Moraine Lake Blue Hour
Description
This breathtaking blue hour scene captures the pristine beauty of turquoise waters surrounded by majestic mountains of Lake Moraine in Banff National Park, Canada.
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This image is available for the following products: Metal Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints, Acrylic Wall Prints, Giclee Fine Art Prints
Location
Moraine Lake, Alberta
Background
Moraine Lake in Banff National Park is considered by many to the the crown jewel of the glacier lakes in this area of Canada. I knew when visiting this area in August of 2023 that I would want to capture this iconic shot from what is called the “Rockpiles” and i knew i’d want to capture it at blue hour. Blue hour is the 30-45 minutes before sunrise or after sunset. The challenge during the summer is that the only access to this area requires snagging a shuttle reservation to get there and back and we were only allotted a small window of time to do this.
It was a 3:30 am wake-up at our hotel in Banff, followed by an hour drive to Lake Louise to meet the shuttle. From there, a thirty minute shuttle ride drops off in the parking area and short steep hike in the dark to ascend the Rockpiles. It was around 5:20am when we made it up and i scrambled to find a composition for the shot. I often find I enjoy shooting landscape images in portrait orientation because it helps narrow the focus of the subject. I found a composition where I had pines framing both sides and opening to a view of the lake, mountains and sky. I snapped a few test images and then waited for the light to get perfect and captured this shot. Our shuttle back to Lake Louise was leaving at 6:30 so we had to scurry back down the trail. We never did get to see the sun hit the peaks, but that was ok with me. I much prefer the magic that happens before the sun appears.
