The trip to the mountains turned out to be less auspicious than hoped for. I had booked two full days of vacation off with the expectation of some quality time with a dSLR in the Rocky Mountains. Reality had other plans for me.
The expedition turned out to be something of a gong show. We got word that a semi had jacknifed on the highway and managed to close the TransCanada between Canmore and Banff down to a single lane with the delay adding up to several hours. We made a detour into Banff and stopped at the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. for lunch, so that bit was all right. We have never had a bad meal there, ever.
One of my wife’s co-workers texted to say that the wreck had been cleared so we felt it was safe to hit the road again. No, it wasn’t. Either the wreck wasn’t cleared yet or the road was so backed up that there was still an hour and a half extra delay to get from Canmore to Banff, which is usually about a 25-minute trip. Ah, well, I’d have the next day to get out with a camera.
Except that I didn’t. Work went batshit crazy as my boss managed to nail down some big accounts and, because we’re a new branch, there is no backup for me. I had no choice but to work and get stuff out to new clients. Boss be like, “I’ll make it up to you later.” Okay, you’re paying for a room for me in Banff again later, too? I generally like the new job, but I didn’t on that day. Adding insult to injury, the weather was perfect for photography.
The next morning was cold, grey with overcast, and it was starting to snow. I tried to make the best of it and go for a walk with my Canon EOS 50D, when I discovered the next problem. This older Canon dSLR takes BP-511 batteries. All I had in the bag were LP-E6 batteries for the infrared converted Canon EOS 7D that had been in the bag last fall. I swapped out the camera body but forgot to swap out the batteries as well. Sigh.
I shoved my camera bag back into the van and tucked my trusty other camera – my Samsung S23 Ultra phone – into my pocket and hit the muddy, wet, and occasionally icy trail to try and salvage what I could of my photography trip.
I hiked part of Fenland Loop, just north of the Banff townsite. There is allegedly a lake in the middle of the loop, but I never managed to find it, which is par for the course. If I can’t get a paddle board onto a lake yet, I’d at least like to look at one. Didn’t manage that on this trip, either.
I did try to hug the creek along the trail as closely as I could just smell the water and listen to it burble along the banks. I formed an incredibly strong connection to water while paddle boarding last year and just being near it soothes my soul.
I followed the water for as long as I could, trying to do my best with my camera phone. Everything was drab and grey and lacked contrast. The colours weren’t popping and I was having a hard time seeing good compositions. I guess have been using a camera so little these past few months that I’ve lost a bit of my photographer’s eye and it will take some work to get it back.
At one point I snuck down a bank, took off my hiking shoe and sock, and stuck a foot into the icy cold water. I had nothing to dry my freezing foot off with after, so I air-dried it in the cold breeze with the occasional snowflake bonking off of my half-frozen toes. Stupid as heck, but still worth it. I have been needing to feel the water for a while now.
The path eventually turned away from the water and took me through mostly lifeless forest. The brightest green was usually found in the moss and lichens making themselves at home on the bark of the trees. Occasionally a bit of oozing sap added the missing colour.
I pressed on down the path for a ways, trying to avoid the deeper mud and muck and hoping for a glimpse of the lake I saw on Google Maps when I rolled in. No luck. My phone pinged with a text from my wife saying she was going to be ready to be picked up soon, so it was time to head back. That was it for photography for this trip.
Between traffic problems and work problems and some fresh idiot packing the wrong shit into the camera bag problems, I didn’t get to make the images I was hoping to on this trip. But… I did get out to make some images and I was still fortunate to have an excellent backup camera in the form of my Samsung. I sometimes have to remind myself how lucky I am to have a bad day with a camera, no matter what camera I’m holding.
Right?
Today’s images were NOT made using a Canon EOS 50D with a 17-40mm f4 EF L USM lens. If you’re just figuring that out now then you should probably go back and re-read the chunk you missed.
