Banff National Park – heath ofee dot com

moraine, louise, and agnes

Heath OFee — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 14:30:11 +0000

I paid a visit to a few of the most popular lakes in Banff National Park last week.

I love our Canadian Rockies.

Peyto Lake

Heath OFee — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:10:12 +0000

#FilmFriday is back today with an image I shot of Peyto Lake in Banff National Park.

I love the faded look of this shot – it makes me feel like I’ve stepped back in time.

Equipment:
– Mamiya 645 1000s
– Mamiya Sekor C 80mm f/2.8
– Kodak Portra 400

Lake #4

Heath OFee — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:10:33 +0000

After visiting Lake Louise, I made a short trek up the Icefields Parkway to both Bow Lake and Peyto Lake. Today’s image is of the latter which is known as ‘the bluest lake in the Rockies’. The colour of the lake in the photo below is an accurate representation of what I saw when I was there – it’s just crazy blue!

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10 stop ND Filter

Vermilion Sunrise

Heath OFee — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:10:01 +0000

It had been a long time since I last shot a sunrise, so when Rick and his gang suggested we hit the Vermilion Lakes just outside the Banff townsite, I was pretty excited. We awoke about an hour before the sun was to rise and made the longer-than-expected drive from Lake Louise back to the Vermilion Lakes. Unfortunately, the lack of clouds in the sky made the pre-dawn light a bit less than ideal, but as soon as the sun rose above the mountains the lakes were bathed in delicious golden light.

There were probably 8 or 10 photographers in this area when the sun came up all jostling for a few great compositions that were to be had with some rocks and tree stumps in the water. In an effort to avoid the crowd and find something unique, I ventured just a little ways away and found this little dock which I instantly loved. I spent a good amount of time framing a bunch of shots in this location and couldn’t be happier with what I came home with.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– LEE Filters Foundation Kit
– Lee 4×4 3-stop ND Filter

Mountain Colours

Heath OFee — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:10:54 +0000

I realize I’ve been loading the blog with images from Lake Minnewanka this week, but I just couldn’t resist posting this shot for #FilmFriday. While I was taking some long exposures, I snapped a few shots with the Holga, and this is by far the best. I just can’t get enough of that amazing light on the mountainside.

Minnewanka

Heath OFee — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:10:24 +0000

One of the stops the Chris’s and I made on the way back to Golden from Banff was at Lake Minnewanka. I vaguely remembered being brought to this amazing mountain lake when I was a child, but had no recollection of how stunning it was. We arrived a couple hours before sunset, and the light was pretty fantastic…especially on the mountainside featured in the image below.

I will be going back to Lake Minnewanka later this summer. For sure. The beauty is amazing, and we really only spent time on a very small portion of the shoreline…there’s so much left to explore, and I can’t wait.

Chateau Lake Louise Sitting Room with a View

Heath OFee — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:54:07 +0000

This was one of the last places I visited during my last trip to the Chateau Lake Louise and I’m very happy that I did. I was pretty sure this would make a decent HDR photo because of the very dramatic difference in light levels between the view through the window and the ambient light in the hotel. I just processed this one last night and I’m quite happy with the results…when I look at this photo I feel like I’m back at the Chateau looking at that beautiful view! Let me know what you think:

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 8.0, ISO 100, 5 Exposures

The details: 5 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, layer masking in Photoshop, contrast, clarity, sharpening in Lightroom, noise reduction in Noiseware.

Pathway to the Falls

Heath OFee — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:57:05 +0000

Wow, is spring/summer ever busy! I don’t think we have a free weekend from now until the end of June…crazy. Needless to say, I haven’t been out shooting too much in the last week because things have been so busy. While I try to find some more inspiration, here’s a photo from my trip up to Johnston Canyon a few weeks ago. This was probably half-way up the trail to the falls and I thought the curving pathway and trees made for a pretty cool scene. Let me know what you think:

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 8.0, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

The details: 3 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, color, contrast, clarity in Lightroom and noise reduction in Noiseware.

A Frozen Lake Louise

Heath OFee — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:13:25 +0000

I haven’t done this since I started posting one photo per week, but since I didn’t get out to do any shooting since my trip to the mountains last Monday, I’m going to post another photo from that trip. This is my first attempt at a black and white HDR image…the colors were kinda dull but there was plenty of contrast to play with so I thought a B&W conversion might be nice. I probably could have done without the HDR treatment on this image, but it helped pull out some of the detail in the partial reflection of the mountains. I’ll definitely be heading back to Lake Louise this summer to get a similar shot to present in full color with a full reflection in the lake…at least that’s my goal

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 20mm, F 8.0, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

The details: 3 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, black and white conversion, curves, and saturation adjustments in Lightroom, masked in original sky in Photoshop, noise reduction using Noiseware.

Chateau Lake Louise

Heath OFee — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:55:23 +0000

I took yesterday and today off work and made a trip out to the mountains to nab some photos. I was really hoping that the mountain lakes would be thawed by now so that I could do some experimenting with mountain reflections in water…but that turned out to be wishful thinking as the lakes in Banff National Park are still almost completely frozen. My first stop was Lake Louise and after seeing the lake still frozen I decided to head into the Chateau for some interior photos. It had been a long time since I was last in the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and it didn’t disappoint. Although it seemed a little smaller than I remember, the lobby and great room leading into the Lakeview Lounge are very impressive. Below is a shot looking from the lobby towards the Lakeview Lounge.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 8.0, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

The details: 3 exposure HDR (-2,0,+2) tonemapped in Photomatix, adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop, noise reduction using Noiseware.

After my time at Lake Louise I hit Johnston Canyon on the way back to Calgary and made the hike all the way to the upper falls despite the semi-treacherous trail (still covered with ice in some sections). I’ve gone through a couple of those photos and it looks as though I’ve got some keepers. I’ll be sharing those sometime in the future.