Canadian Rockies

On the way back from the Yukon our photography troupe stopped in Calgary and spent three days in the Canadian Rockies which have some of the most majestic scenery anywhere in the world. Fortunately for the tourists and locals the weather was beautiful…mild and sunny with nary a cloud in the sky for three days. And of course that was unfortunate for us…we love the drama of the clouds and poor weather. But we were troupers and shot images anyway.

Castle Mountain is just outside of Banf and served as the destination for a photography day trip. I managed to get some of the mountain’s reflection in the stream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This became a more interesting photograph once I turned the image into a black and white shot and retained the blue color of the stream.

We helicoptered into Assiniboine Provincial Park. There is a hiking trail into the park but it is seventeen miles and it was a lot more fun to take that scenic 20 minute ride with spectacular terrain in all directions.

This is one of the many lakes sitting amongst the peaks of the Canadian Rockies and one of the benefits of taking a helicopter ride in!

Again….no drama in the sky but I did get a nice reflection in the lake and a moon next to the peak. A rustic lodge overlooks this spot and is the destination for a lot of folks who take the helo ride to spend a few days at the lodge where they serve up great breakfasts and dinners. Some even forgo any hiking and just spend a few days in a hammock reading a book. We camped at the campground…..no amenities for us!

 

 

 

 

A vigorous 90 minute uphill hike gets you a very nice view of Sunburst Mountain with Mt. Assiniboine in the background. An additional 90 minutes gets one a more expansive view of the park but on this day without any drama in the sky it wasn’t worth the extra effort.

Brightly colored kayaks are always great subjects for images. In this case, the lines formed by stacking them next to each other act as leading lines into the peaks in the distance

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a different framing of the same view with the camera drawn back a bit to show the reflection of the mountains in the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morraine Lake is just outside Banff and only a few minutes from the more well known and heavily visited Lake Louise. Both lakes have been photographed millions of times but I believe Morraine Lake is the superior photographic subject. If you look closely on the right side of the image you can see the kayaks in the images above.

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Frank

Shrewsbury, MA