Sean, Author at Sean Phillips Photography

Invasive Beauty

Canada Thistle is an invasive weed that spreads rapidly in open grassland and farm fields. It is considered to be a serious pest and it must be managed carefully to prevent major infestations. It is also very beautiful when it flowers, especially in the glowing morning light. I found these beauties on the side of a grain field and they were just asking to have their portrait made. The morning light was amazing and the sparkling dew on the stalks of the thistle and the surrounding grasses made this a powerful sight to see.

Prairie Fence at Sunrise

I drive the prairie roads almost every day and I’m always searching for something new and interesting to make images of. Although I find the prairies extremely beautiful, I have to admit that sometimes it all starts to look the same. Sometimes I really have to look really hard to find something different than all the images I’ve made before. Sometimes that can be extremely difficult. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

But there are other times when the picture just jumps out of the scene and there’s no question about what the final image is going to look like. When I saw the deep golden glow of the sunrise light up the farmland in front of me, I knew that if I just turned toward the sun I would see something magical. And it was.

Bald Eagle at Vermillion Lake

During a recent family camping trip in Banff we rented a canoe and paddled into the first Vermillion lake. It was one of those beautiful blue sky days that we haven’t seen nearly enough of this summer. We were lucky to see a large adult Bald Eagle perched in a tree near the edge of the lake. We were able to paddle all along the shore past the tree and then loop back through a channel to get to the sunny side. The eagle calmly watched us the entire time.

I spotted another Eagle high up in a tree on the far side of the lake so we gradually made our way across to get a better look. We came upon a Belted Kingfisher perched on a log. We didn’t get very close before it launched… We also saw a deer resting under a large evergreen tree, but it was mostly obscured by the long grasses surrounding the lake.

I’m always amazed by how many more birds and animals you can get close to while in a canoe than while hiking. I’m going to have to get one of my own!

Richardsons Ground Squirrel at Pearce Estate Park

There are gophers everywhere and I love to watch them. In fact I could spend all day making images of them. I’ve talked about that a few times on this site before, so I won’t bore you with the details; I’ll just share the images and hope that you like them as much as I do!

Worldwide Photowalk in Banff

The sun rises very early in Banff at this time of year and it was quite painful to be up early enough to make this image. I was there as part of a massive group of photographers assembled for Darwin Wiggett’s edition of the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk last Saturday. We started out with an unofficial sunrise shoot at Vermillion Lakes. If the light and the atmoshperic conditions are just right then iconic images of Mount Rundle reflecting in the pools of the Vermillion Lakes can be made, and almost 50 people showed up to do just that!

There were many more people there than I expected for such an early start and it was quite a spectacle. Everyone spread out all along the road in front of the three lakes to try to get their own piece of the reflection of the mountains at sunrise. The light was good, but not as spectacular as I had hoped. I managed to make a few good images despite the early hour and the lack of sleep.

The official photowalk didn’t start until 8:30 so there was plenty of time to kill between the sunrise at 5:15 AM and the start of the walk. I took advantage of the time to enjoy a very large cup of coffee!

I spent the majority of my time during the walk shooting in the downtown core in Banff. This was quite a different experience from the photography I normally do. In fact I specifically chose to wander around town (instead of the other, more nature oriented, options that were presented to the walkers) simply because it was different. It took me a little while to get inspired but once I got going I got into a nice groove and I really enjoyed doing something a little different!

Here are a bunch of my favorite images from the day.