Archive for July, 2009

Our second morning in Jasper got off to a later start. We only got out the door at 7:30am instead of 5:30am. We drove over to The Lodge for the early morning light.

We decided that we would hike the 5 lakes Trail. It is a 4.6km loop trail to these beautiful green crystal clear lakes. Unfortunately it was windier then I’d have like it to be. At the beginning of the trail we made a wrong turn  down another trail and it costs use a few km’s and about and hour. I did get one shot while on Wabasso Trail below.

The green was pretty breathtaking. This lake had a complete ring all around it.

Maligne Canyon was our next stop after a great start to the day. This hike along the canyon is very beautiful and was pretty busy with tourists.

I got a lot of great use of my ND8 and ND4 filters.

By the time we got to the bottom of the canyon, we were pretty hot and so we cooled off by putting our feet in the water. It was literally ice cold. I could only keep my feet in a few seconds before they would start to go numb.

This day was all about Maligne Road, Canyon and Lake. While having dinner a thunderstorm rolled in. We couldn’t eat fast enough and get out there. We ended up driving the pouring rain back to the valley along Maligne Road and then waited for the rain to stop. Nothing like listening to the thunder bounce off of all the mountains around us. Needless to say, it was well worth the wait and ended up being a great photo opportunity.

Luckily, there was break in the storm clouds right where the sun was.

The storm clouds made for a great sunset opportunity.

First sunrise in Jasper. We were up at 5am and out the door by 5:30. We headed out to Maligne Road. This wound up being the main spot for the whole day as we returned later, after dinner, for more shots. For now, I I’ll just post the morning shots. This is something I’ve wanted to see and capture for a while. The early morning sun light touching the tops of the mountains.

While sitting in the middle of the big valley, I spotted this drift wood from a far. From a distance, it didn’t look big and I thought I could walk over, pick it up, and bring to where I was shooting to use as a foreground object. When you are surrounded by mountains you kind of lose all perspective on size/distance. I walked, and walked and walked to get to the this drift wood. As I got closer it got bigger until I arrived and it was as tall as me and probably weighed over 300lbs. So I scrapped the idea of carrying it and now had to make my way all the way back to my camera and them come back. I must say, it was worth the early morning workout.

I really love how you can face a different direction and get totally different colors. This photo there is just a touch of pink light on the top of this ridge.

After an early start to the day on Maligne Road, we were getting hungry and decided to head to Maligne Lake for a bite to eat. We arrived there too early so we grabbed some shots while waiting for the deli to open.

After a quick bite to eat we were off. I can’t remember what lake this was but there were some fishermen heading out and it made for a great shot to show how huge the mountain is in the distance.

Maligne Road, is pretty beauty from start to finish. My friend was beside herself when we came across the only bear we saw on our trip. We didn’t have much time and were shooting from the truck. I got lucky and this bear turned my way just as I pressed the shutter button.