Walking the Neighbourhood

Happy Canada Day!

June is a beautiful month in Calgary and some pictures from my neighbourhood walks are included in this post. In our neighbourhood we have medians between the sidewalks and the pavement and many of the homeowners plant flowers there. The first picture is of a rose. I love the colours and the delicate petals; which show up best in monochrome.

*Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso50, 1/160, f/7.1

One of our neighbours has the most beautiful poppies. They are in full bloom and starting to drop their petals. 

*Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso50, 1/80, f/3.5

* Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso50, 1/60, f/2.8

Along the bike path by the Bow River, there are quite a lot of Wild Roses. This collage is a grouping of some of my favourite pictures from the path.

The final picture is still in the neighbourhood, but just across the river. If you come on the sign from the wrong direction, it doesn't say YaHoo. Happy and safe Calgary Stampede. 

*Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso50, 1/320, f/5.0

All photographs edited with ON1 Photo Raw 2026.

Best of May 2026

For May I thought I would pick my best bird, scenic and miscellaneous pictures. My favourite bird picture of the month was taken at the very end of the month (May31) during a driving bird count just south of Priddis. It was a rainy dark day and that darkness created some challenges. The ISO was bumped up to 3200 in order to take pictures of birds in flight, and this Wilson's Snipe was posing by the side of the road  -- no time to change the ISO. 

 Sony a7cr, 200mm, iso3200, 1/3200, f2.8

On Wednesday the 27th, my son-in-law and I went on a photograph and birding float trip with Drift Outwest. We had a great time and floated past a building and windmill that is part of a film set. I like the monochrome, but am also including the colour for comparison.

Sony a7cr, 168mm, iso400, 1/4000, f2.8

On May 19th I went on a bike trip down the Bow River and took this picture with a Leica Q3 43. A neutral density filter was used so that the spray from the rapids was smoothed out. I love the pattern in the calmer water.

Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso50, 3.0 sec, f8

Time

Looking at these pictures, I am sure there must be a metaphor in there somewhere about:

•  how time smooths out the emotional turmoil which happen to us all,
•  how time reduces the impact of political upheaval, and how this too shall pass,
•  or... just regression to the mean; how romantic is that!

* Leica Q3 43, iso 50, 1/1600, f4.

* Leica Q3 43, iso 50, 2.5 sec, f8, variable neutral density filter.

What Catches My Eye (Jan to Mar 2026)

This post is about those pictures that catch my eye each time I go through my pictures; which ones cause me to pause and enjoy the memory and the photograph. There is a total lack of sunrises and sunsets. I did take some beautiful pictures of the sun rises and sets, but there are so many and they lose that factor that makes them special. The first photograph is from the Bridgeland area, near Reconciliation Bridge. It was taken about 0900, after sunrise on January 18. It is quite an industrial area, right under the Flyover to downtown Calgary and I don't think most people headed to work in the morning give it a thought. It is quite fanciful, and it is a piece of City art that I really like. 

* Sony a7 CR, 24mm (Sony FE 24-70 F2.8 GM), iso 1000, 1/13, f7.1

The second photograph was taken during an afternoon walk on February 12. We were having a break from winter cold, and this Calgarian was enjoying the afternoon in the sun and happily reading a book. I liked the composition but walked by because I don't like disturbing people by asking if I can take their picture. Once past, I stopped thought about it, continued on and then went back. He was quite happy to have his picture taken. The setting were all wrong for this picture, but I was experimenting with a borrowed camera. Regardless, it catches my eye and makes me want to talk to the gentleman in the picture. I keep the picture on my phone in case I see him again, but that hasn't happened. 

* Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso1600, 1/2000, f8 

The third picture is from the 69th Street West LRT station. I was returning from playing cards and wound up being the only person on the train. It was mid afternoon during winter, and the car was spotless. So I took a photograph. I like the impact of the monochrome image and the shapes draw my eye in to pause every time I look at it. 

* Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso1600, 1/2000, f8 

The fourth picture was taken while I was dog-sitting at home. This beautiful boy is Oscar. He is quite photogenic and I think the monochrome really captures him. Finally, the settings were more appropriate. It takes me a while to get used to a new camera. 

* Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso 50, 1/30, f4 

Around noon on March 6th, I was walking to the COOP and had my camera just in case. From the brim of the hill by the Ukrainian Church on 6th Street, the sun reflecting off a downtown building caught my eye. I set the camera at f16 in order to try to catch the star-burst effect. It worked out quite well. 

* Leica Q3 43, 43mm, iso100, 1/125, f16 

The sixth picture is from a walk at Saint Patrick's Island on Jan 9th. This photograph catches my eye because it seems like such a post-card picture of downtown Calgary. It highlights the Calgary Tower, which can be hidden depending on the angle of viewing downtown. 

* Sony a7 CR, 42mm (Sony FE 24-70 F2.8 GM), iso 100, 1/500, f7.1

The seventh and last picture was taken New Year's Day.  For the last three years I have participated in a bird count at Mallard Point in SE Calgary. It was a cold foggy morning and through the fog, this photograph shows three different species of birds. The birding community has been very kind and supportive of me since Maria died, and this picture stops me and I take the time to appreciate the community and special friends I have made in Nature Calgary.

* Sony a7 CR, 364mm (Sony FE 70-200 F2.8 GM + 2X teleconverter), iso 1600, 1/640, f5.6

Celebrating Maria

It has been three years since I held your hand, three years since I told you I loved you, and three years since I kissed your forehead and said 'see you soon'. Come sit with me.

For the last three years you have felt close to me, and that has not faded. After moving to a new neighbourhood, this bench became 'our bench'. A place where we could be together, me in my dimension and you in yours and perhaps gaze upon a common view; the magic of a shared sunset. A place where I wouldn't be surprised to turn and see you there, or feel your hand in mine. Love you sweetie! 

See you soon

“The dead are never far from us. They’re in our hearts and in our minds and in the end all that separates us from them is a single breath, one final puff of air.” Kent Krueger in Ordinary Grace - A Novel

* sunset: 43mm f2.0, f/16, iso1250, 1/500. The camera was set to expose for the sky and the foreground was lightened in post with ON1 Photo Raw 2025. To the best of my knowledge, artificial intelligence has not been applied to this photograph. 

*tulip: 43mm f2.0, f/2.8, iso50, 1/5 on macro setting. Photo edited to make it monochrome in ON1 Photo Raw 2026 (finally upgraded). 

Wishing Well Sculpture: The Bridgeland Sphere

In January I had a little fun with The Wishing Well Sculpture, which I called the Bridgeland sphere until I looked up its actual name. This art is located outside The Good Earth coffee shop at the bottom of 9th Street East hill in Bridgeland, Calgary.  The first picture is taken from across the street so that I could get the whole sculpture in view.

Visitors can text messages to "1-587-327-9939 in the form of a greeting or wish. The words from the messages get processed into braille text dots that play music, sounds and voices that can be heard by standing inside of the sculpture." [for full quote see above link]  The surface of the art work is also fun as it distorts the reflections. The next picture shows the buildings across the street, and they appear to be melting.

While there I also took a selfie. The Wishing Well is an interesting piece of Calgary Art.

Best of December

Winter arrived in December. Just to prove a point, my furnace failed during the start of the cold spell and I was living with electric heaters to keep warm for four days. Now if I can just figure out what that point was. On December 20th I went for a walk at -21C and was able to take a nice picture of the mist coming off the water.

 Although November was amazing month for great sunrises and sunsets, we did get some beautiful skies in mid-December.

As an unusual sunrise, I took this picture of The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland, just outside of East Village. This view is more south and it is east and just shows how big the sunrise was that morning. 

Later in the month I was up early to catch the sunrise and found this spot by the Zoo bridge, all lit up!

The month also ended with some good sunrises and sunsets. 

The last photograph of the month was taken on my balcony. The snow was gently falling and the crystals stayed fresh.