A Beautiful View

Winter Olympics Art Day 17

This is the iconic and much photographed view of Moraine Lake in Banff National Park taken from the rock pile with my 8 x 10 view camera in September of 2006. Today marks the closing of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, there are so many remarkable stories that have unfolded in the past two weeks, from triumph to tragedy, the games could not have been scripted even by the most brilliant writer, all the drama of highs and lows which combined to make a memorable 2010 Winter Olympics. The Olympic winter games will now move onto Sochi Russia in 2014, good luck to all future competitors!

This will be my last post of my winter pictures during the course of the Vancouver Olympics which end today, I have enjoyed looking through my past work to find a picture to post each day, its the one area of my body of work that I don't have a lot of, winter scenics, looks like I will have to get out and find some more winter pictures !

Bear Glacier

Winter Olympics Art Day 16

This is Bear Glacier which is located along side of highway 37A near Stewart, B.C. I made this image in the late summer of 1993 and on this particular day it felt like winter as the glacier created its own mini weather system as I was photographing the glacier early in the morning, it was beautiful as the ice chunks silently floated around the still waters while the sun illuminated the glacier. The image was made with my 4 x 5 view camera and a 120mm lens.

Snow On The Mountains

Winter Olympics Art Day 15

After a bit of a rocky start at the Vancouver Winter Olympics because of the lack of snow at such venues at Cypress Mountain, snow has finally made an appearance to the delight of many competitors. My picture today is of the mountains that surround Lake Louise in Banff National Park during a February 1991 road trip in search snow in the Rocky Mountains, it had not snowed fir several weeks when I got there expect for snow on the ground, none on the trees which which helps to make nice winter scenery images, soon after I left it snowed like crazy.

Mara Lake Winter Shadows

Winter Olympics Art Day 14

Here is an image of trees and shadows after a fresh snow fall around the Mara Lake Provincial Park area in southern British Columbia that I made a couple of years ago with my 4 x 5 view camera.

Sparkling Diamonds

Winter Olympics Art Day 13

There is nothing quite like the sight of a fresh snow fall during a crisp winter day as the sunlight catches the newly fallen snow flakes and turns them into what looks like millions upon millions of diamonds, sparkling in the back lighting, if only they were real, we could scoop them all up and we would be rich!, but in reality we already are, just to be surrounded by the beauty of nature. This picture was made at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre where I have photographed often, I usually like to photograph along the snow shoe trails as it give me plenty of picture opportunities, this image was made with my 4 x 5 view camera.

Lake O'Hara, Yoho National Park

Winter Olympics Art Day 12

Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park is one of the prime locations of the Canadian Rockies, to get there one has to make a bus reservation, but the effort is well worth it as a spectacular ring of mountains surround the lake and extensive maze of incredibly beautiful hiking trails can be explored again and again.

I made this image with my 4 x 5 view camera and a 120mm lens in September of 1988 after a late summer snow fall, I also made the image of Lake Oesa on the same day which I posted earlier.

West Coast Frost

Winter Olympic Art Day 11

Canada's West coast doesn't get a lot of a real winter compared to the rest of the country unless high up in the mountains, but every once and and while the temperatures drop to well below freezing including the beaches on the edge of the Pacific ocean, because of the moisture laden air, much that descends on anything on the ground as thick heavy frost like this driftwood tree stump that I found at Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. The picture was made with my 8 x10 view camera and a 300 mm lens .

Unique Frozen World

Winter Olympic Art Day 10

One of the unique and beautiful things about the Olympics is the competing athletes that come from all around the world to share one common goal, to be the very best in the world while representing their respective countries, its a time when we set aside all differences and try to become united as one world, in the name of athletic sports achievement.

My picture today is yet another image I mage of the frozen Powers Creek in November 0f 2007 which is located in the Okanagan area of British Columbia, when I made the picture I was struck by the interesting ice patterns against the water running underneath, to me it was as if I was observing our planet looking down at the various shapes of the Earth's continents.

The image was made with my 4 x 5 view camera black and white film and my usual and trusty 120mm lens.

Wounded Forest

Winter Olympic Art Day 9

The Okanagan area of British Columbia was devastated by a powerful and destructive forest fire that pretty well burned up the entire Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park, plus 239 Kelowna homes and if that was not enough, nearly all the historic railway trestles in the Myra Canyon section of the Kettle Valley Railway, thankfully there were no lives lost. This is a view of Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park that shows the scorched and blackened tree trunks of Ponderosa pine trees after the wild fire ripped through the area in the summer of 2003, the image was made a few months later in December of that year and gave the whole area a true black and white look.

Although the forest took a direct hit, in time it will come back, the old burned trees will eventually fall and decay , while new younger trees will take their place, to regenerate the natural rhythms of the forest. As with the Olympic athletes not all will reach the winner's podium, many will turn back to try for future Olympics down the road, or young athletes not at today's 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will train to become tomorrow's Olympic heros.

Silent Snow

Winter Olympic Art Day 8

There is a wonderful peaceful silence when the snow is falling, the sounds are muffled, it's beautiful and a welcome relief from the day's usual rattle and roar that we take for granted during most of our day to day lives. As for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, in which some venues have been struggling with not enough snow, there are few places of silence but then that is what the Olympics are about to have fun and cheer your favourite team or athlete !

On this particular February day in 2006 at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, near Vernon , B.C. its was a gem of day with lighter than air tiny snow flakes floating down the ground, the falling snow gave a nice separation between my foreground trees and the background. Picture was made with a 4 x 5 view camera and a 120mm lens.

Liquid Ice

Winter Olympic Art Day 7

This photograph of Powers Creek contains both frozen and moving water in which I blurred the rushing water by using the classic long-time exposure ( as I recall a 1 or 2 second exposure ), hence the soft look of the moving water I thought it made a nice contrast against the ice that was frozen on the sides of the creek. I first saw this while out a walk one day in November of 2007 but only had my little digital point and shoot with me, so I went back the next day for a more serious study of the ice patterns. The blurred water is somewhat like a few of those Olympic athletes, including USA's Lindsey Vonn as she hurdled down the downhill course at breakneck speed during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on Wednesday, winning the gold medal.

Snow Becomes Art

Winter Olympics Art Day 6

Snow really does become the "art" as depicted in this photograph showing snow and frost hanging in the stillness of the air from gnarly trees in minus 15C weather along the K-9 trail about 10 kilometres from my home in West Kelowna, B.C. To me there is nothing quite like a snow fall to transform the landscape, most of the year, this is a sparsely wooded area, mostly small trees with bare bones tree branches twisting to and fro, yes beauty in it's own unique way, but not a spectacular or a majestic kind of beauty. The snow is the icing on the cake so to speak, which can turn the ordinary scene into one of spectacular beauty.

The above image was made with my then Tachihara 4 x 5 view camera and a 270mm lens which is a medium telephoto on this format. The K-9 trail is located near the Telemark Cross-Country Ski Club, about a 4 km loop, it's not groomed, lots of people like to bring their dogs along this trail, hence the name, "K-9", one can either ski or snow shoe in the winter. Telemark Ski area also has some very challenging ski trails for those of you who may wish to train for the next up coming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

Matsaag ( Snow in Water )

Winter Olympics Art Day 5

There is an incredible number of names for snow (over 30) from the native peoples of Northern Canada including the Inuit, Avivilik and Igloolik languages, you can read them clicking "here". Myself I may not be able to describe the various kinds of snow with words but I can photograph it with my camera and to perhaps try and show what I see before me in my photographs.There is nothing finer than to be in the great Canadian outdoors after a fresh snow fall where the temperature is a reasonable minus 5 C to minus 15 C and finding a totally transformed landscape. For my picture today, I would describe this snow as being "Matsaag" ( snow in water ) this picture was made not far from my home in West Kelowna along a trail adjacent to Powers Creek in February of 2003. With the 2010 Winter Olympics currently on in Vancouver much of the snow that they have might be described as being "Masak" ( wet snow , saturated ) or perhaps "Aqiluqqaaq" ( fresh and soggy snow ).

Canada's Soaring Peaks

Winter Olympics Art Day 4

The high Rocky Mountain peaks that surround Lake Agnes in Banff National Park soar into the air as the weather clears from a late summer snow storm and like those stunning peaks, Canada's newest sports hero, Alexandre Bilodeau has also soared to new heights by winning our country's first gold medal in the men's freestyle moguls at Cypress Mountain on Sunday during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. This is quite the achievement for all Canadians as Alexandre's hot gold medal has also melted a very long time gold medal deep freeze by winning our first ever gold medal while hosting the Olympics on our own home soil. Congratulations to Alexandre, his family and team mates, all Canadians are so tremendously proud of you !

My posted picture was taken on a late summer day while tent camping in the Rockies in September of 1989. For nearly two week I had almost near perfect sunny weather with hardly a cloud in the sky, except for one miserable day. The previous night I could see the clouds lowering on the mountain peaks as a weather system was moving in, the next morning I woke up early and headed out to an area that was reasonably accessible and quite high up in terms of elevation (1800 meters) , I left my campsite at the Kicking Horse Camp ground and made my way to Lake Louise and then hiked up the 2.4 km long trail to the Lake Agnes Tea House, upon arrival I was not disappointed, the snow was so beautiful and the weather was starting to clear, I worked fast setting up my 4 x 5 view camera with a 120mm to make this image, by noon the snow had almost completely m

Lake Oesa, Yoho National Park

Winter Olympics Art Day 3

This is Lake Oesa which is in the Lake O'Hara area of Yoho National Park, I made this photograph back in 1988 a year or so after I took a serious intreats in shooting 4 x 5 film. I was on a three day trip to the Rockies in mid-September when there was a late summer/early fall snow fall, I was already booked for the bus ride into Lake O'Hara and was happy to find snow upon my arrival at Lake O'Hara, the snow was so beautiful ! the above image was shot with my trusty 120mm lens. Although this area is far from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as a visitor to Canada, the above area is well worth checking out.

Winter at Lightning Lake

Winter Olympics Art Day 2

This is a view of Lighting Lake in Manning Provincial Park taken during the winter of 2007, usually its a park that gets lots of snow, lately dump trucks have been visiting Manning park to retrieve snow to bring back Cyprus Mountain, one of the venues of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. The posted image was taken with my Tachihara view camera and a 120mm lens.

Let The Games Begin!

Winter Olympics Art Day 1

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic games are officially underway, the games involve over 2633 athletes from over 80 countries, best of luck to all participants ! I am no athlete, but I do have a respect and amazement for athletes and their accomplishments in what they can achieve. I thought what I would do with my blog over the course of the Winter Olympics is to post one of my winter landscape images each day during the course of the two weeks of the Olympics, after all I think the landscape is an integral part of inspiration for athletes as they ski, skate and slide their way to victory.

Today's image is from Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre near Silver Star Ski Resort, Vernon, B.C., its a place where many top cross country ski athletes have trained, the snow is exceptional, and for myself as a photographer its a place that is dear to my heart, its a beautiful place to make pictures.

Olympic Tragedy

Georgian Olympic Athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a tragic and horrific crash during a practice run earlier today for the 2010 Winter Olympic luge event at Whistler, B.C. How would he have ever known that his last moments on earth would be on a luge track on the other side of the world from his home ?, its impossible to know. This photograph is dedicated to Nodar, my sincerest condolences along with all Canadians to his family, friends and teammates, we feel your loss.

Canada's Frosty Maple Leaf

I was recently exploring the interesting results of a frosty morning in Goldstream Provincial Park on Vancouver Island this past December with my 4 x 5 view camera, I have always loved these kinds of mornings, with a wonderful crispness and clarity in the air. Although this winter has not been an overly snowy year on the Island or for a lot of areas on Canada's West Coast, there have been some beautiful clear sunny days with overnight temperatures below freezing which has resulted in some interesting patterns of frost, in this case various kind of fallen leaves including Maple leaves, and other ground coverings.

Vancouver's Great Snowfall of 08'

About right now, organizers and participants of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are hoping for snow, but maybe not quite like this posted image which shows a view looking down on the intersection of Bute and Alberni streets which caused traffic mayhem in many parts of Vancouver back in December of 2008. Unfortunately this year has been an El Nino year, which means mild temperatures and lots of rain even on the mountain tops which normally have a beautiful mantle of snow that adds a sliver-like crown to the North Shore Mountains which back drop the Vancouver skyline. For those viewers that might be reading this from different parts of the globe, the Vancouver area is often known as the "Wet-coast" but it does get the occasional snow storm, which means lots of snow in the mountains that surround Vancouver including Cyprus and Whistler where many of the 2010 Winter Olympic venues are located, when there's lots of snow it means lots of happy skiers and outdoor enthusiasts but with no practical way to control Mother Nature and tell her what to do, one can only take what comes our way and make the best of what we have, so THINK SNOW !

Silver Star Wonderland

Here is an image I made with my 8 x 10 Tachihara view camera a few years ago around the very beautiful Sovereign Lake area of Silver Star ski area near Vernon B.C. I love snow shoeing and photographing around this area especially on sunny days as this picture shows. Lately its been a popular area for Olympic teams such as the Norwegians and Czech Republic as they train for the upcoming Vancouver Olympics which start February 12th. Also practicing around Sovereign Lake are team members from Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Findland.

The Amazement and Wonder of Photography

Okay I know the above picture is terrible, but its a significant picture for me as it was picture I made of the family pet Prince in the summer of 1973 when I "discovered" photography, I made the picture with a Polaroid Swinger instant print camera with black and white film, that my brother had picked up at a second hand store for a dollar or two.

I have always found photography to be a technological wonder which is in itself amazing, back then there was something about that photograph of mine which captured I felt captured a slice of time which really resonated with me. I first peeled apart the picture and waited 60 second for it to develop and then held it before me in the palm of my hands,and through wow! I thought this picture taking business was really cool, but I also knew that there was far more depth to photography than just making snapshots of the family pet. A couple years down the road after I made that picture, I had a 35mm camera and I had turned a closet of the family home into a small darkroom ( how my folks put up with that I don't know ) and just seeing a print develop before my eyes was in it self was another amazing thing.

I think there is amazement even when using my old fashioned looking view camera which I still love to use to this day, there is something so very simplistic and beautiful about an image I'm about to take when looking at that real life virtual raw image upside down and backwards as composed on the ground glass of my camera.

Jumping ahead thirty-five or more years, I find the wonder and amazement of capturing a "slice of time" with modern digital camera technology unbelievable, I find it inspiring when at the push of a button I can look at the image on back of my digital camera a few moments after making a picture of a beautiful subject before me and saying to myself "Now thats amazing !"

My Updated Website

I have been working these past 10 days or so updating my website, www.garynylander.com which includes images that I made in 2009. Most are landscapes from Canada's western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. I apologize if my site isn't quite as "polished" looking as some photography sites out there on the internet and also it may be a bit slow to load, as my site is a home made affair ( made with Photoshop CS3 and ImageReady CS2 ). To all out there in blog-land enjoy !