Mount Robson

Mount Robson is probably the best known and most photogenic mountain in British Columbia. It lies beside Highway 16, near the border with Alberta. Over 4000 metres tall, it is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountain Range, and one of the highest peaks in British Columbia. British Columbia’s Mount Robson Provincial Park is part of the larger UNESCO world heritage site ‘Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks‘, and connects directly with Jasper National Park.

I’ve seen Mount Robson many times, but rarely see the peak. The mountain often generates its own clouds; even on an otherwise clear day, the peak is usually shrouded in cloud. When I see a completely clear view of the mountain, I always try to take a photo of it.

Here is Mount Robson in the visible range:

And here is the photo divided into the red, green, and blue channels.

The red and green channels are very similar. The sign in the foreground is a little lighter in the red channel than the green, and the sky is very slightly darker, but it is not something you’d notice unless you saw the two photos side by side. The blue channel is more noticeably different-  The trees are much darker, and the sky is brighter. Due to the Rayleigh scattering, the blue channel photo looks hazy, and shadows are much less prominent.

Combining my Schott BG40 and UG11 filters gives an ultraviolet view of Mt Robson.

As far as my UV photos go, it’s not bad. It’s not especially GOOD, but the mountain is clearly visible, and the haze isn’t too apparent. Mt Robson is a good distance from any major population centers, so there is likely much less pollution obscuring the sky in the UV range. It is somewhat similar to the blue channel, but the vegetation is yet darker.

With just the UG11 filter, infrared and ultraviolet spectra are combined in the camera, while the visible spectrum is blocked.

and no filter on my camera gives a full spectrum photo, allowing ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light in. I don’t think much UV light gets into the photo, as my camera isn’t sensitive to it, so the full spectrum photo is primarily visible light and infrared.

The one thing about full spectrum photos with my Canon T3i is that summer always looks like autumn. Even the ‘evergreen’ trees aren’t green in a fulls spectrum photo.

I only took two near infrared photos, one using my Zomei 680nm lens filter…

and one with my Zomei 950 nm filter.

The sky is much darker in the 950 nm, but 680 nm give the trees that blue tinge that looks so unique. In both photos, the trees are a very light shade.

I also took some thermal infrared photos, using my Seek Reveal thermal camera. I took three photos using different software ‘filters’ on the camera. Again, the photos from this camera are very low resolution, so don’t look as good as the above pictures.

Mount Robson in the white filter:

The white filter is the closest analogue to the infrared/ulraviolet photos I take- the higher the temperature/wavelength, the brighter it is. As a result, I use the white filter as my default for the camera. Still, in some occasions, the colour filters seem to be slightly more detailed.

I took two colour thermal photos. One is using the ‘Tyrian’ filter

and one using the ‘Iron’ filter.

In all three cases, you can see a steady temperature drop as the elevation increases, with some minor variation because of the placement of the snow and ice on the mountain. I took these photos in late May, after most of the snow melted at the park entrance. The snow on the mountain, however, is usually there all year. The trees at the end of the clearing are easier to distinguish using a colour photo as well.

No matter the season, Mount Robson is amazing to see. Just pray for the best and hope that you can actually get a clear view of the peak.

All photos other than the thermal infrared photos were taken with a modified Canon Rebel T3i camera. Not that I’ve been keeping to a regular schedule over the summer, but no post next week- I’m off to stare at the sun.