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Photography © John Baker Photographer LLC/Travel Images.com/JayBeeStock.com
The following images represent the typical range of subjects for this particular Travel Images photo tour or workshop. They were selected with the knowledge that all our clients are able to obtain similar images, but should a particular technique be new to you I will share everything I know so that you reach every one of your photographic goals.
Please scroll down for images taken on Travel Images photo tours by the leader John Baker.
In most cases, links to client images from this destination are at the bottom of the page
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The trip starts and ends in Calgary, so I always take my groups to a spot with a skyline view. The skyline is mostly 'new' due to the oil boom that has benefited Calgary from the 1960s onwards.
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Sunset at Vermillion Lake with Mount Rundle reflected on two different trips.
The image below is also Vermillion Lake but this time I shot the reflection, then turned the image over. It's the kind of shot you either love or hate!
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Herbert Lake is a great spot for insects such as Dragonflies and these Damselflies. These two are in the act of . . . erm . . . children, look the other way.
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Going north on the Columbia Icefields Parkway there are many shots featuring mountains and wildlife, plus a few waterfalls.
This one is Tangle Creek on Wilson Pass and gets less attention than it's two waterfall neighbors to the north, Sunwapta and Athabasca falls. |
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In the same vicinity there is a spot where the Big Horn Sheep hang out. If they're not there, I can usually take my groups to other spots that the Big Horn Sheep frequent. |
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| The first destination in Jasper National Park is dawn photography at Patricia Lake at left, and Pyramid Lake. Both deserve sharp, interesting foregrounds, and a tripod is a must at such spots. |
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The 'Spirit Island' shot that isn't really an island! This is Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, and a boat ride into the wilderness, included in the trip cost, is needed for the shot.
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A healthy Bull Elk near Jasper. When out shooting landscapes it helps to have a second body and long lens on hand for opportunities such as this.
This was actually shot in pretty low light, but the advantage of digital is that one can increase the ISO for just the one frame if need be. |
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North of Jasper is an area with good stands of Aspen. One can capture some very nice 'straight' shots in pattern formation, but sporadically on my trips I suggest to clients that we induce some deliberate blur such as with this shot. F.22 or similar gives you a slow shutter speed, then just move the camera in vertical strokes to get this effect. If your shutter speed isn't slow enough, say 12th of a second or slower, you can either adjust your ISO to it's lowest number or use a neutral density or polarizing filter. |
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Above and below, Mount Edith Cavell at dawn on two different photography workshops.
Named after a British nurse, the mountain is at the end of along winding road in Jasper NP, and buses aren't allowed in. Just how we like it
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A Mule Deer that I'd like to tell you I hiked 4 miles to shoot, but as with many parks, they show up near campsites at dawn and dusk and are relatively easy to capture through the lens.
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A Dragonfly in flight at Leach Lake. Obviously a lot of patience is needed until you have the shot in the bag. |
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Shot directly under the north face of Mount Edith Cavell, this is the aptly named flower River Beauty. As you may deduce from the water movement, I used a tripod and settings of a third of a second at f.22. |
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This Coyote in Jasper National Park was wondering both sides of the road, and gave the group a couple of chances for a shot.
At one point it was on my side, and I was able to grab this from the driver's seat. |
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I figure that if we eat at a particular lodge south of Jasper we can photograph their colorful Adirondack chairs! This type of image I categorize as 'still life on the run', with the main ingredients being any from shape, colour, form, pattern and so on.
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The 'unsung' Herbert Lake in Banff National Park looking north. Many folk drive right by this spot as it's so small, but it has a lot to offer both early and late. The shot below is at the same spot looking west. |
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Oxeye Daises thrive almost anywhere in the world, kind of like Canadian Geese! Although I generally recommend a 'selective focus' approach to thick stands of Oxeye, for this one I opted for a close-up of the insects.
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An Osprey preparing to land on it's nest in Banff NP.
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This Bull Moose was another bonus of an early start, as once the sun is up during the summer months they'll bed down in a shady spot, and not be visible for several hours |
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Shot from Lake Herbert, the moon and Mount Temple combine for an atmospheric shot.
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I pointed a long lens at some atmospheric drama among some peaks for this shot. The only thing better would be to stand on one of those high ridges while taking pictures, but that will have to be left to the real mountain climbers. |
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Above: Lake Louise in Banff national park, and yes we were blessed with great early light, but the year this was taken the group had to endure two cloudy mornings first!
A wide-angle low to the water is the most striking shot of this scene in my opinion.
Right: The Lake Louise 'standard vertical shot' around 2 hours after sunrise.
The foreground artifacts give the image some depth in my opinion.
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A pair of shots from Yoho National Park west of the continental divide and Banff National Park. This is Emerald Lake and the red canoes make a nice accent for the shot. I don't normally leave much sky in an image unless like here it adds to the effect. A polarizer helped 'separate' the clouds from what was in reality a paler blue sky.
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Takkakaw Falls in Yoho National Park which plummets spectacularly off the Daly Glacier. I've nothing to add except that the shutter speed for waterfalls 'should' be above 125th of a second, or slower than a 15th. Anything in between and the water looks 'ugly'!
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Sure, we'd like to have good light on this North American Black Bear, plus a catch-light in the eye, but sometimes a silhouette works just as well.
Shots such as these are really about anticipation and preparedness, by which I mean having a long lens at the ready, and the body set on drive mode.
At right a Canadian Mountie.
I'm not sure how they 'always get their man' when they're posing for the likes of tourists!
His face was heavily in shade so I used the camera's built-in fill flash.
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A North American Black Bear foraging for berries. They don't care too much for meat . . . unless you happen to be the person startling them!
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One thing I've always told my groups to bank on is a good shot of a Pika at Moraine Lake. However, on our two visits in 2004 not a single Pika was spotted [or striped!], and the dominant ground squirrel was the Golden Mantle like this one.
Oh well, he makes for a cute shot doesn't he?
Update: The Pika has been photographed on subsequent trips
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The trick when photographing Bluebells/Harebells and other flora, is to keep your film plane - OK, camera plane - parallel to the subject.
That way it should stay in focus from top to bottom as with this one which was exposed at something like f.5.6. That f-stop is not normally conducive to sufficient depth of field, but having the camera's plane the same as the subject's did the trick. |
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South of Lake Louise is the 'Valley of the Ten Peaks', and this is the approach shot to Moraine Lake with Panorama Ridge dominating this scene. For impact I got in close to the Fireweed with a wide-angle, used f.22, focused on the foreground, then was blessed with good light
Then below, the continuation of the Valley of the ten Peaks above Moraine Lake. This composition used to appear on the Canadian $20 bill as it is a stunning scene in any light. This particular shot is 4 verticals stitched together.
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Canadian Rockies by Frank Alvaro | Canadian Rockies by Erwin Buske
Canadian Rockies by Wendy Belkin
Canadian Rockies by Mike Caplan | Canadian Rockies by Marc Cohen |
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Canadian Rockies brochure | Back to the Photo Galleries A to Z
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