Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #2

 

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfalls #1

Now time for a look at the stars of the show at Johnston Canyon - the waterfalls - of which there are many.  Adjusting to my preferred shutter speed setting of 1/10 sec, I did my best to steady the Bigger Cahoona using a tree or pathway railing.  Considering these were handheld, most turned out better than expected.  The surroundings were deliberately kept a little darker to highlight the falls themselves.

Same at more normal shutter speed below:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Cliffside Forestette

"Where life can exist, it will."  Another post that reminds me of this phenomenon...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Vertical Panorama

Another rare, successfully-stitched vertical panorama (2 shots).  

Took a look at some of the other pics online of this creek; the color of the water was saturated quite a bit to bring out the blue, so I did the same here (to a lesser degree, just 25%) and am pleased with the result.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Tree-topped Bookmarks

 

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Smooth Walls

Would be interesting to know the reason for the sudden change in this portion of the canyon wall.  At first glance it's easy to imagine a bear living in the caves at the top or bottom, but probably not...must have been created by seasonal heavy rains or snows over the centuries.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Cliffside Walkway

And how is it possible to capture these pictures from such a good vantage point?  Incredibly, they attached the walkway to the cliffsides so that they literally jut out above the creek, as can be seen in the upper-left above.  And it was maintained so well - no rust, trash, or run-down look.  This is what we encountered on all of our hikes in Banff.  The Canadians do a very good job of maintaining their parks...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Craggy Walls

Very typical of the canyon wall; for these I used an extra measure of sharpening in post-capture to bring out the cragginess of the rocks.

Another typical scene below:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Johnston Creek

Immediately after starting on the trail we crossed the star of the show, Johnston Creek, which flows southward to the Bow River a couple of miles away.  The foreground was kept deliberately dark to highlight the flowing waters in this and the two focus-shifted pics below:

Canadian Rockies - Johston Canyon, Trailhead sign

This is what we saw at the trailhead...not good news for my sciatica!  But I "soldiered on", as state previously.  The goal was to make it to the Upper Falls.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Sunlit Tree

As we were headed for the entrance gate I saw these leaves lit up by a ray of sunshine peeking between the trees.  Clouds were on the move so I had to scramble to make adjustments on the Bigger Cahoona to capture the moment.  Three seconds after this was snapped the clouds again obscured the sun, making this guy look like just another tree...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Entrance Sign and Crow

We all eagerly anticipated visiting Johnston Canyon, as others reported that it's one of the best hikes in the entire Banff park system.  Turns out they were absolutely correct.  This is what greeted us on our way in after parking.

Also here was a very large crow which was obviously used to being in the presence of humans, as it allowed us to get very close:

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Reflection Shot with Canoeists

A new word for me, canoeist.

Another look across the lake, reserved as one of the best-for-last of the Emerald Lake posts.  This was a magical shoot for me, on a par with the Byland Abbey in Yorkshire.  The location ticked several of my photographic boxes:  way, way out there in the middle of nowhere; great place to take pictures of all kinds; mountainous terrain with ample trails, etc.

Just two more locations to cover; the next place we visited was Johnston Canyon.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Evergreen Silhouette

Out of the bazillion silhouette shots out there...there's still room for one more.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Canoe Rental Focus Shift

Were it not for the mop bucket...

De-saturated the color by 30 percent to reduce its distractability, but still, it's there...

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Firewood Delivery Method

The remaining few posts from Emerald Lake will be random shots captured here and there, beginning with this conspicuously modern method of delivering firewood up to the cabins.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Bi-colored Evergreen Sprigs

This I found interesting with the two colors along the same stem.  And it appears that the phenomenon occurs on more than one species, per below:

Captured one with three colors, to be posted later with the Moraine Lake pictures.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Open Field on Western Shore Hike

Much of the land in the Banff National Park is wild, and fortunately protected.  This scene greeted us while hiking the trail along the western shore of the lake.  I overheard a guide saying that not one, but two grizzlies were sighted recently close to one of the trailheads here, and it's easy to imagine seeing them romp in terrain like this.

Later in the day we hiked another trail that supposedly led up to a waterfall.  It was just the six of us and the trail was a little rough, with lots of roots and rocks, so it was slow going.  A little more than halfway there I began to get anxious, because if a bear - or anything - popped out of the forest we would have no chance to make a quick getaway.  Thus, we turned around to play it safe.  As it turned out the "waterfall" had pretty much dried up anyway for lack of snowmelt, so no worse for the experience.

Colorado Rockies - Emerald Lake, Quaint Bridge

Winding our way along the western shore, caught a few such as this one with a zoomed-in shot of the bridge below; reflections untouched in both:

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Western Shore #5

Used the tree on the left to play with depth of field a little bit, though the mountains were left alone and retained the bluish haze that was largely repaired in most other posted photos.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Western Shore #4

Once we headed down the trailhead, the Bigger Cahoona and I saw opportunities for a different kinds of shots, the cradle (3/4 window) pic above being an example.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Western Shore #3

The reflection is not touched up in a layer of its own in this 2-shot panorama, and one can see the difference when comparing it with the previous couple of posts.  Didn't take the time to select around the limbs of the fallen tree, but still not bad...

If I were to make or sell prints of these, would probably replace the sky with a blue one, perhaps even adding a few puffy clouds.

Wider view below incorporating more of the mountains with their reflection:

 

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Western Shore #2

Another one best viewed on a large screen, this also is a 3-shot panorama.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Upended Reflection Shot of Western Shore

This is a teeny bit "out there", but saw a picture one time that upended a reflection shot that looked pretty good.  Inspired thus, this grab from yesterday's post is not a reflection, but the same idea applies.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Western Shore #1 (best viewed on a LARGE SCREEN)

As an extension of what was posted yesterday, this is a 3-shot panorama that includs some of the mountains in the background.

If you're viewing this on a larger screen (i.e. not a phone or tablet), click to enlarge, then zoom in to see the incredible detail that the Bigger Cahoona has on offer.  Would print nicely at six feet across.

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Canoe Rental Facility

Don't know how much it cost here, but later on at Moraine Lake we saw a price sheet quoting almost $100 per hour (USD; $130 Canadian) to rent a canoe.  Think I'll be sticking to shore...

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Blue Canoe Reflection

 

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Lodge with Unedited Lake Reflection

This pic gives a pretty good idea on what the lake looked like with reflection untouched.  While I like the picture, it would have been too much trouble to fiddle with selecting out just the lake with all the foliage in the foreground. 

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Mountains and Cabin Cluster with Reflection

Another reflection shot from across the lake.  Note how refraction darkens the highlights in the reflection.

Cropped to just the cabins with trees below.  Even though it was broad daylight at the time, the general darkness of this image almost makes it look like a shot captured at dusk.  I tend to adjust a little on the dark side in my posts because the pictures are being shown against a black background.

 

Canadian Rockies - Emerald Lake, Lodge and Cabins (best viewed on a LARGE SCREEN)

 

...and speaking of reflections, this is a view of the lodge office from across the lake, as well as the cabins available for rent.  I'd bet that one would have to book a couple of years in advance to get one of these jewels in the "Jewel of the Rockies".  Just my kind of place, as this location is very remote and extraordinarily beautiful.  Now I have to plant the seed to get the wife on board...