I drove off. So romantic!

Carburn Park is a great place to paddle board and I’m going to try and come back with the fam fam this week. If there is parking.

All images made my my OS System (Olympus!) Tough TG-7 except for the very last one that came from my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra while I was packing up.

Next Post

Previous Post

© 2024 Sean D. McCormick

Pinterest
fb-share-icon
FbMessenger
Reddit
Follow by Email
RSS
Copy link
URL has been copied successfully!