chadmcmahon
chadmcmahon
Elbow Falls Sunset

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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cameraCanon EOS 6D

settings Aperture f/16 ISO 100 Shutter 1/4 Focal Length 40/1 

upload_dateOct, 2015

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18835

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50 Comments | Report
GaetaJ PRO+
 
GaetaJ February 02, 2016
Simply Incredible. Amazing work
nickywarren
 
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
melissavines36
 
melissavines36 March 06, 2016
Absolutely stunning!
vbtricia_coughlan584731
 
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.
keljosh2021
 
keljosh2021 April 02, 2016
wow nice
lito
 
lito April 02, 2016
Beautiful!
nlhammondphotography PRO+
 
nlhammondphotography April 04, 2016
Incredible! Makes me want to step out of my imaginary log cabin and see this view! Outstanding work!
Pamelabole PRO
 
Pamelabole April 04, 2016
Beautiful! And congrats on your award!!!!! ????
Scherk
 
Scherk April 05, 2016
I have been here in the winter. Stunning place. I have pretty much the same shot with snow around. Congrats.
gk1701
 
gk1701 April 06, 2016
A stunning picture!!
barbaramillesrobinson PRO+
 
barbaramillesrobinson May 18, 2016
Gorgeous Capture! Voted Simple Landscape. Good Luck to you!
jcnewman
 
jcnewman July 01, 2016
Gorgeous colors!
adrianbarker
 
adrianbarker July 15, 2016
Write a comment
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 July 15, 2016
Incredible!!
mawee
 
mawee July 16, 2016
WOW!!!! that's all I can say! beautiful!
tonelock
 
tonelock July 17, 2016
incredible
LuciaH Platinum
 
LuciaH July 17, 2016
This is a beautiful picture !!! I love it !
pauloliver_6488
 
pauloliver_6488 July 17, 2016
I would love to be somewhere like that photo has a great feeling about it
tetvet PRO+
 
tetvet July 19, 2016
nice job, gorgeous image
IanWL Platinum
 
IanWL July 19, 2016
Absolutely superb lighting - great image!
Brad03
 
Brad03 July 24, 2016
This is simply amazing. I love this photo!!!!
Anon_1234 Ultimate
 
Anon_1234 July 25, 2016
Absolutely stunning! Well done!
Barbpsp4
 
Barbpsp4 July 26, 2016
I cannot find words good enough to describe this vision. Thank you.
JyoScapes PRO+
 
JyoScapes August 02, 2016
WOW!!
SuperPhotos PRO
 
SuperPhotos August 09, 2016
Nicely done!
LauraEm
 
LauraEm August 13, 2016
This place is near and dear to my heart as I live close by. Great job. Voted!!
annahazlewood PRO
 
annahazlewood September 24, 2016
Stunning
kariwatkins PRO+
 
kariwatkins September 25, 2016
absolutely stunning! I miss Southern Alberta
Beegirl
 
Beegirl October 03, 2016
Very Nice capture
Mermaid_seawolf
 
Mermaid_seawolf November 30, 2016
Stunning
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 February 03, 2017
Congrats!! シ
StevenWalker7270
 
StevenWalker7270 February 03, 2017
very cool photo
jospoelmans
 
jospoelmans February 04, 2017
Very Good
innafangel
 
innafangel February 08, 2017
Amazing
MaxRastello
 
MaxRastello February 13, 2017
A spectacular shot
brendadbusskohl
 
brendadbusskohl February 16, 2017
Absolutely Beautiful! This has the 'WOW" Factor in spades!
bathsalt
 
bathsalt February 24, 2017
Amazing photo!!
Eboyer Ultimate
 
Eboyer March 02, 2017
Very well done. Awesome capture and processing great.
sophiakjohnson
 
sophiakjohnson March 27, 2017
This is so beautiful
Alfredo_Jose
 
Alfredo_Jose June 15, 2017
Superb shot!
kathyk_abq
 
kathyk_abq July 02, 2017
Stunning shot!
MMdecker
 
MMdecker July 02, 2017
Gorgeous!
stigmartinandersen
 
stigmartinandersen October 04, 2017
Ansolutely stunning landscape??
Alwolfe Premium
 
Alwolfe October 09, 2017
Outstanding shot!
Shamrocks71 PRO
 
Shamrocks71 December 17, 2017
Beautiful
micksterjohnston
 
micksterjohnston January 16, 2018
Elbow falls is very beautiful
Ibraheem_ALSinjlawi
 
Ibraheem_ALSinjlawi June 06, 2018
Awesome one ! Good job
ackmaui
 
ackmaui November 24, 2018
beautiful
PeteBobb
 
PeteBobb August 21, 2019
Magical Light!
SharkLover
 
SharkLover Apr 10
I love this photo it reminds me of me and my sisters

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#Elbow Falls #kananaskis #alberta #canada #sunset #waterfall #mountain
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Behind The Lens

Location
This photo was taken at Elbow Falls in beautiful Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada
Time
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.

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