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). 

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.

Calgary Saddledome in 2025

In November I was lucky enough to be outside on some days where the Calgary Saddledome was highlighted by the sun and the mountains behind. On two of those days the pictures were taken with a 200mm lens and the mountains seemed much closer to the 'dome. This blog celebrates the Saddledome as a backdrop to the City of Calgary skyline.

The monochrome picture was taken on November the 20th just as the sun was setting. It is my favourite picture of the month.

 

The second picture was from November 11th from my walk on Tom Campbell's Hill during Remembrance Day. 

There is a little more green in the next two pictures taken first in June and then in May. The first picture was taken from Tom Campbell's Hill, and the second from the road just north of the hill. 

The last two pictures were taken in March and January. Both pictures were taken from the hill next to Village Ice Cream. 

Best of November 2025

Our good weather held most of the month. At the end of the month, the cold and snow arrived and I would like to celebrate by sharing two pictures from that first storm. This truck has been parked at the entrance to Tom Campbell's Hill off-leash dog park for months. It is a lovely old vehicle and the snow really added to the picture. The truck scene just seems meant for a monochrome image. The view with the park bench is from just north of the Bridgeland area and is a favourite spot to sit and relax. Maybe not sit too long in the cold. 

 

November was a wonderful month for sunrises and sunsets, and a few of these made it to my list of favourites. 

In November I took more shifts at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The changes that were made to the lagoon over the last two years seem to have really benefited the Muskrats. They have been very active in the lagoon as winter approaches. 

The name has not yet been changed to the Inglewood Bird and Muskrat Sanctuary, so I will end with a picture of Calgary's bird, the Black-capped Chickadee.

Best of October 2025

The weather continued to hold for the month of October in Calgary. On October 10th I was doing a volunteer shift at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and the lagoon looked amazing. I got there early and the day was crisp. The lagoon looked like glass, and there was a small amount of mist coming off the water because of the cold. The first three pictures come from that morning. 

On the same day I took this picture of the moon. Most pictures of the moon seem to be the full moon. Full moon pictures can suffer from lack of detail because the reflection doesn't allow sufficient contrast to see the detail. This picture was taken when the moon was not full, and detail in the shadow area between dark and light really shows the violent past of the moon.

On October the 13th we had a fairly hard frost and someone left the sprinklers on so that this flower is coated with ice. 

On October 19th we got the right combination of clouds and the sunrise was remarkable. After taking the sunrise and the bridge, I had put my camera away when the train crossed the bridge. I quickly took a picture with my phone. It is one of my best pictures of the moth.

Best of September 2025

Although I have posted a couple of times in September, I don't want to repeat any of those photographs, so a few new photographs will be highlighted here. One of the joys of living in the inner city in Calgary is access to the Bow River and the extensive walking paths that bring Calgarians into and around downtown. The first picture was taken on the walkway to the LRT station in Bridgeland. I was on my way to catch pictures of the sunrise on the Bow River. 

 A few days later I was headed to the LRT to go across town and was caught without my camera as the sun peeked down the street by the Mari Bakeshop. It is good to always have a camera on your phone. 

Following are three pictures of the George C. King bridge that crosses the Bow River to East Village. The first picture is from the South side of the bridge during sunrise. Note the very top of the bridge. The second picture is from directly underneath that centre, looking up. The second picture is becoming a favourite. The last picture is a monochrome image of the sunrise with part of the bridge in the foreground. 

To finish off with something a little more unusual, I am including this monochrome image of a Black Meadowhawk on a park bench at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary  -- bad place for an insect to hang out.

Best of August 2025

August 2025 was a good month for photographs. The weather was good and there were some good opportunities to be outside.  There were many favourite pictures, and I will share some in categories. The first category is scenic. 

The first weekend of August was spent at the Nipika Mountain Resort. The first day there we walked to the Kootenay River. On the second day we walked to the Cross River.

On the second week I was lucky enough to be taken by a friend to Forget Me Not Pond in Kananaskis. I have never been there before and although we were birding, I did take my full frame camera for scenic pictures.

The last scenic picture of the month is of St. Ignatius Russian Orthodox Church from across the river in East Village in Calgary.

My favourite wildlife picture category is of this Chipmunk at Forget Me Not Pond.

For wildlife, I also love the picture of a Mallard hen taken on a morning walk on the Bow River and a Chickadee picture. 

And finally for the month, in a miscellaneous category, this flower struggling through the sidewalk in Bridgeland. Life always finds a way. Also in this category are some Asters at Nipika and a bee at Forget Me Not Pond. 

 

Best of July 2025

July started off with a celebration of Canada Day. I went down to the Bow River, by the Skip-stone bridge and Saint Patrick's Island. It was a hot day, and lots of people were floating the Bow. The first picture is of a couple floating the Bow and the second is of the Calgary Fire Service water rescue crew - trying to keep everyone safe. The third and last picture from that day is of a young woman taking a selfie down by the water.

 

Later in the month the canola fields were in bloom and I went back out to the canola field of which I took a picture last month. So different now! I took quite a few pictures, but I think this one is the best. The power lines down the left give the field some depth.

Sticking with the no bird theme this month, I would like to finish off with a picture of a Police Car moth (which only makes sense if the police cars in your area are black and white) and a monochrome picture of some flowers in the back alley in Bridgeland.

Okay, three  birds from the middle of the month. The Gray Catbird is an unusual photo because you can see the red coverts under the tail. The Bald Eagle because it is what it is, and the pretty little Song Sparrow are also both worth some recycled electrons.

All pictures photo-edited with On1 Photoraw 2025