Elbow Falls Sunset
I was extremely lucky that the storm that had been raging all day dissipated and left us with a beautiful sunset. Even after being ravaged by the terrible floo...
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I was extremely lucky that the storm that had been raging all day dissipated and left us with a beautiful sunset. Even after being ravaged by the terrible flooding in Alberta back in 2013, this area is still one of my favourite places to visit and photograph.
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Oct, 2015Views
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Awards
Legendary Award
2020 Choice Award
Contest Finalist in HDR Beautiful Shots Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 28 Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Along The River Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 24 Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in HDR Colors Photo Contest Explore Series
Contest Finalist in Colors and Mood Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 30
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Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 21 Photo Contest
Runner Up in The Four Elements Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 20 Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Water World Photo Contest Outside Views
Contest Finalist in The Four Elements Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Exploring The Wilderness Photo Contest
Peer Award
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nickywarren
February 11, 2016
this is stunning...i have just recently got a camera and have work out today how to get the timings right for this kind of shot...i just need a tripod now as the static rocks are a little blurred...i hope to match this magical picture soon xx
vbtricia_coughlan584731
April 01, 2016
I love this shot. I lived in Calgary for almost 2 years, and this was one of my favourite places to explore.
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nlhammondphotography
April 04, 2016
Incredible! Makes me want to step out of my imaginary log cabin and see this view! Outstanding work!
PRO
Scherk
April 05, 2016
I have been here in the winter. Stunning place. I have pretty much the same shot with snow around. Congrats.
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Platinum
pauloliver_6488
July 17, 2016
I would love to be somewhere like that photo has a great feeling about it
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Elbow Falls in beautiful Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CanadaTime
This particular photo was captured immediately after sunset at 9:34pm on July 12, 2015. I arrived at Elbow falls around 8:30pm to give myself plenty of time to find a good location to capture the falls before the sun started setting. This is a very popular spot, so it took some time waiting for the crowds to disperse as the sun started setting to get setup in this 'perfect' location. What those folks leaving as the sun set didn't realize is that Elbow Falls becomes exponentially more beautiful as dusk and sunset approaches! I was the only person remaining at the falls at the time of capture, and it was one of those surreal moments you'll never forget!Lighting
It had been rainy and stormy all day, but the forecast called for a partly cloudy evening. I decided to take a gamble and make the 1 hour drive from Calgary, AB in anticipation of a beautiful sunset. Mother nature didn't disappoint and blessed me with a partly cloudy sunset, bringing out some of the most beautiful blues, purples, pinks and oranges I've ever seen in a sunset!Equipment
This photo was captured using a Canon EF 17-40mm F/4L USM lens at 40mm on my Canon 6D in portrait orientation. I also used a Singh Ray warming circular polarizer, which added an extra punch of warming light to the image. My tripod is your basic Giottos VGRN Aluminum tripod with a ball head. It's not the best or most heavy-duty tripod out there, but it gets the job done!Inspiration
I've seen many photos of Elbow Falls over the years and noticed that most of them are taken in mid-day sunlight. Trust me, Elbow falls is still beautiful in mid-day sun, but I really wanted to capture the falls during the golden hour during sunset. An added advantage of capturing waterfalls during golden hour is that there's typically lower ambient light, which allows you to lower the shutter speed. This is what gives waterfalls that gorgeous silky look.Editing
Yes, this photo is actually a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image comprised of 3 images captured at F/16 with differing shutter speeds in order to capture all the details from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. If I only used one correctly exposed image, I would have either had to clip the highlights in the sky or miss the shadow detail in the rocks. The under-exposed image was taken at 1/4s, the correctly exposed image was taken 2 stops brighter at 1.0s, and the over-exposed image was 2 stops brighter yet at 4.0s. The images were combined in Adobe Lightroom using the Photo Merge-HDR functionality to create one single 32bit HDR image. The image was then tweaked in Lightroom with some small additional tweaks using Nik's Color Efex Pro 4 via layers in Adobe Photoshop CC.In my camera bag
Most of my images are of my beautiful children, so I rarely use my Canon EF 17-40mm F/4L lens except for Landscapes. Indoors, I'm most often using either my Canon EF 35mm F/2 IS USM or Canon EF 24-105mm F/4L IS USM with my Canon 430 EXII speed light. Outdoors I use my absolute favourite lens for portraits of the kids, PERIOD! The Canon EF 135mm F/2L USM. This lens is by far the sharpest lens I own and creates gorgeous images, even wide open at F/2. Most of the photos of my children on ViewBug were captured using the Canon 135mm. I also own a Canon EF 70-200mm F/4 IS USM, which is the most common lens I use in my home studio.Feedback
My biggest piece of advice is to scout out your locations ahead of time before shooting. That way you can be prepared and setup for the time you want to start shooting. My other piece of advice is to shoot any other time of day besides the middle of the day, because the middle of the day produces harsh direct sunlight. If you look at Elbow Falls at 12:00pm and compare it to 9:30pm, it changes from an "ok" place to an absolutely magical place. Some of the best landscape images out there, (in my opinion) are shot before/during/immediately after sunrise and before/during/immediately after sunset. In this case, I shot Elbow Falls immediately after sunset when the clouds were at their most brilliant.
