Sunday, March 29, 2009

sunday stills - landscapes

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was landscapes. It's a pretty bleak time of year to be searching for beautiful landscapes, but then I remembered the Cheltenham Badlands and took a road trip up there yesterday to see if I could capture some red rock and early morning sunshine.



"The Cheltenham Badlands are a bizarre geographical spectacle that lie hidden in the Caledon Hills. 'Badlands' is a geological term for an area of soft rock devoid of vegetation and soil cover that has become molded over time into softly undulating hills and gullies."



"The reddish hue of the Queenston Shale is caused by iron oxide, while narrow greenish bands show where circulating ground water has transformed the rock from red to green iron oxide. This distinctive geological phenomena is extremely rare in Ontario, and the Cheltenham Badlands are one of the best examples in the province."



I plan to return this summer when there is more green (for a great contrast with the red) and maybe try shooting late in the day, rather than early. A great challenge this week!


46 comments:

WhimsybyMari said...

Beautiful, I love rockscapes. My family thinks I am nuts because of all the rock pictures I take and all the rocks I drag (or make them) home.

Anonymous said...

Very pretty and interesting landscapes.

VioletSky said...

I love rocky landscapes. This looks a great place to visit - thanks for the info!

Shirley said...

That's beautiful!Lovely colours.We have badlands in Alberta too, at Dinosaur Provincial Park near Drumheller.

Anonymous said...

Really interesting colors. My first husband,the geologist,would have loved this place! LOL

The Wife said...

I would say those are some badlands! Love the last pic!

Libby's Library said...

Lovely, just lovely...the words and the photo's.

Anonymous said...

Interesting landscapes! I love the different tones of browns, they aren't dull, just pretty.

rock on said...

beautiful! I love rocks and especially love photos of them. thanks for making my Sunday morning. I'll be heading there this summer for sure.

Sharon said...

Wow, beautiful landscape photos!!! Well done right back at you:)

Bruce said...

Elora: As beautiful as you are, you should be showing yourself off to the world!!! Come on and strike a pose for Andrea.

Kathleen said...

Stunning colors and a mystical landscape. Wow!

gtyyup said...

What an interesting place and beautiful too! Yes, I'd love to see the contrast in the summer time. Well done!!

The Silver Age Sara said...

It is so different from our landscape and so incredibly beautiful as well.

MariesImages said...

The red hue really intensifies an image, Your photos have beautiful deep colors.
~Marie

Andrea Baker said...

The second one really stands out for me. Great job with all of them!

Patches said...

Fabulous shots! Love the second one, what interesting colors and formations!

Martha said...

Amazing rock formations - looked a bit like the surface of the moon!

Gennasus said...

Wonderful scenery! I've never seen anything like it before so thanks for showing me.

I like the link feature you've added, great idea.

Ed said...

Excellent shots and a great geological lesson to boot..:-)

Tatersmama said...

The photos are so beautiful... And I would love to see the contrast in summer! How far away are they from where you live?
They made my heart ache with longing, and that's really saying something !

Jeanne Estridge said...

Gorgeous -- can't wait to see the summer ones!

Flo said...

Beautiful!! I love that first picture with the red ground. Gorgeous!!

Mine is up over at my photo blog.

Sherri said...

Terrific shots, Andrea. Amazing color.

J9 said...

That is really a wonderful geological formation! Very pretty and the contrasting red and green looks great!

pam said...

I saw the movie Badlands, but I never knew what the word actually meant. These pictures are great!

Kelly said...

Love them! Never really been to any badlands...I think I'll have to add it to my must visit list!

Kathy said...

Great photos. My hubby and I went to the badlands in South Dakota a couple of years ago and it was facinating and beautiful.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Beautiful shots..I especially like the second one..the colors are really cool! It looks like an interesting place to visit:)

Robynn's Ravings said...

Wow - hubby even popped in to look at these photos. We have a dear friend who is a geologist. I think he'd like to take a look. VERY interesting. And I love the photo with the backdrop of the forest. Lovely shading, shadows, colors, texture, and depth.

septembermom said...

Stunning photos! Great subject. The rocks are so defined, almost exuding a character of their own.

detroit dog said...

Beautiful landscapes. Love the name of your blog!

Interesting that my Bastet died in March 2007, and she inspired my blog; Sophie was born and inspired yours.

Dughallmor Beagles said...

Your photographic skills astound me....these are breathtaking, beautiful landscape, well done for making it jump out of the screen!

Hilary said...

Well that's so cool. I'd never even heard of them and it's just a hop, skip and a jump away from home. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for sharing such lovely photos.

gigi said...

You peaked my intrest, I'd love to see the spring or summer pictures of these. I love the red color of the early morning.

HalfCrazy said...

I thought Badlands is a term for a land that has an unlimited supply of running bandits during the Wild Wild West era. Maybe I just made that up, I'm not so sure LOL.

Anyway, that is a beautiful color of soil and rock.

What a very interesting place, full of bumps and lumps!

Anonymous said...

I really like the second one - great landscape photos, especially this time of year.

(I did my blog design myself - I downloaded a template from http://btemplates.com/. I had to do some very minor html stuff to put in the webpage links, but it was pretty easy to follow the instructions.)

CTG Ponies said...

Fantastic colors and awesome pics!

Joanne said...

The beauty of this time of year is that the lack of foliage and grasses really allows the eye to see the architecture of the land, trees. Beautiful.

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

You really have a knack for landscapes too. More gorgeous photos; the color are wonderful!

~ Sara ~ said...

Amazing, utterly amazing. All are just wonderful!

Rising Rainbow said...

Wow! The colors are amazing. Nice shots!

Jen Mo said...

Wow you got some amazing shots! Truly beautiful!!! Great job!!

Becky said...

Who knew Canada had red rock landscapes? Love the one with the water!

Girl Tornado said...

What a lovely place to take a hike! Beautiful photos, well done on your landscape challenge. I rather forgot about it, what with our bad weather and my lack of electric...

Becca said...

This is beautiful. I love when places look like heaven on earth. It is just so nice.

Becca

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