Lake Louise – 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.

Lake #2

Heath OFee — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:10:05 +0000

The second lake I hit on my mountain journey last week was Lake Louise – one of the most well known lakes in Banff National Park. I can almost guarantee you that it’s been shot by every photographer that comes to Banff, but I still can’t get enough of it. It’s just so picturesque and it looks a little bit different every time I visit. Last week the distant peaks were shrouded in circling cloud – something I’d never seen before, so I was happy to be able to capture it.

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

Roadside Falls

Heath OFee — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:10:10 +0000

While I was in the Lake Louise area with Rick Louie last week, I took a bit of time to experiment with some long exposures on film. Armed with my Canon Elan 7 and a roll of Kodak Ektar 100, I let loose for a few exposures on the roadside falls we found. I polished the roll off a couple nights ago and got it developed and scanned last night – and boy was I happy with the results. Ektar has great colour saturation and punchy contrast which is just how I like my landscape images, oh, and there’s hardly any visible grain, which is crazy. I’ll definitely be shooting more Ektar in the future.

#FilmFriday

Equipment:
– Canon Elan 7
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer
– Kodak Ektar 100

Cool Water

Heath OFee — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:10:36 +0000

Last Sunday and Monday I had the pleasure of meeting and shooting with Rick Louie of Hansrico Photography. He was up in my neck of the woods from his home in Colorado on a photography trip with 8 or 9 other shooters from across North America. Sounds like they had a great time in and around the Banff area and I was happy to be able to spend an evening with them all.

The first spot Rick wanted to hit with me was a small hillside creek that created a ridiculous quantity of small waterfalls. He and the crew had stumbled upon the location earlier in the trip, and I’m glad they did as I could have spent hours shooting these little falls. Below is one of my faves from that location.

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

Casual Seating

Heath OFee — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:19:42 +0000

Busy morning today, so sorry for the short post.

This is a shot from the upper level of the Chateau Lake Louise lobby in Banff National Park.

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

Chateau Lake Louise Foyer

Heath OFee — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:19:36 +0000

I’ve said this before, but the Chateau Lake Louise is an amazing hotel in a very amazing location. This is another of the shots I took on my brief visit there earlier this year and I think it may be one of my favorites. On the left you can see the check in counter, and the main entrance is just out of frame to the right. I thought about taking a shot looking in from the entrance, but I felt that this composition with the grand staircase in the background was much better.

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

Columns and Couches

Heath OFee — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:37:45 +0000

On my trip to the mountains a while back, I probably spent a good couple of hours walking around the Chateau Lake Louise looking for interesting spots to shoot. The architecture and vibrant colors in the hotel make it an absolute joy to capture, and I’m sure most of you have seen the previous photos I’ve published from my time at the Chateau. This shot was taken upstairs almost directly above the main lobby. The columns, fireplace and corner bench couches made this huge sitting room a must to photograph. I can just picture skiers who have come back to the Chateau sitting here in front of the fireplace chatting about the day with a nice warm cup of hot chocolate or coffee…hmmm…maybe I’ll have to do that next winter! Hope you enjoy it:

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

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

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.

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.