Latest

Barrel Racing at the Calgary Stampede

I had a chance to shoot the rodeo midweek for a little while. I was happy to catch the barrel racing as it’s one of my favorite events to photograph. With the rider and her horse leaning hard into the barrel turns, the dirt flies and the images can be amazing. When they make the last turn and takeoff for the finish line, there are few long shutter, motion blur opportunities that I enjoy more.

A cowgirl in a red shirt and cowboy hat riding a brown horse at high speed on a sandy surface.

Above Carlee Otero from Perrin, Texas sprints towards her winning time of 16.79 seconds on Day 6 of the 2026 Calgary Stampede Rodeo.

A rider in a cowboy hat competes on a light-colored horse during a rodeo event, kicking up dust on a dirt track.

Katelyn Scott from Odessa, Texas corners around the second barrel on her way to a 17.05 second run.

A rider on a brown horse competes in barrel racing, making a tight turn around a barrel marked with the Calgary Herald logo on a sandy track.
A rider in a turquoise shirt speeds on a chestnut horse across a sandy arena, captured in motion.

Jordan Driver from Garden City, Texas coming off the barrel in the first image and then racing to close out her run on Wednesday, July 8th in the image above.

A rodeo participant riding a horse around a barrel, showcasing western horsemanship skills.

Blake Molle from Chauvin, Alberta kicks her boot and stirrup over the barrel on a tight turn.

A cowboy riding a horse at full speed across a sandy arena.

Posted by  |  July 10, 2026 | Categories: Alberta, long exposure, motion blur, Rodeo, Sports | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Keel-billed Toucans in the Treetops of Belize

We had a tumultuous last couple of months but are excited to get into spring’s positive vibes with the weather starting to warm. It makes looking at my library of images from our trip to Belize, and the warmth of central america in February, easier to look at.

A toucan with a bright yellow and orange beak perched on a branch surrounded by green leaves.

I have dreamt of photographing toucans in the wild for a long time. Probably goes back to the cover of the Fruit Loops cereal box as a kid. It was absolutely magical to have multiple opportunities on a morning on the backroads near Hopkins.

A colorful toucan perched on a branch with green leaves against a blue sky.

Posted by  |  May 6, 2026 | Categories: Animals, Belize, Birds, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A merganser crèche

This momma common merganser and her babies swam across the lake just before sunset the other night. I thought she would angle away when they got close to me. Instead, the crèche came right along the water’s edge in front of me. The babies jostled for a place on mom’s back while she briskly paddled past.

Near this same spot, a loon had favoured me with a evening show a couple of days before. The lake is always beautiful and I’m appreciating the wildlife enjoying it so far this summer.

Posted by  |  July 6, 2025 | Categories: Birds, Bragg Creek, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Common loon – uncommon photographs

I have photographed a solitary loon at this small lake in early summer for years. It is unlikely that it is the same one each year, more likely just a convenient spot to fish and rest for a couple of weeks before continuing on its migration. I went out near sunset, close to 10pm presently, and enjoyed watching the loon preen, shake and then settle down for the night.

When I arrived at the water, it was overcast. The weak light was great for longer exposures. As the bird raised out of the water to shake itself dry, I liked the motion blur of the wings and the water.

After a little while, the sun fell below the cloud line and lit the water up in golds and pinks. Before it dove behind the hill, I went to the far side of the lake to photograph the loon in silhouette. It was a special evening for me with one of my favourite birds.

Posted by  |  June 29, 2025 | Categories: Alberta, Birds, loons, motion blur, Sunset, Techniques, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Elbow River: Witnessing the Beauty of the Northern Lights

Our sun was exceptionally busy last week. Sunspots hurled increased volumes of solar plasma earthward resulting in an aurora storm that lasted close to a week. We had a few cloudy nights but I was lucky on two outings. This image is from the second trip down to the Elbow River at a bend near my home. It was half past 3 in the morning on the 3rd. The Northern Lights were painting the eastern half of the sky. The lights from Calgary brightened the clouds low on the horizon adding another element to the scene. The most beautiful display of the Aurora Borealis here this year – so far!

Posted by  |  June 7, 2025 | Categories: Alberta, Aurora Borealis, Bragg Creek, Landscapes, long exposure, Nature, Night Photography | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Coyote for Lilac Festival

I found this coyote trotting around some acreages on the western edge of Calgary yesterday. She grabbed a spot of shade under a lilac bush which seemed to be foreshadowing for a great outdoor event going on downtown today.

The 4th Street Lilac Festival in Calgary is a great outdoor party with music performances, artisan vendors and a variety of other entertainment. I don’t know if the coyote decided to check it out. Yesterday was really hot and today has cooled off a lot – so, maybe, she will. Either way, I’m just happy the flowers are in blooming, wildlife is out and summer is here.

Posted by  |  June 1, 2025 | Categories: Coyotes, Nature, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cold coyote crossing

One of the many short blizzards that have been part of this spring’s personality caught this coyote’s passage through this field. She didn’t look particularly excited about the chilly wind or the snow that it carried down from the mountains. I appreciated how beautiful this animal was framed in the layers of this scene. For her part, a brief, disapproving glance was her only acknowledgement of our shared moment. After a few seconds, she sauntered into bushes ahead of her. I hoped she had a den to shelter in nearby.

Posted by  |  April 13, 2025 | Categories: Alberta, Animals, Coyotes, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Trees taking a stand at sunset

Trees in silhouette against a vivid cloudscape at sunset in the Foothills west of Calgary, Alberta.

My lady and I went out for a drive at dusk a couple of nights ago. After a drab, overcast day, the clouds cleared before the sun fell behind the mountains. The sunlight felt warm and made everything it touched glow. We drove over the rolling hills that are split by Lower Springbank Road west of Calgary and watched night soak in to the east after the sunset behind us. Short of the city we turned around and retraced our path. This stand of trees on one of the hills traced its silhouette against the clouds and the sky behind.

Posted by  |  April 12, 2025 | Categories: Alberta, Landscapes, Nature, Sunset, Sunset, trees | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Light trails into dawn on the Trans-Canada Highway

Light trails from a long exposure of traffic lights along the Trans-Canada Highway west of Calgary carved against the dark landscape under the early dawn blush in the clouds above.

I have a favorite spot to shoot long exposures of traffic moving along the Trans-Canada Highway between Calgary and the Rocky Mountains. It has been a couple of years since I went out to that location – an overpass that straddles the east and west lanes. I went out to photograph the night and after a shy Northern Lights display found my way there. With the clouds blushing before the sun rose there was a beautiful balance between the lights on the road and the color in the sky. This was one of my favourite images from the morning.

Posted by  |  March 30, 2025 | Categories: Alberta, Calgary, Cars, Landscapes, long exposure, Night Photography, Sunrise, Transportation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Capturing Motion: Upside-Down Chickadee Photography

I love showing motion in my wildlife images. Here one of the chickadees landed upside down and I was able to capture the instant it turned to fly away from the branch. The relatively slow shutter speed created a blur in the wings as it gathered together to launch. The images below are from before and then immediately after this one. They share a bit of the moment that I was really happy to realize with these beautiful little birds.

Posted by  |  December 21, 2024 | Categories: Birds, Chickadee, Nature, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Winter Lightning

Just before Halloween there was an unusual storm that cut free from the mountains and flew over Calgary. Unusual because of the lightning that bounced among the cloud peaks during the cold front that it rode out onto the Prairies on. I found a whale swimming in the sky later but this flash over Signal Hill.

Posted by  |  November 23, 2024 | Categories: Alberta, Landscapes, Night Photography, Weather | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

A night whale swimming in the stars

I went out chasing a cold lightning storm with the hounds a couple of nights ago. We watched some strikes from Springbank as the weather raced over Calgary. I was a long ways from the storm so only a few photographs worked out well. It didn’t matter though as the clouds trailing behind looked beautiful against the starry sky.

It was a flight of fancy when I imagined a whale swimming in the sky. A little post production work realized the image in my mind’s eye.

Posted by  |  November 2, 2024 | Categories: Landscapes, Night Photography, Post-Processing, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments