Fuji Landscapes | MiKS Media Photography

A Morning in Banff National Park – Part 1

by Kasia Sokulska | May 19, 2019 | Fuji Landscapes

At the beginning of spring we were able to steal one morning to visit Banff National Park. We have decided to first stop for a sunrise at Vermilion Lakes, quite often photographed recently by many photographers. It is a lovely spot and I hate to deprive myself of it just because others find it so as well, but it is getting more and more difficult to find a spot there without getting somebody else in the frame, so if you like to be unique, you, probably, want to locate another place for a sunrise.. Then we went to few other favorite spots of ours and even managed to see a Viking from the ages past in the process (and steal a couple of pictures of him, as well), but that is another story. All in all it was a great trip, with many pictures taken, even if it lasted only a few hours. But this is a nature of any visit to the Rockies. You can always count on bringing back a lot of pictures.

Kasia

April Sunset

by Kasia Sokulska | May 5, 2019 | Fuji Landscapes

It is so good to go out into the country in spring and enjoy the fact that all that snow is finally gone. Yes, the prairies don’t get green too fast, but, if you are lucky, you get to enjoy a lovely sky, with big clouds and wonderful sunset colors. Couple of years ago (I can’t believe it’s been already such a long time!!) we took a ride outside the city in early April and have been given such a lovely sky to watch. You can tell when spring is coming by the types of clouds forming in the sky. The storms, brought on by clashes of cold and warm air, make the still bare landscape so much more appealing. It’s can be rather cold at times, especially towards the evening, but one doen’t really mind much. It’s always a good idea to bring some warmer coat, hat and gloves, while traveling the prairies in spring. Our weather is quite capricious and, often changes very quickly, thus preparing for such an outing one needs to consider the conditions. However, if planned well, such expeditions can be fantastic. Sometimes, you can even bring back some lovely pictures, just like that time ;D

Kasia

March on the Prairies

by Kasia Sokulska | Apr 14, 2019 | Fuji Landscapes

End of March on the prairies.. Depending on the year, it may be that there is still a lot of snow outside the city, or, it might be mostly gone. It maybe sunny or it may be snowing or raining.. Sometimes the days are warm, sometimes it can get into -20oC for a few days.. You never know what you can find traveling the prairies. One day late March a couple of years back, we took a ride in the country. What we found I will share today. I am hoping we will find time very soon to go out again and compare the conditions. After all it is March again, isn’t it? ;D

Kasia

Road Trip – Part 4

by Kasia Sokulska | Apr 8, 2019 | Fuji Landscapes

The last part of the record of our photographic one day journey has all to do with being inspired by just one mountain. It is one of my favorites in all of Rockies (that I have seen so far, of course). It is so full of colors, with a pleasing shape, always great to photograph, no matter the time of year. I’m talking, of course, about the Pyramid Mountain in Jasper National Park. I have taken way too many pictures of it over the years. This time I concentrated on close ups, enjoying the contrast between the white snow and reds and golds of the rock with sprinkle of trees here and there and a cloud mixed in there as well… I simply love it! It seems like, no matter what part of the mountain one points a long lens to, the picture is always great ;D So, here it is the end of the series. I hope you were entertained and took pleasure from our day at the wintery mountains. We did have a wonderful time visiting and, I’m sure we will repeat the experience some other time.

Kasia

Frozen prairies

by Kasia Sokulska | Mar 2, 2019 | Fuji Landscapes

Winter.. Stark, cold, frozen world.. Bleached of color, covered by fog, our prairies are still quite beautiful. Today, I want to share pictures I took one afternoon, a couple of years ago, when we ventured outside the city into the frozen Alberta countryside. The fog, we have driven into at some point, was so thick we could barely see 10 meters in front of our vehicle.. It was playing hide and sick with us, begrudgingly reviling only bits of the landscape, as if afraid we would disturb the sleeping prairies… But how could we? We were there just to witness and capture what we saw, leaving the land to its rest afterwards, before the spring came…

Kasia

Adventures On Ice

by Kasia Sokulska | Feb 17, 2019 | Fuji Landscapes

Abraham Lake in winter is an interesting place to visit. It is a man made lake, that was created in 1972, with the construction of the Bighorn Dam in Alberta Rockies. It is located in a very picturesque spot and when its waters freeze the ice traps methane bubbles, which have been a subject if some lovely shots. I’m sure you have seen lots of pictures featuring the bubbles. Many photographers has made a trip there to be able to mark off a spot on their bucket lists. We have visited a couple to times as well. The lake is located over 300 km away from Edmonton. The best time to shoot at that location is during a sunrise. In order to do so one either has to leave at 3AM to arrive on location around 7AM or find a place to stay overnight that is closer, to avoid driving on winter roads at night. That’s what we have done the last time we visited. Thanks to it we have managed to squeeze a bit of night time photography as well. The conditions were favorable. Clear skies and good weather during the previous several days allowed the surface of the ice to be clear of snow. At night the sky was full of lovely stars. All in all it was a good trip. Of course, we weren’t the only visitors that morning, so, shamelessly I took an advantage of this, incorporating other people in some of my pictures ;D

Kasia