Mount Rundle from Across the Vermilion Lakes

I went out to Banff this afternoon to a favourite location, the Vermilion Lakes. The shores of the lakes offer some excellent vantage points for photographing Mount Rundle, highlighted this afternoon by the setting sun. Sunset is early at this time of the year, 4:40 PM today, so I wasn’t out very late. The temperature was good, about -1 deg C so it was a comfortable time to be taking pictures.

This first scene was taken near a pond just off the road bordering the lakes. It’s a popular location with interesting elements in the foreground, complementing the majestic Mount Rundle beyond. I like the stumps of course, the colour on the water’s surface, the reflections and a glimpse of  the pond’s stony bottom. A lot going on here.

I moved further down the road to a spot that offers a good view of the lake. I tried several locations and took a number of shots. I like the two pictures I’ve posted below, the best of those I took from this area.

I like this composition, featuring a brook feeding the lake. It’s water temperature is a little above freezing, creating the opening in the lake ice and directing the eye to the photo’s subject, Mount Rundle. There are two things that would make this picture better; the absence of human footprints in the foreground snow and some mist rising off the water’s surface. I need to return on a colder day following a snowfall.

I like this final picture a little better. I moved around to my right where humans had not trod. I was able to get a more natural looking foreground with only some grasses poking through the snow. I also like the indirect angle on the open water (still pointing to Mount Rundle). Overall, I think it’s a better composition. Again, I’d like to get this shot with some mist rising off the open water

All the pictures were taken using a wide angle lens (tilt-shift, 24mm) with an aperture of f8. I used a 4-stop, neutral density, graduated filter to balance the highlights in the sky and the shadows in the foreground.