Hey Folks,

Some great news; photographer extraordinaire, and a man I am proud to call my friend, Darwin Wiggett has put together his excellent series, “How To Photograph the Canadian Rockies” again, this time with even more detail and information than its predecessor. In 2005 Darwin released, through Altitude Publishing company, this great book, as a small, portable handbook,a a guide to photographing the Canadian Rockies. I was lucky enough to grab a copy before the company went bust and the book’s publishing ended, leaving countless nature photographers frustrated, as they weren’t able to snare a copy. The book is absolutely fantastic; I unhesitatingly call it a “must have” for anyone heading toward the Canadian Rockies. Which is a bummer; a ‘must have‘ is now a ‘can no longer get’.

Until now. The great news; Darwin’s just set up a new website, How To Photograph the Canadian Rockies (no longer live), and released all the great info in his book as ebooks. This time the ebooks go into more detail, and cover the Canadian Rockies region by region. Starting with the Icefield Parkway area, the first 2 ebooks are currently available, and soon to come are ebooks on photographing Banff and Jasper National Parks, probably the crown jewels of the Canadian Rockies.

We’ll do a quick test here. I’ll invite Darwin to check this blog out and tell me where the scene in this photograph (above) is, and where I shot it from (Darwin – if you know it, don’t post the answer just yet). The first non-Darwin who can do so, I’ll buy you any one of Darwin’s ebooks (your choice which).

Darwin’s expertise in the area, for photography, is unparalleled; he’s lives in the area, and has been shooting those mountains since before they were mountains. 🙂 Well, maybe not THAT long, but long enough. I can’t tell you how helpful his original guide has been for me. I’ve been to the Canadian Rockies a number of times, and spent more than a few weeks stalking wildlife there, waiting for sunrises, rain to stop, clouds to break, etc, and I still wouldn’t take a trip there without his photography guide with me.

Darwin offers great advice on not only places to shoot, but when and how he likes to shoot them. Filters, lenses, time of day, likely wildlife sightings, etc, etc; a comprehensive guide.

For anyone thinking about a trip to the Canadian Rockies, get yourself these ebooks, and check out his site. You’ll be doing yourself and your photography a huge favor.

Cheers

Carl

PS – I was gunna call the offer above my very own “Darwin Award”, but thought better of doing so.

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Granite wall, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

This photo was taken one evening in the Canadian Rockies, in Jasper National Park. I believe this mountain is part of the Colin Range, but I can’t be sure. I didn’t take notes, like I should have, and now I can’t recall. It’s an impressive slab of granite though .. way cool. The evening sun lights it up nicely in the summertime, and makes it even more impressive.

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Photo of Leach Lake, Whirlpool Peak, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

This is probably my lastpost from here in Jasper – well, maybe .. we’ll see about that. I’m expecting to scoot on outta here tomorrow, and head overto nearby Prince George, to meet some friends of mine there, then hit the long road up to Alaska. As much as I love Jasper, I haven’t had a great deal of success here this summer.

Once again, I arose at 4am, headed for my planned destination, and waited and waited in the cold morning air for the sunlight to strike the peaks. The sky was relatively clear, and there had been no breeze at all down at camp.

So I left with high hopes for a good morning shoot.

However, some distant clouds seemed to block the early morning sun from the peak above me, and the wind had suddenly come up out of nowhere, so my morning was somewhat unproductive. I’ve yet to process any of the photos, but I don’t think I shot anything worth keeping. I’ll probably post them on Ron’s site. 🙂

This evening I think I’ll head up to Maligne Lake, and try to catch something there, though the wind’s blowing constantly, so maybe that’s not a good idea. Tomorrow morning I’ll try to shoot some landscape photos, then hav a quick lunch and leave town. Of course, if you’re smart that means it’s probably a great idea to head to Jasper tomorrow afternoon and spend a few days in glorious light, and calm, still air. I wish you the best. 🙂

At least it hasn’t been raining.

OK, enough from me. I’m outta here.

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Photographing Bull Elk in the Canadian Rockies

This one is fresh out of the box. I didn’t have any images from yesterday’s trip processed yet, so I posted this awesome bull elk from Jasper. At 7×7, he’s an impressive mature bull, and I am thankful for the opportunity to see and photograph him.

In the Canmore area, just south of Banff. Today I took my parents up to Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and also drove the Minnewanka Loop, a sweet drive.

The weather wasn’t the best, but could’ve been worse. Moraine Lake is a treat in any weather, so that was fun. Lake Louise is, in my opinion, really hard to enjoy unless you have the time to walk up the trail and leave the pandemonium of the Lodge and crowds behind.

Even my poor old dad noted the irony of one of the signs standing by the lake’s edge that wrote about how sensitive the environment in the area is, and how careful everyone must be to protect it, as we stand in front on a ridiculously over-sized hotel and accompanying accessories, a large parking lot, walkways going every which way more development than any other similar locale in the northern Rockies.

Lake Louise is definitely a beautiful place, but I don’t have much time for it, due to the excessive development in the area. Moraine Lake has a lodge and a parking lot, but it’s far less obtrusive.

One of the disadvantages of traveling with my parents is having to tolerate, best I can, my dad’s miserable sense of humor. He really does try, God bless him, but he’s just not very funny. The trip runs nicer when he’s quiet (rarely, unless he’s sleeping (which means snoring) or mum’s just told him to ‘shut up, Neil”. I get a few moments of relaxing quiet time to myself after they’ve gone to bed – it’s nice to wind the day down after they’ve gone to bed, I put on the iPod and listen to a few tunes, read a little, work on some images and write a few lines, then hit the hay.

Tomorrow, my mother is going in to the town of Banff – a mistake, I fear. Banff is a tourist trap, and, being tourists, both of my parents may well become trapped. My mothers mission is to get her nails done. I did mine this afternoon, whilst driving down the highway, listening to Bob Marley. Nice job, too!

If it’s clear in the morning, I may try to get some early morning photography done. It’s a tough gig to do that traveling with my parents, because they aren’t too into the cold mornings. I wonder how they’ll enjoy looking for elk on the high Rockies plateau in Yellowstone in the pre-dawn frost. 🙂 We should be in the jelly-stone early October.

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