Medicine Lake | Geology = Natural Abstract

There are many beautiful images of Medicine Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, and it’s a lake I’ll never tire of photographing because it never looks the same. The incredibly unique landscape with a powerful drainage system beneath the waters just adds to the intrigue. You can read more about this geologic anomaly on the Parks Canada site.

A few years ago, during spring run off, as I was shooting different areas of the lake, I wanted to see how I could capture the fascinating geology of Medicine Lake. I headed back up the stairs, dug out my Canon 70-200mm ƒ2.8L and started shooting from the edges, as close as I could get without tumbling in … been there, done that. The results are definitely interesting, but I haven’t done much with them since. The other day, I wondered what they would like from a b&w fine art landscape nature abstract aspect, so I converted these images by digging around in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and custom VSCO presets in Film 02 and Film 04, customizing Fuji Neopan 1600- and Agfa Scale 200++.

Since I make it no secret on my podcast I’m moody, I figured these landscapes would be a good fit for me. I have the first one below at the lab as I write this, printing a 16×24″ on foam core, which will be framed if the results are good. We’ll see how it looks when I pick it up and I’ll post images once I have it. At times I like changing things up and straying away from the norm when shooting nature, and these below are a good example.

Geology is absolutely fascinating and it’s something I wish I knew more about; while I’ll leave the nitty gritty of geology to the scientists, I’ll make sure to stop, appreciate and when possible, photograph the intricate patterns of our earth. I have more of this mini-series and I’ll post more once I am done editing; I plan on shooting a lot more during my next visit, as every season presents a unique pattern to Medicine Lake. I’ve sent these images out to a few people for their input and the reviews have been mixed, from “interesting and very moody” and “sludgy, but cool” to “I’m not really feeling this and don’t like it much, but it matches your personality.” The latter was from my mother, haha. Thanks, mum! I’ll reserve my final opinion once I see the above image in print. In my opinion, seeing prints in person is the only surefire way to truly rate a photograph. More on that in another post …

While I was finishing shooting the mudflat of Medicine Lake, I had a lone visitor stop by. She wouldn’t look my in direction and whenever I shifted positions, she made sure to do the same, cheeky ewe. She stuck around once I was back in my vehicle, and she ended up attracting too many folks, causing a wildlife jam on an already tight and windy mountain road, which was so unfortunate, but I’ll save that rant for another day! I did see her again later when I was attempting to photograph the elusive alpine pikas in the same area. I couldn’t blame her – it’s one of my favourite areas of Jasper National Park.

See you in the field! Sludgy and all …