Dance Photography

I have some mixed feelings about this post. I'm doing something that I don't really like to do...stealing the artwork of someone else without first asking their permission. However, my intent is to fully acknowledge the incredible work of these two photographers.

As most of you know, I've had (have) a long-standing love affair with dance, and I am fascinated with the way photography allows us to view a "real" thing with different eyes, simply by changing the light, blurring some images, or expressing a view that we may not have seen on our own. Thus, it's fitting that I find dance photography indescribably beautiful and expressive. A picture speaks a thousand words. Movement is the oldest and purest form of self-expression and communication. Together they are explosive.

Lois Greenfield has always been a favourite of mine and I recently stumbled across the work of Angela Sterling (http://www.angelasterlingphoto.com/index.html). I hope these bring a little inspiration to your day.

Angela Sterling Photography

Lois Greenfield Photography

Autumn

© 1997 by Randy Wang

The day becomes more solemn and serene

When noon is past; there is a harmony

In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,

Which through the summer is not heard or seen,

As if it could not be, as if it had not been!

Thus let thy power, which like the truth

Of nature on my passive youth

Descended, to my onward life supply

Its calm, to one who worships thee,

And every form containing thee,

Whom, SPIRIT fair, thy spells did bind

To fear himself, and love all human kind.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley,

Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, 1817

Dynamic Lands

This is a blog of few words. Here, pictures will tell the story better than I could write.

Alberta is well known for the charismatic beauty of our Rocky Mountains; postcards, calendars, tour busses, chartered planes. But there is another type of landscape that is equally as spectacular, if one knows how to look.

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to do some field work in the SE corner of the province and have come to have a much greater appreciation for the prairies. Actually, I am quite in awe of these desolate lands, much to my own surprise. The light is different here, and the borders of time fade. Looking out from a hilltop, across a floodplain and over a river valley, it's easy to let the sight of the buildings fade and imagine this place in a different time. A time before Europeans came to criss-cross the rolling prairie with roads, power lines, and a patch-work of planted fields. Here, I have found a deep sense of isolation, different from that of the mountains. A sense of quiet, as a breeze blows right through me. Utterly alone and yet connected to all.

Below are photos from some of my trips to the prairies this summer as well as photos from my most recent trek through the mountains: Old Goat Glacier hiking trail. I hope they add a little awe and inspiration to your day. Enjoy.

Prairies: Desolate Beauty

Blonde and Blue

Dawn's Early Light

A group of pronghorn herding up for the winter

Overlooking the Bow River valley from Crowfoot's grave

Mountains: Rugged Majesty

Onwards and upwards (from left to right): Scott, Melanie, Geoff, Evelyn, Trudy, and Allan

Hangin' out on the moraine

It always amazes me how something so delicate can add life to such a hostile environment

Scrambling up to our lunch spot

Fall colours paint the slopes

One of my most favourite things: rocky streams - this delicate mix of rocks, water, trees, and light holds a touch of the sacred for me

Holy Shit, I Think I Just Bought A Car!

No, wait, I did just buy a car. Aaahhhhh!!!!!! Someone grab me a paper bag, I think I'm going to hyperventalate! Breath. Breath. Breath. I feel a bit stunned....like a deer caught in the headlights. Yep, I put down my John Hancock and joined the majority of the population to enter the wonderful world of major debt. It feels good. And I get a pretty, shiny red car, too! 2006 Honda Civic LX to be exact. Actually, what freaks me out more than signing my life away to car payments over the next 4 years is that I know more about different cars on the market right now then I ever wanted to know....considering I'm the kind of girl that has no idea how to boost another person's car (although after this weekend I now know how to do that!) Note to self, make sure to carry a pair of booster cables in the car in case someone (not naming any names, right Geoff?) leaves the lights on their car when going for a hike.

Seriously, though, I'm glad I made the purchase (sort of....I don't know if you can call a $500 deposit on a $24,000 car "making a purchase"). But it is pretty scary. What's really scary is just how easy it is to do that. They only asked me for my name, address, who I live with, where I work, job title, phone number, and annual income.......then punch some magic keys and the amazing virtual world spits back a great big check mark that says "Yes, we would be happy to take your money".

Weird world.

I hope I can sleep tonight...seeing as I now REALLY have to keep getting a steady pay cheque.

Yipppee!