The Amazing Canadian Parks

Athabasca Falls Rainbow

Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

Including Waterton Lake, Banff and Jasper National Parks we spent 8 wonderful days photographing amazing scenery. Though we took many nice pictures, these are just a few of our favorites. You may have also wondered if I still took color images. With the interesting colors of the glacier fed lakes the scenes cried out to be color. So.... enjoy to colors. Carol's picture of the rainbow at Athabasca Falls is my favorite of the the Canadian collection. This picture and the others are all located along the 288KM (we are in Canada) Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper or just off the side roads. This is probably this most breath taking drive in North America.

Athabasca Glacier

Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

We did the drive in both directions. On the way south we stopped at the Icefield Center and took the tour in a specialized big wheeled ice crawler. While standing on glacier Carol took the picture above.

Spirit Island

Maligne Lake, Jasper Nation Park, Alberta, Canada

While camping in Jasper we took a side trip to Maligne (pronounced Maleen) Lake and then took a boat ride to the other end to take pictures of Spirit Island. The island is one of the most popular photo targets in the park for good reason. The water color is the result of glacier dust which is fine powder silt that comes with the streams of glacier melt that feed the lake. Very special.

Bow Lake Evening

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

South bound we made our second visit to Bow Lake. We found the soft light of the late afternoon painting the scene with pastels above.

Lake Louise Glacial Stream

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Before leaving the parks we spent two nights at Lake Louise Campground. We visited the lake and arrived close by the canoe concession. So.... off we went. An hour's paddle to the other end of the lake gave us the scene above. Definitely worth the paddle.

Flowers at Lake Louise

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

After our paddle we had lunch at the Fairmont Chatuau Lake Louise Hotel and continued to enjoy the view. Carol stepped out into their garden to refine the view from our table.

Today we are in Calgary catching up laundry and food shopping to start our trip home. This will be our last posting for this trip. In a month or so I will have a more extensive gallery up on our main website and will send out an email. Thanks for traveling with us on this special photo safari.

Colby

Glacier National Park in Black and White

Wild Goose Island

Glacier National Park, Montana

We arrived at Glacier NP late in the day last Thursday. On Friday morning we picked up a rental car so we could photograph along the Going-to-the-Sun Road where RVs are forbidden. The thunderstorms were rolling in and we realized that we were going to have some great mood for black and white photography. It rained off and on for the next eight hours. At times the visibility was down to 30 feet. But..... those little windows with breaks in the clouds were magical.

The result is this posting of my favorite black and white images. Two of the pictures were taken a couple of days later at Many Glacier when we still had some interesting sky and little wind allowing for nice reflections. As these pictures came to life in the digital development tray I could feel the mood unfolding that I felt in the mountains. I hope the magic of this park comes through.

We are off to Waterton Lake, Banff and Jasper in Canada and may not have good Internet connections. This may be our last posting until re-surface in about 10 days.

Thanks, Colby

Mammoth Hot Springs - Abstract Art

Genesis

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

On our last full day in Yellowstone we visited Mammoth Hot Springs and were taken by the colorful abstract patterns and compositions. The colors, textures, line and reflections playing in the light shining through breaks in the clouds left us dazzled. Here are a selection of our favorites from that day.

For the last six days we have been in Glacier NP and our first dull day offered thunderstorms and great photography. I will try and post some Glacier shots tomorrow. It will be our last chance for awhile as the next day we are off to Waterton Lake, Alberta, Canada and will probably won't have Internet until we return to the States a week or so later. Carol decided that we were too close to Banff and Jasper Canada National Parks to pass them up. As you can imagine I didn't resist!

Can you find Waldo in the picture above?

Have the best summer ever!

Colby

Yellowstone Falls and River Canyon

Lower Falls

Yellowstone River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

We have just left Yellowstone NP and for the first time in a week we have a reliable Internet connection. What a week! It is so difficult to capture the expanse of the park. The caldera of the ancient volcano that erupted over 600 thousand years ago wasn't discovered until it was photographed from space. I felt like we were trying to capture the feeling of an elephant by shooting pictures up it's left nostril. There is no way to be on the ground and stand back far enough to capture the breath of the experience. So we can only present the experience in parts. We are catching our breath .... I mean literally. There is a lot less oxygen at 8,000 feet. I feel ten year younger at 4,000 feet today.

So.... there we were at Canyon Village at every overlook that takes in the Falls and Yellowstone River Canyon. Carol captured the classic view above. The water was flowing well providing solid green water streams over the crest.

Lower Falls - Black and White

This shot in black and white provided me a feeling of nostalgia from a time when early photographers would include park guests in the picture to provide a sense of scale or to entice 19th century politicians to create the parks for their constituency. The sun was just far enough to the west to light up the falls while back lighting the trees.... a nice effect for black and white.

Yellowstone River Canyon

From Inspiration Point, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Looking down river the river has created a nice canyon and the high sun illuminated the cliffs and brought out great color. It is one of the few times in landscape photography where midday sun is the best. It's also nice to occasionally sleep in.



Soon we hope to offer other postings with a few wildlife pictures and another with natures art seen at Mammoth Hot Springs. We are on our way to Glacier National Park for a week of shooting there. Hope you are having a great summer.



Colby

Yellowstone Geysers and Pools

Black Pool Flowing Into Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yesterday we arrived in Yellowstone NP and immediately went off to watch Old Faithful. Afterwards we visited the West Thumb Geyser Basin and saw the scene above. It's amazing to see the geothermal features interacting with a mountain lake.

Today we explored the geysers north of Old Faithful for colors and patterns that moved us. See some of our shots from the day below. We will be in the park for another six days and the we expect the subjects will be varied and special. More later.

Summer 2010 - The Grand Teton National Park

"Snake River Storm"

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Carol and I are on a photo safari this summer visiting The Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks among other wonderful places. The picture was taken at the Snake River Overlook that Ansel Adams made famous with his iconic picture. We waited for hours as thunder storms rolled over us. We were provided with a great show of atmospherics. The picture above was our favorite. To see the picture larger click on the picture. Stay tuned for more to come. The beauty out here is an amazing blessing. Thanks.

Colby