Sunrise at Moraine Lake which is in Banff National Park near Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. This was taken from the rock pile....
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Sunrise at Moraine Lake which is in Banff National Park near Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. This was taken from the rock pile.
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Contest Finalist in Mountain Captures Photo Contest
People's Choice in Beautiful mountain and landscape Photo Challenge
Spring 21 Award
9Teen Award
Contest Finalist in The Shades Of Blue Photo Contest
Celebrity Award
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Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was captured from the bottom of the "rock pile" about 15 feet above the water leve. The 'rock pile' is at the north end of the lake. I had been higher up on the pile but did not like the distractions of people in my way as well as pine trees. I was trying to capture the full reflection of the ten peaks in the background. I also wanted to capture the sunlight as it just hit the mountain tops.Time
I arrived while it was still dark in order to get a parking spot. It was about 6:00 AM when I arrived and there were only 4 parking spots left. I walked immediately up the rock pile about halfway and set up my tripod and camera and captured a few long exposures. Then started working my way down lower for the composition I had in my mind. It took some time to move down and I finally got set up for this image by around 7:30 AM but there was a little wind on the water and clouds were delaying the light on the tops of the mountains. The wind finally settled down and the sun came out from behind some clouds to the east right around 8:00 AM and I started shooting. Actual sunrise was about 7:05 AM.Lighting
I had to wait for the right lighting due to low clouds to the east but when the sun hit the mountains it still had a bit of red color to it. I also used an ND filter to get about 1/2 second exposure, which helped with the reflection and lighting.Equipment
For this image I used a Canon 5DsR with Canon EF24-105 f/4L II IS USM Lens with a Lee 0.9 ND filter on a Gitzo Tripod.Inspiration
I had seen pictures of Lake Moraine and wanted to capture the lake along with a reflection of the mountains south of the lake at sunrise. I also had hopes of some clouds in the sky but that did not happen so I worked with what I was given. I did some research using Photographers Ephermis as well as talking to a friend of mine here in View Bug, mgenkova. My friend was an extremely valuable source of information, not only for this location but others in near Jasper and Banff.Editing
I used Lightroom followed by On1 Photo Raw Effects. Lightroom as my main photo editing program and for this shot it only needed some very minor adjustments to highlights, shadows, white and black clipping. I finished the editing in On1 Effects to improve the contrast, reduce noise and sharpen.. I find Effects has excellent noise reduction.In my camera bag
I have two bags. One for mostly landscapes with a Canon full frame camera (in this case a 5DsR) along with my go to lense the EF 24-105mm f/4L II IS USM zoom I also carry a Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8 and EF70-200mm f/2.8 with various ND and CPL filters. In my other bag I have it set up for wildlife and macro with a Canon 7D Mk II and EF100-400 f/3.5-5.6 zoom and EF 100mm Macro. Both bags also have spare batteries, a charger and several memory cards and a remote shutter controller.Feedback
Planning, Planning and more Planning. I have found people here on VB as excellent sources. I look for photos from an area I am traveling to and then contact the photographer and ask questions. Besides getting tips on best time to go you also get information on the necessity to be somewhere at at a certain time due to access issues such as parking. I also am a firm believer in using tools such as Photographers Ephermis. This particular image was taken on day 12 of a 30 day trip down the Rocky Mountains from Jasper to Colorado, which did not include the time from home to Jasper or Colorado to home. I spent several months planning this trip and making reservations and had a lot of help from photographer friends.