Banff and Jasper National Park, Canada Photo Gallery
Images from my recent trip into the Banff and Jasper National Park area of Canada. I have split this up into two categories. Mountains and lakes for the first photo gallery. The second gallery is made up of waterfalls from both the Banff and Jasper areas.
Below are links to download two high res maps of photo locations in banff and Jasper National Park. Feel free to download and share with anyone. I spent a lot of time collecting info and contacting other photographers in the area asking advice of specific locations. All the info I gathered has been placed on this page so book mark it for future reference.
I want to start this report off first by saying I spent a lot of time researching images searching for photo locations. I always create a word document with the spots and photos of the area I want to go and see. During my search I came across a local photographers website in the area who’s name is Paul Zika. He is also a guide for photographers and puts on workshops in Banff and Jasper. I had emailed him with questions and he was a great help offering tips on the spots I had picked out and letting me know which were morning or evening locations.
You can visit his website here to find out more about him and what he offers, http://www.zizka.ca/ My goals for the next trip back will be more towards looking for the more remote and not often seen areas of Banff and Jasper and we will be calling on him again.
Our time in Banff was a mere nine days. And as usually, I tried to cram as much into this time as possible. In my opinion, if you only have a week, focus your time on just one of the three parks in the area. I was only able to explore some of the waterfalls in the Jasper area. But I have already dedicated time to return to the Banff and Jasper area next year.
Most of the time my write ups are made up of tips and location spots for other people seeking info for their own trip. So in the same spirit, that will be the bulk of this report. I will start it off from the perspective that you will be staying in Banff. And most of the info on this page will be about the mountain and lake areas. On the rainy and overcast days, I moved onto the waterfall locations and will have all the info on those in the waterfall gallery. Click on the thumbnail about to view that page or click here.
We flew in to Calgary real late and made it into Banff around 2am. It takes about an hour and a half to get there. Woke up at 6am to get my first morning shot. Coming in at night and not knowing the layout, my first spot was the Vermillion Lakes area. It’s only five minutes away with numerous shooting locations. I came back here several times to shoot both sunset and sunrise. There are three different lakes here so take your pic. I personally liked the swampy marsh areas best near lake number one.
The second location that is closest to Banff I hit pretty hard was Two Jack Lake. Banff Ave. will take you heading south to Lake Minnetonka scenic drive. From there you will see the road to Two Jack Lake which is only 6km from the turn off.
Two Jack Lake is both a sunrise and sunset location. I was greeted with foggy mornings a lot but got lucky twice here getting some great sunrise shots. A waterfall called Cascade Falls will great you to your left on the side of a mountain as you head into this area. But the hike up to it to get up close and personal is straight up. It’s a very step hike.
Below are my notes and info I gathered coresponding with local photographer Paul Zizka:
Johnston Canyon - great place for long waterfall exposures, busy though, might be really nice with leaves floating around. Consider hiking on to the Ink Pots, which are very colorful during the fall.
Giant Steps waterfall - great place, especially with the larches turning during the fall. All of Paradise Valley is fantastic
Mistaya Canyon - Great spot, especially at dawn, cool potholes if you walk down the south side of the creek.
Panther Falls – Great photo spot. There is a trail leading to a ledge halfway up the falls where you can shoot from behind the curtain of water (better than shooting it from the bottom IMO)
Lake Agnes - Beautiful during the fall.
Peyto Lake - absolute must but need to be creative to get a shot no one else has taken (bring prop?)
Peyto Meadows - for sure, rarely photographed
Bow Lake - One of the best photo spots in the Rockies for sure. Lots to work with! Best in early morning
Lake Louise - Best in AM when Victoria Glacier is on fire
Emerald Lake - Not quite as spectacular as the other "famous" lakes IMO but still very nice
Moraine Lake - Absolute must, best in AM
Morants Curve - The classic train shot; call Rocky Mtneer to know when the train will be coming from the West.
Eiffel Lake - Nice but Larch Valley way better (must)
Other Icefields Parkway locations (Mt Wilson, Athabasca Falls, Tangle Falls, etc,) - I would spend at least half my time on the Parkway - simply amazing, all best in the morning; don’t miss Waterfowl Lakes!
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