Archives For Banff National Park

Maroon Bells, Colorado (CO), USA

Using Foreground in your Photos

Jay Patel —  December 10, 2012 — 2 Comments

Landscape photographers know that you can’t always get what you want when you want it. So, what happens when you don’t get those dramatic skies and perfect clouds that light up like a fireworks show? Do you just give up and go chat with your buddies on social networks? Or find the nearest Starbucks and tell stories about that one time when the light was perfect?

Not me! I try to scout the area for foreground elements that might help me create a photograph with impact. On our last visit to the Maroon Bells, I used reflections to add interest in the foreground of this photograph. I chose to fill the frame mostly with the reflections and fall colors. A small slice of sky is enough to provide a sense of  calm.

Reflections are not the only element that you can use to create an interesting foreground. In this next photograph I used colorful pebbles that were sitting  just below the surface of Bow Lake in Banff.

A vertical composition lets me fill majority of the frame with the colorful textures of the pebbles. Geology, flowers, flowing water, and other local elements can be used as interesting foreground elements. Get creative with whatever you find on location! When the sky doesn’t grab your attention, find something else that will grab your viewer’s eye.

Do you have an example of interesting foregrounds? Please feel free to share. To learn more about photograph please check our eBooks below:

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Shades of Turquoise

Jay Patel —  July 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

If you want to see picturesque lakes, there is no place better than the Canadian Rockies (in my opinion). Lakes formed by glacial run-off often take on a turquoise color due to high concentrations of glacial silt. This shot from Peyto Lake shows the brilliant colors.

I used a circular polarizer to cut through as much haze as possible on this warm and humid day. I wanted to include various diagonals formed by the tree line, the rocks, and the lake itself. I waited until the clouds had formed interesting patterns on the lake and the sun was shining on the foreground rocks. The clouds made interesting shadow patterns on the water, and the sun brought out the rich colors in the rocks and the lichen.

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Bells after the Rains

Jay Patel —  June 6, 2012 — Leave a comment

It rained all night on our first night in Banff, but we were quite comfortable sleeping in our tents. The next morning we woke up to heavy fog and mist. Everything was covered in rain drops… including these pretty little blue bells.

This image is all about composition and white balance. I chose my white balance carefully to bring out the fresh green color of the grass. I had to experiment with the composition to eliminate distractions from the background. I left the background slightly blurred – in order to show some details… but let the subject stand out.

Sometime, when I photograph flowers, I gently adjust the position of the flower for a better composition – but in this case I didn’t want to touch the flower at all for fear of losing those water droplets.

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Shades of Turquoise

Jay Patel —  April 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

If you want to see picturesque lakes, there is no place better than the Canadian Rockies. In my opinion, anyway. :) Glacial silt and sediment gives these lakes an incredible turquoise color – and Peyto Lake is no exception. Gorgeous, isn’t it?

I used a circular polarizer to cut through as much humidity as possible on this warm and humid day. For the composition, I chose to include various diagonals formed by the tree line, the rocks and the lake itself. I waited for the clouds to cast shadows in interesting patterns on the lake at the same time that the sun was shining on the foreground rocks. Although the light was a bit harsh, the direct sunlight brought out the rich colors in the rocks and the lichen.

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Serenity

Jay Patel —  March 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

This is Moraine Lake in Canada. With its brilliant colors and deep turquoise waters, it’s a popular place to shoot. I am usually more likely to photograph dynamic weather conditions with brilliantly colored skies… but I love this shot for its serenity.

I used a soft GND filter to balance the light and to capture the soft morning glow on the mountain. On this particular morning, everything was very very still… and I used an extra long shutter speed to make sure that the water of the lake reflected not only the mountains but conveyed a sense of the morning calm.

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Graveyard Flats

Varina Patel —  February 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

I took this shot before sunrise at Graveyard Flats – Banff National Park in Alberta Canada. The mist was hanging over the mountain in the distance, and I loved the stark beauty of the scene. It was still pretty dark, so this shot required a long shutter speed… ten seconds at f 7.1. Processing was easy – just a matter of getting the white balance right.

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Solitude

Varina Patel —  January 20, 2012 — 5 Comments

One of the biggest reasons I choose to photograph nature is because I love solitude. I find that this is true for many nature and landscape photographers. We seem to share an appreciation – no… it goes beyond that – a NEED for solitude.

I get along with people just fine. I don’t mind speaking to large crowds. I can navigate my way through a city without a problem…

But I’d much rather be in the middle of nowhere. No cars driving by. No airplanes flying overhead. No lawn mowers or leaf blowers or weed trimmers. No radio or television. Just birdsong and the breeze through the branches and the trickle of the water over the rocks. I’m perfectly happy out there for hours. Days. Weeks.

How about you? What is it about nature photography that keeps you coming back for more?

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Blue

Q and A: How many shots is too many?

Varina Patel —  August 12, 2011 — 15 Comments

Here’s a common question: How many shots do you take on-location?

I generally shoot lots of images – but as I shoot, I delete the ones that aren’t worth keeping. Let me walk you through a typical morning shoot.

I’m up bright and early, ready to shoot. Here I am at Graveyard Flats in Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada). Lovely mist is rising, and the world looks positively blue. The sun isn’t up yet, so I set up my camera for a long exposure. I take my first shot… maybe it’s a little underexposed, so I take another to correct the damage. I will compare the two images, and then delete one of them. I might take another shot or two from a different angle. But each time I shoot, I compare the tiny image on my monitor, check the histogram, maybe even zoom in to check the focus… and delete any image that isn’t quite right. When I get home, I choose the one that looks the best and delete the others after I’ve processed. (ISO 100, 20 seconds at f/7.1)

The light changes as the sun nears the horizon, and I want a shot that shows the strange landscape surrounding the lake. So, I set up my tripod for another shot. I follow the same steps, and I’ll pay close attention to my histogram. I need to make sure that I’m capturing the entire range of light as the sky gets brighter… and that my shadows aren’t too dark. The histogram shows me that I need just one image for this photo – but I take two anyway… one a little brighter than the other, just to make sure. In the end, I don’t need that brighter shot, so after processing, I delete it.

While I’m waiting for the sunrise, I try out a couple of compositions. This one survives because of the mist still hanging around the mountain, and the appealing curve of the lake… but I’m hoping for something better.

Now the sun is rising over my left shoulder. I’ve been waiting for the sun to light up the top of the mountain because I want to capture its reflection in the lake. My tripod is already set up with one leg in the water at the edge of the lake. I’ve found these interesting stones that make appealing foreground objects, and I have my camera set up low and as close as possible. I’m glad to see a little bit of mist still hovering at the base of the mountains, and although the sky is clearing, I still have some pretty little clouds hanging over my mountain.


At this point, I might have 10 or 15 shots from this location. A few bracketed images, a couple of different angles and compositions, and shots from different times. When I get home, I’ll pull the images off my card and compare them at a larger size. In this case, I end up processing four images. And then, I take this last shot and convert it to black and white. Everything I haven’t used gets deleted. In the end, the file for Graveyard flats contains 9 files… four RAW, 4 processed color tifs, and a black and white tif.

Five processed shots. Typically, just one will end up on my website - and the rest will never see the light of day… unless someone asks specifically for an image from this location.

I know so many photographers who shoot thousands of images at each location – and if that’s what works for you, by all means, keep doing it! For me, the problem with that approach is that I can’t process all those photos. So, if I shoot and keep that many, most will never get any attention. Worse – the good ones get lost in amongst the junk. On an average day, I’ll leave a location with 2 to 5 images (maybe as many as 20 if I’m bracketing). Even if I visit several locations in a single day – and get great skies all day long – I won’t end up with more images than I can handle.

So the question is this… how hard is it for you to delete photos as you shoot? I know lots of photographers who won’t delete anything until they see the image at full size on a good monitor… and others who don’t delete at all. Ever.

Do you come home with 50 shots? Or 5000?

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