I had never had the opportunity to travel to Alberta before, so when I was asked to do a whirlwind, multi-locations day shoot I said: “Heck yeah!”. My first day in Alberta was a bit of a blur. It mostly included a LOT of driving and setting up and tearing down my pop up studio 3 times in: Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton and then back to Calgary again.

I got back to my hotel around midnight after leaving my room just before 7AM. Needless to say, I fell right on my face and onto the bed when the door to my hotel room swung opened.

The next morning was all MINE! I had plans of driving from Calgary to Banff National Park and seeing Lake Louise for the very first time! I was stoked! Then, it happened! My Macbook Pro started acting up… I couldn’t boot it… I spent a couple of hours on chat with Apple as I gazed outside my hotel window as the day was slipping away from me…two hours later nothing could be done, I would have to bring it in for a repair (It turned out that I needed to replace the display).

But I digress. Where was I? Ah yes, I was 2 hours behind schedule. I grabbed my gear and a tripod and zipped down to my rental car and hit the road.

Driving out of Calgary on the Trans-Canada highway was not what I had expected. It seemed like any other regular road you’d see in any big city. It’s funny how your mind can build up an image and experience prior to actually seeing it.

A couple hours into the drive I started to see the beginnings of the mountain ranges. Living in Ontario, I haven’t see mountains in years. I always feel incredibly small in their presence.

Rolling up to the entrance to Banff National Park, I waited in a looooooong line of cars to pay the entrance fee. 10-15 minutes later I was through and on my way. I had a GoPro mounted to the windshield to capture some of the drive. Because there is no monitor on the Hero 3+, I had to remember when I hit record and when I hit pause. I most definitely got that messed up because the things I thought I was filming and what I actually filmed were two different things. Doh!

Banff was my first stop! What a picturesque town. I found the main drag that was dotted with patios and people enjoying the sunshine. During the trip the BC wildfires were really causing chaos, it was quite smokey during my adventure and you can see that in these shots.

I jumped back on the road and headed towards my destination, Lake Louise! I’ve seen those waters and mountains in photos and videos for years and I couldn’t believe that I was finally going to see them with my own two beady eyes!

So, earlier I mentioned that I was out in Alberta for a few photoshoots. During one of the sessions I was chatting with a partner of the firm I was shooting and we got to talking. I had mentioned that I was taking a day to head out to Lake Louise. He gave me some great locals advice. He had mentioned that as I drive towards Lake Louise there is an overflow parking lot a few kilometres away from the lake. He said the crowds are crazy there and that the parking lots are usually filled and then closed. He suggested that I take the shuttle to and from the lake.

Did I do that? Nope! Should I have done that? Nope. I rolled the dice and decided to go for it. I am super glad I did. I rolled right up into the parking lot to the left of the Fairmont hotel. Bonus!

I walked down a short pathway towards the lake. As I got closer, I was getting more and more excited! Then, it happened!