Favorite Photo, October 7

Sunset, Vermilion Lakes, Banff National Park, Canada. October 7, 2012.

This is the story behind one of my favorite images. It was a dreary cloudy, day in Banff with rain and drizzle off and on all day long. Most of the afternoon I was hanging out in the fireplace room at a bed and breakfast and visiting with the other guests, all Canadian.

About an hour before sunset I grabbed my camera bag and tripod to head for Vermilion Lakes. The other guests asked where I was going, since, in their opinion, it didn’t look like there was much chance for anything photo worthy. They said it would be fun to hang out by the warm fire and eat delicious goodies prepared by the B&B staff. (And it was tempting to stay.) I told them that was true but I was going to head out anyway, just in case some  great light happened. They wished me well.

Tourists at Vermilion Lakes. October 7, 2012.

I arrived at Vermilion Lakes and it was still raining or drizzling most of them time. During a lull in the precipitation a bus load of tourists got out and took pictures, and then they left when it started to drizzle again. Other people who had been around also left. After a while there was no one left except for me and a guy with a camera bag who peddled by on a bicycle.

I sat in the car and munched on a snack, watching raindrops hit the windshield. I was hoping something would happen but it was just a world of gray outside. By my watch it was almost time for sunset. The drizzle stopped and I got out of the car and set up my tripod and camera and hoped for some good light to happen.

And then I noticed just a hint of light at the base of Mount Rundle. It moved slowly up the mountain, and as it did the light slowly grew more and more intense.

Last Light on Mount Rundle. Banff National Park. October 7, 2012.

Just before the light left the top of Mount Rundle it was at its most intense and I was taking pictures like crazy, thankful for the beautiful light that arrived at the last minute and kissed the top of the mountain. The light left the top of Mount Rundle and began to fade. Then I noticed a glow behind me.

Sunset, Vermilion Lakes, Banff National Park, Canada. October 7, 2012.

I turned around and saw this! The sun had set but sunlight was bursting through cracks in the clouds and bounced down on the peaks!

When it was all over, the guy with a camera on the bicycle came back by. He stopped and we talked about the sunset. He told me he had been in Banff for six months to take pictures. He was out every evening trying to capture the sunset. This was the most amazing light he had seen in the whole six months he was there. He was ecstatic. So was I. Unlike him, I had only four chances to capture a sunset at Banff and this turned out to be THE sunset.

The Ad Building, Graceland University, Lamoni IA. October 7, 2005.

It seems pretty much anti-climactic to share a second place photo for October 7, but this photo is special. Both of my parents, my brother, and one of our children all went to Graceland College (re-named Graceland University) in Lamoni, Iowa. This is the “Ad Building”, one of the first buildings to be erected on campus. This place is special to me because of all the family connections. In January 2012 I taught a special winter term photography class at Graceland. So this place, this building, and this photo are special for me.

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