RH Speirs | Photographer - Early April, 2022, Various

3x1 Panoramic Cityscape (9 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -0.9 degrees)], from West Hillhurst off-leash area, Calgary, AB - April 4th

The next image is simply 16x9 cropped out portion from the full 3x1 image shown directly above. It was chosen, and shown, as the Pic of the Day on the Calgary CTV New broadcast for that evening, April 4th, 2022.

16x9 Panoramic Cityscape (4 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -0.9 degrees)], from West Hillhurst off-leash area, Calgary, AB - April 4th

Nice to see that the local ponds are now fully thawed from winter's icy grip.

Mallard (male), Joe's pond, Bridlewood Wetlands Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

Redhead (female), Joe's pond, Bridlewood Wetlands Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

Redhead (male), Joe's pond, Bridlewood Wetlands Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

Mallard (female), Joe's pond, Bridlewood Wetlands Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

White-Tailed Deer, Marshall Springs, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

Common Merganser (male), Marshall Springs, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

Mallard pair (in flight), Marshall Springs, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

Black-capped Chickadee, Marshall Springs, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

Mule Deer face, Marshall Springs, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

I like all birds, but this is my vote (from the list of five available selections) for the official bird of the city of Calgary - the Red-breasted Nuthatch. What can I say..just really like these little birds..nothing annoying about them at all. the Black-capped Chickadee was a very close second for me. I actually slightly prefer this bird's cousin, the White-breasted Nuthatch, but it wasn't on the list to choose from.

Red-breasted Nuthatch, Marshall Springs, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - April 6th

This last series of images were shot throughout the pre sunrise time of the morning on April 8th. There's basically three different times of capture here, quite dark (3 images), medium dark (3 images), and getting to be light (10 images). Of them, I prefer the getting to be light set, mostly because of the color contrast between the sky and buildings. Also, even though the overall images are quite bright, I like that at this specific time the city lights are still shining just a little bit.
Though there wasn't the color to be found within the clouds that I always hope for in pre sunrise images, they are pleasingly soft, subtle, and pastel like - another nice contrast against the hard, sharp cornered, buildings. The nice morning color is found on the buildings themselves in these images. Partly because of the first ambient light of the day being directly cast upon them, and partly because of the even more intense warm morning colors of the eastern sky being reflected back by the shiny, hard surfaces that the buildings are made from, like glass. I also like that you can see the, fairly common to our area, chinook arch cloud, and that you can see the Rocky mountains in the distance.

3x1 Panoramic Cityscape (8 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Nautical Twilight (sun altitude -7.4 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

These next two image are simply cropped out portions from the full 3x1 image shown directly above.

3x2 Cityscape (3 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Nautical Twilight (sun altitude -7.4 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

16x9 Cityscape (4 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Nautical Twilight (sun altitude -7.4 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

3x1 Panoramic Cityscape (8 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -4.9 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

These next two images are simply 16x9 cropped out portions from the full 3x1 image shown directly above.

16x9 Panoramic Cityscape (3 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -4.9 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

16x9 Panoramic Cityscape (2 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -4.9 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

3x1 Panoramic Cityscape (8 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -2.1 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

These next eight images are simply cropped out portions from the full 3x1 image shown directly above.

2x3 Cityscape of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -2.1 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

3x2 Cityscape (2 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -2.1 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

4x5 Cityscape of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -2.1 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

16x9 Cityscape (4 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -2.1 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

16x9 Cityscape (3 shot) of the downtown skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -2.1 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

16x9 Panoramic Cityscape (3 shot) of the Calgary Stampede skyline [pre sunrise, Civil Twilight (sun altitude -2.1 degrees)], from Tom Campbell Hill Natural Park, Calgary, AB - April 8th

Early April, 2022, Various - Calgary, AB

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