Posts Tagged “ocean”
Another gorgeous evening in Kitimat, August 13, sun set lit clouds and the quarter moon setting over Douglas Channel.
On Friday, February 3, 2012, I was driving to Prince Rupert, BC, to cover the No to Tankers rally the next day for GlobalBC News and Canadian Press The drive (or train trip) along the lower Skeena is always magnificent, the mighty water has come through the mountains and now when the river widens.
The Skeena is known is as the “Misty River.” In the language of the Tshimshian First Nation, the river is the “K-shian,” the river of mists.
On that Friday,a high pressure system was driving off the gloomy winter overcast that had lingered since December, while along banks, the mists still clung to the river banks and hills, As the sun set, the light was magnificent, The problem especially with all the snow piled up along the edge of the highway there were few safe places to stop and shoot except the designated rest areas.
The sun sets at the Basalt Creek rest area.
A little earlier, the sunset begins at the Telegraph Point rest area.
The reverse angle, away from the sun set, shows the mist hugging the mountains along the Skeena at Basalt Creek.
Thursday January 19, 2012 was a frigid day in Kitimat, BC. It was -23 C with a windchill of -38. The warm fresh water from the Kitimat River, flowing into the harbour, was caught between the cold ocean water in the harbour and the frigid air, creating the sea smoke.
Sea smoke usually hugs the surface of the water. On the morning of January 19, the wind caught the sea smoke, sending columns high into the air.
The sea smoke drifts across Kitimat harbour.
Bish Cove, down Douglas Channel from Kitimat, is the site of the $3 billion liquified natural gas terminal, the KM LNG (Kitimat LNG facility) project, which could see LNG exported from the proposed giant terminal on tankers to Asia.
At the moment, Bish Cove is only accessible by boat and helicopter. The stormy evening of July 27, 2011 was not the best for taking photos, with heavy overcast, constant rain, fog and smoke on the mountains. It was the first time I was able to visit Bish Cove since the preliminary construction project began.
Construction has just begun and there is no road. Smoke is from burning slash from cleared bush. The next step in the project is to blast the bare rock hillside behind the beach to the left down to close to sea level.
KM LNG artists’ conceptions of how the site in the photographs will eventually look. (Courtesy KM LNG)
Coverage of energy and environment on the northwest BC coast by Robin Rowland in Northwest Coast Energy News.
From my new house in Kitimat, British Columbia, I can see from my front windows, the Kitimat Arm of the Douglas Channel framed by nearby mountains.
One of the many reasons that I chose to move back to my old home town, to build my new career as independent photographer, was that Kitimat is really a place of ever changing light. The Pacific winds bring weather up the channel, creating microclimates on each peak and each beach. Thus one moment you can have heavy overcast, a few minutes later scattered cloud, followed by sun, followed by black clouds and a torrential downpour.
A couple of days ago, during that major rainstorm that pounded the west coast for days, there was one of those breaks, where the sun suddenly shone through. So I decided to walk, rather than drive, to the local gym (a photographer hiker has to be in shape) and grabbed a couple of shots from a park a few steps from my house.
Of course, as I was walking back from the gym, the ocean squall returned full force and I was soaked by the time I got home.
But that shot gave me an idea. As I have said in previous blog posts, I always carry my Lumix FZ28 in a fanny pack, so for the past few days,as I walk to or from the gym, I stopped at the viewpoint and grabbed a few shots, hand held (against recommendations) and then using Photshop CS5 merged them into large (20 to 40 inch ) panaromas. Here are the web versions.
This dark, menacing sky is somewhat misleading. As I came home from the gym, on what had been a beautiful day, the skies darkened with dark clouds. But it was the opposite of the other day, the clouds blew over and the afternoon sun was soon shining again.
The panorama in afternoon light.
The panorama in mid-morning light.
Douglas Channel about the same time as the previous photo, on the following day.
(All photos pop as larger versions)