Calgary: First time in the back of my husband's plane.
My husband has been with the airlines for 10 months now, and although we have taken advantage of his travel benefits together, I had yet to ride on a trip he was flying. So, the opportunity finally presented itself with a long weekend in Calgary.
I had every intention to take a series of 'day in the life' style photos of him on this trip. However, I ended up not having the guts to be completely obnoxious and in the way. Also, I would like to be invited on a trip in the future. So instead, I'm including a cellphone photo of him leaving on a trip for context.
I ended up with the first seat in coach and as they were finishing boarding the guy across the aisle from me pointed at him and commented "wow, they just keep getting younger!". To which I replied "That's my husband!" and "He's almost 40".
That was about the extent of interest on the fight. Other than the Australian sitting next to me who was headed to Canada to go heli-skiing. Did he bring a go-pro? Nope. A Drone? Nope. Bummer.
We elected not to go hit the slopes, as armature skiers it seemed unwise for the pilot to break a leg on a layover. So it was mostly a lazy weekend spent sleeping in and reading, but we did venture out for a bit.
Saturday evening downtown Calgary in January was very quiet, almost no one around. The temperature was mild and we took a walk along the river to see if we could find anything interesting. The city is peaceful and as you would expect in Canada the people were extremely friendly. As I took some photos of people ice skating on the river, I completely forgot there were looming skyscrapers just a block away.
Nikon D810 24mm f/4.5 1/2000s ISO 500
I typically err on the side of too slow a shutter speed. However, this time I probably could have gone much slower than 1/2000s. No problem freezing motion, but the photos ended up a bit dark in the late afternoon light.
Although the city streets were empty, the park was full of families out enjoy their Saturday afternoon. Here a couple walks home carrying their skates. I imagine a wintery city life very different from mine in Dallas.
We then came to the modern walkway bridge across the bow river, and the photography fun began. I put on my wide angle lens and went to town experimenting with the angles and lines of the bridge, and the color contrast between the pure white snow, the vibrant red, and the clear blue sky. No vibrancy enhancements on the following photos, except I did pull down the saturation on the one of Mark walking across.
Downtown Calgary in the background
Shadow self portraits, near and far.
Mark strolling across. I tried this one in black and white and settled on a lower saturation.
Lastly, changed a few to black and white. I love how photos like these are just as incredible, if not more so when the color is removed. The red is beautiful and definitely makes the bridge stand out in this environment, but the color is not the essence of the bridge. By taking the distraction of the color away, it almost becomes easier to transport the viewer to the scene.
Overall, we had a good relaxing weekend, and I hope to return soon and head up to Banff for some amazing landscapes. Banff National Park is celebrating its 150th anniversary and park entry is free all year in 2017! A I feel very fortunate to have such an amazing and talented husband. I look forward to riding in the back of one of his planes in the near future, however I do think I was bad luck as we ended up an 1hr late on both legs and coming into DFW, he had his 1st missed approach at the airlines due to heavy fog. He then masterfully flew a CATII ILS into DFW for a perfect landing.
