Banff Week (II) - Photo Phriday!

In these past two weeks of Banff photos we've seen plenty of mountains, forests and rivers. Like that famous Arrogant Worms song goes, we've got lots of rocks and trees and rocks and trees and rocks and water! And my photos are here to prove it (at least for Banff)! But do you know what I haven't shown you of Banff and area so far? Well, in case you haven't looked at the photo you had to scroll by to read this, I'll tell you: Strutting Ravens!

Yeah, who'd've thunk it?

Most birds you'll encounter are, justifiably, wary of humans. We have a bad tendency to hurt and kill things that aren't ourselves. And even then... *shakes head at humanity in general*

ANYWEATHER!

Not ravens though and certainly not this one. I did take a few more bird photos while in Banff but, for the most part, I was very careful to take whatever opportunity I had with the lens I had on at the time (usually my wide angle lens) to get a few really bad shots of the fauna. This was because if I made any sudden, questionable moves or sounds (ie reaching into my backpack, making weird noises switching lenses) most wildlife would flee like I was the hunter in Bambi. But, no not this bird. He just watched me, five to ten feet away as I would take two or three minutes to switch my lens, point the camera in his direction and shoot many many photos (of which only two aren't crap). The conclusion to draw from this? Ravens are either extremely dumb or just really enjoy looking down on us. Personally, given that strut, I'm guessing the latter.

Banff Week (II)- Day Thirteen

Are you tired of seeing so many mountains? Yeah, so am I. Which is why we're back to flowing streams and waterfalls. Honestly, the beauty of Banff and surrounding area is just how many of these darned things there are. Go for a short hike (well, okay, possibly an hour hike) and then BAM! Waterfall. Okay, again, you actually hear it from some distance off but the point remains the same: they're everywhere, it's just hard not to take a photo of them.

I honestly think it might be viral. You walk into Banff perfectly healthy and then you get this weird itch. NO, not that other itch you've had for a long time that the doctor says he can't do anything about. A different one. And this one just makes you want to walk up to the waterfall (or mountain for that matter) and snap thousands of photos of it, like you're the first one to ever discover it even though you're on a designated walking path waving to strangers every five minutes. Photowaterfallitis is what its called and you have it bad. Plus, it won't go away until you're in the mountains (and even then it's been known to persist..). No matter how many antibodies you've built up it's there, absorbing you very core, you're very being.

Wow, heavy. Just be glad it's usually non-fatal. Usually. O_O

Banff Week (II)- Day Twelve

Well, I think I've gone enough days in this blog without posting a photo of some mountains in Banff, don't you? It's been three whole days! Crazy, I know! I mean, it's Banff you can't turn around without having some Mountain accidentally crash into your photo. So, yeah. I resisted as long as I could but they're back.

Hopefully you find these mountain photos amusing but if not you can always click one of those "Labels" on the side to go find something else fun to look at.

Like..

I dunknow...

...

FIREWORKS!

Everyone loves fireworks! Yeah! Give it a try! It'll be amusing!!

..or not, fine. Just keep looking at mountains. See if I care that you're neglecting those poor innocent fireworks. hmph! *sniffle*

Banff Week (II)- Day Eleven

I've been trying, and not succeeding, for quite a while to capture the perfect forest path photo. Something that says creepy but not excessively contrasty. Something that says evil is ahead but you don't know what...

Of course in this photo I didn't get that at all! On the other hand, the colour is nice.. so there's that! Bah, back to the drawing board, as 'they' say.

Banff Week (II)- Day Ten

If there's one thing I can't get enough photos of (aside from flowers or the Saskatchewan Legislature) it's statues! Yes, Statues are just so fun to take photos of: from high angles, from low angles, from tiny details to the entire thing, you name it! So, of course, the first statue of any worth that I see in Banff I take a photo of. Who is he? That's a good question. I read the plaque and I nodded my head pretending he was important and worth remembering but I didn't. Oops. Regardless, as you can see he points very well and you can bet whoever he was pointing at was getting a good lecture at the time. Either that, or getting told which way they had to go in order to see the mountains. Either or.

Banff Week (II)- Day Nine

Here's another two photos that I couldn't decide which one looked better: B+W or just plain colour. Ah well, either way I'm happy with how the shot turned out. After all, it reminds me of those bonsai trees over in Asia, except this one's here! And only slightly less sparse looking!

Banff Week (II)- Day Eight

This is me, winding it back a week and adding to the Banff Week photos. "Why?" you may ask. Well, given that this is the most recent, most exciting thing I've done (that everyone knows about.. I could be a secret espionage master for all you know..) posting these photos now will likely garner more attention then say two months from now. Not that you won't want to see these photos two months or three years from now but, for the moment, I imagine your interest will be slightly higher given the more recent relevance. Anyweather, I'm getting into run-on sentences so stop reading and just enjoy the macro of a random flowering thing I found, for now!