Winter Day in Banff National Park

Yesterday afternoon, Rolande and I took an afternoon drive along the scenic Highway 1A in nearby Banff National Park. This is a favourite tour we make several times annually, attempting to experience all the seasons. Our timing for this visit was very good, coming shortly after some recent snowfalls. It was a bit chilly (-20 deg C/-4 deg F) but with no wind and bright sunlight it was quite tolerable.

Our first photo stop was at the Hillsdale Meadow, where I always enjoy seeing and photographing Mount Ishbel, part of the Sawback Range which borders the Bow Valley on the northeast. The mountain is well exposed by the early afternoon sunlight; a very bright image with the fresh snow.

A little further along, we approached another favourite, Castle Mountain. We caught a first glimpse of it a few kilometres to its east. You’ll note that even in early afternoon, the sun is very low in the sky at this time of year. Many of the photos taken yesterday, including this one were quite shadowed as a consequence. I think it makes for interesting pictures but makes their development a little more challenging and time consuming.

We arrived soon after at Castle Junction, where we crossed the Bow River for a great view of Castle Mountain. Like the earlier picture of Mount Ishbel it is well lighted. The river is almost completely shadowed by the trees behind me, creating a nice contrast to the brilliance of the mountain face and its snow cover.

At this point, we reversed direction and headed back along Highway 1A toward home. We stopped for awhile at a nice wooded area where I was able to get some interesting shots in very mixed light. This picture for instance is dominated by shade with some sunlight getting through the trees to illuminate the background.

I sometimes enjoy shooting into the sun. This next picture was taken in mid-afternoon when the sun was just about to disappear behind the mountain whose outline you can see intermittently through the trees. I wanted the scene because it was very typical of what we were experiencing in the more densely forested areas along our route. I made it a little easier to manage by shooting through the trees, using them to partially shade the direct sunlight. Nonetheless, the sun is very bright and that part of the image is over-exposed. This type of photograph can be challenging. Some over-exposure is almost unavoidable. Lens flare is difficult to avoid as well. (You can see its orangish glow in this picture, just above the sun.) There was more but I got rid of it by simply cropping the right side of the image. Many photographers will leave it in; it’s considered okay as artistic effect. It works on some types of pictures but I don’t like it for landscapes. Lastly, contrast is not easy to control. The camera’s metering system does its best to reduce the sun’s exposure, thereby darkening everything else! I find the best way to manage that is in the developing of the image. Software like Lightroom and Photoshop is very effective in balancing the dark and light areas to produce an picture that looks realistic. I’m satisfied with this one.

This picture was taken just before we emerged from a heavily forested area and re-entered Hillsdale Meadow. I like the way this view of Cockscomb Mountain is framed by the both the shape of the opening in the trees and the contrasting darkness in that area of the photograph. I don’t think it would be nearly as pleasing without the snow on the branches to offset the trees’ darkness and add definition to them.

Today’s last photograph was taken as we approached the end of Highway 1 and set off for home. It features the north end of the Sundance Range, just west of the Town of Banff. The sun has dropped behind the mountains, poking through a few gaps to illuminate the upper reaches of the highest peaks. That’s the Bow River and the CP Rail’s main line through the Rockies in the foreground.

This is likely my last shoot and last post for 2017. I look forward to the New Year and hopefully many more great opportunities to capture and share the natural beauty that surrounds us.