https://www.dtremblay.com/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/canada/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/united-states/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/homepage/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/iceland/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/norway/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/faroe-islands/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/ireland-and-northern-ireland/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/caribbean/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/personal-favorites/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/newly-released-work/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/blog-articles/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/the-art-of-focus-stacking/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/finding-impactful-foregrounds/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/the-power-of-long-exposures/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/prints/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/workshops/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/iceland-land-of-fire-and-ice/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/banff-winter-wonderland/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/banff-winterganza/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/photo-tours/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/photographing-winter-wonderland/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/there-really-is-no-excuse/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/camera-hacks-and-field-tips/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/tilt-and-shift-lenses/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/home-away-from-home/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/isnt-autumn-the-best-for-photography/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/finding-great-leading-lines/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/minimalist-and-intimate-photography/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/what-is-time-blending/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/grey-days-no-problem/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/all-i-want-for-christmas/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/ready-for-extreme-winter-photography/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/looking-for-a-frame/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/banff-autumn-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/more-camera-hacks-and-field-tips/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/2023-through-my-images/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/perfect-optical-filters/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/hunt-for-the-ideal-tripod/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/how-to-play-with-perspective/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/whats-in-my-camera-bag/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/most-frequently-asked-questions/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/have-you-seen-the-eclipse/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/wild-flower-photography-beautiful-but-capricious/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/have-you-considered-a-selfie/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/a-few-more-field-tips/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/gems-of-pacific-north-west/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/underestimating-my-own-backyard/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/which-lens-is-the-best-for-landscape-photography/ https://www.dtremblay.com/gallery/planning-landscape-photography-around-tides/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/about-me/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/comment-policy/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/customer-testimonials/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/education/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/partners/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/private-editing-session/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/private-in-field-session/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/publications/ https://www.dtremblay.com/page/subscribe/ https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/hanging-by-a-wire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A2000.jpg Hanging By A Wire Loyalsock State Forest, Pennsylvania, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/living-up-to-its-name/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A9200.jpg Living Up To Its Name? I have heard countless stories about that location…it being a real disappointment! The funniest thing is it's actually called Cape Disappointment State Park. I am not 100% sure why they called it that way but based on the comments I heard about it, it think it's fair to say that it did break a couple dreams! As a first time visitor at this location, I just wanted to see it and enjoy the view! I love my mountains in Alberta…they are my place where I feel at home! But I truly love a good coastal view too! I love the gentle ocean breeze, the smell of saline air, the sound of waves crashing against rugged rock walls…I just feel genuinely good near the ocean! This was going to be my very last opportunity to enjoy PNW and the atmosphere was very present. From this location, we can normally see Oregon across the bay…but the fog was so thick that I could barely see the lighthouse! The waves were becoming higher and higher by minutes…as a foreground, I chose to use a twisted piece of driftwood pointing at the lighthouse among many others which were all beautifully stacked in a very horizontal way…of course I would have enjoyed a beautiful and colourful sunset as we all love as landscape photographers but should I consider this a disappointment? Of course not! Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/picture-frame/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A5936.jpg Picture Frame I have been fascinated by framed compositions since years. In fact, everywhere I go, I always try to find some naturally framed compositions and it's not always easy…Forest photography can be so chaotic…it is extremely difficult to make sense of such densely populated scenes. Some forests can grow in a much lighter setup with lots of room between every trees making it breather more freely! That simply wasn't the case with most forests scenes I saw a few months ago in Oregon a few months ago… When walking near Latourell Falls, I spotted some really interesting trees which were close to each other and were forming such a beautiful frame. I loved the fact that they had some rich and vibrant moss covering most of their bark. And what made even more sense to me in this composition was that the ground was covered with beautiful ferns. The ferns played a huge role at breaking the shape patterns of the forest by adding a ton of lovely horizontal lines. And my main subject was beautifully shining in the middle top part of the frame! I think I did great at making something clean out of a very busy scene! Latourell Falls, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/season-of-many-hues/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1312.jpg Season of Many Hues Let's talk about a few seasons throughout the year…first, we have spring season. The season when everything starts to live again after a long break. New leaves start growing in every trees, new fresh vegetation starts popping out of the ground…I truly love spring season! And then comes summer…the season of heat! Speaking of heat, I don't know where you are located in the world but here in the Eastern part of North America, we had a very hot summer! And photographically speaking, every is so green. Tree leaves are green, every single plant is green which makes landscape photography kind of meh. There is barely any contrast in the forests… Finally, fall season! The season of so many hues! Temperature is finally coming down and days are becoming shorter which is the key factor why everything is changing colour! It's funny how everything looks so much more alive when in fact it is about to go dormant for the colder months of the year… My best way to put this into words would be to compare Britney Spears' singing talents to Luciano Pavarotti's! We are in a completely different league here! Fall season can sign with so much more elegance and passion then any other season of the year! Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennsylvania, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/of-apocalyptic-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1363.jpg Of Apocalyptic Beauty After witnessing a lovely sunset there the night before, enjoying a sunrise at this same spot the next morning wasn't part of my plans. In fact, all I wanted to capture in the morning was an easy shot on the beach right next to the campground. I spotted some beautiful boulders on the night before and I was sure they would create a gorgeous foreground. It didn't work that way in the morning since those big boulders were nowhere to be found! Tide was so high that the ocean simply swallowed them rocks! Plan B was to go for something sure…the sky was once again very promising so I didn't want to blow a chance to catch a lovely colour display. Rushed to the sea stack, walked as fast as I could on the rocky beach without twisting an ankle…I finally made it near the rock formation and as stated before, tide was much higher so I was kinda limited with foregrounds but was able to make this work! I loved the strong lead to the main subject, I also captured a few images for the incoming waves…and I couldn't help myself but to go into the frame and pose for myself! Ste-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-storm-is-coming/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1273.jpg A Storm Is Coming Now where is this location? Is this somewhere in the desert of South West USA? Or maybe this could be Norway or Ireland? Right? Wrong… That location is in the Province of Quebec…I am serious! More specifically in my favorite area province which is Gaspesie Peninsula. I was looking forward to photograph that monolithe since years but every time I was planning to go there, I simply couldn't and had to postpone for many various reasons…so I was truly excited and happy to finally being able to see this monolithe in person! In June, all I had in mind was to escape a heat wave that was hitting us where I live! And Gaspesie Peninsula, being some 8 hours north from where I actually live, would sure offer me some much cooler weather! Then, when I looked more deeply into if yes or not my last minute decision was making any sense at all, I realized that it was one amazing idea! Weather conditions were going to be a mix of clouds, fog and rain which is fantastic since I love dramatic light. And after looking at the tide charts, I knew I was in for something really, really interesting. Sometimes, the most spontaneous of our decisions will end up being the best ones we ever took! Ste-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/shutter-island/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0744.jpg Shutter Island Bic National Park, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-epitome-of-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A7395-PANO.jpg The Epitome of Beauty You look at images of this location and the first thing that will probably come to your mind is: It's not true…that definitely has to be Ai…I knew that it existed for real since I have seen pictures of it way before Ai was a thing… I wasn't 100% sure where it was though… There are many trails in that area hence why you should always scout locations ahead of time. It's never a good time to scout when you are minutes away from sunset. And speaking of trails, the one that goes to that vantage point will truly make you feel like you are in a fairytale. We had beautiful dappled light coming in from every directions. The vegetation carpet on each sides of the trail was so fresh, lush and vibrant. I was sure we could only see stuff like this in James Cameron movies…when I finally arrived near the cliffs, my mind was completely blown away! The sun was still pretty high so we waited for a while but listening to the waves crashing against the rocky walls and looking at some huge birds flying over our head was fully relaxing and rejuvenating. And then with a little bit of patience, the right moment came! It was time to immortalize that beautiful scene for ever! Samuel Boardman State Park, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/life-cycle/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A9505.jpg Life Cycle That image talks a lot to me…it reminds me that life is fragile! We are on a cycle on this planet! Our time here is very limited. We sadly won't live for ever. With a little bit of chance, we will be able to do 60, 70 or 80 rotations around the sun, maybe? Few are lucky enough to live up to 90 years old? And the other question we often ask ourselves is: will I be in good health when I am older? That we don't know. What is truly important though is to live our best possible life every single day because like I said earlier, we never know when the switch will go off… And what better image to represent Life Cycle than that one? Young fresh vegetation on a historical site with a church ruins and some tombstones dating from the mid 1800s. And the addition of the star trails truly help showing the evolution of time… St-Anicet, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/one-million-stars/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A7045.jpg One Million Stars Samuel H Boardman State Park, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/shadow-of-the-day/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A6830.jpg Shadow of the Day For that specific location, I wanted to challenge myself…a friend of mine told me that I should simply skip it because he told me it is simply too crowded…way too many people there… And he also told me he never manage to create a single image that was worthy a portfolio spot. I am not going to lie, it was very crowded. People were literally everywhere! But once all I had between myself and the waterfall, I could get a people-free image! Finally! Speaking of being close to the waterfall, she was spraying a lot of water at us! And I normally don't take my camera out very often in the middle of a day since the light often is too harsh…but I couldn't let this one go away! The dappled light coming into the scene in between tree branches and catching water spray was creating some truly lovely sun rays! Many parts of the grass were also catching some warm sun light…and light was also reflecting on the water surface. I truly enjoyed the nice cool to warm transition in the water flow. That location quickly became a favorite of mine even though I was told to skip it… Sahalie Falls. Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/serene-to-say-the-least/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0565.jpg Serene To Say The Least Interesting fact about that island: it is an island for a couple hours and then a few hours later it isn't one anymore. How is that possible you may ask? Ha! Tide is responsible for it connecting and disconnecting from the main land! With that being said, carefully watch the tide charts in areas severely affected by tide because you could potentially have a big surprise and lock yourself somewhere… In fact, it's really funny because Claude and I were arguing about how many islands there actually was at this location…he was firm on one and I was telling him that there will be two islands at sunrise! He simply didn't realize that tide swing would separate that one from the main land. And photographically speaking, tide swings make a huge difference. One scene can look so different from time to time. That morning's sunrise was nothing short of spectacular! I wouldn't be lying if I was saying that it's probably the most spectacular one I ever witnessed! Now just try to put yourself in a specific scenario in which you walk in a thick maritime fog before sunrise but the sky is mostly clear above your head. You find a nice composition and the clouds start igniting as the fog gently adds a mysterious atmosphere. The second island which is literally a couple hundred meters looks so much farther thanks to that added atmosphere. And to top it off, four cute little quacking ducks make their ways into your composition…things really don't get any better! That's for sure! Bic National Park, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/way-of-water/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A6144_PANO.jpg Way of Water At first, when driving there and following my GPS' directions, I was constantly asking myself if we were heading in the right direction because it is kind of in the middle of no where…and then I noticed the waterfall in between a couple trees of an extremely dense forest. Found the parking lot, parked, got all my things needed to capture epicness there and started making our way down to the view point. The hike to the bottom of the upper fall is pretty easy…but then when you realize where you have to hike to go to the lower fall, you definitely start questioning your life! It's a good thing we were very well prepared! Gina and I both had ice cleats on and walking poles in order to give us every additional little bit of traction and stability because the way down was sketchy…but one we got down at the bottom of the lower fall, I just couldn't help myself but to put my heavy @fstopgear backpack on the ground and look at my surroundings in complete awe! The thundering noise of water, the lush green moss everywhere, the warm sun light starting to hit to top of the tree canopy…OMG! Have you seen the movie Avatar? Well, this definitely was my real-life Avatar moment! Panther Creek Falls, Washington, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/on-the-edge/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1832.jpg On The Edge Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse is located near the very end of Gaspesie Peninsula and is a truly wonderful place to enjoy some beautiful light either at sunrise or sunset. It's 34,1 meters of height makes it the tallest one in Canada! Cool fact isn't it! Now let's talk about some fun behind the scenes facts…after carefully looking at tide charts and scouting the location on multiple occasions, we concluded that we would have the optimal tide at sunset. The tide was going to be high but not excessively high. Higher tide could make the access to that part of the beach simply impossible sometimes. Always look at tide charts when going to locations like this one… I had my waders on so I wasn't too worried about getting my feet wet. I wanted to stand into the water in order to capture some beautiful water flow on top of a lovely semi-submerged boulder. My friend Claude on another hand decided to use his comfy hiking shoes! Was it a good idea? Keep on reading to fin out… Waves were coming in but since the tide was going away, chances of big waves were lesser present…until a sneaky one came in. It's a good thing my camera was pretty high on the tripod because that wave was well over a meter high. Thank god I had my waders on! Claude's hiking shoes on another hand…well, you know exactly what happened! Gaspé, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/underwater-garden/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1573.jpg Underwater Garden Cap-Chat, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/smooth-and-rugged/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1044.jpg Smooth and Rugged Rimouski, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-watchful-guardian/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0984.jpg A Watchful Guardian I had visited that location 20 years ago during my very first trip to Gaspésie! That's back in 2004 to be more specific and I remember being very impressed by it's beauty and elegance. It is a truly wonderful lighthouse and it has a very distinct modern look. That specific lighthouse was built in 1909 and was the third one built at that exact location. It's really fun to see that they cared enough for look and design 100+ years ago to built such a beautiful lighthouse. And over the years of it's existence, it has played a very important role at ensuring that navigators of the St-Lawrence River are travelling safely along the coast. Oh…cool fact about it, it is the second tallest lighthouse in Canada! I truly wanted to display it's beauty. The way I wanted to do so was by photographing it at low tide in the hope of using a lovely tidal pool to reflect it. The light was simply gorgeous! A thick maritime layer ensured that the light was going to be as warm and soft as it can be. And what else to say about that cloud display than oh my God! I truly love mammatus clouds and they were a real joy to photograph! Why are they called mammatus clouds you may ask? Well, some say that they look like mama's breast and decided to call these cool looking clouds kind of in their honour! Don't believe me? Google it! Rimouski, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/hidden-kingdom/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0398.jpg Hidden Kingdom Rimouski, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/guardian-of-the-coast/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A8709.jpg Guardian of the Coast I often try avoid photographing man made elements. I just don't like the man made stuff! I love nature and all it's beauty! Give me some mountains with gorgeous waterfalls, rich vegetation or snow covered scenes. That's what turns me on as a landscape photographer! I do have a sweet spot for lighthouses…I just can't help myself but to be in love with them lighthouses! What is it that I love about them? Their simplicity? Their history? And Heceta Head Lighthouse has been on my must see list for as long as I can remember. My trip to Oregon wouldn't have been complete if I didn't see that one place! Right after checking in at my hotel, I had a very short break to charge my camera batteries! Summer landscape photography is so difficult in a sense that sunrise is so early and sunset is so late…I have to recover somewhere between the two! Not only my camera batteries can be exhausted! I also need a charge every once in a while! Then I drove some 45 minutes to that lighthouse and even though I was still tired, as soon as I saw Heceta Lighthouse, I felt a boost of energy in my body! I was now ready to capture it's beauty! As the day was slowly coming to an end, the light was becoming warmer and softer…the wind was calming down transforming into a confortable ocean breeze, birds were singing their last little bit of soundtrack before going to bed, the waves were crashing against the cliff…and all of a sudden, the lighthouse's signal beam came on right in my face and almost blinded me! Heceta Head Lighthouse, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/what-a-life/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A7660.jpg What a Life! There is nothing as refreshing as a lovely sunrise at the beach… We left our Airbnb with very low expectations on that morning since the weather forecast was very very pessimistic and instantly killed all our hopes. The conditions were suppose to be very meh, we were guaranteed to have a boring blue sky with no fog and no clouds. And for one of the rare times in my life, I was truly happy that the weather forecast was wrong! So what did we get instead of the very pessimistic forecast? We got lovely dream like puffy clouds that turned into one of the most beautiful shade of pink. We also got some beautiful fog which was not only adding some atmosphere, it was also creating separation between the sea stacks and adding overall depth to the image. The wind was basically non existent which gave me the opportunity to photograph these beautiful lupines on the beach…seriously, what a life! Right? Meyer Creek Beach, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/so-small-in-a-big-world/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A7095.jpg So Small In A Big World I truly love to walk in any forests. The smells, the noises and everything you can find in those kind of environments just ignites all my senses! Little did I know about how much I would be impressed by Redwoods National Park forests! They told me the Redwoods were tall trees…tall truly is an understatement! The are huge! How tall are they really? I had to Google search to get an answer because I simply couldn't guess how much just looking by eyes…and the answer is up to 100 meters tall! That's freakin 330 feet! And now, how can we make sense of such a scene? Forest scenes can look very busy and heavy since all you can see on an image are superposed trees…Redwoods National Park forest is very well know for fog at sunrise. What I like about fog is the fact that it creates separation between trees that are close to you and the ones that are farther. Everything that is close will be way less diffused than the ones that are farther. This also adds to the mood and atmosphere since it adds a mysterious feel to the forest. And now, how could I add a sense of scale to them talk trees? Simply by adding myself in the scene! I am not a small man…I am 1,82M tall and I weight 90 kilos but I look so tiny next to those huge monsters…standing there among these giant trees truly was an experience on it's own! It truly is an experience one must live at least once in a lifetime! Redwoods National Park, California, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/impression-of-deja-vu/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A6075.jpg Impression of Déjà Vu Pacific North West has such a concentration of amazing waterfalls! I truly wish I had that many near where I live in the East…I envy everyone that lives near Oregon for that very reason! Of the many waterfalls I had a chance to point my camera at a couple weeks ago, only one or two really made an impact on me. And at the top spot of my favorites comes Dry Creek Falls. First of all, the hike to get there is fairly easy if I am being 100% honest but it is so beautiful! Most of you know that I love plants and flowers…I have never seen as many beautiful fresh ferns as on that specific hike! We also had dappled light which made the whole journey a real fairy tale! Dry Creek Falls, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/simplicitys-strength/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A5999.jpg Simplicity's Strength In a lot of situations, making something simple out of a summer waterfall scene can be very difficult. You may have to deal with an abundance of rocks, a disastrous arrangement of bushes and trees, trash brought into the scene by flash floods…or all of the above all combined together! And what captured my attention with that scene was exactly the opposite of all I previously mentioned: pure simplicity! I truly love how the river serves a great purpose of leading our eyes to the main subject. And speaking of that main subject, everything on each sides of the waterfall was so clean! A lovely wall composed with multiple basalt columns, beautiful rich moss and a couple strong diagonal lines all together to create a powerful yet simple composition. Latourell Falls, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/and-so-says-the-legend/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A8986.jpg And So Says The Legend "The grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed" were the words used back in the 1800s by explorers who saw this area first the first time. And for me, as a landscape photographer, when I read such words, I have to see such a location! Right? After a very disappointing visit to an extremely busy Cannon Beach, I decided to drive a bit more to the north until I reach a much quieter peninsula on which is located Ecola State Park. I spent multiple hours exploring the beach for photographic potential. Even though I knew tide was coming in, it can always be tricky to anticipate which part of the beach will later be underwater. That also means it can be risky to walk somewhere and later being trapped there because tide is too high. Always look for tide charts when you are in such environments. Then I came across that arrangement of rocks which a few hours before sunset were just part of a sandy beach. But as the tide was coming in, they became part of a pretty interesting foreground. I had to capture the incoming waves bouncing against them rocks. I wanted to frame the scene with one boulder at each ends of the image. To make sure I had the ideal shutter speed for the effect I was looking for, I snapped my Kase Neutral Density filter on my lens. I wanted to feel the waves just enough to give impact to the foreground. I had my waders on, my camera was mounted to my tripod and I was riding the shutter as the waves were coming in. As opposed to what some people might believe, my camera did not receive a single drop of nasty salty water… And as a bonus, we could hear a couple noisy birds on the sea stack which probably just came back from a good day fishing…what a life! What a great way to end a day on Oregon's beautiful Pacific Coast! Ecola State Park, Oregon, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/all-fired-up/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5294.jpg All Fired Up My intention for that evening was to capture a lovely sunset at Abraham Lake... and on my way back to Lake Louise, I drove by that lake and what a deception it was to see the whole lake completely unfrozen! Nothing was frozen! Not even a little piece of ice anywhere! I was kind of expecting this to happen because it was literally raining a few days prior and temperatures had been so mild the whole month of December. The end of the day was coming fast and the light was looking promising so I had to think fast. Then came Mistaya Canyon to my mind…I had been there many times but never dare to give it a shot at sunset and especially not during winter. And since that place is literally on the road back to Lake Louise, then why not! That place isn't officially open in winter and the parking is closed so I parked along the road. I then put on my snowshoes and made my to the canyon. It ended up being one beautiful sunset and guess what, I was there all by myself! What a view to enjoy on your own! Banff National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/capturing-the-moment/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0909.jpg Capturing The Moment I never thought I would say that but I truly enjoy creating selfie images. Does this make me a Social Media Diva? Nooooo…. In fact, including a human element into a landscape images really adds a lot to any scenes. Why you may ask? Well, some scenes are just big and it becomes really difficult to make sense of everything scale wise…how big or how small that river actually was? There would be no way to tell if I wasn't part of that image. That image was captured last summer during a camping trip. I had never experienced the Canadian Rockies during peak summer season and also never had a chance to do camping. And it's truly amazing I must say! To be able to sleep in a tent, hearing the noises of nature, smelling the fresh pine trees…all of this was truly worth a 5 Star Hotel to me! Banff National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-watchman/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C0441.jpg The Watchman The Watchman, a place that will for sure be familiar to anyone who has driven in Zion National Park over Virgin River, looking down the valley and being in total awe. How can places like that even exist? Right? Virgin River is creating a very strong lead into the frame here…and a mix of vegetation on each side truly tells a fun enchanting story…the way The Watchman catches the very last little bit of light is truly spectacular. Rich warm side light truly helps popping all those lovely details and cracks, the haze adds a great amount of depth in the distance too…pair that with an epic cloud display and we have a winner! Zion National Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/one-for-the-books/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A5754.jpg One For The Books Let's take a few minutes and talk about my luck with Northern Lights…I live near Montreal and on a normal day, we are kind of too south to be in a good position to see Northern Lights. In the last few years, we had a couple pretty strong geomagnetic storms that could potentially offer us the opportunity to see Auroras but on every single one of these occasions, clouds were covering the sky…my kind of luck… Then on this second week of May 2024, a big geomagnetic storm was coming towards us…and guess what, weather was also going to be cooperative! Here's my chance! So I found this cute church ruin near where I live, thanks to a friend a mine…and I decided to go there to capture this very special auroral event! I prepared all my equipment, charged my batteries, brought water and snacks since I was going to shoot for long…brought a flashlight, my wireless remote because light painting could be fun…maybe! Oh for sure it would be fun! When I got there, I realized I forgot my bug spray…mosquitoes were hungry! They were waiting for fresh blood which I truly minded giving to them…annoying little blood sucking bastards! Then right before sunset, sky covered with clouds…and to top it off, my wife contacted me to tell me that our water well wasn't giving us water anymore! I captured a few required images of the scene at blue hour and left to go back home to fix my water issues…and came back later to keep on shooting. I did bring my bug spray this time but surprisingly, I didn't see a damn mosquito so I didn't use the spray. Murphy's Law maybe? Mosquitoes knew I had bug spray this second time…RIGHT? And then the sky started igniting some pretty intense Northern Lights…they were magenta, they were blue, they were red….they were simply EPIC! What an experience it was to finally witness Northern Lights in my own backyard! St-Anicet, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/risky-business/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9818.jpg Risky Business Sometimes, finding a composition on the spot can be so difficult. I know these locations so well, I have photograph them countless times during winter season when everything is covered with snow which makes for a much more minimalist overall experiences. But summer season is a whole different experience. Finding simple composition in busy scenes filled with vegetation can be really challenging. Light was becoming more and more spectacular and I couldn't find anything so I came to a point where I decided to surrender! Literally! I decided to walk back to the car and then I bumped into this big guy…a beautiful Cow Parsnip in it's prime blooming season! Things started to make more sense to me now…the plant is big but have very distinctive foliage that looks very exotic, I also love all the leading lines created but the creek which was reflecting some warmth from the sky, the vegetation, the tree line, the rock lines…all pointing towards the middle of the frame! That's it, I finally found an image I was truly happy with! Kananaskis country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fluffy-paradise/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0251.jpg Fluffy Paradise When ever I hike in the mountains, I always find it super interesting and fascinating to see the vegetation type and density change as I gain elevation. In the parking lot, I could see a wide variety of small leaf trees and conifers all together. After going up a couple hundred meters, conifers became way more present than any other type of trees. I kept on going up and I could start seeing more and more larches. These conifers love to live at cooler higher elevations! They are super lovely because they all turn yellow during fall season. Up a couple more hundred meters and trees were all gone…the only vegetation I could see around me were small alpine plants such as these cute little ones: Anemone Pulsatilla or frequently known as Pasque Flowers. They were seriously abundant and way past their prime. But the seed heads are what made them so attractive and they were creating such a fun impact! They look so soft and fluffy that I would really love to lay down on the ground and roll in them! Kananaskis country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ballad-of-castillejas/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0206.jpg Ballad of Castillejas To me, going out in nature to capture beautiful scenes only make it even better if I can include some flowers as a foreground interest. Some plants found in the mountains don't grow anywhere close to my home and the reason why is very simple; Different Climate means Different Vegetation. With that being said, plants are well adapted to specific conditions and we should never try to transplant them from their natural habitat to bring them in our own gardens. It's very likely that they will die. Fun fact about that plant, it is called Indian Paintbrush. You can find them at slightly higher elevations in the Canadian Rockies in different colours from white to bright red. Back in the old days, natives were using that plant for medicinal purposes to treat sexually transmitted diseases and to reinforce the immune system…who knew? Right? Kananaskis country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/second-life/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6907.jpg Second Life How many times have you walked by a piece of driftwood without noticing it's photographic potential? Every years, spring season will unveil a wide variety of cool looking objects…as the snow melts, water level in every rivers will very likely raise by a fair amount and that piece of wood is the result of just that! The question I keep on asking myself is where are these coming from? Could be anywhere! Some pieces of driftwood are just too chaotic…this one on another hand was just perfect! I truly love to find S shaped leading lines for my compositions as they play a great role of telling a fun story. I chose to setup my camera pretty close to the ground not only to display the beautiful texture of the wood but also to minimize the amount of empty middle ground. The reflection was truly lovely! And what else to say about the light than that's EPIC LIGHT! My favorite! Truly wonderful warm directional light for the win! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/afraid-of-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A2781.jpg Afraid of Time Some people ask me if I ever get tired of re-visiting some locations up to 5 times or even more…and the short answer to that question is no! Why? I always try to capture these previously visited locations a different way every single times. And that location is a good example of this. Can those familiar with the Canadian Rockies tell where that is because it looks very different then what I have captured from my previous visits there …one hint, it's in the Kananaskis… Kananaskis, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ring-of-fire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A5526.jpg Ring of Fire I could lie to you and say I have been planning that photoshoot for years…when in fact I wasn't even interested to capture the eclipse. After seeing videos and articles about it, I started looking at the "path" as they called it and I so happened to be right in it where I live…so I told myself: Why not? What a memorable experience a Total Solar Eclipse is! I had opportunities to see partial eclipses in the past and just like a friend of mine says, they compare to a big cloud that obstructs the sun…a total eclipse on another hand truly is a unique experience. When totality starts, it feels like someone turned the sun off right above your head…but the horizon stays bright and warm all around you. It truly is confusing! Confusing to a point that even mosquitoes came out because they thought it was night time! Hemmingford, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/beautiful-mistake/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A3540.jpg Beautiful Mistake If there is a funny story to tell, it has to be the one related to that specific image… Gina and I had driven our workshop group hours from Banff to Tangle Ridge to potentially capture a lovely sunrise. Once we got there, our group was very excited to not only see some lovely cloud coverage and light build up, the snow and ice features were really beautiful. We were all being careful to not break the ice along that small water body…when all of a sudden, Dean, one from our group decided to be a little too adventurous and putting too much trust in that ice. He made one too many steps and the ice simple collapsed. Luckily, he had waterproof boots and water was very shallow but that beloved foreground that everybody was photographing was kind of compromised… Jeremy, also one from our group decided to give that newly created foreground a shot. And it was totally worth it! Little did Dean know that his accident was in fact a Beautiful Mistake! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/kingdom-of-heaven/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2591.jpg Kingdom of Heaven Is there such a thing as bad light? As far as I can tell, there is always something to photograph. And I do consider Iceland to be the real paradise of moody light and dramatic landscapes! My plans for that particular day were to capture a sunset right there…near Hofn. A sunset normally involves a sun, right? Well not that particular day! But to be quite honest with you, I truly love that kind of light when combined to dramatic Icelandic scenes like the Vestrahorn mountain range. It looks like a scene coming straight from a fantastic movie involving knights and dragons… And to answer my initial question about bad light, a day with a bright blue sky without a single cloud is bad light to me! Vestrahorn Mountains, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-place-among-the-clouds-2/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0487.jpg A Place Among The Clouds Marble Canyon…if there is one time of the year when that place becomes alive, it has to be winter! This may sound contradictory since winter season for the most part means sleeping vegetation, cold snow everywhere…but you have to look at it another way: The whole scene will for the most part covered with beautiful fresh fluffy unveiling only some part of the pines trees, creating such a gorgeous natural contrast. The normally brown canyon walls will be greyed by freezing humidity raising over the water from the river which flows so gently. It's a really nice and relaxing noise to listen! And then, lucky enough will be those who witness a peak that unveil itself in between clouds. If all those elements aren't magical enough together to bring that place alive, I don't know what will! Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/lovely-to-see-you-again/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8585.jpg Lovely To See You Again Every time my alarm rings in the morning, I get up wondering if the sunrise will be worth it…even if I use apps to predict cloud coverage and weather conditions, it can always be a surprise and we actually never know if the juice will be worth the squeeze! But then when I start driving to the destination and see the clouds starting to catch some pre glow, I do get kind of excited! It's funny because those moments actually feel like adrenaline rushes! How can such a simple thing make such a effect on me? Right? Then I arrived to destination and saw that things are looking even more promising…OMG! I started walking as fast as you could and then bumped into a herd of elk…damn it guys! Why did you have to stand right there? I did my best to contour them without bothering them and good news, they didn't move at all so I must have done a good job then! I was running out of time…I had to rush myself even more to catch what was going to be an epic sunrise! Once there, I literally dropped my backpack down, opened it, got my camera body and lens out, settled my tripod and started shooting as soon as I could… Did I get there on time? Did I actually got the shot? Yes! Of course! Canmore, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/light-and-flow/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A3304.jpg Light and Flow When I woke up on that morning, little did I know that the light was going to be that beautiful… And if I am being 100% honest with you, I didn't even want to get up for sunrise on that morning. Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law? You put in the efforts on every single mornings to get decent light and it flops on you every times? And on that only morning you actually decide to skip a sunrise photoshoot, the light will blow and make a show! I am that lucky! Murphy is constantly on my back! So knowing that fact, I knew I couldn't miss that sunrise. I sent a message to Gina, Pietro and Elisabeth and I told them we were going for sunrise and to meet me in the garage in 30 minutes… Everybody seemed surprised to hear from me on that morning since I initially said that I wasn't going to get up early. We did a big hike on the previous evening and at some point, we need to rest a little! Right? Well not this time…and boy was I happy I didn't stay in bed! Banff, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-aura/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1152.jpg The Aura What I often find the most interesting about winter is the contrast that bring snow to any scenes! Partially covered pine trees, snow covered mountain cap…there simply is nothing quite like it! In summer season, most elements from a scene can have very similar tones and it can be difficult to separate them from each others…unless you have beautiful warm side light like this! Now we are golden! This was a truly memorable stormy afternoon as Chester Lake in the Kananaskis, a storm was kind of menacing but it sure added some quite impressive atmosphere! And what else to say about that amazing rainbow? It was so amazing! And as the legend is saying, do you think there is a treasure at the bottom of the rainbow? Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/day-one/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A2570.jpg Day One I tried for countless hours to find the name of that mountain only to find out that it was unnamed! Well…if it does have a name, Google Map doesn't show it on their map system! So I called it the "Peak Near the Creek Somewhere in the Kananaskis"! What an original name right? As Gina and I were driving in the Kananaskis with my trusty Ford Explorer rental truck…trusty and Ford don't always go well together but we'll just leave that for another conversation! Gina urged me to stop at one specific spot, in fact that one and she wanted to show me a cool view over that so called by me "Peak Near the Creek Somewhere in the Kananaskis". After a very short hike down the hill, we made it by the river and everything was just so perfect! It was a real joy to be there! The nice crispy snow was so pristine, we had some really lovely ice features, water was gently flowing down, most trees were dressed with a gentle coat of snow…and the sun was trying to fight itself out of the clouds which gave us some pretty amazing soft warm winter light…you know, one of those moments you just don't want to end! Pure tranquility! Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/in-pieces/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0815.jpg In Pieces When I look at scenes or elements of a scene, I often compare them to real-life stuff! And I know I am not to only one to do that…we all do the same thing! We look at a mountain and see a face carved into the rocks…or we look at clouds and see animals…when I was looking at that foreground, the very first thing that came to my mind was jigsaw puzzle! All the pieces were laying down on a giant board just waiting to be blocked together! I literally spent hours there! There were an endless amount of composition everywhere all along the frozen shore of the lake! What I found truly interesting was the gaps in between those ice chunks which I knew would create lovely leading lines into compositions. And since the temperature was abnormally warm for a January afternoon, water was starting to overflow on the ice creating those spontaneous water pools here and there. When I see water, I also think about reflection! It was quite windy and those said reflections would come and go so patience was definitely needed here! And as the day was getting older, the lovely warm side light was playing a prime role at sculpting and giving texture and volume to Mount Ingliesmaldie. And those dreamy clouds catching that same warm light… Now combine all those elements together and I think we have a pretty solid image! Right? It is truly amazing when all the pieces of a puzzle come together so nicely! Isn't it? Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/divine-light/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A2713.jpg Divine Light I was barely out of my plane and here I was driving into the Canadian Rockies again! It was such a beautiful day. The temperature was barely below freezing point which made for such an extraordinary contrast compare to the week before. I love winter in the mountains. And I love it even more when it's really cold outside so it was a disappointment for me to not being able to properly freeze my butt! I have a tradition when I go to the Canadian Rockies…I love to eat at A&W Burgers in Canmore! I know, it's 100% fast-food but it's really good for my mental health because it brings back good memories. Then Gina met me at Canmore Visitor's Center and we drove up in the Kananaskis. As we were driving by Spray Lake, we noticed this little spontaneous creek that had formed thanks to the fact that temperatures went up… We parked road side and decided to walk to the lake and enjoy the scene. The light was simply amazing! For that image, I did some focal length blending…since I was standing pretty close to the creek and pretty far from the mountain range on the other side of the lake, I captured both foreground and background at different focal lengths and blended the images together in Photoshop. Some will call this cheating…I will call this being genuine to the actual scene I recall seeing and made proportions more correct. Wanna learn more about that technique? I published an article about it in my Blog section. Have a look! Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/one-moon-ago/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0080.jpg One Moon Ago We live in a truly small world…an expression that can truly be an over statement when you are standing next to such a huge mountain! As the name says it, one moon ago or better said one month ago, I was in the Canadian Rockies again. And just like every time I visit the Rockies, I must pay a visit to my babies…my favorite peaks! And Mount Chester is my favorite of them all! Gina Yeo and I decided to hike up there for a sunset since the light was promising. The hike is a little bit long but truly worth it! And especially when arrive in the meadows and are surrounded by enormous peaks. On that specific day, I was struggling to find a composition…snow was abundant and most creeks were covered. So I decided to hike back towards Chester Lake and I came face to face with someone who knew my name? Really? Who could that be? Well, it was my Instagram buddy Scott Aspinall who was also hunting for some lovely images with Hunter Page. Hahaha! Did you notice what I just did here? Hunting with Hunter….ok, that's not funny… But seriously, what are the odds that I bump into someone I know without even knowing he was going to be there…we do live in a small world! Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/all-fire-all-flames/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A3374.jpg All Fire All Flames Now that mountain is one my my favorite in the Canadian Rockies…I know exactly what you are about to tell me: Dan, you say the exact same thing about every single one of them! And I know! You are 100% right! It is like choosing your favorite child! You just can't! You love them all equally! Right? How do I put this into words…first of all, when you enter Banff National Park on Transcanadian Highway, the very first big piece of rock you will put your eyes on is that one! Cascade Mountain! She is truly spectacular! She has multiple bowl shapes and crevasses which are flowing water during the warmer months of the year which is probably why they initially called it Cascade Mountain… But then year after year, I had been trying to find a proper composition of her…something that would give her beauty and scale justice. And I came across that location and I knew I would want to go back for sunrise as the light direction during winter would make it glow. Cascade Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/precious-emerald/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9790.jpg Precious Emerald Emerald Lake has a little something very special…the place truly feels special and magical! You could close your eyes, imagine a fairytale…and that vision will probably pop on your mind! Since that location can be quite busy, finding clean snow is always going to be a challenge. And also since I really love to capture images vertically, I chose to include those snow covered logs in the foreground because they not only fill some space that would other wisely be empty, they also had depth to the composition. We couldn't see the whole mountain range so I opted for a tighter frame and I really love the diagonal lines that were both pointing into the frame at the top right of the image. What else to say more other than Emerald Lake still delivered beauty…and that even on a pretty grey day! There is no such thing as boring light, just open your eyes and see things differently! Emerald Lake, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/frozen-in-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A3680.jpg Frozen In Time The methane bubble phenomena is so inspiring and mesmerizing! If I remember correctly, this was the third day of our Winter Wonderland Workshop in the Canadian Rockies and since the temperature was very mild, we wanted to put a checkmark on Abraham Lake as soon as possible as we knew the ice conditions were degrade quickly…and it's a good thing we did because water was flowing on the ice the very next day! How special was this experience to our workshop participants you may ask? I will describe everybody's experience as when you bring your kid at Toys'R Us! All were so amazed by the bubbles! Everybody was carefully composing their image to make them some lifetime memories that they will be proud for ever! It was so windy…to a point that Dean lost one of his brand new mitts without even noticing… At some point, I asked everybody if they wanted to go else where for sunset and if they were tired of those brutal winds…everybody wanted to stay at Abraham Lake and fight those brutal conditions! And then came sunset…everybody was so into their bubble that I decided to take my camera out and get into my own bubble too! The sunset was amazing! It didn't last long because some low clouds obstructed the sun at the end but for the time it lasted, it was truly gorgeous! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/astonishing-to-say-the-least/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A3006.jpg Astonishing To Say The Least Very few words can describe that peak…I couldn't find a proper one if I am 100% honest with you. We could use the words amazing and spectacular but it simply wouldn't be fair for Mount Chephren. First of all, when ever you drive down the Icefield Parkway and you see Mount Chephren, you can't help but to tell yourself: That's one special piece of rock! The weather around that peak must be pretty wild because it will almost always be hiding behind a thick layer of clouds…and that morning was no exception. When my good friend Gina and I arrived there, it was still dark but I could see very little of the peak. Promising? There was only one way to find out. We then decided to put our snowshoes on and snowshoed our way along the lake until came time to cross the lake and reach the other side…then kept on snowshoeing until we reach this vista. There again, you can only tell how immense Chephren is when you are standing close to it. I was standing there staring at it and listening to the noise of water flowing down the river and watching the evolution of the clouds surrounding the peaks and the first one that came to my mind in order to properly describe that scene was: Astonishing! I think I found the perfect word, Mount Chephren is astonishing! Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/lonely/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A3613.jpg Lonely Many things drew my eyes into that scene when I initially saw it…it is such a simple scene but it has a lot of contrasts! By contrast, I am not only talking about light in general…Of course the fact that the light in the Canadian Rockies during winter is simply amazing will definitely make a big difference here! The sun will never be very high in the sky even mid day which will automatically create some seriously beautiful warm light all day long. Such light will definitely sculpt the scene very nicely and give it a three dimensional feel… But I am also talking about the contrast between all those beautiful bright white curves and this little pine tree! One little tree growing in the middle of no where… How many times have you planted a cute little tree on your property, give him the best possible spot on your lot, gave him the best soil with fertilizer, great amount of water…only to see it die a couple months later? And this little guy right here is having the time of his life growing in between a couple of huge boulders in the mountains! Nature will never stop to impress me! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ice-art/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9608.jpg Ice Art So the day was January 21st and until just a few days before leaving for the mountains, I wasn't even sure that Abraham Lake was going to be frozen. Winter has been so mild all around Canada this year. And then a serious wave of cold came in and deeply froze everything right on time! Let go back to our bubbles now…since @ginayeo_photography and I were co-leading a workshop just a couple days later, we decided to drive to Abraham Lake, scout for bubbles and find the best ones for our workshop participants. It's a good thing we did because all my favorite spots had nothing…not a single bubble! I walked probably around 10km in every directions to find bubbles…and I finally succeeded! Mid afternoon light was absolutely stunning, it was extremely windy so things were moving fast…but there was a lot of particles in the air! The haze was adding so much atmosphere! And I normally don't like intruders in my images…I will normally wait for them to move away from my frame or worse case scenario, I will clone them out in Photoshop…but I did an exception this time. I truly love the scale perspective this little guy adds to the image! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/autumn-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3818.jpg Autumn Beauty Does every image need to involve some serious amount of hiking or super technical procedures at the time of capture to be worthy of a place in a portfolio? Of course I will be super proud to brag about it if so is the case! I hiked 15 kilometers to get this particular image or it took me that many images to complete the focus stacking and overall blending of that image…but does it always have to be complicated? Are road side images worthy a spot in a portfolio? As far as I am concerned, I 'd say yes if the moment captured is that beautiful! Right? That one was not only a road side image, it was also taken from a bridge hence why it almost looks like a drone shot. I drove near that view countless times and every single times, I told myself that one day, with the right conditions, I will stop there and grab a shot. That moment came in fall season not long ago… As the sun was setting, the pure vibrant blues of the river making it's way into the lake in combination with the patches of yellow throughout the frame all together was telling such a great story that I simply couldn't pass on it… Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-few-minutes-to-spare/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2826.jpg A Few Minutes To Spare There are very few words to describe what was on my mind at the exact moment I was standing on that pier… Moraine Lake has to be one of the most beautiful location you can point your camera at in all of Canada. Very few images could actually make this place justice but the fact that I am standing there in awe right after the first sun rays started sculpting those lovely peaks can tell a lot about the grandeur and wow factor of this location! And then you tell yourself how is it even possible that places like this even exist? A few minutes aren't enough to enjoy such a place…if only we could pause time just like in a video so we can enjoy it longer! Moraine Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/mother-of-all-mood/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2630.jpg Mother Of All Mood In life, we will need to work for pretty every thing we want to accomplish and that whether it is in sports, for a job, to build a house… Will it happen at very rare occasion that things will be served to us on a silver plate. But that makes things we accomplish so much enjoyable! Right? The Three Sisters in Canmore…I must admit that I have a love/hate relationship with those three mountains! I have been trying over and over to get a proper image of them since 5 years! Every time I would go there, the sky would flop or the creek was dirty ugly. Every single times, I would leave that place empty handed…to a point I did not want to go anymore! Until that morning of September 2023…I finally succeeded and got the image I was dreaming for! So all this goes to say that you might not succeed at your first or second attempt at doing something in life…but keep trying! Keep pushing! Nobody will ever blame you for not trying! And one day, you will reach your goals! Three Sisters, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/rising-flames/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A2504.jpg Rising Flames So this one is very special to me because I have tried countless times to get an image I was happy with…years in the making for this one! I visited Mount Kidd every season and the conditions simply wouldn't cooperate! We could say that the stars never aligned correctly… During last summer season, it was a real chaos…the foreground was filled with a million of undesirable plants…then every time I went during winter in the past, the sky was as boring as it can be. Don't get me wrong, I truly love a moody grey sky but could I get a decent colourful one for once? And I think this time I got it right…the stars did align! I had a beautiful pristine foreground, steam raising over the river, gentle frost on every tree, a warm glowy light hitting the peaks and an epic sky to top it all off! Now we are talking! Mount Kidd, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/we-love-simple/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3473.jpg We Love Simple So you very often see me create not complex images…but ultra-wide angle images which for the most part will include many elements. And those images will for the most part be vertically oriented because I love to capture such images. That doesn't mean that I don't like to capture other stuff…I am not a one-trick-pony! I also love to capture the more minimalist and simple side of things in nature. I think it is truly inspiring to stop and stare at one specific element of a scene and to create an image out of it. Abraham Lake is widely know for its winter features such as methane bubbles and ice cracks on the ice but it sure doesn't make it an undesirable location to visit at other moments of the year. Fall season water level tends to flood the shores of the lake leaving a ton of aspen trees with their feet under water. And this happens to be two of them! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/circle-of-life/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4239.jpg Circle of Life It's not even funny anymore when ever we post images on Instagram or social medias in general: will it be a hit or will it be a flop? And it has nothing to do with the image being good or bad! It's all about algorithms! As far as I can tell, I love that image because it represents myself trying to focus on frames into my compositions. And more than often, I have to position my camera in the most awkward locations and angles to create such uniqueness… My tripod is always too big and often doesn't go close enough to the ground to get the exact angle I want for one specific composition. I often have to improvise…I often need to setup my camera on a jacket and shim it with snack bars! Yes, you did read this correctly! Shimming with snack bars… But the end result always is super rewarding! Those kind of images make me happy and proud because they are unique! And as an artist, it's fun to reinvent ourselves! Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennsylvania, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-kraken/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1617.jpg The Kraken This was an autumn morning and the hopes for a colourful sunrise were high but very unrealistic as the cloud coverage was too severe towards east. Great hopes then became great opportunity to hunt for a different composition. I truly love to frame a scene in my images. Natural frames are always very rich in fine details and as a landscape photographer, one can't help but to simply love texture! As I was walking on that rocky beach in the Kananaskis, I noticed many really lovely tree stumps and two happened to be really close to each other and I was able to frame another partially submerged one. I love the way these look! They look like a Kraken which is a fantastic giant octopus like creature coming straight out of Disney movies! Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/winter-kingdom/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1121.jpg Winter Kingdom Try to imagine a scenario in which firstly, the weather forecast says fully cloudy at sunrise…what do you do? Stay in bed? That was my scenario on that particular morning…I left Banff and drove on the Trans Canadian Highway until I reached the Icefield Parkway then drove another 45 minutes to reach my favorite mountains: Mount Chephren. It was pretty cloudy…the Icefield Parkway was dark and I couldn't see a single star. I remember at some point looking in my rear mirror and things were moving! I could see some glow in between the peaks. Was there a window forming in the clouds? I kept driving until I reached my destination and as soon as I got out of my lovely rental car (sarcasm), I immediately saw that the sunrise could actually be much better than initially forecasted! I was definitely getting super excited and jumped onto my snowshoes, secured them to my boots and started making my way to the location. The clouds started glowing right before I got there…I was now getting nervous! There was a chance that I actually miss those colours! But I didn't…I just god enough time to find a composition, quickly setup my camera and fire it! The pink did not even last 5 minutes…but it was so gorgeous! And then my adrenaline came back down! Can you imagine? Having an adrenaline boost just for capturing one single image? Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/crown-and-castle/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A9500.jpg Crown And Castle I have a funny story to tell about that specific image…something that is very likely to happen when ever you photograph with an astro photography nerd! On that specific day, my friend and I walked many kilometers along Bow River in hope of finding compositions for sunset which we succeeded by the way! After sunset, we walked back near the main road and since we not only had a clear sky, solar activity was on our side and there was good chances of seeing Northern Lights! So we decided to stick around… I chose to go very simple with composition but wanted Castle Mountain and it's reflection in the reflecting pool. If the Northern Lights were to show above the peaks, it would look epic to have a reflection of it! Right? I captured a series of foreground images at blue hour, made sure to focus stack everything correctly and waited… Then an hour later, we could start seeing some Northern Light Pillars forming above Castle Mountain! They were vibrant and intense! All of a sudden, my friend started screaming: OMG! STEVE IS HERE! I looked to my left, then right…and I couldn't find anybody else with us so I asked her: Who the heck is Steve and where is he?? Well, STEVE stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement…and is an aurora-like glow that often accompanies the Northern Light. He looks like a red ish stripe in the sky! I was looking for a two-legged guy near us!! Bah! I am such a noob…right? For your information, we don't see STEVE in that image as he was standing right above our heads! Oh…and I was told that STEVE also happen to be camera shy! Castle Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/vibeful/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1990.jpg Vibeful Everybody going to Wedge Pond seem to be focusing on Mount Kidd and it's reflection…which is very beautiful, don't get me wrong! But how about trying to photograph something different? How about looking for something that will challenge not only my patience a bit more but also my editing skills? The joys of wanting to be creative…right? It's fall season, as you can obviously see here and the aspen trees are looking at their absolute best! The colours are so vibrant! It almost looks like the forest is on fire! Since a little while, I have been trying to focus on framed compositions. I found a really lovely window created by the yellow leaves of those aspen trees and that window happened to be looking at Mount Kidd! We have a winner! Right? I focused stacked so many images then right before I was done, wind started blowing a little so I had to start over and over again until I was pretty sure I had it all on memory cards! It was a really long process to stack all those 25 images together and a lot of manual correction was required because Photoshop isn't perfect! Who would have thought? But the final product is so faithful to what my eyes were seeing on that morning! It was one morning I will never forget! Wedge Pond, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fire-infused/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1337.jpg Fire Infused Of the so many times I went to the Canadian Rockies, I had never stopped to this location: Wedge Pond. I kind of snobbed it because it was firstly very busy and secondly right off the main road… On that morning, I was simply way to tired to go anywhere else so I drove the required few minutes from my campground to get there. To my surprise, I was the first one there for sunrise. And the lake was 100% still. I was looking for a composition that would offer some tree roots in the foreground or a dead tree but none of that was near the water. The water level was surprisingly low…I found a couple leaves right by the lake so composed this. Then I have to confesse that I cheated by adding a few more leaves to complete my foreground. But that is ok right? We can do that correct? We are allowed to cheat our foregrounds a little bit…right? My hopes for a great image were pretty low…the sky was completely covered but all of a sudden, the light started glowing on Mount Kidd! And man, what a show it was! It lasted just a few very quick minutes, barely long enough to focus stack all I needed to create the frame I needed for my image and the light was gone! Am I going to complaint that it didn't last long enough? Heck no! Never! It was so perfect even though it was really really short! Wedge Pond, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-unexpected/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1781.jpg A Journey About To End Pennsylvania was very different than NewYork…at least, the locations Gina and I visited. And what I mean by that is New York was, for the most part, very well put together. Every trails were well marked with lovely pathways and well identified maps…Pennsylvania was left more in a natural state. Most trails would start in the middle of no where and all we knew is we had to follow a river or a creek… This was one of those locations where we would literally abandon our car road side and walk along a creek, step over rocks and dead trees until we reached a first waterfall…then a second one…and then a third one! We scouted that area earlier that same day and the light simply was too harsh. So we went back a couple hours later just before sunset and the sun was low enough to light up only the top of the tree canopy. The warm light reflecting on those many thousand leaves was bringing an amazing atmosphere into that enchanted place! All that paired with the sound of the water cascading down the waterfall was a big win for us all! So peaceful and relaxing…one of those moment you wish would never end! Pennsylvania, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-journey-about-to-end/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1510.jpg The Unexpected Since I didn't have cellphone service during that trip, I had to rely on my kinda trusty Garmin GPS…if you knew how much I love that thing. Before leaving for the NewYork and Pennsylvania trip, I had to make sure I had every GPS coordinates for every locations. And for some reason, Garmin doesn't recognize Google coordinates format. That meant I had to convert every single one of them to DMS format. It takes a while to do so but in order to make sure we can find every locations on the list, it had to be done. Now that image is a GPS mistake gone good…why? We were looking for a waterfall named Angels Waterfalls…and we never found it but the GPS brought us to a trailhead on some sort of very questionable dirt road. We started hiking that said trail and it was going down a lot onto some not so well marked terrain, we had to do tree hoping, walk over mud puddles on many occasions…but where were we going? Where was that trail going to bring us? Then we could start hearing water flowing down a small river. That questionable trail brought us to what I think was an even better waterfall than the one we were suppose to see. That GPS mistake then became one of the trip's highlights for me! What was the name of the waterfall? I am not even sure yet…but who cares right? Pennsylvania, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/frost-aura/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0107.jpg Frost Aura Winter photography truly is fantastic! I love how pure and clean everything looks. I love the winter atmosphere and frozen moist in the air…I also love the fact that the sun is very low in the sky throughout the day which will give you elongated shadows and rich golden light all day! On this particular day, I wasn't too sure where to go for sunset. And since I know the Crowfoot Mountain is always lovely, I decided to give it another visit. It actually was faithful to its reputation and again didn't disappoint. For some reason, the snow is always extremely abundant there. There are some sort of local micro weather systems in that particular area which will often bring a ton of precipitations and truck loads of atmosphere. That day was no exception! Right after parking my rental car, I putted on my snowshoes and started making my way into deep snow all the way to the lake. I found this really cool looking pool of open flowing water…the snow all around was pristine and the sun was partially behind this huge mass of rocks…I knew at that time that I had what I came here for! Very few words can describe the overall view I had at this particular moment. I'll just say it was epic! Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/im-gonna-drive-5000-miles/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A2409.jpg I'm Gonna Drive 5000 Miles I often share lovely colourful images from my photography trips…but the reality of the situation is the sun isn't always shinning! The light simply can't cooperate even single time I get my camera outside of my backpack! It would be fun if that was the case right? That day was the very last one with my November 2023 workshop group. It was snowing and visibility was very limited…less than ideal for most photographers. We started our day at Lake Louise with some great hope of capturing one last beautiful sunrise. There was a sunrise but we simply didn't see it happening. Lake Louise was lovely, water was super still and the reflection was pristine. Right after breakfast, we then brought the workshop group to Morant's Curve. One cannot visit the Rockies without seeing Morant's Curve. But then again, we couldn't see much. The mountains were hiding behind some thick clouds… I told all our participants that we would capture images of Morant's Curve anyway and I would show them how to blend the mountains into their images. I have been to Morant's Curve many times and have multiple images of that place with no train. So I supplied them with an image of the mountain and I also gave them a tutorial video that explains how to integrate the mountains in easily. Yup, you understand that correctly, I gave them homework! This is what I created of Morant's Curve captures I took on that specific day! And about the homework, would you say I am a good or a bad teacher for giving my students homework? One thing is for sure, everybody had great fun capturing the images and editing them when they were back home! Morant's Curve, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/just-like-a-fairytale/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1187.jpg Just Like A Fairytale Fall season this year was one for the books! And if there is one photography trip in 2023 that exceeded my expectations, it has to be my fall trip to New York and Pennsylvania. As far as photography goes, I am kind of spoilt. Spoilt in a sense that I have seen many truly gorgeous places in this world. Places that include Iceland, Faroe Islands, Ireland, South West USA, Canadian Rockies and many more…but little did I know about the fact that I could drive just a couple hours south of Montreal and find stuff that would simply blow my mind that much. Who would have thought about Pennsylvania right? And how about a five miles trail that has well over 20 waterfalls? Ricketts Glen has that! As a landscape photographer, it is difficult to contain our emotions in such an environment. Every next waterfall was more impressive than the previous one…then came this one: Oneida Waterfall. That scene is Just Like A Fairytale! Water was flowing abundantly, atmosphere was equally impressive and the fall colours were simply fiery perfect! Ricketts Glen, Pennsylvania, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ephemeral-instant/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8679.jpg Ephemeral Instant Gone at a blink of an eye…that's how fast those clouds ignited and died! I am normally a very well organized…and my planning is for the most part on point every single times! But I am not perfect! Right? I can also make mistakes! So the story all started the night before…the weather forecast was looking very cloudy. Was I going to miss a sunrise because of that? Heck no! I even write blog article to encourage people to go capture images on grey days! I'll stand by my words! I will always go out even if clouds are covering the whole sky… So I decided to leave the hotel 15 minutes later…and that's were I made my mistake. Those 15 minutes would have given us more time to breathe. As I was driving down the Icefield Parkway, the clouds were starting to look more and more promising…I was just hoping they would wait until we arrive to Chephren before catching fire. Driving to Chephren is a fairly short ride and on that morning, the roads was surprisingly clean. As soon as we arrived, the clouds started popping some colours so we had to rush ourselves to find an interesting foreground. The nature of shooting vertically and super close to the foreground often requires me to Focus Stack. I normally start with the foreground and I make my way farther into the scene…it's a good thing I started with the background because the colour on the clouds was gone after a couple clicks… Did I get the shot? Yes, of course! Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/cold-rush/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8920-2.jpg Cold Rush When visiting the Canadian Rockies, most people see locations like Emerald Lake and Lake Louise as the top iconic locations to see…don't get me wrong, they are both lovely but way overrated if you want my opinion.Natural Bridge on another hand is kind of living in Emerald Lake's shadow. And in my opinion, it has way more potential for totally different compositions all year round. In the beginning of November, when winter starts making it's way in the mountains, this place starts talking my language…the textured rocks in the foreground become partially covered with snow creating some amazing contrast…it's cold outside but not cold enough to freeze the waterfall. But you will have some ice sculpting the river into a lovely S shape which brings our eyes deeper into the frame. The trees will be dusted with some gentle snow and the mountains will also have some snow improving their contrast…it truly is a win win situation in my opinion! Natural Bridge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/eternal-flame/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A2549.jpg Eternal Flame So even thought I travel to the Rockies very often, my time there is very limited compare to someone that actually lives in Alberta. As much as I love that mountain, I had been trying over and over again to get a proper shot of it without success. Except that a few weeks ago, I did get the light I always dreamt on the peaks. It was glowing red hot just like a stove element! It was truly gorgeous! That morning actually was the very last one before going back home after our workshop. We just had a great time teaching landscape photography to a fantastic group and since three participants were on the same late flight as me to go back home, Gina Yeo and I offered them to join us for that very last sunrise. The snow was fresh and fluffy, the water was nicely reflecting the glorious light hitting the peaks…what a gorgeous moment that was! Mount Kidd, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/moth-to-a-flame/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9176.jpg Moth To A Flame Hands down my favorite location in the Canadian Rockies, Mount Chester has a wow factor that is truly difficult to match! The last time I went there was two weeks ago right after co-leading my November workshop in Banff. Sadly, Alberta Parks doesn't allow us to bring a workshop group there…what a bummer! The participants would be in complete awe if they would have a chance to see it in person! It's a fairly long hike…but I wouldn't put it in the difficult category. It goes up a bit but is worth every drop of sweat! Seeing pictures of this place rarely do it justice…like I just mentioned, I do sweat when making my way up. Even during winter! But once you reach the meadows and are surrounded by spectacular peaks, you can instantly feel a relief! You will immediately forget the effort you just put in to make your way there! What a view! It never disappoints! Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ghost-mountain/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8978.jpg Ghost Mountain My never ending quest to find something different…I had never visited Bow Lake at mid November and as far as I can tell, there was suppose to be way more snow than that! I was even a little disappointed to be able to see all those small leaf free shrubs! They should all be covered in snow! But then, this little guy in the foreground caught my attention…this two branch little shrub was creating a V which was kind of mimicking the shape of inverted Crowfoot Mountain. The snow wasn't abondant but it was very fresh and detailed. And what to say about the atmosphere! Crowfoot Mountain was a little shy on that particular as it was coming in and out of those low clouds. I don't know about you…but me personally, I truly love atmospherical conditions like these! Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/diffused-symphony/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8958.jpg Diffused Symphony Landscape photography is always beautiful, we will always have a beautiful sky and amazing clouds. The light will always be warm and delicious…wrong! Some people tend to skip those foggy, rainy or snowy days because the light sucks…as far as I can tell, rain or shine, I will go out and enjoy some time in nature with my camera! On that particular day, I couldn't see the subject I initially wanted to capture. I had in mind some lovely images of Crowfoot Mountain at Bow Lake…Crowfoot Mountain was a bit too shy to show on that morning so I focused on something else…something else that wouldn't work on a sunny day. The added moist, fog and snow were all together creating some amazing diffused atmosphere which were playing a good role at creating that mood! Super simple, very minimalist and I loved every seconds of it! Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/jeopardy/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3398.jpg Jeopardy There are in risks that I am ready to take in order to obtain images. I will come out of my comfort zone to get "cool" shots but you can be assured that I would never do such a thing like standing at the very edge of a cliff to get a shot! The many times I have seen people taking such crazy risks! It is bone chilling! You have to keep in mind that the rocks on which you plan on standing on might not be as solid as you think! In this image, I literally Photoshopped myself in order to send a message to people that are constantly risking their lives for some social media fame. It isn't worth risking your life to get a few likes on the social medias. I remember little over two years ago I went to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland and a couple young girls were literally sitting at the edge with both feet literally in the air…it was scary! I told them they shouldn't do this…they literally told me to mind my own business! Your life is precious, take good care of it! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/long-way-into-the-glen-2/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0503.jpg Long Way Into The Glen Both states of New York and Pennsylvania impressed me! What was I initially expecting for that trip? Well, I was expecting to photograph some waterfalls and fall season colours. That part definitely was mission accomplished! I was truly impressed on countless occasions! Of the many locations I wanted to see, Watkins Glen was probably at the top of my list. When someone visits the Canadian Rockies, he or she has to see Lake Louise! It's just so beautiful and iconic! To me, Watkins Glen was going to be the icon of this area! I wanted a shot of Rainbow Falls so bad! Little did I know about how busy that place was going to be… Busy is a big understatement. I was standing near the guard rail making sure I wasn't blocking the pathway. I was patiently waiting to see if I could get a clear shot without any tourist but this wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Everybody was stopping multiple times to grab cellphone images…while water was dripping on me and my camera, and people weren't as cautious as I was getting bumped every once in a while. I seriously almost lost it! I have so much patience...but I will admit that it went record low on that particular day! Watkins Glen State Park, New York, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/till-we-meet-again/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0299.jpg 'Till We Meet Again So my plans for 2023 fall season was to go out and shoot! Ok…to be honest with you, that's nothing new for me. It might sound like I have never done it before but in fact, I go out to enjoy fall colours every years. It's just that in my neighborhood, as spectacular as fall colours can look like, they are truly difficult to properly capture on images I would be proud to display in my portfolio. I wanted to visit new places…and speaking of new places, I had New York and Pennsylvania in mind. And to be honest with you all, I didn't have high expectations. I was expecting to see waterfalls but never in my life was I expecting to have my mind blown daily! There are so many places to see, so many gorges and canyons, tons of waterfalls, colourful forests and all of that just a couple hours from my home! Here is the first one of many… That specific location was one that seriously blew my mind! As simple as it looks like, I loved the fact that ot was kept as natural as possible… The hike to get there was short and sweet but super lovely and then when you get to the end of that trail, wham! There she was! What a scene! Havana Glen, New York, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/enchanted-morning/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2056.jpg Enchanted Morning I always wanted to frame some mountains with trees…after doing a more conventional mountain and reflection type of image on that morning at Wedge Pond, I started looking around the lake for a pair of Aspen trees that would offer me what I was looking for. It took a while to not only find them but also to securely setup the tripod. The ground was very uneven and slippery. I almost slipped on my butt a couple times! But then I managed to make it all work. The fog was still roaming over the lake creating such a lovely atmosphere…and then I saw some low clouds building up farther into the valley in between two mountains. What a magical moment this was! Fall season will not only bring some amazing colour palette, it will also bring some beautiful foggy atmosphere thanks to the temperature variations. Fall season is the best! Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/autumn-hues/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3937.jpg Autumn Hues I have photographed Abraham Lake countless times during winter season. When Abraham Lake is fully frozen, it offers great foreground opportunities but how about fall season? There must but something lovely at Preachers Point in fall season right? On a beautiful non-windy fall morning, I went and gave it a try…I was supper happy to see a beautiful carpet of leaves on the shore. All of them were so vibrant, fresh and crisp…all of them had some beautiful fall hues… Were they all positioned as you see them here? Maybe yes, maybe no…I did flip a few leaves that were upside down to make them look better. Water surface wasn't still but I truly enjoyed the way it was reflecting some of that explosive light coming from the sky. I live for moments like this. It was calm, colourful and peaceful! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/just-the-two-of-us/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3436.jpg Just The Two Of Us We live on the go, we constantly move fast with everything we do on a daily basis…but there truly is nothing more relaxing and rejuvenating for me then doing long exposures. Why? Because they require me to wait until the exposure is done and during those few seconds or minutes in other situations, I am just there admiring Mother Nature's beautiful creations! I was truly drawn into that simple yet powerful scene which consists of only two beautifully textured aspen trees and a smoothened reflection of many other trees. I love the details against a perfectly smooth and magical backdrop. Simplicity at its best! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/stratified/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3043.jpg Stratified Atmosphere…without a doubt my favorite thing to photograph as a landscape photographer! Being able to photograph Mother Nature's current state of mind…being able to feel the elements of one specific scene and moment truly is amazing! I remember a long time ago, I was visiting the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and we were having one amazing sunset! The best part of that sunset is we couldn't see the sun setting because the clouds were so amazingly dramatic! A guy trying to capture his "ideal sunset" next to me was literally complaining because he wasn't going to see that big fire ball go down the horizon… That specific image you are looking at right now was captured at Lake Louise during one of those moments a sun wasn't required in order to create epic images…we had atmosphere! We had mood! In my books, we had one amazing sunset! Lake Louise, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dark-times/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8361.jpg Dark Times Obviously, not every moments I photograph are complimented with lovely warm light and colourful clouds…does this mean I should not photograph such moments? Absolutely not! What most people consider as boring light will never stop me from taking my camera outside of my camera bag. I mentioned it many times, rain or shine, I will be outside capturing some images. In fact, I truly love moody light like this. I personally think the atmosphere perfectly pairs such a scene! It looked like it was coming straight out of a fantasy movie. On that particular day, Gina Yeo and I were looking for different views on Mount Chephren. I think we succeeded very nicely! Waterfowl Lakes will most likely offer some really amazing reflections of Mount Chephren on days where wind is non existent…definitely not on a stormy day like this one. While scouting the area, we came across this creek and decided to walk along it until we found some lovely water cascades. And to top it all up, fog was gently rolling in adding even more magic to this already spectacular scene. Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/if-anythings-left/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8051.jpg If Anything's Left Iconic scenes are always fun to photograph…they are icons for a reason and I think everyone should photograph them. But then I always find a great amount of satisfaction when I find something different than what most people have photographed. During the summer, while Gina Yeo and I were in Jasper National Park, exploring for different locations and unique compositions for a potential summer workshop next year, we went back to that scene I had previously photographed a couple years ago. I knew for sure that summer would offer a complete different variety of foregrounds. Spring season snow melt down causes water level in all rivers to be much higher than normal which also means that some debris will be carried everywhere. This was one very beautiful piece of driftwood that was carried thanks to this and I knew I wanted to use it in my foreground. I love its texture and its curves! It did require me to capture a great amount of images to successfully focus stack the whole scene as I was standing so close to the foreground. And then when the sunrise was over, we walked back to our vehicles, we came face to face with a big black bear. He was huge! Gina and I both stayed calm and so did the bear. He was approximately 8 meters away from us and he didn't even mind our presence! When ever you are hiking in the Canadian Rockies, make sure to remember those very important rules: -Stay calm…bear encounters are for the most part always going to be very peaceful experience. Give him space and let him do his things while you gently walk away. -Do not run! Never try to outrun a bear…this will trigger his sense of hunting and he'll catch you. -Avoid eye contact…this could potentially provoke him. -Always carry bear spray just in case you need it. -If you need to spray, make sure the wind isn't coming towards you… Our bear encounter ended up being one of the most amazing experience of my life! He was chill and simply looking for berries to complete his breakfast! Enjoy the rest of your week and your weekend! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-journey-to-remember/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8695.jpg A Journey To Remember Some places are icons…some places truly can't be described easily with one sentence. And if we were asked to describe those said locations, you would probably be obligated to used a much more complex vocabulary! Of course, you could use the word "AWESOME" or "EPIC"….but don't you think that Moraine Lake deserves more than that? Let me try my best to describe Moraine Lake… Now when ever visiting Moraine Lake, you will likely arrive to the lake in partial obscurity… Ever since May 2023, you are required to hire the service of one of many shuttle bus companies to bring you there. This whole ride will be nice and uneventful, your driver will be very courteous and will likely talk a lot… Once there, you will start your very short ascension of a rock pile to reach the view point. The trail is well marked. Reaching the top of the rock pile will require you to work a bit. And when you make that very last sharp curve before the end of the trail and see those ten amazing peaks and crystal clear emerald blue water, your breath will be taken away from you as if someone just hit you in the stomach! You will be in absolute awe in front of that scene that once was on our 20$ bills… How can a place like this even be real? And then after waiting for half an hour, the very first sun rays will start igniting every one of those peaks! If you are lucky enough, the water will be still and will offer you the most amazing reflection! What an awesome show and what an epic view! Moraine Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/one-great-outlook/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A1194.jpg One Great Outlook You are probably going to tell yourself: Not another damn train image! And I'll reply: Yes, another damn train image! And then you'll probably wonder where in the name of God is this if this isn't Morant's Curve? I was always super lucky with train…as if I was a giant magnet that would simply attract them! I simply would need to drive by Morant's Curve, park my car and boom! A train was driving by…and then, two or three more trains while I was ready to capture them with my camera settled comfortably on a tripod… But since a year, I have been super unlucky! The train would simply not show or take hours to show. Same thing for that morning. My plan was to photograph sunrise with beautiful colorful clouds and a partially dimmed foreground with train that would light up the scene as it is driving by... And I was unlucky right? All I got was this! And if we think about it, how can one call himself unlucky to be standing there on a beautiful summer morning in front of such an amazing Canadian Rockies scene… Aren't we spoilt to be able to live such moments? Banff National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/frozen-momentum/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8260.jpg Frozen Momentum While some images seem to be delivered to you on a silver plate, others will require you to work a bit more…this one definitely was one of them! The struggles of landscape photography…I remember of a few struggles related to this images in particular! Did I almost take a dip into the creek and freak @ginayeo_photography while trying to find a composition? You know the answer to this. Did I get my feet wet? You bet… Did my camera and lens get wet from water splashes? Of course, yes…but Canon says they are weather sealed right? Of course I had to drop my lens clothe into water while wiping my lens right! Oh wait…now my remote shutter stopped working while I was finally settled in a very funky position with both feet on two different rocks far from each others…everything about this shot was sketchy! In our never ending quest of finding different and unique compositions, my good friend Gina and I spotted a wash that was flowing some decent amount of water. We hiked up of it for a little while until we found not only a lovely foreground but also a background to match it! Dramatic stormy clouds were rolling in…the easy part truly was to wait for beautiful light! All we needed was one small window to allow sun to come in and light up those three beautiful peaks…and so it did! Icefield Parkway, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/senseful-awakening/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7491.jpg Senseful Awakening Some people think I am crazy to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning, get myself ready to go out, drive an our or so, hike with a backpack filled with heavy camera gears for basically just a few clicks to memorize a few jaw dropping witnessed in nature. But I love those moments more than anything in this world! What people have in mind when they go on a vacation trip might be to spends countless days at the beach, play golf, shop in souvenir shops…what I like to do is to go out with my camera equipment and enjoy what nature has best to offer! This is what brings me to life on every mornings! You for sure never know how the light is going to turn out…it might rain, it might be cold, it might be too windy…but if things turn out in your favour, you might have a similar show as the one my wonderful friend Gina Yeo and I witnessed on that morning! Cavell Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/soul-mates/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7229.jpg Soul Mates Medicine Lake in Jasper National is Maligne Lake's little brother and lives in his shadow…and as far as I am concerned, I'd say I prefer Medicine Lake! Now don't get me wrong, if you happen to visit Medicine Lake and only limit yourself to the main view point, you probably will end up being very disappointed. A while ago, I was looking at this mountain from the main view point and told myself: There must be a way to find a better angle to photograph that peak! I drove along Medicine Lake countless times until I found something I truly loved! I parked my rental car at a designated spot, walked by the lake and found some of the most amazing rock slabs to use as a foreground. During my latest trip to the Canadian Rockies, it was a no brainer that I wanted to not only re-visit this favorite location of mine and show it to wonderful friend Gina Yeo? We went there for a sunrise and both of us truly enjoyed the light we witnessed on that morning! It was so lovely! And not only did we have an amazing foreground to work with, we also found some Wild Chives desperately growing in between two rocks! These can't be chive for real? Of course I had to first smell them and then taste in order to confirm that those actually are Wild Chive! Now I am far from recommending you to taste every plants you see in the wild as you could potentially poison yourself…I just happened to be sure this one was chive! It was a truly cute sight! These two little Wild Chive flower buddies were hanging together and enjoying the scene just like Soul Mates! Medicine Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/burning-hot/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8729.jpg Burning Hot Some images seem easier than others to capture…to me, Moraine Lake has been the complete opposite! I have been trying to capture proper light at this iconic location since years. Ever since my very first visit to the Canadian Rockies, I have been trying to get an amazing sunrise or sunset there... And there was always something wrong like completely frozen and slushy lake or cloudy sky or smokes from wild fires…I would be lying if I knew how many times I tried! As of June 2023, for those who don't know, you can no longer drive your rental car or any other personal vehicle to Moraine Lake. I have to admit that at first, I had mixed feelings about the decision Parks Canada took in order to preserve Moraine Lake area. Important to mention too that before the road was closed to personal vehicles, people had to arrive at the parking at 2:30 in the morning in order to have a spot for their car. The parking lot was filling so early! People would cook breakfast in the parking lot and leave trash everywhere…it was a real shit show! My first bus experience to Moraine Lake for sunrise on another hand was everything but bad! Moraine Lake Bus Company was on time, guides were courteous and welcoming, they brought me to the lake safely and since they were the only company to offer sunrise rides to the lake, the place was almost empty of people and the sunrise photoshoot was extremely pleasant! And I finally had the conditions I had been looking for for years! The directional light was beautiful and rich, the reflection was 98% pristine. What an awesome sunrise this was! A definitive win win for me on that specific morning! I finally had the shot! Moraine Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/heart-of-fire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0063.jpg Heart of Fire Our already productive day was soon coming to an end and My friend Gina decided that she wanted to bring to one of her personal favorite location in the Kananaskis to capture an epic sunset. Was it going to be epic? We didn't know yet but it was definitely worth giving it a try since the cloud coverage was so moody and beautiful! We then started the hike approximately two hours before sunset. The hike itself wasn't super long but it goes up by at least 300 meters. Every single steps were worth it! The forest was so lovely, the pine trees were smelling so nice and fresh. We could see some lovely wild flowers all the way up but the view wasn't clear enough to frame any of the surrounding peaks…until we reached a meadow! It felt like we were in Heaven! The clouds were so low but the sun somehow was able to find its way in between them and was giving us one special show! Beautiful as a word doesn't even make that place justice! There was a lovely creek and wild flowers everywhere. Finding the right flower patch to work with was a challenge…even more challenging was the wind! Then Gina told me there was a beautiful water cascade near by so there we went! And what a good decision this was! We both had a chance to capture those very last little bits of fiery light, listening to the sound of water flowing underneath us…a nice refreshing mountain breeze was cooling us down a bit after doing some physical efforts hiking up to this location… It's one of those moments I will remember for ever! Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/quantum-of-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A0364.jpg Quantum of Beauty I have been to Sunwapta Falls many times so far but to me no other times I have previously been there will top this one…why? Let me explain! I had dream of specific conditions which I tried to get on multiple occasions. I was dreaming of a pure white scene…a scene freshly covered with late fall snow. I was dreaming of beautiful contrast between that said white snow and emerald blue water flowing down the lovely Sunwapta River…that image I just described is a must have for me! And that, at all cost! Then I decided to visit Jasper National Park in June with my very good friend Gina Yeo Photography as we wanted to explore for locations for a workshop we would like to offer next year…by the way, if such a workshop interests you, you can always DM Gina or myself and we will add you to our waiting list. On one specific evening, we decided to finish our day at Sunwapta Falls and little did I know about the fact that my mind was about to be blown away! Water was flowing abundantly, vegetation and flowers were so lovely. These flowers are Cornus Canadensis and I recently bought some for my personal garden at home! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how many of these little flowers were present every where in the Canadian Rockies! And to top it all, we had epic light! We had beautiful soft warm light which accentuated the amazing shapes and lines of the mountains. Sunwapta Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dreamful-memories/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9529.jpg Dreamful Memories That image is from an area that gets it's fair share of visitors daily…but instead of concentrating on the main "star" of this location, Crowfoot Mountain, I decided to look else where and point my camera at a mountain I had never photographed in the past…Bow Lake was really calm on that morning and the reflection was so pretty. I don't know how my friend Gina will actually like that image because she would constantly tell me how much she hates potentillas. And what did I decide to use as a foreground interest here? Potentillas! I will have to agree with her that these shrubs plants aren't the prettiest ones and there is an abundance of them in the Rockies but since they kind of grow everywhere, they do represent a big part of the Canadian Rockies vegetation. And what to say more about the light I got on this morning than epic? Since Gina was teaching on that particular morning, I decided to go to Bow Lake by myself… Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/theory-of-light/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6506.jpg Theory of Light Now I'd like you to imagine the perfect scenario…it was a pretty cold January morning and my friend and I decided to drive to Tangle Ridge Mountain to catch some lovely light at sunrise. And as soon as we got there, we knew it was going to be a lovely one. The cloud coverage wasn't the craziest I had seen but I loved this puffy one right above the mountain. I decided I was going to put on my waders and go for a walk on the "beach" ish. There's nothing more relaxing than walking in a river like this one. It's truly rejuvenating and relaxing! Then started a hunt for the perfect foreground. Since it was pretty cold outside, the snow flowers were so crisp and lovely. And as the sun was coming up, every one of these little juicy details, the ice ledges, the tree tops, the distant mountains…were all catching their dose of warm light helping a lot into sculpting the whole scene into a masterpiece signed Mother Nature! It was simply perfect! Tangle Ridge, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/frozen-wounds/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1097.jpg Frozen Wounds Wouldn't it be boring to constantly eat the same food every days or always play golf on the exact same golf course? Well, as a landscape photographer, we can actually have similar struggles. Visiting the Canadian Rockies during winter is a favorite of mine since many years but some have asked me if I was bored to photograph the same mountains and subjects over and over again…the answer to that is of course no! One can't be bored of such awe inspiring locations…but I do have to admit that I always try to find new cool locations to photograph… This one was a good example of me trying to find a new subject…I arrived to this lake early during the day and to my surprise, it was frozen! The extreme cold temperatures of the previous weeks had resulted into solidly freezing most of the lakes including this one that I had never visited before. And guess what, I won't mention the location but I'd like you to guess which mountain this is! I literally spent hours scouting every single square meters of this almost perfect frozen surface to find methane bubbles and there were very few which had been skated on…but I found some really lovely icy cracks like these instead and I knew they would serve a great purpose as an epic foreground! Canmore, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/twilight-zone/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3878.jpg Twilight Zone Norway was everything I was hoping for and also everything wasn't expecting…why? Let me explain… My initial reason why I wanted to visit Norway during winter was off course going to be because of the incredible chances of witnessing northern lights. The days were going to be so short which also meant the nights were going to be so long that it would give us plenty of time to photograph the northern lights. Now what I wasn't expecting is the fact that we had so much bad weather…we had rain, snow, extreme winds, lots of cloudy skies and even more rain. This was definitely going to compromise our chances of photographing northern lights. But on the few occasions when we didn't have a completely cloudy sky, the light was pretty spectacular. Since Norway is located so further north, the sun was going to be extremely low all day. I think the highest the sun would go was 10 degrees above horizon! Could you imagine how rich and warm the light would be? We would only get a few hours of daylight every days but dawn and dusk were going to last almost 2 hours each. And when I took this image, I couldn't believe my eyes…the sky was popping some colors almost two hours after sunset! Fredvang, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dungeon--dragons/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A8337.jpg Dungeon & Dragons It will come as no surprise to most people have been following my work since years that I love to dream! I think we all love to dream…but to me, I have always been so fascinated by the fantastic world of dragons and mystical creatures! I did play Dungeon & Dragons, Magic The Gathering and many other games as a teenager…and guess what I was thinking when I took this image? Yup, I did channel my young self while I was standing at the bottom of the frozen waterfall and I knew exactly how I would edit this image! Where is that place you may ask? If you have been to Yoho National Park, you definitely have seen this location. But if you have been there during spring, summer or fall season, there's no way you could go "in there". And by in there, I mean under it. Natural Bridge truly is a marvelous place to see. It's hard to believe that all of this rock sculpting was actually created by the power of water flowing into a small crevasse becoming wider and wider over time. And by time, I mean million of years! Natural Bridge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/feeling-of-tranquility/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9634.jpg Feeling of Tranquility That image brings me back to my December 2022 trip to the Canadian Rockies…just try to imagine a long day of traveling from Montreal, going through security check point with camera equipment at the airport, boarding a 4 hours flight to Calgary, taking possession of my rental car and driving a couple hours to the mountains in time for a very first opportunity at catching some lovely winter light…standing in a small partially frozen creek with the gentle and relaxing sound of water flowing under your feet…and the light does this?! What a great way to start a short getaway to the mountains right? Canmore, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/astonishing-chaos/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0627.jpg Astonishing Chaos The expression Being in the Middle of Nowhere probably never made as much sense as it did here for the residents of this lovely little town: Gasadalur. These people didn't have a connection to the rest of the island via roads until 2006! It's crazy to think that all food and goods had to be imported by boat…it is also crazy to think that the mailman had to hike over some serious mountains to bring them their daily mail! I can only imagine how quiet and peaceful it must have been to live there literally disconnected from everybody else from the Faroe Islands! And to be honest with you, with such an epic view, I truly wouldn't have minded at all if I was one of these 20 or so residents! Few places I have seen have given me goosebumps like this one! Standing right there near a rugged cliff, surrounded by beautiful mountains and amazing green rolling hills…and as if this by itself wasn't enough, having a lovely waterfall dropping rain water into the ocean! The mood and atmosphere on that specific late afternoon were simply perfect to match the already dramatic scene… It doesn't get much better than this! Gasadalur, Faroe Islands https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/near-dusk-experience/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5716.jpg Near Dusk Experience To experience sunrises and sunsets at such high latitude was a truly special experience! We are often used to see things move at sunrise and sunset…I mean the light normally changes really fast but not in Norway and especially not during winter season! The sun stays so low that it almost feels like a sunset that lasts all day… And by all day, let's be honest, the days only last a couple hours! But if you are lucky enough with cloud coverage, you will end up getting epic light all day! Krokelvtinden, Senja, Norway https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/getting-better-with-age/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0747.jpg Getting Better With Age Do you think it took a few thousand or a few hundred thousand years to create this awe inspiring scene? I am really not sure but my guess is going to be  between two to three million years! When you think about it for a few minutes, erosion is responsible for that absolutely amazing river bend! The first time I went to Horseshoe Bend, I was in complete awe in front of that scene! And ever since the first time, I have been there 4 additional times and I just can't get enough of it! Yes it is one of the most photographed landscape in the USA but it has a very good reason to be! Getting a different shot of it is a little bit more challenging...but still is possible! And speaking of different compositions, I am really happy with this one! The V shape in the foreground truly opens and amazing view over this bend of Colorado River in Page Arizona. Horseshooe Bend, Arizona, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/for-eternity/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_DSC0091.jpg For Eternity So since you are reading this caption, it probably also means you did read many others...and you probably also noticed that this is my only black and white images throughout my whole website. I just happen to love colors so much that in 99% of the cases, switching to black and white doesn't make any sense...on that particular though, when I took that specific image, I already knew this one would be a black and white image! Hvitserkur, Vatnsnesvegur, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/through-the-shadows/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C9889_PANO.jpg Through the Shadows What truly got my attentions here is how beautiful The Watchman was behind the silhouette of the very textured and dark tree. The tree serves a great purpose at framing the whole scene as well. My friend and I were preparing our dinner before heading out for more photography and I realized how beautiful what I had right in front of me was so I decided to capture the moment. The Watchman, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-lone-tree/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C8660_PANO.jpg The Lone Tree There is something truly romantic about a solo tree standing on its own in a scene. Aruba has some of the most beautiful gnarly trees I have ever seen! Those are called Divi Divi trees and they have so much character! The scene itself was truly beautiful and the sky was showing some great colors. I just didn't want to capture it with a single image... This image is in fact a panoramic stitch created with five vertical images coming from my camera, The process required me to use of a special panoramic tripod head, make some calculations to pivot the camera/lens combo onto the lens' nodal point to insure everything would stitch together flawlessly. And so it did! Tomezo Beach, ARUBA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fired-up/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C8179_PANO.jpg Fired Up I find it always super funny to hear what the meaning of "Beautiful Light" is for most people...most people will say that a beautiful blue sky on a bright summer day actually is beautiful light. Well, definitely not my case! To me, this is beautiful light! That morning was far from being a disappointment for me! I was so excited when I saw those low clouds drifting in at Mesa Arch! I knew I had a banger of a shot! But all I could hear next to me was people complaints about those clouds blocking their views... Mesa Arch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/what-makes-you-smile/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C8021_PANO.jpg What Makes you Smile Mesa Arch probably comes in as a solid top 2 contender for being the most photographed arc in USA. And for a good reason! What an amazing view and framing over Canyonlands National Park it offers! I have been there so many times...and I always get different compositions of it. On this image, I wanted to concentrate on a rock formation that is called Washer Woman. Why Washer Woman you may ask? Well because according to some people, it looks like a woman doing dishes... I once asked a guy: what makes you believe it was a woman? And than a general argument between man and woman present at Mesa Arch started...HAHAHA!! Mesa Arch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/black-pearl/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C7951_PANO.jpg Black Pearl The end of a beautiful day on the island of Aruba cannot be any better than this! Imagine a cool ocean breeze blowing gently into your hairs while you are listening to the sound of incoming waves under a beautiful sunset sky...and a pirates ship sailing by at the same time was just pure luck! Ok, it wasn't a pirates ship...but it sure did look like one!! Arashi Beach, ARUBA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/queen-of-the-desert/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C7642-PANO.jpg Queen of the Desert This image dates back from 2015! Delicate Arch! That arch is without any doubt one of the most popular if not the most popular arch in USA. And for that reason, we can find thousands and thousands of images of it. So is there a way to photograph Delicate Arch differently? Oh yes there is! That's exactly what I did here! And I went for sunrise instead of sunset. Sunrise meant hiking up to the arch in the dark...please be assured that I know that trail very well! So when I got to this location, I did setup my camera on my panoramic tripod head and waited for the show to begin! Delicate Arch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-good-day-fishing/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C7564_PANO.jpg A good day fishing I was scouting around the eastern side of the island of Aruba for a lighthouse on any other subject that could create a beautiful foreground...and I came across this beautiful boat which was brought there by the ocean's many mood swings! The light was beautiful, soft and magical! A perfect way to start a day in the Caribbean! Bachelor's Beach, ARUBA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/see-you-again-soon/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C7441_PANO.jpg See You Again Soon Many years ago, I went to Acadia National Park for a couple days. I had a few locations in mind...a few must photograph things and that lighthouse was one of them! One thing we have no choice but to live with is what ever light will be given to us...this sure wasn't the prime light one will ever dream of but I just love it! It was cool, I could feel a nice breeze from the ocean as a storm a coming by. The water was surprisingly calm and I was there all by myself to enjoy this awe inspiring coast line! Acadia National Park, Maine, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/eternal-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C7221_PANO.jpg Eternal Beauty A really warm and hazy late afternoon at the Grand Canyon's South Rim…this actually was the very last sunset of a two weeks camping, hiking and photography trip in the beautiful deserts of the South West! It truly was an amazing trip! I wisely chose the time of the year to visit the South West! I love moody stormy skies! In that period, you will for sure get a chance to see some pretty dramatic stormy skies, you will for sure get rain too but if you are lucky enough, you will get quite impressive sunrises and sunsets. With that being said, that evening's sunset was nothing short of spectacular! Impressive cloud coverage all around, no rain at all and all of this with an epic canyon view! Grand Canyon National Park, Nevada, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dance-of-zostera/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C7139_PANO.jpg Dance of Zostera Everything was of the party on that morning...the light was amazing, the textures were beautifully back lit by the low sun and I was so fascinated to see all those sea grass were dancing to the beat of the wind...and the way everything was interesting together truly made for a moment I'll remember for ever. In order to capture beautifully that moment, I went for a slightly longer focal than I normally do and did a 7 vertical frames panoramic image. Acadia National Park, Maine, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/blurred-vision/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C7119_PANO.jpg Blurred Vision That morning, even though it looks like was a peaceful one on the picture, was far from being all that fun! Why you lay ask? Can anyone explain to me why we have mosquitoes on this planet? Please don't tell me because it feeds the birds...they have plenty other insects to eat... Anyway, other than the mosquitoes eating me alive, that moments was a truly beautiful one as I could see the sun was trying to fight its way through the clouds in order to show its very first rays...the scene was so tranquil and smooth! Apart from the mosquitoes, this felt just like a dream! Acadia National Park, Maine, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/haydens-throne/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C5081_PANO.jpg Hayden's Throne Grand Canyon has the perfect name to describes itself...it is a big big canyon! What I love about this view is how much we can feel the depth of the landscape and how huge it looks! That image was captured on a beautiful summer morning where the very first light was hitting the canyon walls from the left...a truly memorable moment! Grand Canyon National Park, Nevada, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/with-honor/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C4734_PANO.jpg With Honor Driving down the Transcanadian Highway right after entering Banff National Park, one of the first big piece of rock you'll put your eyes on is this one: Cascade Mountain! And what a spectacular mountain that is! On that particular morning, I was driving all around the city after doing a sunrise image at Vermillion Lakes and I noticed some amazing low hanging clouds hugging Cascade Mountain! Now if that's not worth taking a picture, I don't know what will be! Cascade Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/jurassic-world/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C4130_PANO.jpg Jurassic World Rare are the occasion when I will take my camera outside of my bag mid day! The light rarely has something interesting to display around noon and especially during the summer season! But on a cloudy day where the sun can find its way in between clouds to create such amazing sun rays as these...now we are talking! It might have lasted just a few brief minutes but I was at the right at the right moment... Grand Canyon National Park, Nevada, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/emerald-zen/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C4052_PANO.jpg Emerald Zen Now that morning was an amazing one! It actually was my most productive of that whole trip! I was in Jasper just a couple hours prior to taking that shot. I wanted to do a sunrise at Saskatchewan River crossing but the area was all fogged and I couldn't see the tip of my nose so I kept on driving until I reached more goodness. And so I did! The light was truly amazing just a couple kilometers further. I took a few shots at Mount Chephren, then at Bow Summit…later at Natural Bridge and as if it wasn't enough, I also took this shot at Emerald Lake! That moment was the most zen I felt in the Canadian Rockies! There were some beautiful patches of fog right above the water surface and over some patches of trees. A wide angle lens wouldn't have done it correctly here for sure so I concentrated on using a much longer focal to isolate the part of the scene that was talking to me the most! Emerald Lake, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dream-catcher/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C3972_PANO.jpg Dream Catcher This was from my very first trip to South West USA...I had so many locations in mind to photograph! But little did I know that camping in a tent in the desert could be so eventful! We were staying at a campground in Monument Valley and when was time to go to bed, the ground was infested with cockroaches...we slept in the car! Or shall I say, we tried to sleep in the car...it's just not comfortable at all in a car! Anyway. at least we were greeted with some amazing light the next morning! Monument Valley, Arizona, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/force-of-nature/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C3902_PANO.jpg Force of Nature Every once in a while, we will put our eyes on something nature created and we will tell ourselves: How is that even possible? Nature Bridge in Yoho National Park is a good example of places that will give you a wow factor! What probably started as a waterfall over a rocky wall in a random river became an Artwork signed by Mother Nature. How? I assume the the said rocky wall cracked at some point and water started flowing in the crack. The work of time created more and more erosion and voilà! We now have a Natural Bridge! Natural Bridge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/so-nice/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C3840-PANO.jpg So Nice This is the perfect example of improvising with a plan B that turned out to probably be even better than what I initially had in mind...how? Let me explain! My initial plan was to do a sunrise photoshoot at Saskatchewan River Crossing on my way back from Jasper. Yes that means getting up at stupid hours and driving a couple hours to be there on time! But then imagine the deception on my face when I arrived at Saskatchewan River Crossing and all I could see was thick fog everywhere! The first thing that came to my mind was to keep on driving until things got more interesting...I think they is exactly what I found in that picture here! Bow Summit, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/merrick-and-the-mittens/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C3515_PANO.jpg Merrick and the Mittens My first trip to South West USA was the one I'll remember the most! The excitement and joy of being there for the first time was just unreal! I was amazed to see scenes that reminded me of old cowboy movies! Those rocks formations are in Monument Valley and they were in all their splendor here when they were catching the very last little bit of light before sunset! Monument Valley, Arizona, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/harmony/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C3060_PANO.jpg Harmony The way Mesa Arch sits up in the morning truly is second to none...the light under the arch isn't Photoshopped at all! That's the real deal! And the way it happens is quite fascinating too! The warm sun light of the rising sun hits the canyon wall below the arch and then bounces under the arch to give it its fiery orange color. I love to photograph Mesa Arch in a panoramic format because it truly give it its sense of grandeur and beauty so nicely. A sunrise at Mesa Arch is for sure going to impress anybody! Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/set-up-fire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C3059_PANO.jpg Set Up Fire Bryce Canyon truly is a special place! All the different types and shapes of rocks blew my mind! Here I wanted to concentrate on specific elements of what this place has to offer. The Hoodoos were catching some beautiful rich warm morning light here and the light was literally bouncing everywhere...what a sight this was! I photographed this scene with a panoramic head in order to capture how many details as I possibly could! Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/muffin-tops/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C2382_PANO.jpg Muffin Tops Canyonlands National Park has a lot to offer to its visitors. Most people visit the Island in the Sky area which is spectacular because for the most part, you'll be standing at the edges of some pretty impressive canyon walls! But be assured that the Needles District is equally as spectacular and has some pretty amazing rock formations! Here's a panoramic image of a scene that reminds me of muffin tops...maybe I am hungry but I do see muffin tops here! Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-life-to-remember/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C2239_PANO_2.jpg A Life to Remember If there is one element I love to use in my landscape images, it will have to be dead trees! They add such a great feel to any images captured in the vast deserts of South West USA. That image was captured in The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park on a pretty chilly winter morning. I truly love how the warm sun light interacts with every single desert plants. I love to photograph against the sun! Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/vertical-limits/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C1946_PANO.jpg Vertical Limits Here is some amazing late afternoon warm light hitting a beautiful display of vertical rocks in Arches National Park. Where in Arches National Park? Those are located near Devil's Garden actually and I really think they are so underrated! We rarely see images of that whole area…people prefer to go to Delicate Arch! The funny thing is I had plans to shoot a sunset at Delicate Arch but because of the crowd, I decided to rush myself back down and head to Devil's Garden instead! Just goes to show that we can always find something different and unique if we actually look for it. And because the park is named Arches National Park doesn't mean you must photograph an arch every time! Arches National Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/proud-to-be/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C1547_PANO.jpg Proud To Be That day had been really exhausting with lots of driving all the way from Calgary and I stopped to multiple places before finally making it to my final destination which was Jasper. But one more stop was much needed before and it was Athabasca Falls. The rich warm light was sublime! Every few minutes, Mount Kerkeslin was partially into the clouds...and not anymore a few minutes later... What an awesome way to finish a day in the Canadian Rockies! Athabasca Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/engraved-in-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C1523_PANO.jpg Engraved in Time Grand Canyon! Who haven't heard of the Grand Canyon? It is divided in many different areas which all have something really different to offer...but which part is my favorite part of Grand Canyon? It will have to be Toroweap! Toroweap is one of the most spectacular place I have ever seen. The canyon is really narrow there and has a vertical drop of almost 1 kilometer! This image is a panoramic stitch of 7 vertical images which was later cropped in Photoshop to give it a more standard aspect ratio. Toroweap, Nevada, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/afternoon-goodness/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C1108_PANO.jpg Afternoon Goodness I will always remember the day I took this image as if it was yesterday…it was my very first time ever driving the Ice Field Parkway all the way to the city of Jasper and man was I impressed! Huge snow covered peaks and glaciers on both sides of the road. Every peaks I was looking at was becoming my new favorite mountain! I was about about 30 minutes from Jasper according to my gps and I saw that sign with a weird waterfall name on it…why not stop here? Athabasca Falls was it written? I had been driving for hours so a leg stretching session was definitely going to be well appreciated right? I rarely shoot stuff mid afternoon but the light at that moment was just to nice to pass on. Standing right next to Athabasca Falls was truly an experience on its own and then the light on Mount Kerkeslin...it was epic! Athabasca Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/darkness-fall/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C1074_PANO.jpg Darkness Fall Quite a dramatic evening by the mighty Grand Canyon at Toroweap...this would probably be the moment when most people would hide from the rain of the incoming storm. Well, definitely not me! I see a monsoon approaching, I am going out to photograph some dramatic images! In order to capture the vastness of this scene, I used my panoramic tripod head and shot a series of 7 vertical images which were later stitched together in AutoPano Giga Pro. Toroweap, Nevada, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-portal/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C0577_PANO.jpg The Portal This place feels otherworldly…when standing there, it truly feels as if you are right in front of a portal that will lead you straight to another world…straight to a fantastic world where dragons and goblins are still living! That's just my imagination striking again...but I do have to admit that this place truly is a special one! It probably is my favorite hike of the South West USA! The hike is approximately 15km in and out and involves a lot of bushwacking, dead tree hoping and river crossing but it is one gorgeous experience! The Subway, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-old-barn-of-fruita/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_O6C0069_PANO.jpg The Old Barn of Fruita I remember driving through Fruita for the very first time back in 2015, I was simply amazed to see such a place in the middle of the desert…there is one road that drives you along a river and then into a beautiful valley until you enter the small historical town of Fruita in the heart of Capitol Reef National Park. I definitely knew about the existence of that specific barn but I truly wanted to see it in person! Of course when my friend and I first saw it in the middle of a day, the light was very harsh. So I decided that I wanted to come back at sunrise. I knew for sure that the rich warm light would be entering the valley from the east. It was a chilly winter morning, frost was present on the totality of the foreground but its when the first sun rays lit up the valley walls that this whole scene started becoming magical! Fruita, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/red-line/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_DSC1086.jpg Red Line Some images just need to be spontaneous! You look somewhere, you like what you see so you grab your camera and capture the goodness! This was an example where I had my main camera mounted on a tripod and the light was just too beautiful to pass on...so I took my second camera body out of my bag, mounted a long lens on it and had fun capturing this little piece of light that lasted only a few minutes! Koltur, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/kings-road/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_DSC0413.jpg King's Road I frequently talk about Ireland, how much I love it and how beautiful this country is! This is one of many good example of pure Irish beauty! Bregaph Road in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, definitely is one of the most beautiful road I have ever seen period! There, you can admire close to 100 beech trees gracefully bending over the road, creating an epic tunnel of precious light! Being there will make you feel as if you were living a few hundreds years ago! What a peaceful and absolutely gorgeous place! I can easily imagine people riding horses there a few centuries ago. Dark Hedges, Bregagh Road, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/going-somewhere/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_DSC0404.jpg Going Somewhere A local guy decided to plant trees on this road some 400 years ago to impress his visitors! Well guess what, 400 years later, we are still impressed by this man's idea! Bregaph Road is a true gem of a place! Under the right light conditions, it shines as bright as you could ever imagine! The Dark Hedges are truly stunning! Dark Hedges, Bregagh Road, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/where-the-gods-meet/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_DSC0086.jpg Where the Gods meet The Southern part of Iceland is very crowded...to a point that it isn't pleasant anymore! But when you drive to the North, it almost feels you are visiting another country! I almost had the place to myself. I went by the river right at the bottom of the waterfall and my main goal was to make the water surface as smooth as possible and give those foreground rocks an almost metallic feel to them! The light was just as pretty as you can hope for in Iceland! There is no better way to end a day in heaven! Godafoss, Fossholl, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ice-dungeon/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_C1A8089.jpg Ice Dungeon I have been obsessed with finding ice cave type of compositions that could potentially frame a mountain! I have searched many areas in the hope of finding such composition. And then finally, my good friend Gina Yeo brought me to this specific location where I was able to find a few dead trees and some icicles hanging onto them. The light went from very flat to pretty amazing in a short matter of time. In order to get the final shot, patience definitely was required...but I also needed to use my imagination. The camera was so close to the ground that I could simply not use a tripod. I used a spare jacket and sat my camera on it. I also needed to use some energy bars to properly shim my camera...lots of work but totally worth it! Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/one-million-miles/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9918.jpg One Million Miles I was just driving back from Mount Chephren after another gorgeous sunrise I did there....and I told myself: Why not stop at Morant's Curve? The amount of clouds and the elevation at which they were standing were creating some dream like light! I truly wanted to get a proper shot of Morant's Curve with a train driving by because a Canadian scene can hardly scream Canada more than this! The moment truly was perfect as all the trees were gently covered with a fresh coat of fluffy snow. The contrast was amazing! The beautiful low clouds hugging the peaks and the late morning side light were beautifully giving dimension to this absolutely epic scene! And when the train drove by, it raised a gentle amount of snow off the ground creating a bit more magic. Morant's Curve, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/its-never-really-over/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9845_PANO.jpg It's Never Really Over The Faroe Islands truly are a spectacular place to be. They offer quite a unique variety of extremely rugged cliffs mixed with green never ending hills! That specific location is Kallur Lighthouse...the lighthouse actually was behind me but it was so windy that there was no safe way to include it into my composition. I instead went on to capture the beautiful contrast between the shadowy and brighter areas which helped sculpting the whole scene into an Artwork signed by Mother Nature! Kallur Lighthouse, Kalsoy, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/this-is-the-end/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9839.jpg This is the End Giant's Causeway is a true playground for the long exposure photography fan inside me! I don't always expose for multiple minutes but some subject are simply begging for it! I wanted to go with a very simple vertical composition here...which would simply lead our eyes straight to the tip and since I exposed for a longer period of time, it softens all the distractions we would normally get from moving water. The warm side light was also very relaxing for the eyes. I truly love Northern Ireland! Giant's Causeway, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/wildfire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9839_PANO.jpg Wildfire Not just a regular sunrise at Mesa Arch...a truly fiery one! I must say that it literally ignited like a million fire crackers popping at the same time on that morning! Could you believe me if I tell you I actually desaturate the reds a bit? That sunrise truly was epic! Of the 20 plus sunrises I have witness at this iconic location, this one probably was my favorite one! Mesa Arch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/milestone/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9829.jpg Milestone My weather predictions truly were spot on in order to get that shot! Weather conditions were supposed to be pretty much clear right outside of the Rockies and since Mount Chephren is located near the very east of the mountain range, I knew I would have some good chances of good light for sunrise! When I left Lake Louise on that morning, it was still snowing a bit and all we could see in the sky were clouds...but as soon as I got onto Icefield Parkway, I could see some beautiful wide windows allowing the full moon to light up most peaks! As soon as I arrived to Mount Chephren, I was getting more and more excited as I knew I didn't drive there for no reason...I was sure something amazing was about to happen. And so it did! Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/warmhearted/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9637.jpg Warmhearted I have been to Ireland many times so far...that country is so beautiful and has so much to offer! Are you a fan of history? Ireland has it... Are you a fan of castles and ruins? Ireland has it... Are you a fan of rich green landscapes with rugged coast lines? Ireland has it too! But there is one area of Ireland that won my heart! The northern part of Ireland near Fanad Head Lighthouse is breathtakingly beautiful! This was a beautiful late afternoon at Fanad Head Lighthouse, one I will remember for ever! Ireland truly has it all! It's beautiful all around! Fanad Head Lighthouse, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/prime-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9578.jpg Prime Time Morant's Curve near Lake Louise is quite famous for the view it has to offer to us all. And if you wisely plan your visit there or if you are a very lucky person in general, you will get to see a train driving by right in front of your eyes. I love to stop there and stare at a view that to me screams Canada to a level almost no other scenes can! And that day was no exception...the train did drive by without me waiting a stupid amount of time. And by stupid, I mean I have waited up to three hours for a single train to show up! Morant's Curve, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/quantum-leap/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9521.jpg Quantum Leap I remember seeing that place many years ago for the first time while visiting the Rockies...I was seriously gobsmacked when I saw it! I always wanted to see it all covered with a thick coat of pristine snow, beautiful aqua colored Kootenay river flowing at the bottom of the canyon and the whole scene leading our eyes to Vermillion Peak. I went over and over again to Marble Canyon in hope of getting those dream conditions I kept seeing in my head. I gave it a try a few times during last couple years...and this year again. The first time I went this year, I couldn't even see the mountain so I said to myself not this time again.... For my very last sunset of the trip, I decided to drive there and give it another try. It was still pretty cloudy out there but because I had a lot of time ahead of me, I decided to make that short hike to the spot in question. The conditions weren't looking good at all, it was so cloudy and foggy that I once again could barely see Vermillion Peak but since my patience level is very high, I was rewarded with an amazing surprise! Marble Canyon, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9515.jpg Time The sun isn't going to shine everyday, but like I said many times, I will go out shooting something anyway! It's always good to come out of the comfort zone...it helps with creativity! When walking along the Bow river on that morning, I was really happy to see that a fresh layer of snow fell during the night. It did create a beautiful white blanket all over the place. This little frozen pool did catch my attention too...I love the fact that it actually looks like a small lake with small islands of snow. Bow River was steaming as the water temperature was probably much warmer then the outside temperature....but don't get me wrong, water wasn't hot enough for me to have a swim! Castle Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/inferno/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9502.jpg Inferno Green River Overlook has a very iconic composition everyone grabs...but Green River Overlook has way more to offer in my opinion! I have always been captivated by those few rock formations. So on that particular day, I went exploring further to the north. I tried to com as close as possible to the big rock wall as I knew it would catch some amazing light at sunset. I composed in such a way that I would have some beautiful side light hitting every one of those little bush trees and I could use this whole curve into my composition to bring my viewers' eyes straight to those beautiful pointy rock formations. The light was amazing, the atmosphere was equally as spectacular! Green River Overlook, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dance-of-the-tides/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9408_PANO.jpg Dance of the Tides A panoramic image of Giant's Causeway I did many years ago...what I wanted to capture here was the movement of water crashing onto each and every basalt columns. I'll have to admit that I did get wet to capture this moment of action! The sun was setting and the light was so pretty! It's moments like these that you wish would never end! Giant's Causeway, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/autumn-vibe/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9369.jpg Autumn Vibe If one thing is more impressive around Montreal than any other places I have seen in my life, it will need to be fall season! Fall season on the Eastern Provinces is out of this world. The variety of trees makes for epic fall color shows! On that specific day, I was visiting friends near my home and they happen to have this lovely creek on their property! How cool is that right? Coveyhill, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/blistering/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9306_PANO.jpg Blistering Many years ago, I went to Arches National Park to see this iconic location once more and it didn't disappoint. Delicate Arch always is one amazing place where you can watch the sun go down. The hike to get there is nice as well! At the moment I got to the arch, I started to hunt for a different composition and I saw a small water puddle at the very bottom of the arch. I knew at this moment that at least I was going to get a pretty unique take of this iconic sandstone arch. You have here Delicate Arch under a beautiful blue sky and its own reflection. I love the fact that cyan and red being opposite colors are both present in that amazing scene. Delicate Arch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/game-of-thrones/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9172.jpg Game of Thrones Did I get wet for this shot? Heck yes I did! If I had to choose one image in my portfolio that would represent Northern Ireland well and why I love this country so much, I think it would be this one! From beautiful endless green hills to rugged coastlines, stunning ruins everywhere with a twist of gorgeous light! They call it Irish light for a good reason, no where else can you find light this pretty. This country definitely has it all and I feel like I am at home there! It was raining cats and dogs not even an hour before I took this shot! Getting down to the beach was quite something and very tricky. Irish grass can be really slippery when wet but I did manage to make it down safely! And once on the rocky beach, what a view seriously! In order to get the perfect water movement all across the frame, I did some time blending which consist of taking multiple exposures of the same scene to capture beautiful juicy details from different waves splashing on different rocks. Dunluce Castle, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-obelisk/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9162-2.jpg The Obelisk People go to Arches National Park to see arches...right? Well not me!… In the Windows District, there is that obelisk shaped rock formation that has always been talking a lot to me! I knew I had to find a way to photograph it. And since nobody had photograph it yet, I was getting even more excited to find a proper way to compose it. I went for a vertical composition and used some small shrub plants in my foreground. the repetition of plants also brings our eyes further into the frame. And what else to say about the light than wow! But while driving there, I instead decided to make a left turn towards the Windows. It was still dark so I couldn't see much. Going to Delicate Arch for sunrise requires a bit of spare time to actually hike to the arch. When I got to the Windows, I immediately went for the arch in an arch composition from a few post ago. Both this image and the arch in an arch shot were done on the same morning actually. But when I saw the clouds and when the sky looked like towards the east, I was seriously starting to get upset about the decision I made of going to the Windows. I couldn't "waste" such a sunrise! I started walking around and saw the potential of this obelisk shaped rock and decided to give this guy a chance! And in the end, I was super happy with this quite unique composition! Not sticking to my original plans on that morning and go for something more spontaneous definitely paid off! And I had the whole place for myself with made it even more enjoyable! As a landscape photographer, I'd say that planning things in advance will most of the time be the best thing to do but every once in a while, it truly is fun and rewarding to listen to the inner voices pushing us to go the opposite way! Windows District, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/birch-true-colors/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9122.jpg Birch True Colors We, landscape photographers, can spend hours and hours photographing grand views! But there is one thing we must not forget...we must look where we walk because it can be equally as beautiful on the ground! Fall season in eastern Canada truly is other worldly! We are very lucky to have such a vast variety of trees which will turn into so many different shades of warm red, orange, yellow and much more! Here, just a beautiful arrangement of fiery Birch Leaves on the ground! I love their vibrant yellow colors mixed with pine trees needles. Lacolle, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/mellow/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A9066.jpg Mellow Have you ever been to Emerald Lake? Did you have any problems with that Mallard Ducks couple? Well, you can definitely console yourself because those two little guys have been messing a lot of other photographers' reflection since forever...including myself! I see two possible options in order to solve that ever lasting situation...first one, bring a M249 automatic machine gun and get rid of those ducks...but I highly doubt this option is the best one and it would probably end up with you going to jail! And the second option, which is by far the more environment friendly one, is using a Ten Stop Neutral Density filter which will allow you to slow your shutter speed enough to not only no longer seeing them ducks but also the allow the water surface to look much smoother...and adding some movement in the clouds! For me, it was a no brainer...I went for option two! And I truly love nature and ducks probably are my favorite animals of them all! That evening truly was a lovely one at Emerald Lake! Temperature was around -8, wind was non existent and the light was beautiful and warm! Emerald Lake Lodge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/maple-true-colors/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8920.jpg Maple True Colors We, landscape photographers, can spend hours and hours photographing grand views! But there is one thing we must not forget...we must look where we walk because it can be equally as beautiful on the ground! Fall season in eastern Canada truly is other worldly! We are very lucky to have such a vast variety of trees which will turn into so many different shades of warm red, orange, yellow and much more! Here, just a beautiful arrangement of fiery Maple Leaves on the ground! Coveyhill, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/oak-true-colors/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8906.jpg Oak True Colors We, landscape photographers, can spend hours and hours photographing grand views! But there is one thing we must not forget...we must look where we walk because it can be equally as beautiful on the ground! Fall season in eastern Canada truly is other worldly! We are very lucky to have such a vast variety of trees which will turn into so many different shades of warm red, orange, yellow and much more! Here, just a beautiful arrangement of fiery Oak Leaves on the ground mixed with some really beautiful moss. Coveyhill, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/closing-act/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8852.jpg Closing Act Photographing my backyard has always been a big challenge to me...are our everyday views inspirational enough to creat beautiful images? I was visiting friends and they happen to have a lovely river flowing down their property. I have seen that place during the summer months and it was just all green...but at the right time of the year, that place truly got me inspired! New life goal of mine, have a river on my piece of land! Coveyhill, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/frozen-nipples/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8676.jpg Frozen Nipples Is it just me or what? Do I really see right? How in the world is this even possible? I was walking on the ice on that morning and when I came across those interestingly shaped methane bubbles, my jaw simply dropped and I started laughing! It's a good thing I was all by myself because, not only standing in the middle of a frozen lake all by myself might seem a bit weird to most people, laughing while looking at the ice probably would make everyone think I am truly crazy! Do I really have a dirty mind or do I really see boobs shaped methane bubble? Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/elemental-blast/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8674.jpg Elemental Blast If you haven't been to Abraham Lake in Alberta, let me tell you that it truly is an awesome place to chill and enjoy the views! But to me, the moment of the year it shines the most is winter season. It truly is a magical place during the colder months of the year! You've probably seen some methane bubble images of this place? I also truly enjoy photographing ice cracks probably just as much if not more then bubbles...composition wise, the reason is simple, think about how strong the leading lines those can create and more specifically when they point in the right direction. Flat light does work so well with those type of images as it makes for a much simpler color palette as well! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/breaking-through/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8604.jpg Breaking through I remember that evening as if it was yesterday! I was traveling with a female friend of mine during that trip and she didn't plan her clothing accordingly. She nknew we were visiting Iceland? Or better said the land of ice...girl's leggings won't be warm enough for Iceland my dear! After photographing Godafoss at sunset, we went to a nice little restaurant right next to the waterfall and we had an amazing Icelandic soup to warm both of us! Godafoss, Fossholl, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/scars/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8603.jpg Scars My friend and I were driving and scouting areas for potential photography opportunities and we came across this location. I truly love the textured rocks I decided to use as a foreground here. Fun fact is they create a strong leading line into my composition. My main subject is the small village on the other side of the fjord! What a view this was! Funningur, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/holy-light/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8527_PANO.jpg Holy Light I am a big fan of beautiful light...I think we all are fans of beautiful light! I remember on that day, I was visiting small villages and scouting for locations to photograph sunrises and sunsets in the next few days... When I first saw that spot, I knew I wanted to photograph there...the composition was talking to me a lot but the light wasn't there. It was a mostly clear day, pretty sure it is a rare thing for the Faroe Islands I think and I was driving on that beautiful road to one of the cutest village I have seen in the Faroe Islands! On the way back, the light was extremely different...some low clouds were drifting into the valley, creating some epic mood! I simply had to park my rental car along the road, in a safe spot, take my camera out and shot a few clicks handheld! There was no chance I could setup my tripod on time as the clouds were moving so fast so I went all in with no tripod! A few minutes later, the light was not even close to be as gorgeous as this! Things move fast in the Faroe Islands! Gonguturur, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/shattered/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8497.jpg Shattered Preachers Point is well known for having huge tilted slabs of ice just like those. How does this happen? Well, let me tell my a not too scientific explanation of how I think it happens! First of all, a lot of lakes in the rockies are used for human consommation and also to produce electricity. In the winter, precipitations are mostly solid so those do not really add to the water level. The lakes being frozen and us taking water underneath the ice will cause water level to go down and ice will go down as well. Preachers Point being one of the lesser deep part of the lake, ice will hit the bottom sooner, causing it to break into giant slabs and creating those awesomely amazing ice shapes! As far as composition goes, cracks between those giant slabs are truly amazing and make some great foregrounds! I love to use strong leading lines in my compositions! That was one epic sunrise! Preachers Point, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/awakening-of-the-phoenix/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8404.jpg Awakening of the Phoenix One morning that ended up being fantastic at Vestrahorn mountains in Eastern Iceland! The sun was just about to show above the horizon and those lovely low hanging clouds were catching as much of it as possible! I used the waterline in order to create a strong leading line into my composition. Vestrahorn Mountains, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/redemption/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8345_PANO.jpg Redemption Vestrahorn mountains were so nice to me after all the stress I had been through to get my little ass to Iceland! I am a very well organized person...my planning is always spot on! I just think of everything and every possible scenarios! I made reservations for every single hotels in consideration of the many places I wished to visit all around the country. I even planned the equipment I'd need by looking at metadata on pictures I found on internet! I did forget one detail...probably the most important one of them all; I forgot to check my passport's expiration date and only noticed when I was leaving home. In Canada, we can have an emergency passport service and get a brand new passport in a single day. Ok, it does come with a price but at that point, all I cared was going to Iceland! I finally made it there, my friend picked me at the airport and we drove all the way to Hofn in a single day to get this shot on the next morning...was all the stress worth it? I'd say yes! Vestrahorn Mountains, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/land-of-the-dragons/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8282.jpg Land of the Dragons My first trip to Iceland was really stressful for me as I missed my initial due to an expired passport...I had been working so much before and forgot one important detail when planning this trip... I was luckily able to make it there two days later but we were a bit late on the schedule so we drove from Reykjavik all the way to Hofn in a single day. You don't get to see much in such a day but the plan was to do a sunset there. When trying to find the dirt road that brings to Stockness, you need to be careful...we ended up missing that road and entered a tunnel. The plan was to do a u turn right after the end tunnel....but that damn tunnel just wouldn't end! We were rushed as the sunset was going to happen soon so we didn't wait until the end of the tunnel... we did that u-turn and manage to drive down that dirt road until we reach a proper parking spot, got out of the car and there it was!! I was absolutely stunned at how epic that place was! Not too many pictures can give this place justice! But I think this one does it justice! Vestrahorn Mountains, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dignified/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8267.jpg Dignified In just a matter of a few days, that place completely changed...we went from extreme -40 type of colds where you could barely take your gloves off your fingers to spring like temperatures! On that day, I wasn't even wearing my beanie and my gloves...my jacket was unzipped wide open and I was sweating! Crazy right? Of course with that came completely different conditions to shoot there at Castle Mountain. We were driving back from Jasper and there was very little time left before driving back to Calgary. Even tho all the snow was gone, we had all those beautiful colorful polished river rocks as a foreground and the light was once more amazing at the right moment! Castle Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/angels-wings/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8235.jpg Angel's Wings I have been on frozen lakes quite a few times in my life so far and…I have come across some pretty funky looking shapes and bubble displays. In my never ending process of finding a cool looking foreground, I came across these and what more to say other than wow?! That winter had been very mild in the Canadian Rockies and I am assuming the warmer temperatures are responsible for those truly awe inspiring stripes on the ice surface. I guess at some point temperatures went above freezing point which created some spontaneous streams on the ice surface...which probably instantly froze when the sun came down…maybe? What do they look like? All I can say is I truly couldn't stop myself from shooting those absolutely amazing icy patterns! They also just happened to be pointing in the right direction! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/tower-of-dreams/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8148.jpg Tower of Dreams Just a beautiful field of snow pillows, a river with raising steam and an epic mountain catching some rich side light in the morning… Wow! After spending quite some time wading into the river to get some iconic images, I walked a little further and found this composition.. It sincerely felt like a dream to be standing right there in front of this ginormous mountain which is one of my all time favorite in the rockies. My friend and I truly wanted to get a proper sunrise at Mount Chephren…we drove by it so many times, stopped on so many occasions, hiked there more often then we can actually remember just to get the optimal conditions. And all of this just in order to have a lifetime memory of this absolutely awe inspiring peak! Our efforts did pay off! Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/with-love/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A8113.jpg With Love Now I know exactly what will come to your mind when you first see that image...he made it himself....or he probably Photoshopped it in there! He did add that heart in post-production! It's Photoshopped! Well, the answer to both is; No I didn't! To be 100% honest, I didn't even see the heart before the time I got home and backed up my images on my hard drives! Everything happened so fast on this morning...first, I left my hotel in Lake Louise and it was quite cloudy...to a point I was questioning my decision of driving one and a half hour in icy winter conditions all the way to Abraham Lake. . And when we got there, I could see some very weak magenta hues in the sky and it was like an hour before sunrise! At this moment, I knew the colors were going to pop! So I rushed myself in the ice field, set up the camera and waited....not even 30 minutes later, the sky lit up and it lasted only for a few minutes but just long enough to get a few shots! Preachers Point, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/whiteout/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7788.jpg Whiteout We all love that beautiful colorful cloud display at sunrise and even tho we'd take it every mornings...this isn't humanly possible. I could seriously call myself quite lucky with light in general but that trip in particular was pretty intense! I had explosive skies on five out of 8 mornings! That image was from one of the three mornings the sun didn't show up for sunrise...and I gotta say I am equally as happy with how it turned out! This place, named Tangle Ridge Mountain, also is a favorite of mine. It's a truly fun place to photograph thanks to a countless amount of spontaneous creeks forming everywhere, creating some really awesome leading lines to my main subject. I was a bit shocked by the very low amount of snow there compare to the year before...but I did manage to find some really awesome ice with beautifully textured crystals of snow on top of it. Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ghost-encounter/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7772.jpg Ghost Encounter I was visiting friends who are very fortunate to live on a tropical island...Curacao to be more specific. MY good friend and I were in a quest to find something interesting to photograph and since he's from the place, he brought me to this...well, I still ain't fully sure what this is but it sure was a great element to include into our compositions. The ocean wasn't smooth, too smooth but still had some ripples all over. I tried many exposure settings and it simply wouldn't look good! The water surface simply was too busy! So I fitted my 10 Stops Neutral Density filter not my lens. That filter would allow me to expose for a much longer period of time, 4 minutes to be more specific. And now I had the effect I was looking for! Another cool fact was someone walked onto the pier while I was exposing. Since he stayed still for about half of the whole exposure, his details recorded enough to creat this amazing ghost like shadow where he was standing. CURACAO https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/atmospheric-disturbance/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7735.jpg Atmospheric Disturbance I often hear people complain about grey days…some would always want the ideal perfect colorful sunrise or sunset… But on another hand, if you think about it for a few minutes, there are quite a few reasons to love the "non perfect" light conditions like those. You'll never run out of time while trying to setup the camera or hunt for that perfect composition you had in mind as the light won't change all that fast if not at all. Some of my all time favorite images were shot on grey days! That morning at Tangle Ridge Mountain was one of those moments I had a chance to enjoy all by myself! I was really surprised to see how little snow there was. After exploring for a while, I was able to find some pretty amazing ice crystals by the creek and I knew those would create an awesome foreground in combination with the creek pointing towards Tangle Ridge Mountain. And the atmosphere was breathtakingly beautiful! And even though most people would call this crappy light, I was super satisfied with what I got on that morning! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/uncertainty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7609.jpg Uncertainty I wanted to visit Lake Minnewanka. The weather conditions were definitely on my side. The sky was filled with beautiful thin high altitude clouds which automatically meant the light was most likely going to be beautiful. As I was driving closer to the lake, I saw some beautiful crystal clear ice with no snow at all on the lake. At that moment, I was getting more and more excited! Maybe there was a chance of finding bubbles! The place was really crowded, there were a few hundred people on the lake ice skating. I didn't mind them too much as I know I can always find a quiet spot. But at the moment I stepped onto that fresh ice, I noticed how thin it was...it was only like 3 or 4 inches thick...it might have been thick enough to go on it but I was kind of worried about my own safety. I was so pissed to see this beautiful pristine ice and not being able to fully take advantage of it. So in order to not hurt, or even worse kill myself, I stayed to a spot where the water was very shallow...and still found some interesting foregrounds! Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/impeccable-state-of-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7554.jpg Impeccable State of Beauty Well if there is one place I truly enjoy catching a juicy light show in the morning for sunrise, it has to be Mount Chephren! This image is in fact the third one from that truly memorable morning! It was cold…we are talking around -28 celsius type of cold here. But the conditions were absolutely epic! I have said many times how much I love winter and here is a good example why I love it so much. Lets talk about some elements of this composition by starting by the foreground; those snow flowers are truly awesome! I love all the crunchy little details they have to offer! They create such and awesome foreground! Another thing that turns me on a lot about photographing winter scene is the fact that the whole scene is pure untouched white snow that contrast beautifully with the darker elements of the scene like trees. And the steam raising from the river does add some truly glorious moody atmosphere! That morning will be remembered all my life! Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/eternal-fire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7495.jpg Eternal Fire Nothing beats standing in front of this beauty! Mount Chephren truly is a gorgeous mountain! And when you pair it with epic light, you have a serious contender to be one of your all time favorite image! Even if it was pretty cold on that morning, and by cold I mean -28 celsius to be more specific....burning light like this one will warm you up with no problem at all! I truly love the rich warm light being reflected on the ice in the foreground and on the water surface! Another really interesting thing of this composition is the triangular shape in the ice that serves as both leading lines and really cool foreground interests! Oh and speaking of cold winter temperatures in the rockies, the extreme colds here are responsible for all the foreground goodies you see on this image! When photographing near water in winter, pay attention to all those cool little details which are formed by the moist present in the air! You could even see them form right before your eyes! Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/reign-of-ice/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7438.jpg Reign of Ice Every destinations have their highlights...to me, one of the highlights of a Canadian Rockies trip will always be a visit at mount Chephren! That mountain talks to me a lot! I truly love its splendor! I love the fact that you can also have the spot for yourself....which, by the way, was the case for me on that morning! I always make sure I get there early enough just to enjoy it a little more! It is such a relaxing experience to be standing at the bottom of a giant mountain right next to a beautiful river! The sound of the water cascading over rocks and ice is pure joy for my ears! That morning was the coldest one I had of this whole trip...it was like -28 celsius but I didn't mind because that's when all the magic happens! Thanks to the stupid low temperature, there were tons of awesome ice formations and snow flowers all along the river and to me, that means foregrounds for ever! I love beautiful textured foregrounds and that morning definitely served me all I wanted! Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/mythical-moment/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7338.jpg Mythical Moment This is Emerald Lake Lodge and it is a very iconic location in the Canadian Rockies for many reasons. It is such an amazingly photogenic location that screams Canada in every possible ways! Imagine a beautiful cabin located near an emerald colored lake with some gorgeous rocky mountains as a background! Can it get any better than this? For this image, I waited until it was almost dark outside and wanted to capture the essence of the place...I wanted to capture both the cool tones of blue hour and the warm light coming from every cabins which makes a beautiful contrast between blue and orange. Emerald Lake Lodge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/eternal-hourglass/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7330.jpg Eternal Hourglass The beauty about photography is our vision of a subject and creating an Artwork with it! Here, I was just done photographing some grand views with beautiful curvy sand dunes and I was walking back to my car when I saw this little piece of dead wood...I loved how its shape was interacting with the lines on the ground. the textures were amazing and rich. This image reminds me of a hourglass! Mesquite Sand Dunes, California, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/aftermath/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7307.jpg Aftermath Castle Mountain....definitely one of the beautiful spots one must see when travelling in the rockies. I have been there at least a dozen times and it never has never disappointed me so far. I like the fact that it's easily accessible. When ever I drive from Banff to Lake Louise, I will almost always make a quick stop there just to enjoy the view! That day was no different..sunset was soon going to happen and I was driving by so why not! Not only the light was very promising, the foreground opportunities where endless! My attention was immediately going for those cool lines on the ice surface! Castle Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/lost/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7300.jpg Lost Ok...seeing things normal to the general public and making it an Artwork is something we love to do as photographers! It's something I truly love to do! And since it nobody visits Curacao, I was sure going to have a very unique image. The day was leaving us quickly and we found that left-over of a pier and decided to use it as our main subject. Since the water surface wasn't still but also was moving a little too much, I used my 10 Stops Neutral Density filter to allow me to expose for 4 minutes in soften the water surface. CURACAO https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/light-infusion/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7273.jpg Light Infusion I love the desert of South West USA! Such a peaceful and quiet place to be. Sand dunes are some of my favorite subject to photograph. Since I am a big fan of textures and curves, sand dunes are definitely going to deliver and produce some amazing compositions. Here, I used a really nice dune to actually create a strong leading line into my composition. Mesquite Sand Dunes, California, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/light-poem/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7231.jpg Light Poem So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered with some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! Truly a fun place to photograph. I can literally spend hours there and focus on small details and curve arrangements! I was fascinated at how the side light was gently contrasting the whole scene! It was just like a light poem! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/snow-blanket/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7228.jpg Snow Blanket So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered with some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! Truly a fun place to photograph. I can literally spend hours there and focus on small details and curve arrangements! I truly love how I can play with shapes in such a amazing photography location. And it also helps that the winter sun always is much lower in the sky which results in beautiful warm and soft light all day long. Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-young-and-the-restless/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7223.jpg The Young and the Restless So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered with some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! I have to admit that those snow pillows are looking so comfortable that I had to try them...it was fun until I fell between two of those huge boulders. Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/marshmallow-heaven/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7220-PANO.jpg Marshmallow Heaven So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered of some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! Truly a fun place to photograph. I can literally spend hours there and focus on small details and curve arrangements! What got my attention here is the display of snow pillows with one not being fully covered with snow which kind of breaks the dynamics of the composition…but in a good way! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/solitude/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7216-PANO.jpg Solitude So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered with some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! And what to say about this little lone tree? How is it possible that it can grow nicely between a couple boulders in the middle of a field...and when ever I plant a tree at home, I give it good rich earth in a well drained spot, perfect amount of day light and it will still die on me? Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/why/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7212_PANO.jpg Why This was a beautiful moment with my great friend from Curacao. The day was coming to an end and he wanted to bring me to that really interesting pier near where he lives. We technically weren't suppose to be there but since he's local and talks the local language, we did get a special permission to hang there in order to enjoy this beautiful tropical sunset! CURACAO https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/winterized/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7209.jpg Winterized So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered with some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! Truly a fun place to photograph. Very simple composition with very few elements again...but the fact that I was shooting against the sun created all those lovely shadows which at the same time were giving much more volume and depth to the scene. Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/stormful/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7128.jpg Stormful You're probably going to tell me: Stormful isn't a word…well, after everything I have gone through at that specific moment, it really is the first image title that came to my mind! While driving on the Icefield Parkway, I saw some potentially great light happening at Bow Lake. Why not stop right? The road that leads close to the lake was barely cleaned so the struggle with the rental truck equipped with half worn out summer tires was real. Then as soon as I got out of the truck, I got blasted in the face by what seemed to be 100mph winds… It wasn't easy to put on my snowshoes with my gloves so I took them off and in a matter of a few seconds, I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. It was really cold. I started what normally is a very short hike to the lake and snow was deep! I lost one of my snowshoes so things got even spicier…now try to put that back on your feet when it's windy and you can't stand up!! Pure pain I'd say! Was all the struggle worth it? I'd say yes! Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-path/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7100_PANO.jpg The Path I always love to find strong leading lines into my compositions. Photographing sand dunes is definitely going to offer me such cool opportunities to use strong leading lines! Here, while enjoying a nice morning in Death Valley National Park, I was looking for compositions and came across a series of interesting foot prints which I knew were going to serve a great purpose as a key element for my composition. I normally don't like foot prints but in that case, they made the image! Mesquite Sand Dunes, California, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/deviation/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7091.jpg Deviation I was driving back from a sunrise photoshoot at Tangle Ridge and the morning light was so beautiful! Every peaks were catching a little bit of it which was warming the whole atmosphere. I had to stop somewhere to immortalize that moment! And the particular spot where I decided to stop is a picnic area along route 93. It' actually pretty close to Sunwapta Falls. After snowshoeing for a few minutes along the river, I came across these snow covered icy bumps...I loved their texture! The way they are positioned into my composition is truly fun because our eyes are jumping from one another all the way to the magnificent snowy peaks! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/tempest/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7077.jpg Tempest One who would have listened to the weather forecast probably would have stayed in bed that morning! The weather forecast looked like one of the spiciest cocktail you can imagine of! But weather forecasts won't stop me from going out! And since weather changes all the time so in the mountains, it's just a matter of goin, wait and get what you can at one given moment! Road conditions weren't the best to say the least and wind was blowing snow everywhere. I even had to help some people to get their car out of a snow bank near Bow Summit. But when I was done helping those folks, I kept on driving until I reached Bow Lake and my jaw dropped that specific moment! The light was epic! Dream conditions! The sun was in and out of the clouds, the contrast in the sky was beautiful, the snow was just perfect and the wind was raising a beautiful amount of blowing snow adding so much atmosphere to this already extremely awe inspiring place. I am not gonna lie, it wasn't easy work the shot but it was well worth it! Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dance-of-the-yucca/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7062.jpg Dance of the Yucca It's quite amazing to see such an amazing place just a few kilometers away from Las Vegas right? I was at the very end of a South West USA trip and since my flight back home was leaving from Las Vegas, I decided to do one last sunrise at Red Rock Canyon and it didn't disappoint! It first took me a while to find a proper foreground then I cam across these few Yucca plants which I knew were going to create a good foreground. It was just a matter of minutes before the rich warm desert light starts hitting the canyon walls and when it did...oh my god!! Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/glamorous/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7035.jpg Glamorous There is no such thing as cooperating light in the Canadian Rockies! You can have as many expectations as you wish, you can dream of picture perfect locations with that epic colorful sky...the truth is you must also be ready to fail. You won't get that premium light every times. But when you do, you'll enjoy even more! I tried to photograph Mount Chephren on many occasion during that trip and I got conditions from totally cloudy to snow to blizzard...except for that very moment when the elements finally decided to be a little more cooperative! That morning was one I remember for ever! Not only the light was beautiful, the icy patterns and textures were a joy to work with in my composition. Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/quietude/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7019.jpg Quietude I often hear people complain about bad weather…now what is bad weather for you? To me, a cold winter day is beautiful weather!! Maybe I can help you find good in what you call bad weather? Take this image as an example…frozen Athabasca Falls with back lit Mount Kerkeslin as a background...does it get much better than this? I personally think that the fresh pristine snow gently catching some warm morning light right here adds so much to the scene! I truly love what winter brings to any landscape scenes…I know it's a pain to be stuck into traffic while going to work on a stormy winter morning but look at how beautiful things can be after the storm! Athabasca Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/in-a-mood-for-desert/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6987.jpg In a Mood for Desert I remember the very first time I saw sand dunes with very basic mid day light, I wasn't very impressed…it just looked like a giant cat litter! And to be honest with you, sand dunes truly aren't anything super spectacular unless you wait for the right moment of the day. Because if you happen to be there very early after sunrise or right before sunset, the true beauty of light and shadows will show how amazing sand dunes are! The contrast and texture of sand dunes really are of my favorite subjects to photograph. Mesquite Sand Dunes, California, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/cold-infusion/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6956.jpg Cold Infusion No matter the season we are in at the moment, I keep on dreaming of those crisp and cold winter mornings! I don't know...winter truly has a special place in my heart. It is simply magical! An that morning was no exception, not only the sky was amazing, the waterfall was frozen but water was still generously flowing down the canyon. And thanks to the very cold weather present on that week, the mist raising from the river was instantly freezing on the canyon walls giving the normally brown rocks a grey ish color! Athabasca Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/once-upon-a-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6876.jpg Once Upon a Time There is nothing like some beautiful sunrise light in Monument Valley. Cloudy skies will always bring some potentially great light and once again here, I wasn't disappointed! I needed to hurry to find a nice arrangement of desert plants as a foreground and once I was ok with mu composition, I made sure to do some focus stacking to get everything into focus since I was standing some 15 centimeters away from the nearest element of my composition. Monument Valley, Arizona, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/epilogue/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6841.jpg Epilogue Well, you are probably wondering why this image is called Epilogue? It was our last sunrise attempt of an amazing two weeks trip to the Canadian Rockies! Why attempt? Well, don't get me wrong, sunrise did happen but instead of getting a beautiful fire ball rising over the horizon, I had some smokes from the wildfires that were present in most of the Pacific North West of United States. I took advantage of the smokes to create something different, something with much more mood and atmosphere. We could barely see texture on the Three Sisters but I love the fact that they also look like a silhouette against a brighter cloudy sky. Canmore, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/before-light/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6817.jpg Before Light Moraine Lake, probably the most photographed lake in all of Canada and for a good reason! What an iconic location it is. And since it is the most popular lake in Canada, I think it is fair to say that it has been photographed a million times too... Getting a unique image from Moraine Lake is not easy task. My last visit to Moraine Lake was everything but what I expected from it. There were many wildfires in the Canadian Rockies during that visit so it was to be expected that I wasn't going to get a proper sunrise...I then decided to concentrate on photographing myself on a wooden log by the lake and use more logs of dead trees in my foreground as leading lines into my composition. So the plan was to use the 10 seconds timer, run like a bat out of hell, stand on said log, take a pose and repeat until the results were to my satisfaction. Moraine Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/pandemonium-fortress/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6815.jpg Pandemonium Fortress Who doesn't like a crunchy crispy sharp foreground? Definitely not me! I am a real sucker for those crunchy details in my foregrounds! The use of my Ultra-Wide angle lens definitely helped to emphasize the size of those details in the foreground. This whole foreground which looks huge in my image was in fact maybe one meter wide... I was truly drawn into all those lines and curves that were all beautifully pointing towards Mount Inglismaldie. And what to say about the atmosphere that day? It definitely was breathtaking! It was offering something so stunning to work with. Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/heavenly/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6674.jpg Heavenly Very few words can describe how stunningly beautiful are the Canadian Rockies! Winter season is my personal favorite! What an absolutely epic time of the year to hang out there! Not only there are less tourists....and it's understandable due to the fact that it's freaken cold outside there in winter! It's also a perfect time of the year to fully enjoy the pure beauty of winter! Speaking of beauty, that morning was no exception! What I like about this image is first the foreground which is rich in details! This narrow creek was pointing exactly at the right place. Every little snow crystal was catching its very own bit of light turning them all into diamonds! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/sunrise-serenade/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6626.jpg Sunrise Serenade That morning was a memorable one! When I first got there, there was only a very small cloud above Tangle Ridge Mountain…it was a bit of a disappointment if I am 100% honest. And with patience comes great rewards! We never know what will happen! As the sunrise was progressing, the single small cloud became bigger and bigger and bigger just like magic! It's crazy how things can change fast in weather sensitive areas such as the Canadian Rockies! I was standing in the creek by myself, listening to the gentle sound of water cascading between rocks…even though the temperature was -15 celsius, it's fair to say that this beautiful warm light was enough to keep me warm for the two plus hours I was wading in the ice cold water of Beauty Creek! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/born-from-ashes/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6535.jpg Born from Ashes This image was from a morning I went all by myself at Bow Lake back in September of 2020. I was on a quest of hopefully catching a decent fall season sunrise...and I gotta say I wasn't disappointed at all! The cloud coverage was absolutely perfect! The vegetation was on fire! The colors were so nice and vibrants. And speaking of fire, Wildfires were burning down so many trees in Pacific North West of United States and smokes were kind enough to drift all the way North to Alberta... The smokes did bring some great atmosphere to work with here. Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/elongation/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6470.jpg Elongation The Narrows in Zion are one spectacular place to see! Every time I go to Zion National Park, I always make sure to do this hike! All you have to do is walk into knee deep cool water...ok, most of the time the water really is cold so I always make sure to rent a dry suit. The whole Narrows experience truly is worth the effort. Both times I did The Narrows was during winter season. The Narrows can be dangerous though so I needed to plan my hikes carefully by checking with the Rangers if the water level of the Virgin River was at safe level. Even if the Narrows are open doesn't mean it is safe to be in there. Flash flood are frequent so I also had to check if the weather was favorable. I truly didn't want to be there in the event of a flash flood!! Since I was well prepared and had all the right gears, my time there was a once in a lifetime experience! The Narrows, Utah , USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/evanescent-glow/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6436.jpg Evanescent Glow A trip to the Canadian Rockies isn't complete if you haven't visited Emerald Lake! Imagine a small cabin near an emerald blue lake surrounded by majestic peaks...it doesn't much better than this right? That evening by the lake was everything one could expect at Emerald Lake: beautiful still lake offering a pristine reflection of Emerald Lake Lodge and some amazing sunset light. Emerald Lake Lodge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-sound-of-silence/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6411.jpg The Sound of Silence I have a few favorite locations in the Canadian Rockies…Marble Canyon definitely is one of them! I don't know, there is just something truly magical about that particular view. And more specifically during winter season when you can see how nicely sculpted the landscape is thanks to the beautiful contrast brought to us by the snow. To me, a sunrise doesn't need to display a perfect cloud arrangement to be called successful! Just give some some low hanging clouds, some brighter windows in the sky and I'll be a happy photographer. Marble Canyon, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fissure/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6395.jpg Fissure Nature and spending time in the great outdoors always will bring such nice feeling in me and a complete peace of mind! I feel great when I am hiking on a mountain or in a canyon. But there are very few hikes that are as relaxing as The Narrows in Zion National Park. Of course, they require a bit of preparation in order to keep the overall experience as safe as possible but I'd say totally worth it! Imagine a scenario where you are walking in knee deep water for many kilometers enjoying the beauty of a narrow canyon! When ever I do The Narrows hike, instead of feeling exhausted after my hike, I feel completely rejuvenated and ready for more! The Narrows, Utah , USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/serenity/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6378.jpg Serenity Some like a vacation in the tropics...some like to walk with both feet in the ocean water on a sandy beach...that is the kind of beach I like! And yes, I was standing up into freezing water to capture that image of Tangle Ridge at sunrise. I loved the leading lines created by by the river here. It creates a really strong lead that leads our eyes to the mountain. Oh, I must admit that even tho I was standing into ice cold water, I was wearing waders so comfort wasn't an issue. Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/mysterious-dream/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6294.jpg Mysterious Dream I often talk about photographing scenes at sunrise or sunset...it's either early or late in the day...but very rarely will I shoot during the day unless the light is worth getting my camera out! On that particular afternoon, light definitely was worth a few clicks! I was driving to Natural Bridge and Emerald and all of a sudden, I looked at Yoho Valley and the light was out of this world! My jaw dropped down and I instantly jumped on the brake pedal, parked the car at a designated parking area and took a few images of that spectacular moment. It definitely was one of the most unexpected and peaceful moment of the whole trip! The light was beautifully dancing from one tree patch to the next...wind was non existent and the mixed odors of fresh pine were really bringing such a feeling of peace inside me! Yoho Valley, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/clair-de-lune/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6234.jpg Clair de Lune When I initially arrived to Morant's Curve, the cloud situation was everything but boring…the sky was very dramatic. I had a mix of mid and low clouds which was adding a lot of atmosphere to the scene. Everything was moving so fast! It was really nice even tho we couldn't see the sun or any opening in the sky. That image was shot at Morant's Curve but not at the usual view point... I instead went by the river which requires quite a bit of physical effort to get to during winter season. The snow can be so deep, even with snowshoes, I was sinking almost waist deep into the snow and had a lot of problems making my way to the river. But the view is not only very different and rewarding! Morant's Curve, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/that-moment-before-darkness/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6214.jpg That Moment Before Darkness Arches National Park is famous for its 3000 plus arches. And one arch that doesn'T seem to get all the attention it deserves is this one: Skyline Arch! The arch truly is lovely and has amazing texture! It truly shines at the end of the day under the light of the setting sun. I also found a truly amazing foreground here but since I was standing just a couple centimeters from it, a lot of focus stacking was required to make sure all details were into focus. Skyline Arch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/crimson/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6209.jpg Crimson Some say you need to visit specific locations up to 10 times before getting decent light…though this actually isn't always the case. In that situation, it worked the exact opposite way… This was my very first time shooting The Watchman from the bridge…and ever since then, all I got was questionable light! My good hiking buddy and I were just coming back from a very grey day of hiking to The Subway. The Subway hike is approximately 15km of trying to find your way while hopping over tree trunks and crossing rivers multiple times…it ain't all that long but the effort of going there with heavy camera gears will be a good workout. After that long exhaustive day, we were both relaxing in our hotel room when all of a sudden the sun came out to shine bright on the mountain range. It was a no brainer that we had to go back in the park to catch some amazing light! The Watchman was calling me! The Watchman, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/locomotion/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6151.jpg Locomotion Morant's Curve, probably is one of the most iconic Canadian Rockies place one can visit. And since it is photographed by thousand people every single weeks, getting a unique image from there is a challenge on its own. Since I have been there many times, the next challenge to me was to photograph it some way I hadn't before. So I went for a long exposure which in that particular case works so well! The scene was so cool in color thanks to the fact that it was extremely cloudy on that day...and I was lucky enough to have bright red Canadian Tire containers on that said train! Red and blue being two opposite colors make the shot even stronger here. Morant's Curve, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-immortal/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6102.jpg The Immortal Here, a piece of an old dead tree partially covered with a fresh blanket of beautiful fluffy snow…dead or alive, trees will always be of great interest as a foreground. There is nothing quite like a beautiful snow covered untouched scene catching some beautiful late afternoon warm light! Thanks to the fact that the sun doesn't go very high above the horizon or the mountain ridge during winter season, the light will be much softer and pleasing for our eyes. Kananaskis Lakes, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/divine-transformation/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6030.jpg Divine Transformation The months of November and December both can offer some amazing photography conditions in the Canadian Rockies! You'll end up being there in between two seasons which are fall and winter seasons. What does this time of year bring in particular? Well, it sure brings a lot of open water which you'll get to use in your advantage to create some amazing reflections. Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, Canada https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/better-half/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A6018.jpg Better Half Oh that place…I have a love hate relation with it! Why? Every time we would try to photograph it, weather conditions would mess with us or my equipment would fail on me…I had a lot of problems with lens condensation during that first trip to Norway. Another reason is because those rocks when wet are slippery and even more slippery when it gets colder and water freezes on said rocks…ask my friend! He'll tell you! Luckily he didn't get hurt! But then there is one occasion when all the elements seemed to align perfectly together! That was that moment for us! Tide was perfectly low, ocean was pretty calm, no wind at all and mild temperature so we can actually enjoy ourselves out there! After looking for a different composition than what most people do, I decided to go with a vertical framing. I just love how the gap in between those two polished rock slabs actually creates a beautiful lead to a beautiful reflection of Bulls' Horns Mountains and the mountain range itself. And also thanks to the fact that the rock surfaces were all covered with a smooth coat of ice, they were also reflecting some amazing light, adding even more to the scene. Tungeneset, Senja, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/just-the-way-you-are/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5915.jpg Just The Way You Are The canyons of South West USA are truly spectacular! Here is a great view over the Colorado River in Dead Horse Point State Park at sunset. I was super happy to have found a beautiful gnarly tree to include into my composition. I love to photograph very old trees like this one because they are so rich in details and they have quite a story to tell! Dead Horse Point State, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/water-and-ice/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5876.jpg Water and Ice If there is one place where you can stand and feel the true power of nature and the elements, I'd say standing next to a waterfall will do the job! That image was taken in Yoho National Park and more specifically at Natural Bridge. I was standing right next to the top of the waterfall so caution was required here but we have to take some chances to get our images right? I truly loved that composition. I was standing really close to the waterfall. The S shaped formed by the ice on each side of the river leading our eyes to this lovely tree line and the peak of this magnificent mountain made it all work for me! There also was a bit of steam raising over the river which was adding even more to this already dramatic scene and the diffused light was just perfect to top it all off! Natural Bridge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/genesis/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5792.jpg Genesis One of the many reasons for me to enjoy morning photography of for how peaceful it is outside! You can hear birds sing their first song of the day, water is still because wind is non existent, there's always a chance of low hanging clouds and fog over water and I can enjoy those beautiful moments all by myself! I am a morning person! Emerald Lake, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/inequality/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5789.jpg Inequality On this last afternoon, I decided to drive a bit further to the south east of Canmore to Kananaskis Lakes area. I think this whole area is very underated as we don't hear much about it, we don't see much about it... It was a bit of a disappointment that all lakes were completely covered by a thick coat of snow from the previous month's snow storm. Finding methane bubbles was impossible... I scouted the area and came across this location which had some pretty intense leading lines. Those snow drifts were so nice and crispy! As soon as the sun came out a little, all the nice texture from the snow drifts popped! Every little snow flakes were shining like little diamonds! And the cherry on top of the cake was those two fisherman calling it a day and going back to their car after a good day fishing! Those two guys are adding such a cool size scale to this huge scene! Kananaskis Lakes, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dancing-on-my-own/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5767.jpg Dancing on my Own So for anybody planning a trip to Norway (or Iceland) during the winter months, you will probably have as a main focus to photograph Northern Lights! That night in Senja was a good night! The sky was clear! I couldn't believe my eyes! There was no way I was going to bed early! I decided to go out and give a shot at dancing on my own with the aurora! It did dance for a while! It was beautiful, it was amazing, it was magical! Krokelvtinden, Senja, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/medley/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5739.jpg Medley This place has a special spot in my heart...I remember first seing Natural Bridge many years ago and being in complete awe in front of this scene. My first image from Natural Bridge actually was a beautiful moody morning panorama with some fog patches here and there! I like to go back to some locations and photograph them in a different way every times. It's always fun to hunt for new compositions. And for that exact same reason, I went for a completely different composition here...I went for a vertical frame and used more of the water flow to create my leading lines. I also enjoyed framing a different mountain in the background. Natural Bridge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/of-royal-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5710.jpg Of Royal Beauty Delicate Arch truly is an elegant arch. It doesn't look all that delicate from that angle but when you look at it from the side, you realize that what ever created it, which is erosion, will eventually lead to its collapse. That evening at Delicate Arch was as pleasant as it could potentially be... We had a mostly clear sky which was ok because I had in mind to photograph some stars right after the sunset. I later created a day to night type of transition into the sky which gives it its magical feel. Delicate Arch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/delightful/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5658.jpg Delightful One will have Bow Lake or Vermillion Lakes or Lake Minnewanka amongst so many other locations for a sunset photoshoot in the Canadian Rockies...but Howse Pass? Really? My friends and I were driving back from Abraham Lake on that particular day and when we drove by Howse Pass, we noticed that a couple was struggling to get there car out of trouble...they were stuck on top of a snow bank! We decided to stop and help them! And when we managed to get them out of trouble, we decided to have a break a enjoy the view at Howse Pass! The scene was so picture perfect! We had beautiful fresh snow on every pine trees, the foreground snow was pristine, the light was as perfect as it could get...that very unexpected stop transformed into one of my all time favorite moments in the Canadian Rockies! Howse Pass, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/divine/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5536.jpg Divine On that morning, I proposed we just drive and look for something different…I simply started driving from Skaland and made a left turn here, then a right turn there then kept on driving until something was tickling our eyes. As we were driving down a valley, we entered a thick layer of fog…then we gained elevation and were now driving above the clouds! It was so beautiful! I found a pull over area and parked the car. I started walking around hunting for compositions. I knew I wasn't going to have my usual ultra-wide angle type of composition. I had my 24-70 mounted on my camera and I started to look for cool elements to include in my frame then I saw these zig zagging lines! The sun was still below the horizon but I knew I had something beautiful…little patience was required and boom! Then the sun came above the mountains and the whole scene was now looking like a fairy tale! Every tree tips, every hill tops were catching the very first bit of light sculpting the scene into something spectacular! The layer of fog also caught some of that amazing warm light! That moment will never be forgotten! Epic it was! Senja, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/feeling-of-satisfaction/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5530.jpg Feeling of Satisfaction Castle Mountain, a favorite location of mine to photograph, probably has 1 million different compositions! Why and how? Depending on the temperature when you I go there, I will always find a different foreground whether it is a reflection pool or polished river rocks or spontaneous streams...Castle Mountain has it all! On that day, it once again surprised me with something really amazing! This was a water pool at some point froze and was later covered by a gentle coat of snow. But what truly caught my attention was how this white patch of snow covered ice was zig zagging into the composition in order to bring my eyes to my main subject. Castle Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/icebound/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5463.jpg Icebound One visit at Abraham Lake simply isn't enough to fully enjoy the potential of this absolutely breathtaking place! There are literally millions of bubbles out there so composition possibilities are basically endless! But it is quite challenging to find an arrangement of bubbles that doesn't look too messy...I always have to walk many kilometers to find my perfect bubble patch. I came across those bubbles which I found really interesting because they were shaped as a diamond all together and they were pointing towards my main subject. The atmosphere on the lake that morning was just phenomenal! The whole scene was still quite cool and blue as the sun was just raising over the obstructed horizon which was creating some pretty amazing light streaks and rays in the distance. Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/final-ascent/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5376.jpg Final Ascent What have I learn over the years ever since I started doing landscape photography? It's not over until it actually is over! How many times did it take me to understand to that... How many times have I packed my camera 5 minutes too early? How many times have I decided to leave the scene because I thought it was hopeless? Well not this time...this was my first morning at Moraine Lake of my September 2020 trip and it was quite cloudy everywhere in the Canadian Rockies but what else did I have to do other than wait and enjoy the view? And I am so glad I did! Moraine Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/vision-of-senja/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5315_PANO.jpg Vision of Senja I'd say I loved Norway in general...but Senja truly was breathtaking! It's kind of a shame that my friend and I spent fewer days there because that place has a lot to offer! Here, you can see a view of a Norwegian fjord and the city of Skaland where we were based for five nights! This image is a panoramic image made of 6 vertical images and later cropped to a more realistic aspect ratio in Photoshop. Bergsbotn, Senja, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/glacial-breeze/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5207.jpg Glacial Breeze You can trust me, I live in Canada...I have seen some crazy cold days! But how cold would -35 celsius feels? How crazy am I to go out and shoot in those conditions right? And for me to stand outside for hours in those temperature to get a few images makes me even more crazy right? Prior to that day, we had two consecutive -35 celsius days and then it even went all the way down to -41 celsius on one morning. The morning I took this image was very mild at -25 celsius! It actually felt quite comfortable compare to the few previous days!! Why do I bare those type of temperatures to get a few images you may ask yourself? It's at those extreme cold temperatures that all the magic happens! You can find beautiful snow and ice patterns and if you stand near a water body, steam will raise over it adding even more atmosphere! Castle Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fiery-fortress/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5192.jpg Fiery Fortress As a landscape photographer, I can proudly say that I love winter! Especially in a scene where the color of the rocks contrasts so beautifully with white snow like here! Bryce Canyon is very well known for its hoodoos. When they are all covered with fresh snow and you happen to have rich warm light like this, you know you have a fantastic shot! It looked like if it was on fire. Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/beauty-and-the-beast/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5144.jpg Beauty and the Beast Just a really cold winter morning in Bryce Canyon...the whole scene just had been covered with pristine fluffy snow and the Hoodoos were looking so beautiful! The sun was about to rise over the horizon and the snow was catching its very first glimpse of warm light. I simply loved all the character that this little tree had. It was the only element of the composition that was darker which makes it shine brightly. Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/snow-pillows/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5134.jpg Snow Pillows So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered with some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! Truly a fun place to photograph. I can literally spend hours there and focus on small details and curve arrangements! I was truly fascinated by all those curves complimenting each other into that composition! As I look at it, my eyes just want to jump from one to another! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/glaciation/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5084.jpg Glaciation I was telling to many of my friends that I was going to the Canadian Rockies in January and most of them thought I was a catastrophic idiot! I can understand why as most people here in Canada will run away from cold during the winter months....but that's definitely not my case! I used to hate winter but ever since I started doing landscape photography professionally, I fell back in love with winter! Winter is magical and it gives such awesome textures and atmosphere for landscape images! The day that image was shot wasn't your typical winter day tho. That specific day was the coldest I have ever experienced of my 40+ years of existence! And by looking at the image, you can definitely feel cold...it was in fact so cold that every single drops of moist present in the air were deeply frozen which was adding most of the atmosphere and depth you can see here! How cold do you think -42 celsius feels? I have one word that describes it very well; painful! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/shattered-mirror/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5071.jpg Shattered Mirror In my never ending quest of trying to find some cool ice patterns at Abraham Lake, I came across those absolutely epic ice shapes! I suspect that at the beginning of the annual glaciation process of the lake, temperatures went up at some point causing what was back then a very thin coat of ice to break apart....and then it refroze a little while after creating one of the most mind bogging work of art! To give you an idea of what it looked like, imagine dropping a giant mirror on the ground, it would obviously break into thousand and thousand of parts right? That's exactly what those ice shapes reminded me of! Abraham Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/one-still-living/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5071-2.jpg One Still Living So that very random location along the Icefield Parkway near Jasper truly looks like nothing during summer season…it is just a field covered with big boulders coming from a huge landslide years ago. If you have been in the Canadian Rockies, you probably drove by there without even realizing we could actually create some lovely images there. But let me tell you something, winter season is when that place takes a completely different look! It becomes magical! Every boulder becomes covered with some pretty heavy snow which gives the illusion of a whole field covered with snow pillows! What got my attention here was how gentle and elegant that little frozen tree was! I love the fact that it breaks the repetitive curve dynamic here! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/burried/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5026.jpg Burried A truly beautiful afternoon side light display that was just perfect to show the shapes, textures and many curves of this rugged scene. Bryce Canyon is all red during the summer season but the addition of some snow over the Hoodoos during winter season truly makes for some amazing contrasts. When I first saw that scene, the first thing that caught my attention is that strong S shape bringing our eyes deeper and deeper into the composition. Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/infinity/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5026-2.jpg Infinity Being creative and finding stuff that hasn't been shot in this social media era is kind of tough these days… It seems to be so easy to just look on our favorite social apps for locations to photograph. I do it myself too! We have to inspire ourselves at some point but when you find something that haven't been photographed yet, it feels truly satisfying! As far as that peak goes, I don't recall seeing any images of it …at least, to the best of my knowledge! I looked on both Google Map and Google Earth and can't even find the name of that peak. Jasper National Park, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/skyfall/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A5025.jpg Skyfall This is Crescent Falls and it is located about 30 minutes away from Abraham Lake. I wanted to see this one since a while but I am pretty sure this area wouldn't be of too much interest in January in the middle of the deep frost period we had. And I can hardly imagine this place simply being open in winter. The hike down to that spot isn't super long but it definitely is a tricky one. I highly recommend some good hiking boots and trekking poles otherwise you will most probably end up getting hurt severely. We got there after a fun day exploring some areas around Abraham Lake and some other locations along the way... We did spend quite some time there just to chill and enjoy the view and the sound of water cascading those giant stairs! Crescent Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-three-towers/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4904.jpg The Three Towers Court of the Patriarch in Zion was absolutely jaw dropping on that February morning. Mother Nature gifted us some beautiful fresh fluffy snow for sunrise. I think it actually was the first time ever I had a chance to witness snow in Zion National Park. I truly love the contrast it adds and how it outlines both the hill at the left and the bridge on the right! That scene lacks some contrast on a normal day…problem solved thanks to the snow! The overall conditions were simply breathtaking! Court of the Patriarch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fjord-flames/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4851_PANO.jpg Fjord Flames I know what you are going to think…no, this isn't my usual ultra-wide angle type of shot and yes I did photograph man-made elements but to me, it was all about capturing the pure essence of this beautiful country, Norway! To me, that scene screams Norway! Absolutely epic winter light peeping in between the clouds and the mountain peaks all surrounding a lovely fishing village and its very own harbor in the middle of a fjord! Husoy, Senja, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/into-the-blues/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4831.jpg Into the Blues So in comparison with most images you see of Moraine Lake, I chose to go with a much more creative composition. As an artist, we try new compositions, we explore new areas...but Moraine Lake won't turn out to be a surprise to anyone! It is an extremely photographed mountain and even tho it has probably been photographed a million times, I still believe that you can go there and get different images from the mass! What struck my eyes in that composition was all the repetitive diagonal lines that were interacting so nicely together and adding so much depth into my image. The mood on that particular morning was breathtaking! Who even said that dull light can't make a great picture was wrong! Moraine Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/keep-rollin/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4771.jpg Keep Rollin' Fun fact is that when I was trying to find a name for that image, only one thing was continuously popping into my head! And the song in my mind was Keep Rollin by Limp Bizkit! Now when comes time to photograph Morant's Curve, a little bit of patience can be required...normally, when I first get there, I will find a spot that I like. I will then photograph the whole scene at very low ISO. Raising the ISO will pretty much always result in a more noisy outcome and I want images that are free of artifact. Then when ever the train drives by, I will photograph it with slightly different camera settings making sure I freeze the motion of the train. The shutter speed I am looking for to freeze the train is 1/400th of a second or faster. And I will later merge the files together in Photoshop. Morant's Curve, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/caprice-of-the-weather/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4762.jpg Caprice of the Weather Zion National Park has so much to see. I could literally spend a week there and see different stuff daily. This view over the Virgin River looking at the Watchman is very spectacular. It is one of Zion's highlights for a good reason! That evening was a pretty dramatic one...it wasn't looking as if we were going to have anything for sunset. But no matter the weather conditions, I'll always give it a try! And I am so glad I did here! I love moody light. The Watchman, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/green-goblins-cave/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4745.jpg Green Goblin's Cave I am now bringing you back to the fantastic world of Marvel Universe...well not really as a matter of fact... I am bringing you into he middle of my imagination actually. This is Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park. What's awesome about Natural Bridge during winter season is that the waterfall freezes...and if you wait long enough during the colder months of the year, you could go right next to the actual frozen waterfall which by itself is something quite unique! But to be next to a frozen waterfall, surrounded by amazingly textured rocks and seeing an aurora above your head! Now that's something one can only dream of! Natural Bridge, British Columbia, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-touch-of-warmth/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4707.jpg A Touch of Warmth One of the many icons of Zion National Park has to be Court of the Patriarch. The way those three peaks align together are sure going to offer great photographic potential. Here, I was very lucky to capture some pretty interesting unexpected light. The cloud coverage was looking like nothing was going to happen. It was very dark and the whole scene was so flat until the sun was high enough in the sky to be able to lit up a stripe of warm light on the three peaks. It lasted only a few very short minutes but I was there ready to trigger my camera! Court of the Patriarch, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ablaze/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4607.jpg Ablaze So for that trip to Norway, I wanted to see new turf! Instead of photographing epic snow covered mountains with rivers and water cascades in the Canadian Rockies, I went to Norway to photograph…the exact same thing! Epic snow covered mountains with water cascades! Norway is a special place…Norway is wild! Not only the weather is wild…but everything you put your eyes on can turn into an Artwork! That location is a real photographers' dream location! You have a creek cascading its way down the mountains offering countless foreground opportunities…and you also have beautiful dramatic peaks surrounding you! That specific composition was talking to me because the main cascade at the bottom of the frame also happens to mimic the shape of my favorite peak I have seen in Norway over the duration of that trip. Molneva Waterfall, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/two-steps-from-hell/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4557.jpg Two Steps from Hell That place named Tangle Ridge Mountain always amazes me! I always make sure to visit that favorite location of mine in Jasper National Park at least twice in order to get decent light. The first morning wasn't successful and was really cold. I also had fog and frost problems on my camera equipment. So it only made sense to go a second time. The second time still wasn't without any equipment problems but at least the light was beautiful! The window in the clouds was small but big and well positioned! And the snow was as fresh as it can get! Crispy crunchy snow like this always makes me drool! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/looking-glass/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4537.jpg Looking Glass This is one of few images taken on a very cold and crisp morning by Beauty Creek in Jasper National Park. Not much hiking or snowshoeing required for this one...but I did have many struggles with my camera equipment. I had lens fogging issues and no way to wipe it off as it was stuck in between two glass elements of my lens. What shall I do in that case? Make sure I stay composed and use my imagination to find a solution around this frustrating problem...which I succeeded! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/be-cold/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4501.jpg Be Cold Some times things go as smooth as they can go...other times they don't! The struggles of landscape photography...that morning was one of those moments when things weren't going as smooth as expected! It was a really cold December morning and the atmosphere was just amazing! It was dark and moody...the cloud coverage was thick so no serious chances of getting a colorful sunrise! I am always all good with dramatic light...but when the camera equipment fails, there isn't much I can do! The lens I use the most decided to fog and the center of the frame was all blurred on every images! What shall I do now? Well, I improvised, used my creativity and found a way around this very unexpected problem! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dream-synopsis/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4459.jpg Dream Synopsis Goats and Glacier...what a strange name right? I didn't see any goat...but glaciers, I did see many! And what more to say about this location than a huge WOW! All peaks so nicely aligned together here are creating such an amazing depth to the scene! The river leads our eyes straight where they belong and that sky was to die for!! Goats and Glacier, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/abeyance/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4455.jpg Abeyance In life in general, and more specifically as a landscape photographer, I have come across some of those moments that I just wished would never end…that morning definitely was one of those moments!! As I was driving to Bow Lake that morning, the temperature just kept going down...it was in fact -35 Celsius!!! Yup, you red it right…-35 freakin Celsius! The roads into the parks were covered with some fresh snow which meant that driving carefully was a must! I was truly happy to have rented a Toyota 4Runner because when I arrived to Bow Lake parking entrance, the entrance was not so cleaned. Driving down to the parking was an experience on its own! When I got out of the rental truck, the air was super cold 'n crisp!! Always lots of snow at Bow Lake so it was definitely going to be snowshoes territory. While snowshoeing to my photography location, one of my snow shoes fell off my boot and of course I face planted!! Oh man, the struggle to get out of there was so insane and funny all at the same time! And after snowshoeing for a while, I absolutely fail in love with those fresh snow drifts all pointing at Crowfoot Mountain. The sky also happened to be extremely dramatic which was adding a lot to the scene. So the effort getting there was well worth it! Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/subzero/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4416.jpg Subzero So I am sure you can feel the cold and the elements just by looking at that image...well, if it feels cold on the look, I can confirm that it also felt really cold in the making of! To be more specific, it was -35 on that day! Crazy cold! But what a fun time to be there on Lake Minnewanka hunting for beautiful ice patterns to photograph. The sun was about to set so I had to find a nice foreground to use in my composition. And as soon as the sun went below the horizon, I went to eat some nice warm soup! Cascade Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/sunwapta-falls---harmonious-ending/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4377.jpg Harmonious Ending My main goal when I go out to such locations is to photograph as much as I can. The sad reality is when the weather has different plans for you...that image actually was taken minutes after the Icefield Parkway re opened after a huge snow storm. I literally had to clean a parking spot along the main road in order to park there...then I snowshoed to Sunwapta with my friend to catch the very little last bit of epic light before sunset. Being there all by ourselves right after a big snowfall of near 70cm sure felt like a fairy tale! Sunwapta Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/stop-and-stare/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4375.jpg Stop and Stare Very few places in South West USA offers views like Zion National Park. My friend and I wanted to catch a nice sunrise with a great view and Canyon Overlook is the first place that popped into my head. I had been there many years ago but the light simply wasn't all that nice. I had been so excited to get a new image of that location since many years. So after the short hike required to reach this vista, we simply decided to setup here and wait for the light to show. I love how all the rocks are pointing into the actual canyon. And when that light came in, it came in strong! Zion National Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/omega/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4278.jpg Omega I think it's fair to say that when ever I visit the Canadian Rockies during winter, I have as a main goal to photograph methane bubbles or any other cool ice formations or patterns... On another hand, Mother Nature might have different plans for you! On that particular arctic cold day, my two friends and I decided to go scouting at Lake Minnewanka and we did find some pretty amazing cracks...we went to have a snack in town and warm up a little bit from those cold winds and went back for more torture for sunset! But it all changed in just a couple hours and the ice was covered with some fresh snow. Disappointment? Yes!! It was now time to improvise...and I found those amazing highly detailed snow drifts! Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/misty-morning/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4164.jpg Misty Morning Iceland is a crowded country...people love to go to Iceland and for so many good reasons! This country has it all! It has tons of mountains, seascapes, rock formation, icebergs, waterfalls...and speaking of waterfalls, this one was my attempt at trying to find a lesser known waterfall only to later find out that it was the most crowded location I had seen in all of Iceland! Mission trying to find lesser known waterfall was a fail! But mission capturing a different way than anybody else was a success! Oxararfoss, Thingvellir National Park, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/tranquility-comes-from-within/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4141.jpg Tranquility Comes From Within Pyramid Mountain, and Pyramid Lake more specifically, could be considered walking distance from the beautiful city of Jasper. This was a beautiful December evening by the lake and while most people will concentrate on photographing the pedestrian bridge as a main subject, I always love to compose differently and use some of those beautifully textured and partially submerged rocks by the shore of the lake. That evening did offer some of the most beautiful light I have ever witness at Pyramid Lake! It was so soft and mysterious at the same time! Pyramid Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/hidden-gem/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4128.jpg Hidden Gem If one place is worth a visit in Iceland, I'd say it must be Bruarfoss! First you need to find the actual location...you need to hike a few kilometers along the river before you reach the actual fall. And on that particular day, things weren't looking too good for a proper sunset as it was very cloudy but we decided to give it a try anyway! First of all, Bruarfoss is a real foreground and with a little bit of creativity, I was able to come back home with some pretty amazing compositions! Bruarfoss, Brekkuskogur, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-guardian/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4116.jpg The Guardian For me, every time I drive down the Icefield Parkway, there is one mountain that shines a bit more then any others! No matter from which angle you look at it, no matter the type of weather I get, it will always look at you and shine brightly! I remember the first time I saw this mountain many years ago, I was in complete awe! And since I always photograph that place during the colder months of the year, I decided to give it a try in September! The hike there was a bit more tricky as I couldn'T walk on a frozen lake...I had to find my way through a dense forest until I reached the spot I was looking for! One thing to keep in mind, always always bring proper gear to protect yourself in case of a bear encounter...which did happen later... Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/great-south-fork/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4098_PANO.jpg Great South Fork Big South Fork probably was one of the best surprise I have seen in Tennessee! No body talks about this place, nobody seems to visit this place but it truly is an amazing one! I was there only once fr a couple days but I definitely will go back one days as this place is a true nature lovers's paradise. On that particular morning, I went by myself to catch some beautiful light over a small canyon. I loved the atmosphere present on that morning! The river was serving a good purpose at creating such a lovely leading line into my composition. Big South Fork, Tennessee, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/emerald-cascades/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4094.jpg Emerald Cascades Bruarfoss truly is an amazing place to photograph! I also think it's fair to say that it is my favorite waterfall in Iceland! No it ain't the highest or the widest or most impressive...but there is just something that makes me love it more than others! I love it's multiple cascades, I love the bright color of water too and all the different compositions we can get there are mind blowing! Bruarfoss, Brekkuskogur, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ethereal/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4090.jpg Ethereal That morning was one to remember for a long time! We just checked in to our hotel the previous night after driving from Calgary. So since we didn't have time to scout around, we chose to start our journey at Vermillion Lake as the conditions were looking good for this area. And what an awesome way to start it up! It was so cold that every bit of moist in the air was deeply frozen, creating some seriously amazing mood! I was here many years ago during spring season and the conditions were far from being the same...but there is one thing I did manage to do again at the very same spot, I did manage to get both my feet wet. While scouting for a nice foreground, I did manage to break the ice and went almost knee deep into ice cold water...believe me, wet feet do freeze insanely at -35! We were desperately waiting and waiting for something to happen, the light was taking so much time to do something decent. It seriously felt like a year for that sunrise to actually happen! But then it did just this!! It was truly magical! Vermillion Lakes, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/pure-divinity/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4015.jpg Pure Divinity While photographing one specific scene, most of us often forget to look what is actually happening behind...and this sure was a pretty good example! I was focused at photographing another peak and when I looked behind, I noticed how beautiful and moody the whole scene I didn't have my eyes on until then was! I instantly rushed myself to find a beautiful foreground and did what needed to be done! I love the fact that the light hits every one of these snow covered rocks which automatically brings out eyes from one another and all the way to the mysterious light behind those snowy peaks. Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/cold-snap/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A4000.jpg Cold Snap Now if torture could describe one image very well, then for me it would have be this one! I remember that morning as if it was yesterday. This was the very first morning of my January 2020 winter trip in the Canadian Rockies with two friends! It was very cold as you can probably feel just by looking at this image…how about -35? When we first got out, it felt like a seriously sharp slap to the face! When we arrived at Vermillion Lakes, we weren't too surprised to see that the crowd for sunrise was almost non existent…after all, it takes idiots like the three of us to go out on a frozen windy lake to get a few images! Vermillion Lakes, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/maelstrom/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3964.jpg Maelstrom Bruarfoss…if you ever go to Iceland, make sure you put this one on your list. It is far from being the highest or the widest. It's also far being the most spectacular one…but I truly love it! It actually is one of my favorite waterfall in all of Iceland! It's just one of those places where you can let your creativity go! There are countless composition opportunities at this location! The composition you see here is an easy one…all I had to do was to stand on the bridge and compose through my 70-200mm lens and voilà! But I'd say your choice of shutter speed will make a big difference! Do not expose for minutes here. I exposed for half a second to allow myself to keep just the right amount of details into the flowing water. Bruarfoss, Brekkuskogur, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/melancholic-symphony/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3957.jpg Melancholic Symphony For me, very few places other then waterfalls bring that feeling of peacefulness inside of me! There is nothing quite like the sound of water cascading over rocks. I love waterfalls! The whole experience of being near one truly rejuvenates me, it fills my soul with inspiration and joy! Bruarfoss sure is one of my many favorite waterfalls in Iceland. I was there a few years ago already and I remember every steps of the hike required to get there as if it was yesterday! What a fun day this was! The light was a bit flat until it exploded for sunset and then, came back really flat right after! This was a little while before sunset.... Bruarfoss, Brekkuskogur, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/wintertime-moods/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3946_PANO.jpg Wintertime Moods So I managed to have multiple fights with Mother Nature during my first trip to Norway! Never in my life have I struggled that much with weather! That particular day, as you can see in this image, was no exception! I was outside for 30 minutes to photograph some and then I went back to the rental car for another 30 minutes until the rain or hail or snow...or all of the above together stopped from falling from the sky! It was a constant battle but I'd say I succeeded! I won the battle and came back home with some amazing images! Skagsanden Beach, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/drama-never-ends/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3930.jpg Drama Never Ends Gulfoss has such an amazing look! It is quite a spectacular waterfall! A picture can't do it justice! On that particular morning, my friend and I had to deal with some pretty severe winds...those winds were raising a great amount of water resulting in our equipment being completely drenched. After looking for most possible compositions, I managed to find the only non-window spot...for some reasons, wind wasn't blowing at this exact spot which made the experience a lot more enjoyable! Gullfoss, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/until-the-end/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3899.jpg Until the End On that morning, my friend and I decided to do a sunrise at the main view point of Athabasca Falls and we had extremely moody conditions. Since the Icefield Parkway was closed thanks to a huge snowstorm, we spent more time than usual at Athabasca Falls to look for different compositions. And we did find some amazingly beautiful and uncommon views over Mount Kerkeslin! It's always rewarding as a landscape photographer to come up with different and fresh new compositions of places that are photographed thousand of times! And when the light also happens to cooperate, well you are in for a real treat! Athabasca Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/last-ascension/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3866.jpg Last Ascension Now for that image, I have to give props to my friend for spotting all the snow and ice goodness by the Athabasca river as I was driving and concentrating on something else... I parked the car road side and we went by the river for a couple hours to enjoy some beautiful late afternoon light in front of a truly inspiring mountain! Athabasca Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/chimera/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3856.jpg Chimera Where do I inspire myself as a landscape photographer? Of course, nature itself is one awesome source of inspiration but I also really love to inspire myself with the fantastic world of movies and video games! I have always been super fascinated by dragons and minotaurs which both are creatures that probably have never existed but still do I find those interesting! While I was taking this image, I could literally feel like a long time ago, a fire breathing creature with a lion head, a goat head and a snake tail was standing right there on this beautifully textured rock dome, staring at its kingdom and preparing itself to its final battle against an army of goblins...but then again, that was just in my imagination! Jasper National Park, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/suspense/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3852_PANO.jpg Suspense I spent very little time in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area but it sure was quality time. I did many hikes, saw many different features of the landscape and had some amazing mysterious light throughout my stay there. On that morning, I wanted to photograph a small canyon with a river at its bottom but after hiking the few kilometers required to the vantage point I had in mind, I bumped into a lot of fog! The whole scene was just fog! So I waited approximately 30 minutes an as anticipated, as soon as the sun was near the horizon, the fog kind of dissipated and I had beautiful conditions for photography! It was truly magical! Big South Fork, Tennessee, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/that-very-last-minute/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3826.jpg That Very Last Minute This is the best example of a sentence I often mention: It's not over until it is!! And what I mean by that is my friend was sure the sun was gone for the rest of the day as many clouds drifted in...but it did clear once more to offer us one of the best light of the whole trip! Thankfully, we weren't too far away from Hamnoy and just a quick drive of a few minutes was required. As soon as we arrived to Hamnoy, I grabbed my camera bag and ran to this location. I only had enough time to setup my tripod, put my camera on top, fire three exposures and the sun was gone! Hamnoy, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/resurgence/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3678.jpg Resurgence Mount Edith Cavell rings a bell to you? That place definitely is worth a visit if you haven't seen it yet...but be advised that the road that brings you there is closed all winter months until sometime in June depending on how fast or how slow the melt down of the winter precipitations will take. My last visit there was in September of 2020 so road closure wasn't going to be an issue. All along the road that brings you there, you will be greeted with magnificent views! At the very end of the road, you can actually hike a few trails that will brings you along the glacier lake at the base of Edith Cavell. The scene is so amazing, there are literally hundreds of icebergs floating and the water color is so beautiful! My favorite spot definitely is Cavell Lake, which is the one you see here. When I first saw this place, I knew I wanted to come back for a sunrise! The awe factor here was on another level! And with a bit of luck, I could possibly get a lovely sky and a calm lake reflecting the whole scene! Mount Edith Cavell, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fate-of-light/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3585.jpg Fate of Light Landscape photography, as oppose to what many people are thinking, is far from being easy. We have to scout for locations, we have to look for sun orientation at given moments, we have to look for compositions with proper foregrounds...we have to get up at stupid hours to catch sunrise at the right time...and even though we plan everything so well, there can always be something wrong with unexpected weather systems... Mount Edith Cavell, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/arid-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3583_PANO.jpg Arid Beauty Here's one from Death Valley National Park. I still remember the morning I shot this as if it was last week! I wasn't expecting the light to do this kind of magic as the weather was a bit more on the stormy side. There was a few openings in the clouds and one just happened to be at the right place and I happened to be standing at the right spot! Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley are definitely one of my favorite place to shoot! In the middle of the day, they are quite boring to shoot as the contrast is non existent but if you shoot those early in the day or just before sunset, you will be in for some amazing treat! Mesquite Sand Dunes, California, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/meaning-of-calmness/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3518_PANO.jpg Meaning of Calmness Very few words can describe how beautiful Hamnoy is! When I see pictures of Norway, Hamnoy is the first one on top! This little village is so beautiful and iconic! That image is in fact a panoramic stitch made with 5 vertical images and later cropped in Photoshop so it can have a normal aspect ratio. Hamnoy will forever have a special place in my heart! Hamnoy, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/legend-of-hydra/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3426.jpg Legend of Hydra Shooting something new always brings my inspiration and creativity level to new heights! And since I don't have too many seascape images in my portfolio, Norway definitely was going to offer me many opportunities to be inspired! The ocean happened to be extremely rough on that day. Has I was looking for a nice set of rocks to use as my foreground, I was also paying extreme care to what the ocean was throwing at me! Those waves were coming strong! And even tho I was wearing waist high waders, I did manage to get my pants wet! The joys of landscape photography! the atmosphere we had on that day truly was mind blowing! Clouds (and precipitation of course…) were coming in and out giving us some epic conditions to shoot! Magical isn't even strong enough of a word to describe that moment! Uttakleiv Strand, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-duel/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3372.jpg The Duel One of my favorite place to photograph in the Canadian Rockies during winter has to be this one...TangleRidge Mountains in Jasper National Park! There truly is something inspiring about photographing a perfectly triangular mountain. They speak to me a lot! The many moments I spent at this epic location during my winter trips always have been good ones! Since we never see summer pictures of this location, I definitely wanted to give it a try. To my surprise, it is equally as interesting during summer. I was able to find some great sandy features and pieces of trees to use in my compositions. And that late afternoon was no exception...it was truly gorgeous! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-walk-to-remember/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3351.jpg A Walk to Remember I have been to Smokey Mountains National Park only once...about 7 years ago! What a beautiful place this is! Do you know why they call it Smoky Mountains? Because most of the times, you'll see fog hanging in between the peaks creating a smoke like kind of feeling! I gotta say that when I was there, the Smoky Mountains were really smoking!! I couldn't see much! The cloud coverage was really thick most of the time. The sun was coming out every once in a while. That moment just happened to be one of those rare moments when I did have a chance to see some warm light! This waterfall is Meighs Upper Fall and the hike to reach it is simply beautiful! Once there, I spent at least two hours to enjoy the sound of cascading water. So peaceful! Meigs Upper Waterfall, Tennessee, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/sand-and-fire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3326.jpg Sand and Fire As funny as it may sound, the weather was way too nice during that trip to the Canadian Rockies...during the first week, I mostly had cloud free blue skies. I truly love cloudy skies! I love all the texture they add to a given scene. I also love the mood a cloudy sky can add...but in some cases, I won't mind a clear sky. This was one of those moments when a clear sky was very welcomed! The fact that the whole scene was very cool in colors compare to the bright fiery orange peak of Tangle Ridge Mountain make the shot to me! Red and blue being two opposite colors makes for truly inspiring contrast here! Tangle Ridge Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dragon-ritual/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3313.jpg Dragon Ritual Uttakleiv Strand or beach truly is an amazing place in Lofoten! It is well known for it's Dragon's Eye rock formation which consist of a rocky bowl with a big round rock inside...it does look like a Dragon eye! And few are lucky enough to see the auroras dancing above the Dragon's Eye! You have to plan according to the tides which can be quite tricky... Uttakleiv Strand, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/follow-your-path/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3248.jpg Follow your Path I hesitated for a long period of time before editing this image...why? Well the very simple reason behind all my hesitations is because everybody has a cell phone shot of this exact same composition. But in the end, there's a good reasons why icons are icons! That place truly is beautiful! To use the bridge as a lead into the frame is a wise choice as it creates a truly powerful composition. The conditions of light I had on that morning were simply jaw dropping. There were multiple layers of fog and the water surface was super still...I simply could not resist! It was just too beautiful to not have a shot. Pyramid Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/shape-of-light/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3221.jpg Shape of Light Well the least we can say about this place is it's an absolutely amazing spot! Pyramid Lake, located at the bottom of Pyramid Mountain..truly is epic! And if you are fortunate enough to get premium light conditions as the one we got on that morning, you will be in for quite a show! The night before, I was photographing stars and the milkyway until midnight so I went to bed a bit later than normal. It kind of made sense to me to go to Pyramid Lake the next morning since I didn't have much sleep time. Oh and because this place is located a few kilometers away from Jasper, you can probably imagine that it's going to be crowded right? It was a bit crowded! But most people stand at the middle of the bridge to capture the bridge as a leading line into the frame. Since I like to do differently than most people, I went on the beach, went for a vertical composition, take advantage of some beautifully textured rocks in the foreground, some reflections and of course some golden light hitting the peaks! The cherry on top of the cake that morning was the beautiful layers of fog all over the scene! It truly was one truly memorable magic moment! Pyramid Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ice-age/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3189.jpg Ice Age On the list of absolute must see places in Iceland, visiting an Ice Cave was pretty high on top of my list! Ice caves are close during summer because they are simply too dangerous and unstable!. That is one thing I didn't know when I first visited Iceland so that was a little disappointment for me. Since there's always a good reason to visit Iceland, I went for a second time and visited an ice cave! The whole experience is just mind blowing! You actually have to walk on the glacier to get to the cave... The hike itself requires some special equipment which consist of serious ice crampons, an ice axe and a harness. Once you're all geared to go to north pole, you start the hike! I was stunned to see how clean and clear the ice was! It was even mesmerizing to see six plus feet under my own boots! Breidamerkurjökull, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/rebirth/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3140.jpg Rebirth Now I must admit that for the most part, I do not like clear blue skies...but what do clear skies mean? A clear sky means starry sky at night! And I love photograph stars! I always found it so inspiring and mysterious to shoot something that is so far from us! Most of the universe hasn't been explored by us yet and probably never will be! Here you can see Pyramid Island, on Pyramid Lake...and at the bottom of Pyramid Mountain...That's a lot of pyramids in the same sentence right? Oh and do I need to tell you why they call that mountain Pyramid Mountain? Pyramid Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-secret/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3064.jpg The Secret I was super hesitant before going to the Canadian Rockies in December, …why? Because normally I prefer to make sure all the lakes will be frozen! And January seems to be the better safer option to get optimal conditions. Winter normally is well established at the beginning of December so we should be good…right? Well, not really! I had rain storms and Canmore still looked like September as it was still all green everywhere! But the fact that it was a really mild winter beginning did give me a few bonuses...like the opportunity to photograph the secret waterfall of Canmore! Three Sisters, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/shine-bright/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3040.jpg Shine Bright So sometime I get up in the morning and the weather forecast is bad...one option is to head back to bed. Second option is the one I always choose: go out and shoot no matter what! That was one of those mornings. My friend and drove to Diamond Beach and the cloud coverage was dense and pretty dark. I still decided to go out and enjoy this awe inspiring iceberg beach! And then the light popped! It lasted only a few minutes but I was ready to capture the magic! Diamond Beach, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fragment/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3021.jpg Fragment That image is from a pretty memorable morning from many years ago... When we initially arrived there, we saw a completely covered sky that looked everything but promising. And after waiting and talking for a few minutes in the car, I decided to go out, enjoy myself and shoot some moody images! I didn't dislike the option of getting more monochromatic shots and make them even moodier! My friend decided it wasn't worth it and stayed in the car. I did tell him that he should come anyway and enjoy the view! He didn't... And only a few minutes later, the sky popped some serious colors! The light came from nothing to something in such a short matter of time! It lasted only a few minutes and went back grey after! It's not over until it is! Diamond Beach, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/cold-stream/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A3018.jpg Cold Stream So even though this image is a digital composite coming straight out of my dreams or my imagination. The scene itself does exist, there is a waterfall in Canmore near the Three Sisters…but I chose to integrate a starry sky into the shot because the actual conditions I got during that visit simply weren't good. The transition between a starry night sky and a dawn sky does add a little something truly magical or even fantastic to the shot. One day, I truly hope to get similar conditions at this location! And I will succeed! Three Sisters, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/frozen/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2994.jpg Frozen That morning was our second one during that trip to photograph Diamond Beach…why a second morning in a row? Well, we both felt like we didn't succeed enough on the first one so we gave it a second shot. And when we got there, it was all greyed out. Sun wasn't up yet but the horizon was starting to be a bit brighter…it was mostly all grey. At some point, I decided I was going out and shoot moody images of that iconic location. I wanted to get multiple iceberg images with typical moody Icelandic light… Diamond Beach, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/detour/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2974.jpg Detour Since most of my trips into the Canadian Rockies happen during the colder months of the year, I never had a chance to photograph Sunwapta Falls with flowing water and beautiful rich and warm summer light. Of the many places I have seen so far as a landscape photographer, Sunwapta is right there near the top spot as one of my all time favorites. I love waterfalls in general but the fact that the river contoured a small tree island at this very location truly is amazing. Sunwapta Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/last-breath/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2962.jpg Last Breath There are so many first time moments in our life that we will remember for ever…moments like the first day at school, the very first time driving a car, the very first kiss, the very first day at work, the very first time I flew an helicopter as a pilot…all those moments will always have a very special place in my heart! I had a chance to had an additional special moment to that list, the first time I saw Mount Chester in person! I have been to so many epic destinations, I have done so many unforgettable hikes in my life but few have brought has many emotions to me than Mount Chester. There are actually very few words to describe the emotions I was feeling. It was quite a fantastic moment! It was a "pinch me" type of moment as I could simply not believe what I had in front of me. Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/icy-lockup/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2905.jpg Icy Lockup As an artist, I always try to reinvent myself…you can't just shoot the same stuff the exact same way over and over again! I always try to shoot scenes differently from what I see on internet and more importantly, different from the previous time I shot it. And it ain't always easy to come up with something unique of Castle Mountain… That morning, which not only happened to be my good friend Gina Yeo's last morning to shoot with me, it was also my last one of the trip before flying home. We decided to give Castle Mountain one extra visit because it was more or less the only place with potential of beautiful light. And we did guess right! I also showed Gina that cool composition I found there on a previous visit early that same week. I truly loved the frame created by those beautiful ice chunks and rocks…and I had never seen such ice there. But because my tripod is simply too big, I couldn't successfully take the shot until that morning. Gina has two tripods: a big sturdy one and a cute little small one…the small one was a perfect fit for that spot! See, size does matter! Castle Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/perfect/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2855.jpg Perfect Doing the opposite of what everybody does is what I always do...my friend and I wanted to see Svartifoss. The waterfall itself is in a National Park. Once we got there, a short hike of 2km is required to reach the actual waterfall. At the end of the trail, there is a platform on which everyone stands to enjoy the power of this beauty. That wasn't enough for me. I decided to put my waders on and I literally went into the river to capture a different perspective! Risky, yes! Worth it, absolutely! Svartifoss Waterfall, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/sun-kissed/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2776.jpg Sun Kissed I will remember that specific day and I am sure it will remain one of my all time favorite as a landscape photographer! Mount Chester was on my list for a while but it was the very first time I actually had a chance to see it in person. At first, my friend wasn't sure if yes or no we should have done the required 8km hike as the weather was a bit uncertain at the end of the morning. I pushed towards doing the hike as I knew the conditions could change drastically at any given moment… mountains weather can change so fast, sometimes to better and sometimes to worse. It was a gamble I wanted to take and it did pay off. Whether it was for photography or not, just the hike by itself was worth it. It was a 8km of pure heaven on earth as every single steps were worth a million dollars! We were walking in a winter wonderland! Everywhere we would look was beautiful! Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/final-step/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2752.jpg Final Step Diamond Beach is a favorite of mine in Iceland. The photographic potential of this location is otherworldly! As a long exposure fan, that place offers endless opportunities! Imagine just yourself, your camera and some chunks of a glacier on a black sand beach for sunrise! Yes, I know...it doesn't get any better than this! The light also was the cherry on top of the cake. It was a short burst of color but a truly well welcomed one! Diamond Beach, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/winter-wonderland/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2749.jpg Winter Wonderland What does winter wonderland remind you? For me, when I was a kid, a real winter wonderland was right after a big snow storm…I could play outside for hours with my sister. We would throw snow balls at each other, make a big snowman and build a huge snow castle…that was real joy! I mean I never though I would feel those same feelings of joy as when I was a kid anymore but I was wrong! After scouting around Canmore on the day of a winter storm, I had a feeling that things would be looking amazing up in the Kananaskis! So the next morning, I decided that it was the perfect morning to hike the required 9km to Mount Chester. The further I was onto the trail, the more beautiful it became! And then I arrived near Chester Lake and Mount Chester's Peak! A truly jaw dropping moment! Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/crown-of-fire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2741.jpg Crown of Fire Sunwapta truly is a breath taking place to be. I truly love to photograph this location. It does scream Canadian Rockies! Using the river as a leading line truly is a charm here! It makes for a strong composition! What more to say about the color of water than wow! And when you can compliment the whole scene with such light, you have a winner! This was one sunrise I'll remember for ever! Sunwapta Falls, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/a-sense-of-peace-and-quiet/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2688.jpg A Sense of Peace and Quiet Oh I remember that moment very well…some moments in our life will be remembered for ever! This one sure will be remembered for ever! Now the hike itself to get to that location isn't long but it sure is a bit exhausting when you have a 15 kilos backpack filled with camera gears. I had snowed all day before and all night...so this one was definitely going to be a real treat for my eyes! The hike, even tho is approximately 4km each way, did feel all that long! I think it's fair to say that this is my all time favorite hike! And when I arrived at the base of Mount Chester, I was in absolute aww! What a scene that is! It takes a lot to impress me...but when I got WOW, I truly mean it! Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/mermaids-recall/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2649.jpg Mermaid's Recall We all have imagination...I love to look at rocks or clouds or icebergs and imagine things or shapes. Here I can clearly see a mermaid! Maybe my imagination is too strong, maybe you'll see the exact same thing! Who knows! What makes this shot to me also is the exposure time I chose in order to create those beautiful water flow lines. They seriously hep with the composition by adding some leading lines that are pointing towards my main subject. Diamond Beach, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/on-fire/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2611_PANO.jpg On Fire My initial plan was to spend a few days in Zion National Park to do two of my favorite hikes of all which are The Narrows and The Subway. Sadly, they had a lot of rain before I got to Zion and the snow melting process was way too severe, making it absolutely impossible to do those two hikes since the water level of rivers were way too high and dangerous... I had a few days to spend somewhere so I decided to give Valley of Fire a try! It is a small State Park about an hour from Las Vegas and it is truly worth a visit! It truly live to its name, the sky went absolutely crazy that night! It was literally on fire! Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-gate-to-heaven/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2582.jpg The Gate to Heaven It was a nice Monday morning right after a pretty amazing snow storm, my friend and I decided to hike up to Chester Lake in Kananaskis Country. Mount Chester being one of my all time favorite hike sure was going to be epic after some fresh sticky snow! We were approximately 3 kilometers into the hike, we had been going uphill for what felt like a 5000 meters elevation gain especially with all the camera equipment we carefully carry on our back, we got to a meadow...not only we wanted to take a short break there, the light truly was breath taking, the snow everywhere was so fresh and fluffy! If walking into the gate of heaven would be possible, this would be it! Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/time-after-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2536.jpg Time After Time Dolmen de Poulnabrone in County Clare is so lovely! Well let's be honest, that whole Burren area is pretty awesome! That area is located on the west coast just North of the very popular Cliffs of Moher. The rock formations you can find in the Burren are so awesome! In general, they are very textured and placed in such a way that they create a gigantic puzzle with crevasses in between each pieces! And the subject of this image is, according to what I found on internet, an unusually large dolmen or portal tomb located in that sale area. The Dolmen also is on one of the highest points of the region. It is made of three standing portal stones supporting a heavy horizontal capstone, and dates to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC and 2900 BC. To be honest, that a pretty long time ago! Dolmen Poulnabrone, County Clare, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/atmospherical-delight/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2495.jpg Atmospherical Delight Anyway, let's go back to the actual picture of today's post, taken 6 years ago…this was taken on a day only idiots like me would go out to capture some images…the weather was so bad that my buddy and I were the only two out there! It was so windy that I could barely get a clean shot! Even though I have a very good and steady tripod, when you face 70 kilometers per hours wind gusts, there isn't much you can do to get non blurry images… I was trying hard to use the fastest possible shutter speed without any success! Every images were blurry until we got a very short wind break so I rushed myself to take a few more images and finally got one that looked clean enough on the back screen. We then packed our camera equipment and left in a hurry because there was no way the storm was gonna wait until we were done shooting…I once again got really wet but hey, that's part of the joy of being in Ireland right?! Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dawn-of-the-storm/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2487.jpg Dawn of the Storm Have you ever been in a situation where you had a strong and powerful feeling that something was going to happen? A weird feeling as if someone was pulling you away from danger? While doing this image a few years ago in Iceland, I had that same kind of feeling…something was warning me of an incoming danger… The spot where I was standing was a bit tricky in many ways. It was a pretty dramatic day, the wind was strong and the atmosphere was equally impressive. I wanted to get a shot that could transfer all the emotions in which Mother Nature was going through so I needed to get closer to the action. I truly loved the motion of water at that specific spot so I carefully went down on that huge slab of dark textured rocks. I did quite a few images of the waves cascading over those amazing rocks but at one specific moment, it felt as if someone was telling me something…I truly needed to move away from there. And as soon as I moved away from there, a huge wave came in and literally washed the rock slab I was standing on…it was literally a matter of seconds! Never underestimate your inner voice because mine has saved me quite a few times! Eystrahorn Mountain, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/jewell-of-newport/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2358.jpg Jewell of Newport I truly love history and all those beautiful ruins everywhere in Ireland! Here you can see Rockfleet Castle, also know as Carrickahowley Castle, located near Newport in County Mayo. This tower house type of castle was built in the 16th century and was associated with famous Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley!! How cool is that? And there's so many more castles all over Ireland with so many different stories! This was taken on my very first trip to Ireland. I completely fell in love with Ireland! The light on that evening truly was beautiful! I did shoot very close to the ground to the advantage of perfectly water and have a reflection of the whole scene! Rockfleet Castle, County Mayo, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/blazing-beauty/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2283.jpg Blazing Beauty Even though I am still pretty young, unless you think 44 years old isn't young…, I have been traveling a lot so far in my life. I have been to many amazing locations in the world so far…but as far as I am concerned, Mount Chester probably comes right on top of my list as my all time favorite so far! When I got there for the very first time, my jaw literally dropped! Not only I got beautiful wintery conditions, the light was amazing! My second visit was equally as spectacular as the first one...great snow, amazing mountain and great light all together to create this favorite image of mine! Mount Chester during winter season is mind bogglingly beautiful! Period! Mount Chester, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fire-breathing/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2248.jpg Fire Breathing As one of the most iconic scene of the Province of Quebec, Rocher Percé which stands for Pierced Rock, truly is breathtaking! Even if I live kind of close to it....if we consider driving 12 hours a short distance, I have only been there twice during the last 20 years or so. Rocher Percé is beautiful and always brings back some good memories of Gaspésie Peninsula! The landscape there is so different then what I have near Montreal. What a lovely part of my province this is! That morning was my last one of this very short and spontaneous trip. I wanted to do a sunrise there before driving close to one thousand kilometers back home. And due to the fact that the trip was planned very last minute, I didn't get to choose according to the tides...the ideal tide would have been much lower allowing me to go closer to Rocher Percé so instead of that, I found a huge chunk of log on the beach, used it as a cool foreground interest and went for this composition which shows the rock formation right next to the main land. Roché Percé, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/together-we-live/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2100.jpg Together We Live So Kananaskis Country isn't short in unique and amazing compositions that we don't see anywhere else...I just happened to be driving by that location right after having the most amazing sunrise of that whole trip and what I was seeing from my left window truly got me excited! I could see beautiful soft shadows in between pine trees, lots of very low hanging clouds and a beautiful shy mountain hiding behind them clouds! Some images will simply fall straight almost before your eyes...only those looking at the right place will be able to catch those unforgettable moments! Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/castle-in-the-sky/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A2020_PANO.jpg Castle in the Sky A lot of time was involved in the making of that image...and by a lot of time, I meant to say a lot of waiting! As I was in Bryce Canyon, a winter storm was coming in and according to the wether forecast, it was going to be a serious one. The weather forecast wasn't wrong...I had to wait almost two days in my hotel room before I could make it safely on the roads. But on that morning, conditions changed for the better! The sky was so nice with great contrast in the clouds and the light at sunrise was to die for! Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/strategic/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1965.jpg Strategic I have always been a really big fan of medieval times. Ever since my very young age, when ever I see a castle, I feel like a little child again! This is CastleRoche and it was built at the beginning of the 13th century for Lady Rohesia de Verdun to protect her Anglo-Norman people from the Irish. The castle was built on top of a limestone hill and I can tell you they had quite the view! I have visited this castle a couple times over the last years but I only had great light the last time. The light was astonishing! I was driving back to Dublin from Bushmills and I decided to make one final stop as the sky was very promising! I was there all by myself...well, not 100% true as there were at least 100 sheep on the land but they truly didn't mind my presence. Castle Roche, County Louth, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/pure-harmony/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1943.jpg Pure Harmony Some say that we as landscape photographers need to visit locations up to 10 times to get the optimal light. I've had luck with many locations in the Rockies and some others, not so much. Look at Three Sisters for example… I never got some amazing light there at all! And I tried so many times! Now that place on another hand, well it is a slightly different story! I went there two times a couple years ago…I initially didn't know where it was so I had to scout for it. So I put on my snowshoes and started scouting the area…I literally fell in between two pine trees and then I was surrounded by what looked like 10 feet high of snow! Boy did I struggle to get out of there! I went back for another torture session last year…and I didn't get the light I was hoping for... It was nice and cloudy but not what I was looking for. Well, third time is a charm because I did finally get the light I was looking for! This was my third attempt at getting the shot I long waited for! Kananaskis Country, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/inception/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1939.jpg Inception I live in the Province of Québec...don't get me wrong. It is a beautiful province but nothing close to be as spectacular as Alberta or British Columbia. And as a landscape photographer, I like to photograph something that brings the wow effect! Something that is inspirational! Well I did find just that right here... Forillon National Parc. And since it is driving distance from my home, I like to go there as often as I possibly can! This was during my summer 2020 visit and it was just as memorable of a sunrise as one can be! My friend and I went to the top of Mount St-Alban in complete darkness until we reached the platform on top of the mountain. It did require us to get up at 3:00 AM, start hiking our way up to the top at 3:50. It was initially all clear sky when we got there but then something magical happened...we had some really low clouds which decoded to drift into the frame giving me the opportunity to create one of the most beautiful image I ever took in my home province! Forillon National Park, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/light-of-the-seven/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1751.jpg Light of the Seven Here's one of my favorite places in Ireland...and not just any scene! One of the scenes from the very popular series Game of Thrones. Quite a few scenes were actually filmed in Tollymore Forest Park. Tollymore Forest Park is such a beautiful place to enjoy nature, beautiful light and the sound of cascading water! One day there will definitely rejuvenate your soul! Tollymore Forest Park, Newcastle, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/perfect-harmony/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1698.jpg Perfect Harmony There was just me, my camera and an amazing Icelandic scene! The whole sky was covered with a gentle coat of light clouds which transferred into an amazing pink soft box! I love the cyan and the magenta together here as they create beautiful contrast. The foreground this was also catching a bit of that magenta light was so fresh and free of footprints! What an amazing moment this was! Godafoss, Fossholl, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/levitation/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1654.jpg Levitation That morning at Preachers Point was one I will never forget! Not only the light was spectacular and dramatic, I also got to photograph a peak I haven't photographed yet! And to be quite honest with you, the reason why I have never photographed it is simply because I always concentrated on the one everybody else shoot! See, that's one of the many advantages of photographing during winter season with frozen lakes, you literally have a 360 degrees field of view with so many foreground and background opportunities. Now you may ask what's the name of that mountain…I have no clue! It's the one that will most likely be behind you at Preachers Point so look over your shoulder and it should be there! Preachers Point, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/fountain-of-dreams/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1653.jpg Fountain of Dreams One can only hope to get such an amazing colorful sunrise with a mix of low and high altitude clouds all catching some of that beautiful morning light. As I was getting closer to Godafoss, I could hear the water noise more and more! I just love waterfall and that one in particular is a favorite of mine. I was truly feeling blessed to get the whole scene covered with a beautiful fresh blanket of snow.... Most rocks in Iceland are black so having them rcovered in white really softens everything… A truly memorable morning! Godafoss, Fossholl, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/if-mordor-was-frozen/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1549.jpg if Mordor was Frozen... If Mordor was in the Canadian Rockies, this would be it! And I almost missed this absolutely epic light show! Thanks to problems I had to solve with the owner of the facility where I was sleeping, I had to change plans multiple times. I left for sunrise well over an hour later than I was suppose. I decided to try other locations along my route to finally end at the exact location I initially had in mind and captured some of the most dramatic light I've seen in the Canadian Rockies so far! Preacher's Point was extremely moody on that morning, and the ice was just perfect! Preachers Point, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/dawn-of-faith/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1534.jpg Dawn of Faith This was in fact my first morning of a very short getaway to Gaspesie Peninsula. Our final destination was going to be Forillon National Park and since it is 12 hours from my home, stopping somewhere in between definitely was going to be a wise choice! Parc National du Bic is more or less half way between Montreal and Forillon. I actually love love Bic National Park. It has some beautiful seascapes opportunities and the tide swings make for completely different foregrounds depending on the time of the day. This was a nice quiet sunrise at low tide where myself, my friend and a few thousand mosquitoes had a beautiful view! Bic National Park, Quebec, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/freedom/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1494.jpg Freedom Immediately after landing in Dublin, I took possession of my rental car, tried to properly setup my Garmin GPS which was faithful to his great habits of not finding most locations I have ever typed in, and drove 4 hours west to Killarney. I had to manually chose a spot on the GPS's map because it simply wouldn't want to lock on the address I was typing in! I drove to Killarney in a pretty reasonable amount of time and checked in at my hotel. It will come to no surprise that after 40 straight hours without sleeping, I did choose the easy not too far from the hotel location to photograph for sunset! I always wanted to see Ross castle and it was walking distance from the hotel! This castle was featured in Braveheart with Mel Gibson! I was there a bit ahead of time. But when the light came in, it was absolutely epic. I even got a special visit from a swan that was peacefully swimming around! He was just curious to see what I was doing!! What an awesome feeling it was! It truly felt like freedom! Ross Castle, County Kerry, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/petrified-in-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1396.jpg Petrified in Time Just my friend, myself and a sea stack together for sunrise! It was a gorgeous morning on a black sand beach in the north of Iceland. The light was just improving minutes after minutes... I was using the water line as a lead into my composition. The goal always is to use strong lines to bring viewers' eyes to the main subject which, in this particular case, is a Troll shaped sea stack. Hvitserkur, Vatnsnesvegur, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/final-show/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1391.jpg Final Show There truly is something magical about Irish Light! The weather is always super unpredictable and you can literally have all four seasons in a single day...but when the elements align themselves, you will be in for an awesome light! The beautiful cliffs of Magheracross are giving you a pretty epic views over some pretty spectacular white rock formations and also on White Rocks Beach and Portrush! The clouds were rolling in super fast but surprisingly, it wasn't too windy... That night was my last chance of that trip to catch a sunset in Northern Ireland. I have to admit that I did drop a few tears...I truly feel like I am at home there! Magheracross, Bushmills, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/for-ever/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1390.jpg For Ever I remember that feeling when going to Toys'R Us as a young kid...well, to me, going to Iceland brings back that same kind of feeling! There isn't a single thing I don't like about Iceland! It has it all from nice dramatic seashores to glaciers, waterfalls, active volcanoes...here, you can see an awesome sea stack named Hvitserkur located in the north of the country. There's is a really cool legend saying that it used to be a troll that was petrified by the sun rays while it was too busy at throwing rocks at a nearby monastery! On that nice and cool winter morning, there was only myself and my friend enjoying that epic Icelandic sunrise in company of a lovely petrified troll! Hvitserkur, Vatnsnesvegur, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/cliff-hanger/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1333_PANO.jpg Cliff Hanger Mussenden Temple is a beautiful piece of history located near Castlerock in Northern Ireland. It was built in 1785 and it is also a scene from the popular series Game of Thrones. It offers a spectacular view on the North Sea. The mood on that specific day was something special! Ireland is well known for its ever changing weather...that day was no exception! I could see some dark clouds coming towards me meaning some more bad weather was coming! Mussenden Temple, Coleraine, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-unknown/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1327.jpg The Unknown Is there a way we could get better conditions than these to photograph such a scene? I'd say there isn't a single chance! I was so happy with the way the whole scene looked with this fresh coat of beautiful but light snow. Most of the rocks at this location are basalt based columns and are dark black. Having some of them partially covered with snow makes for some amazing contrasting lines into the composition. Kalfshamarsvik Lighthouse, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/channeling/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1167.jpg Channeling After a short drive in the obscures of the extra long winter nights, I finally made it to Mount Chephren. Were the cloud conditions going to be optimal for a beautiful sunrise? Well, as far as I am concerned, there's only one way to find out! Give it a try and you'll see! Mount Chephren has a frustrating habit to be quite shy in the morning…???? After putting on my snowshoes, I made a quick hike to the spot in question. I was a bit concerned about ice thickness but it didn't break so I assume it must have been thick enough right? It was one cold December morning…and you can definitely tell by the shape and crispness of those snow flowers by the river… Those little foreground details are the ones I love to hunt for! That little channel was in fact very narrow. I am not even sure my foot would fit in there but since I used an ultra-wide angle lens, it made it look much bigger. Even tho the light wasn't the best I ever had there, the snow and the whole scene were both very refreshing to look at. Mount Chephren, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/stopwatch/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1054.jpg StopWatch One of the main reasons for going back to Ireland is my passion for ruins and espcially castles! And we can find them everywhere! Two weeks in Ireland isn't enough to see them all! Here, Kinbane Castle built in 1547 by Colla MacDonnell is one of the many you can see in Ireland! It was taken from the Irish by English forces in 1551 and retaken by the Irish in 1555... There was a lot of action in that area back in the days! One thing is for sure, they were really good at finding the most beautiful spots to built castles! Kinbane head in one stunning place! Kinbane Castle, Ballycastle, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/cold-streaks/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A1046.jpg Cold Streaks If there's one thing I love about winter photography, it has to be to have different angles and compositions on stuff we simply can't photograph during summer season… Why? How? Well, having the opportunity to photograph on frozen lakes opens endless compositions options. I literally spent hours looking for methane bubbles, ice cracks and cool snow patterns until I came across those lovely snow drifts which were beautifully catching the very last bit of light at dusk. Grotto Mountain, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/connection/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0993_PANO.jpg Connection I could literally spend hours in forest parks like this one simply to enjoy every little noises made by small animals, tree leaves dancing in the wind or water cascading between those Stepping Stones. And should you be lucky enough to witness an amazing light show like this one! During those moments, I can really feel a connection with nature! Tollymore Forest Park is one of my favorite places in Northern Ireland! One day there simply isn't enough! It is an epic location for photography or simply to bring your love one for a peaceful walk in the nature! Tollymore Forest Park, Newcastle, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/coastal-dream/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0967.jpg Coastal Dream Traveling to Europe from North America is tough...why? Here's why! Most flights from Canada and USA to Europe will be over night flights. And I don't know about you but I just can't sleep in a plane. It simply doesn't work for me. When we landed in Reykjavik, we took possession of our rental car and started driving right away. We made it on time for a sunrise at Kirkjufell and drove all day to scout and ended our day right here! Even though we had 40 hours straight without any sleep time, my energy level bumped back to full while I was enjoying this beautiful Icelandic Coastal Dream view! Londrangar, ICELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/on-my-own/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0779_PANO.jpg On my own Few scenes I had a chance to photograph are even close to be as spectacular as this one! A small village surrounded by impressive mountains, rugged cliffs with a waterfall dropping water into the ocean...and speaking of the ocean, it had an attitude on that specific afternoon! Water was moving fast! This was my last sunset in the Faroe Islands and what a great way to end my trip in that beautiful country! Gasadalur, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/one-more-time/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0599.jpg One More Time The island of Bonaire is another tropical paradise I truly fell in love with! I love the fact that it also is an island for nature lovers. The island itself is made of coral rocks which tilted over water a long time ago and it makes it a real paradise for scuba divers. I love lighthouses and Bonaire has a few really lovely ones. This one is Spelonk Lighthouse at sunset. It is catching the very last light before the sun decides to be calling it a day. Spelonk Lighthouse, BONAIRE https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/the-view/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0516_PANO.jpg The View When it comes to landscape photography, I am truly a morning person! That moment of the day when the sun is low and sculpting every single elements of a given scene like this one is pure magic! I love texture, I love volume and the morning light will just naturally accentuate all these details so nicely. In this composition, I wanted to show the beauty of a Navajo Tribe land, Monument Valley! And to help me capture it vastness, I captured a series of 6 vertical images to later creat a panoramic image. Monument Valley, Arizona, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/untraversed-path/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0483.jpg Untraversed Path Some mornings will offer beautiful colorful light, others will offer atmospherical delights! This one definitely went for the second option! I was fortunate enough to find a sheep trail and use it as my main lead into my compositions. My main subject was what they call Troll Which Finger...yup, they also have a cool legend about that specific rock formation! Trollkonufingur, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/cataclysmic-implosion/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0414.jpg Cataclysmic Implosion Probably the image I am most proud of of my whole trip to the Faroe Islands. What a moment this was! The foreground, the textures, the movement of the ocean, the light...everything was perfect! Gasadalur, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/disturbance/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0376.jpg Disturbance I think every single one of us heard at least once in their lifetime the expression: It's raining cats and dogs! Well, if one image in my portfolio reminds me of that expression, it would have to be that one! Boy did I get soaked wet to take that image! And speaking of the weather conditions, they were actually really nice and pleasant when we first arrived to that location! We could see the main mountain and the rest of the scene was a little too shy to show up because of those beautiful mysterious low clouds. The scene was so beautiful! Then the rain started falling on and off, the struggle to keep my lens dry was real. My camera almost died that day and it would simply refuse to shoot on the next day! I have to admit that my camera has quite an attitude…but to be honest with you, I don't blame her! Molneva Waterfall, Lofoten, NORWAY https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/in-between/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0352_PANO.jpg In Between How many times have you heard the expression I can't be at two places at the same time?? Well Monument Valley is one place where you can actually be at two places at the same time! Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribe literally located in between Utah and Arizona so if you stand at the right place, you will actually have a foot in Utah and a foot in Arizona!! This image is one I did a few years ago while travelling the South West USA with a friend of mine. I always wanted to do that easy shot right next to The View Hotel and since my friend had already done it before, he dropped me there and went for something else. The sky literally exploded, the colors were insane and the light was epic! It did lasted a little while! I had enough time to get quite a few shots! Monument Valley, Arizona, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/x-marks-the-spot/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0342.jpg X Marks the Spot Ice shapes and patterns are so fun and inspiring to photograph! This image isn't my first one of an X shape pattern on a frozen lake in the Canadian Rockies…and every time I posted one on Instagram, some of my friends would proudly comment: X Marks the Spot…so for that same reason, I decided to name that image X Marks the Spot! What a beautiful morning that was! Only me and my camera in the middle of a frozen lake in my favorite place on Earth, the Canadian Rockies! Abraham Lake. Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/deep-emotions/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0299.jpg Deep Emotions Have you been to Ireland? I am sure most of you are thinking this type of weather will be your typical Irish day…stormy, foggy and rainy…cold and humid…well, I gotta say I didn't have that luck or bad luck most will call it. And to be quite honest, I was a bit disappointed to not get much of this type of weather because I just love it! Most Irish scenes, seascapes and ruins are a perfect match for this type of weather. I love moody weather! I love flat light because it simply doesn't change and give you so much time to shoot without rushing yourself! Believe it or not, this image was taken on the only rainy day I had in two weeks during my last visit to this beautiful island. Ballycastle, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/invert/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0287.jpg Invert Imagination is a really powerful tool we master....how many of you look at clouds and see different shapes of animals? How many of you see people faces in plants or on soil surfaces? During that trip to the Rockies, I did have a lot of fun finding shapes in snow and on frozen lakes. How many of you can see an inverted question mark here? ( ¿ ) My wife thinks I am crazy as she doesn't see it....but I do see an inverted question mark! And to compliment my very fertile imagination, I had one of the greatest light show I ever had at Abraham Lake! Abraham Lake. Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/unified/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0181.jpg Unified I remember leaving Lake Louise on that morning with pretty high hopes of getting some decent light...the weather forecast was very promising! And since I had scouted many areas of this lake during that trip, I knew exactly where I needed to go to get prime bubbles! I would normally prefer a single patch of bubbles but what got my attention here is how beautifully stacked those bubbles were! Being faithful to my habits, I was there quite a while before sunrise...I like to chill and setup my tripod and camera without being rushed. Once I was ready, I started shooting some images even if it was still blue hour. And then the show began....well, let's just say I played my cards correctly on that morning as the sky completely exploded in colors! It did last for well over 30 minutes too! This was an epic last sunrise! Abraham Lake. Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/on-ones-own/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0161.jpg On One's Own I didn't until recently has a chance to see Downpatrick Head! That place also is well known as Dun Briste! When you think about it for a minute, that sea stack was once attached to the main land... Here, we don't see the main which is where I was standing and is approximately 100 feet from this sea stack. I chose to go for a more minimalistic composition and decided to only include the sea stack itself with some fuzzy water and some clouds. The sunset light was as beautiful as it can be! Irish Light at it's best! Downpatrick Head, County Mayo, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/slow/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0160.jpg Slow One of my favorite place to visit in Ireland is Giant's Causeway! There truly is something magical and mysterious about this place! There is something so fascinating about those rock formations! This wasn't made by men! Mother nature did it all by herself! Those rock formations are basalt columns and they thightly fit into each other just like a puzzle! They call it Giant's Causeway because it looks like a sidewalk but for giants. How cool is that right? Giant's Causeway, Bushmills, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/roads-less-travelled/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0153.jpg Roads Less Travelled I was often told when I was younger, water always takes the shortest path...but when I look at that scene, I truly question myself if that truly was the shortest path. Erosion always is the responsible fact for sculpting a landscape that way. Can you image...water flowing for million years at the exact same place to form something like this? Now that is impressive! I went with a panoramic format to show how immense that scene was. Gooseneck State Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/laborious-path/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0153-PANO.jpg Laborious Path I was often told when I was younger, water always takes the shortest path...but when I look at that scene, I truly question myself if that truly was the shortest path. Erosion always is the responsible fact for sculpting a landscape that way. Can you image...water flowing for million years at the exact same place to form something like this? Now that is impressive! I went with a panoramic format to show how immense that scene was. Gooseneck State Park, Utah, USA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/colossus/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0142.jpg Colossus Talking about rewarding efforts...well this one definitely was a well deserve reward! That day was a mix of rain and showers with gusty winds that could literally make you loose everyone of your hairs. The hike to get to this location was long, muddy but very flat and extremely slippery. I recall slipping a handful of times... Then we arrived near those cliffs. Wind thankfully calmed down for half an hour so we could safely stand near the cliff and that moment simply magically happened right in front of my eyes! It was very brief but very beautiful! Sorvagsvatn, FAROE ISLANDS https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/mother-natures-grace/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0141.jpg Mother Nature's Grace Sometime, hmm...a lot of time to be more realistic, you get in front of a scene and tell yourself: Holy Cow that is beautiful! On that particular day, I was driving back from somewhere I can't recall on the Icefield Parway and the light at Bow Lake was just as intense as it can get! I stopped and spent a couple hours enjoying this awe-inspiring place! Bow Lake and Crowfoot Mountain never disappoint but I have a feeling she gave me even more on that specific day! I loved the very diffused and mysterious light…the shadows were subtle, the snow was crispy. The snow level was actually just perfect for enough of the river to show up and create a great lead into my image. Early winter is just so perfect in the Canadian Rockies! Bow Lake, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/restful/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0083.jpg Restful This image definitely was on my list since the very first time I visited Ireland almost many years ago! Back to my first ever trip to Ireland, I did stop to this castle and found it so lovely but tI simply didn't get the optimal light conditions so I skipped it. During my most recent trip to Ireland, I did plan on doing one sunrise at Dunguaire, I was there at the right moment because the light was absolutely epic! I was also lucky to be there at low tide because this whole area where I was standing would normally be submerged under water. Low tide definitely reveals some awesome gems for foreground interest! Dunguaire Castle, County Galway, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/ascension-to-ragnarok/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0066.jpg Ascension to Ragnarok Giant's Causeway is a real playground! When you think about it for a minute, those stones are basalt columns that were pushed out of the ground (and sea floor) a long time ago...much before humans were on this planet. It was said that volcanic activity actually is the main reason why they were pushed off the ground. One thing is for sure, it is one cool sight! They create such an awesome sidewalk like surface, hence the name Giant's Causeway. It is fascinating how they fit into each other perfectly as if it was a giant puzzle. Nature does things so right! Giant's Causeway, Bushmills, NORTHERN IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/twisted/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0060.jpg Twisted I remember leaving my hotel in Killarney on that morning and it was raining pretty hard....I was driving to some other locations to catch sunrise..but that sunrise ended up being a sunless sunrise because it was still raining... After enjoying the view, I drove to a small town and stopped to one cute little restaurant to have a full Irish breakfast. I truly wasn't in any hurry so I took my time to fully enjoy my meal! When I was done eating, I walked back to my car and guess what...it was still raining! I kept on trucking to where I wanted to photograph sunset and still was it raining... A few hours later, rain kind of slowed down, the wind died and the sky started to clear up! At that time, I knew I was going to get some awesome light right on time for sunset! And so I did! Patience Will Reward Those Who Try!! Beara Bowl, County Cork, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/memories/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A0048.jpg Memories I am a big fan of ruins such as castles and churches! And this church probably is one of the most beautiful one I have seen! It is located at a pretty amazing spot right next to Mount Errigal in County Donegal. It is named Poisoned Glen...really? How can a church be named poisoned? I did ask a really nice local guy I met one evening and he told me some pretty interesting stories about it! According to a legend, it got its name when the One Eyed Giant King of Tory, Balor, was killed here by his exiled grandson, Lughaidh, whereupon the poison from his eye split the rock and poisoned the glen...interesting isn't it? There is another less interesting but also more realistic story that says it was accidentally named that way because of a pronunciation mistake made a long time ago. The locals know the church as An Gleann Neamhe which means The Heavenly Glen but when an English cartographer mapped the area, it was given the name An Gleann Neimhe which literally translates to Poisoned Glen! I wasn't told why the name wasn't later changed...but I think it's a cool name anyway! Poisoned Glen, County Donegal, IRELAND https://www.dtremblay.com/photo/steel-serenade/ https://www.dtremblay.com/images/xl/_20A7269.jpg Steel Serenade Morant's Curve! The famous location near Lake Louise where people visit in order to see a train drive by! We all have to admit that this scene truly screams Canada! It is an icon of the Canadian Rockies! When and if you visit Morant's Curve, you'll realize that a certain luck factor is required in order to see a train drive in front of your eyes... On that specific day, I waited some thing like two hours to photograph one single train! But that's not it...I was patiently waiting and waiting and all of a sudden, I could hear some metal to metal soundtrack getting closer to me! There was hopefully something coming real soon! And yes there was something coming but it wasn't a train...it was a Ford pickup truck roaming the railroad and making sure it was in good shape!! And then came that train about 30 minutes later! Finally! Morant's Curve, Alberta, CANADA https://www.dtremblay.com/news/ https://www.dtremblay.com/contact/