Victoria, the Alberta Portfolio XIV (Sofa Mountain, Alberta)

We woke this morning to a surprise: the low foothills and the mountains behind were covered in a dusting of snow! Snow in July. Since the day of my arrival, there had been snow visible in the mountain peaks, but now the entire range was covered in snow.

6x12 cm film

My initial disappointment in losing a day's work to cold weather was mitigated by Victoria's offer to do a couple of snow nudes, provided we had the truck near by, and worked quickly. As both conditions were more than easily accommodated, we began the lengthy discussion of where to go. This, along with group inertia, delayed our departure until shortly after noon.

6x12 cm film

By group consensus, we headed off to Sofa Mountain, the site of a forest fire in the previous fall. The burn site was covered with blackened aspen, but by the time we arrived, the snow had melted, and the only evidence of its presence was the damp earth and chill in the air. Snow was still visible a mile or so away, but given the air temperature, and the late hour, we stayed close to the road and made half-a-dozen exposures. The disappointment of the melted snow was only surpassed by the realization, after processing the film, that my 120 roll back was scratching film, quite severely in some cases. While the images are printable with some digital retouching, conventional enlargements are out of the question.