September 1, 2014
Fog And Clouds, Boulders, and Cascades, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

I've reached Jasper National Park, and more importantly the Jasper townsite, after four nights in northern Banff National Park and southern Jasper National Park. So here are three images from my time in the boonies without internet. There was some nice fog and low clouds five mornings ago, and they really helped define the layers in this image.

Mistaya Canyon is a fantastic slot canyon where the Mistaya River gets squeezed and thunders through. It's wonderful to look at, but I really enjoy photographing the boulders just upstream. Their arrangement changes every year after the heavy spring runoff so there are always new compositions to find. By using a polarizer to maximize the reflections and a 3-stop solid neutral density filter to lengthen the exposure, I was able to create an image that I knew would work great in black-and-white.

Nigel Creek is another favorite location for photographing cascades, and I was initially disappointed when I arrived this year because the water level was much higher than usual and prevented access to a specific location where I had planned to shoot. I explored some other areas and found a great composition that I knew would work well in black-and-white.