GOD BLESS OUR MOUNTAINS

 

 

 

 

Peak perfection! Adventurer spends days hiking to most remote areas of Canadian Rockies to capture mountains' frozen beauty Canadian Callum Snape says the isolated areas he visits to photograph can often take weeks to reach He spends six weeks each year backpacking across Canada and his trips take a year to plan The 23-year-old describes himself as 'an adventurer through and through' For most travellers, reaching the world’s most extreme locations can be a formidable challenge. But for 23-year-old Callum Snape, the hard work is just beginning as he arrives at his isolated destinations. The Canadian photographer sets about capturing the spectacular scenery in the country’s most remote areas. +15 Peyto Lake in Canada's Banff National Park. Photographer Callum Snape has photographed the region's breath-taking scenery +15 Sleeping under the sky in Mount Assiniboine. At 3,618 m, it is the highest peak in the Southern Continental Ranges of the Canadian Rockies +15 Callum enjoys the view over Mount Assinibone, Canada. As the locations he visits are so remote, his trips take anything up to a year to plan He captured the breathtaking stills using the area’s rugged terrain as a backdrop. Callum, who works as a freelance photographer and travel blogger, said that some of the locations he visits can take hours, or often days to reach. Temperature’s in Alberta can drop to as low as -10C during winter. Each year he spends around six weeks backpacking, working on his spectacular series, which he snaps across Canada. +15 Minnestimma Lake, Alberta. Photographer Callum Snape, who works as a freelance photographer and travel blogger, said that some of the locations he visits can take hours, or often days to reach +15 Bow Lake in Canada's Banff National Park. Callum Snape spends six weeks each year capturing the spectacular scenery in the country’s most remote areas +15 Canada's Lake Louise was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria +15 Grassi Lakes, Canmore, Alberta. The area is a popular destination for hikers and rock climbers As the locations he visits are so remote, the trips take anything up to a year to plan. To take the snaps he either uses a self-timer or a remote controlled device that allows him unlimited time to take portrait shots. Callum, from Banff in Alberta, Canada, said: ‘The best thing about most of my locations is I have to work really hard to get there. ‘Most of them involve anything from several hours to several days to get to, so the reward is not only the incredible destination but the physical journey to get there. ‘The feeling is overwhelming when I reach my destination - the first thing I do is take my hiking pack off and sit there speechless at the view. +15 Photographer Callum Snape, 23, takes a self-portrait during his recent trip to Banff National Park in Canada +15 Lake Annette, Alberta, located in the Paradise Valley region of the Banff National Park +15 Castle Mountain,Banff National Park in Alberta. The mountain was named for its castle-like appearance +15 Berg Lake at the foot of Mount Robson situated in British Columbia on Canada's west coast. The mountain is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies +15 Mount Robson and Berg Lake. The turquoise colored lake is dotted with icebergs even in the middle of summer ‘I'm more creative when I work alone, so a lot of my trips are solo but every now and then I go with a few other people. ‘A rush of accomplishment, satisfaction, adrenalin and awe takes over and my all body pain and worries disappear instantly.’ Callum, who also runs photography workshops in Canada, added: ‘My work is all reflections of my passions and is layered with mountain landscape, lifestyle, adventure and all things snowy. ‘I have a thirst for knowledge of the great outdoors and learn by climbing the highest summits, descending the lowest canyons, exploring the coldest, most surreal locations that the Canadian Rockies have to offer.  'I'm an adventurer through and through.’ +15 Parker Ridge and Saskatchewan Glacier in Canada's Banff National Park. The glacier is 8.1 miles long +15 Mount Assiniboine on the British Columbia/Alberta border in Canada. The mountain is 3,618m high +15 Sleeping under the stars at Parker Ridge, Banff National Park, Canada. Located in the province of Alberta, Banff NAtional Park is 2,564 sq miles of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes These images capture the breath-taking beauty of the British countryside enveloped in the early morning mist. From the rolling hills of Dorset to the eerily beautiful Exmoor in Somerset, sales manager Bob Small's series of photographs highlights the picturesque nature of the English country as the sun rises over endless hills and fields. And all it takes is a breath of fog over Somerset's Glastonbury Tor for it to transform into the legendary Isle of Avalon associated with King Arthur. +10 Legendary: Glastonbury Tor, in Somerset, is topped by the roofless St Michael's Tower, and mentioned in many myths linked to King Arthur +10 Foggy: Photographer Bob Small says his pictures of a misty Glastonbury Tor bring the spirit of King Arthur's legend back to life +10 Misty: A cloud of fog and mist all but obsure the hills and fields leaving only the outline of Glastonbury Tor visible on the skyline +10 Dusk: At sunset, an orange sky and fog in the horizon highlight the silhouette of Glastonbury Tor, making it seem more like the Isle of Avalon +10 Picturesque: Fog blankets the Mendip Hills in Somerset, but in the foreground, a few settlements can be seen +10 Quiet: A cloud of dense mist covers a large stretch of the Mendip Hills in Exmoor, but a a large cluster of houses remains visible  +10 Inspiring: Fog blankets haunting Exmoor in Somerset, which was the inspiration for novels including Lorna Doone by RD Blackmore +10 Beautiful: As the sun rises, streaks of sunlight fall over the rolling hills in Dorset creating a picture perfect for a postcard +10 Romantic: Slices of the British countryside, including worked fields can be seen between streaks of fog in the Mendip Hills in Exmoor +10 Dramatic: Gloomy skies and the rich greenery of the Mendip Hills scattered with dense trees captures the British countryside in all its glory

Breathtaking images capture the harsh beauty of Perito Moreno Glacier ... at 250ft high and the size of 35,000 football pitches Perito Moreno Glacier can be found in Los Glaciares National Park, which is Unesco World Heritage-listed Visitors can trek on the surface of the epic glacier which ruptures every four to five years The glacier, which covers 97 square miles and is 19 miles long, is 48 miles from the city of El Calafate Beautiful and brutal in equal parts is the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia's Unesco World Heritage-listed Los Glaciares National Park. The stunning expanse of ice on Lake Argentina covers about 97 square miles, the equivalent of 35,000 football pitches, but is constantly growing and ruptures every year. The 19 mile-long glacier is just 48 miles from the lakeside city of El Calafate and is becoming an increasingly popular tourist attraction, with day trips offered by a number of tour companies. +7 The Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina covers the equivalent of 35,000 football pitches +7 The sharp edge of the 97 square mile glacier on Lake Argentina, which is constantly growing  The reason behind the glacier's growth is not known but as it advances into the lake it dams a section and causes the water level to rise. Water builds up pressure and eventually ruptures causing large chunks of ice to break from the glacier and water to pour from the dammed section to the main body of the lake. This natural phenomenon occurs as often as once a year. But in between the spectacular ruptures large chunks of ice breaks off from the vast growing mass. These incredible photographs were taken by Polish photographer Jakub Polomski. As well as capturing its sheer magnitude, he also saw a large chunk of ice falling from the glacier and splashing into Lake Argentina.  +7 A large chunk of ice from the edge of the Perito Moreno Glacier falls into the water and makes a wave +7 The Perito Moreno Glacier can be found in Patagonia's UNESCO World Heritage-listed Los Glaciares National Park Jakub said: 'I was there for the second time in my life, and I was lucky with the weather. It was changing rapidly. The sun was coming out and it was getting warmer quickly. 'I had a feeling that some big part would fall into the water - and it happened. I was there only for about an hour and a really huge piece fell.' Guided treks can be taken on the ice itself ranging from one to five hours - or if going on the glacier is too ominous, visitors can negotiate a walking circuit from the visitor centre to see the spectacular southern and eastern edges. The sheer scale of the natural marvel is imposing with the ice rising almost 250 feet above the surface of the water. The glacier is currently in the midst of a relatively stable period with the most recent of its ruptures taking place in January last year - it busts open, on average, every four or five years but sometimes the gap can be as little as two years. +7 While its terrain appears brutal, hiking tours between one and five hours-long are available on the ice +7 The dense mass of ice in Patagonia rises more than 70m from the surface of the water +7 The glacier ruptures on average every four to five years, with its last major event happening in January 2013 A gamekeeper has proved a great shot with a camera - after capturing these stunning pictures of life in the British countryside. John MacTavish's day job involves looking after a 1,500-acre farm and pheasant shoot near Oban in the west of Scotland - but in his spare time he doubles up as a skilled photographer. The 48-year-old has taken a series of breathtaking images from running gun dogs to shooters taking down deer - and has even captured detailed shots of birds mid-flight using his top-of-the-range cameras. +20 Grouse keepers discuss their plan for the day on sweeping moorland near Oban in Scotland as their dogs wait patiently for the day's action   Gamekeeper John MacTavish has captured a series of stunning images including a young Red deer stag with old netting caught in his antlers (left) and the moment Rusty, a working Cocker Spaniel, bounded back to its owner after retrieving a cock pheasant (right) +20 The pictures include detailed close-ups of wildlife on the land at Lochnell, Oban - including this cock pheasant displaying its feathers during a mating ritual +20 Although his day job is to look after 1,500 acres of land, John MacTavish uses his spare time to capture breathtaking images, including this buzzard descending on a rabbit on a quiet road     Leaps and bounds: Bailey, a springer Spaniel, is pictured at work, left and right, as he jumps over fallen trees and races after and collects pheasants +20 Taking flight: With its wings spread, a hen pheasant leaps into the air and flies towards the camera. Mr MacTavish is self-taught in the art of photography +20 A deer stalker looks out over the spectacular moorland at Lochnell, Oban as he stands with his dog next to a dead deer and plans his route off the hill   Mr MacTavish owns three top of the range cameras and six lenses, ranging from 15mm to 600mm which allow him to take up close-ups of birds including this cock pheasant (left) and Eagle owl (right) +20 A Springer Spaniel waits patiently for birds to pick up on a grouse moor in Inverness-shire, Scotland, as clouds cover the hills away in the distance +20 Gamekeeper John MacTavish, pictured with his dogs Skipper, Bailey and Rusty, developed a passion for taking photographs while he was at school +20 In a flap: A cock pheasant takes flight in another stunning close up. Gamekeeper Mr MacTavish says he always has his camera in his Land Rover when he is at work +20 A colourful cock pheasant puffs out its chest and flaps its wings as it performs a spring mating ritual   +20   +20 Rusty (pictured left and right), a three-year-old Cocker Spaniel, sometimes accompanies Mr MacTavish at work. He said that his dogs 'look like they are flying in some of the pictures' +20 His dogs Barney and Skipper are pictured playing in a garden. He said: 'It's fun taking pictures of the dogs. They are mega-friendly and affectionate'   Mr MacTavish (right) has never had any formal photography training but regularly spends up to half an hour waiting for the perfect shot. His Springer Spaniel Barney is pictured left.