Leaf, Grass, Sulphur: Near Bragg Creek, AB

I visited these sulphur pools in the dead of winter.  I was surprised to find the intake open and free of ice – the warm spring trickled out of the ground for awhile before it thickened and froze into a large, layered, greenish pond, dammed long ago by beavers.

The patterns made by the musty water were deliciously complex and fascinating.  Grasses and leaves flowed over greenish algae and white beds of crystallized salts.  There was a network of braided paths for my eye to explore in the little stream.

I photographed the scene close up, exploring the patterns and movement through my camera's lens.  I chose a composition that allowed my eye to move around it, flow through it, and feel comfortable immersed in the warm water.  There's a certain stillness and subtlety in this photograph that I was unable to capture for the rest of that day.

Leaf, Grass, Sulphur: Near Bragg Creek, AB, 2006