Hidden Road

The cabin fever was getting to me, so I slipped out for a walk along the Bow River. If I can’t paddle it, I can at least look at it and smell it. This summer reframed my perspective on a lot of things and I have been left prioritizing time outdoors over time inside.

I wound up at the bridge where Hwy 24 south crosses the Bow River just east of Wyndham Carseland Provincial Park. I discovered that there is a neat old road that runs alongside the river for a stretch on both sides of the bridge, but more to the east than the west. This is about a 20 minute drive south of Strathmore, Alberta.

My pretty leaves are almost all gone for the year. I have spent the past week trying to artfully compose shots in a way that hides the barren nature of most of the trees now. There are limits to what I can do, so the ugly truth is out. One of my friends calls it barren beauty. I guess we’ll roll with that. It was a cool, but very pleasant walk along the old road. Chunks of it were oiled in the past and in an advanced state of decay. Whatever was has been gone since the seventies, is my guess.

I did get and image of the rail line that goes past Carseland, Alberta, on my way back. I was a train buff as a kid and I have always loved all things railroad related. The problem is that many of the rails have been torn out around where I live now because of privitization. It’s not common for me to see rails now so I take advantage of them when I can.

I pulled my venerable Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 down off the shelf for the outing. Released in 2006, it’s a high-end point and shoot that works well enough and is fun to play with once in a while. I have been enjoying shooting with my older cameras a lot this year. In many cases much more than I like using my newer, mirrorless camera.

My crack dealer, er, camera guy emailed me earlier this year to let me know that the Canon EOS R5 MkII was out and politely inquired if I might be interested in upgrading. No. Big nope. First, the kit I currently own is doing everything I need, and second, the MkII is getting bad reviews because the marketroids at Canon compromised the still shooting ability of the new unit.

I feel like I am done with buying new cameras. I am no longer shooting professsionally and I’m not out to impress anyone at a camera club with my latest and greatest kit. Hell, I haven’t even belonged to a camera club for years. The cameras currently in my stash are producing images I’m happy with and that’s good enough.

A pleasant walk along a river while doing photography using a vintage digital camera is a great way to lift ones spirits. A person has to find serenity where they can.

As previously stated, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 was used for today’s diary entry.