Posted by John E. Marriott,
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 at 12:17 pm
One of my favourite Jasper photography spots for some great landscape photos each spring is along the Athabasca River just south of the Town of Jasper.
Mt Fryatt and the Athabasca River - A Jasper Photography Hotspot
There are a number of great spots to set up and photograph from, but my personal favourite is 3 kilometers south of the Athabasca Falls turn-off on the side of Highway 93 (the Icefields Parkway) where you get a lovely open vista of Mount Fryatt at sunrise. You can expect some gorgeous alpenglow here about ten to twenty minutes after the sun first starts bathing the snow-clad peaks in light. Wander about the edge of the river and you’ll find all sorts of great landscape photography opportunities.
Stay tuned for more great Jasper photography tips in the coming weeks.
Happy shooting!
John
Tags: athabasca river, Jasper National Park, jasper photography, landscape photo tip, landscape photography
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Saturday, May 28th, 2011 at 10:16 am
Hello all from snowed-in Banff and Canmore! We got a late spring present yesterday of a big dump of snow in Banff and Canmore, but it’s already melting away quickly today.
Fortunately, Jasper, Waterton, Yoho, and Kootenay all avoided the snow, so anyone traveling here this weekend should be fine.
Athabasca River sunrise, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
The first of the lakes along the Icefields Parkway have now thawed, too, so those of you looking for some great landscape photography opportunities in the Canadian Rockies finally have some great options: Herbert Lake is probably my favourite of the ones that are now ice-free.
And the first few newborn animals are popping up, too. I spotted a new bighorn sheep lamb two days ago on the David Thompson Highway (Highway 11) and there are regular reports of newborn black bear cubs up in Jasper.
Green grass is now appearing at lower elevetions throughout the Canadian Rockies mountain parks and leaves have begun to appear in Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay.
Happy shooting!
John
Check out my Canadian Wildlife and Nature Photography Blog.
Tags: canadian rockies photography, herbert lake, spring photography
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Saturday, May 21st, 2011 at 9:10 am
Today’s landscape photography tip is a basic one, but one that seems to constantly be in need of refreshing for many photographers when they hit the Canadian Rockies. Don’t let your excitement make you forget the basics, so strive to keep your horizons straight on lake edges and shorelines, which you’ll find a lot of in Banff and Jasper.
Keep those horizons straight in your photos
You’ll also note that you can often get away from the rule of thirds here in the Rockies and even split photos exactly in half with a horizon (like the shoreline above), yet still get a great photo that really works. So follow one rule (keeping horizons straight), but feel free to stray from another (the rule of thirds) on your next visit to Banff or Jasper.
Happy shooting!
John
www.wildernessprints.com
Tags: Banff National Park, lake louise, landscape photo tip, landscape photography
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Thursday, May 19th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Just a quick update for all of you following conditions here in the Rockies:
- there are very few ice-free lakes to date in any of the mountain parks, lakes that are currently ice-free include Vermilion Lakes in Banff and Horseshoe Lake in Jasper.
- Waterton Lakes National Park is still largely snow and ice-bound, but bears and other wildlife are out and about anyways.
- bears are out in Banff, Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay, but no young cubs have been sighted yet in any of the parks.
- green grass is beginning to appear at lower elevation in all of the parks, with a few leaves beginning to bud in Jasper and the southern part of Kootenay National Park.
Black bear along the Maligne Lake Road this week
Happy shooting!
John
www.wildernessprints.com
Tags: banff photography, jasper photography, spring photography, update
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
I’m pleased to announce that I’m teaming up with internationally-renowned nature photographers Darwin Wiggett and Samantha Chrysanthou again this fall, from October 27-30, 2011, to offer a great nature photography workshop in Banff National Park. We’ll once again be based out of beautiful Baker Creek Chalets near Lake Louise and participants will get to photograph at some of the Rockies’ most stunning locations, including Bow Lake, Lake Louise, Herbert Lake, Emerald Lake, and Johnston Canyon.
Lake Louise, Banff National Park
Check out www.snapphotoseminars.com for more information.
Happy shooting!
John
Tags: banff photography, landscape photo tip, learn about photography, photography workshop
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Acclaimed Canadian nature photographer Darwin Wiggett has just released his most recent eBook, How to Photograph the Canadian Rockies: Jasper National Park. For more information on the eBook, check out Darwin’s news release on his blog.
Mount Athabasca at the Columbia Icefields, Jasper National Park
Happy shooting!
John
Tags: Jasper National Park, jasper photography
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Sunday, May 15th, 2011 at 3:42 am
One of the best early-season (April-May-June) photo locations to free up from ice and snow is First Vermilion Lake in Banff National Park. It’s a classic photo stop for any serious landscape photographer visiting the Canadian Rockies because of the stunning reflection you can get of Mount Rundle and Tunnel Mountain in the shallow waters of the lake.
The view from First Vermilion Lake is definitely photo-worthy!
You can access the lake (along with Second and Third Vermilion Lakes) on the Vermilion Lakes Drive just west of the Town of Banff. The best light is in the morning and evening (unlike some locations, this spot does lend itself to both dawn and dusk shoots), with the alpenglow you see in the above photo happening in the evening.
Happy shooting!
John
PS – for the ‘book’ on photo locations in the Canadian Rockies, check out the How to Photograph the Canadian Rockies eBook series.
Tags: banff national park photography, banff photography, landscape photography, photo location, vermilion lakes
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 10:26 am
For those landscape photographers among you who are hoping to get up to the Rockies this summer for some wildflower photography, try to aim to visit in the last week of July and/or the first week of August, though this late and huge snow pack may affect things slightly, so it might be prudent to try to delay until about August 5th-10th. Then again, it could be sunny and warm for all of May, so everything could be back on track again by June 1st (I’ll let you know on this blog).
Wildflower photography in the Rockies is usually best in late July into early August
Either way, roadside flowers usually start appearing in the first or second week of July, while the big profusions of alpine wildflowers are normally in the last week of July and into early August.
If you’ve got the time, you may also want to consider heading over to British Columbia’s Purcell or Selkirk Mountain Ranges, where the wildflower blooms often rival and even beat out the best the Rockies have to offer.
Glacier Lilies in Jumbo Pass in the Purcell Mountains
Happy shooting!
John
PS – interesting in learning how to photograph wildflowers in a stunning setting? Then think about joining me in August for a wildflower workshop in the Bugaboo Mountains in B.C.!
Tags: banff wildflowers, jasper wildflowers, landscape photography, wildflower photography
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Monday, May 9th, 2011 at 10:18 am
If you’re already in the Rockies and/or are planning a trip here in the next few weeks, then try Haffner Creek Falls in Kootenay National Park for an out-of-the-way (but awesome) photo destination. The falls are still frozen and you can get some stunning shots of them if you can handle the short snowshoe or hike in (it’s about 1 km).
Try Haffner Creek Falls for some great spring photography in the Rockies
You can access the falls by parking at the Marble Canyon parking lot on Highway 93 South in Kootenay National Park, then hiking across the road (to the south) to the warden house and up the creek, following the well-marked trail. This is also an excellent winter photo destination if you want to photograph ice climbers.
Happy shooting!
John
www.wildernessprints.com
Tags: Kootenay National Park, landscape photography, photo location, spring photography
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Posted by John E. Marriott,
Friday, May 6th, 2011 at 2:08 am
While Banff and Jasper are chock-full of big glorious beasts to capture on your shiny, new digital slrs — grizzly bear, black bear, gray wolf, moose, elk, white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat, to name a few — it’s also got all kinds of great little guys to chase down and fill your days with. Both parks are home to a dizzying array of smaller mammals, like the Columbian ground squirrel, golden-mantled ground squirrel, least chipmunk, red squirrel, hoary marmot (one of my personal favourites), and the ever-entrancing pika!
Pikas are easy to find and photograph in the Canadian Rockies
Watch for the squirrels and chipmunks at just about any roadside picnic area or pull-out year-round, while you’ll want to visit roadside rockpiles for pikas and alpine meadows for hoary marmots in the spring and summer.
My favourite place to combine all six of these smaller mammals I just mentioned is in a five kilometre area as you approach the north end of Highwood Pass on Highway 40 in Kananaskis Country. Good luck!
Happy shooting!
John
www.wildernessprints.com
Tags: marmot photography, pika photography, wildlife photo tip, wildlife photography
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