Backcountry

One day, I decided to do it all. I woke up at 4 am to watch the sunrise at Moraine Lake, went back a few hours later to go on a hike, then took a nine-mile hike behind Lake Louise. This image comes from that nine-mile hike. About two miles in, I joined a random couple who was also going to the top. About six miles in, I saw these two people standing on the horse trail, which is when I took this image. The people are a little small, but I didn't want to crop in and ruin the proportion of the size of the mountains.

 

Views

I typically don't post images of people, but I felt this one was too good to not share. We had just turned around from close to the top (some people didn't want to finish the uphill) and were heading back towards the lake. Using an aperture of f2.8 and shooting from the hip, I blindly took many images hoping one would turn out well. 

 

Peyto Lake

During one of our days in Canada, we took a day-long drive along the Ice Roads Parkway. Besides the snow on some peaks, there was no ice, but this stretch of road from Banff to Jasper was incredibly, incredibly beautiful. This particular image is of Peyto Lake, somewhere between the two cities. There was an easily accessible overlook with a fantastic view, but me being me, wanted to take something more unique. We started hiking towards the top of the mountain, went off trail to a pile of snow, when I turned back to the lake. I set up my tripod and took eleven images, each of a slightly different portion of the lake, which together made this piece.

 

Mist

I took this image during my afternoon hike at Moraine Lake. A brief rainstorm had just passed, and some low-hanging clouds were still around. I walked down to the lake's shore and took this image. There are many reasons I like it: the subtle, soft colors, layers of mountains upon mountains that draw your eye to the back of the image, and the clouds add softness to the hard rock.

 

Moraine Lake

This is Moraine Lake, as the title suggests. After a short but slow eight-mile drive up a winding road, you enter a land of no cell coverage and beautiful views. I visited the lake three times, once at sunset, another on the following sunrise, and a final time during the afternoon. While it may seem crazy that I woke up at 4am for this shot, yes, it is so worth it.

 

Mood

One of the many things I love about Canada is the weather. The entire time, the weather was incredible. There was sun, clouds, and the occasional rain. What I loved most about it was the fact that the weather was different every day. For example, on this day, it was partly cloudy but when the sky wasn't as moody as this, there was a significant amount of harsh light. 

 

Seasons

One of my favorite things about the mountains is how quickly the weather can change. One second it is clear skies, and the next is cloudy and rainy. For this image, an afternoon storm rolled in from nowhere, and everyone at Moraine Lake, including me, went to the Cafe to stay dry. But right after the rain passed, I went to the lake's edge and captured this. The trees are crisp with an f2.8 aperture with the mountain is slightly out of focus.

 

Mount Rundle

As the sun continued to set, I took out my tripod and neutral density filter again and took a panorama. I believe this piece is six images stitched together, but I forget the exact number. The process of stitching images together is straightforward. I add the photos to Adobe Lightroom, click the panorama merge, and the piece magically comes together.