I had a client inquiry that was asking for a couples shoot in the mountains near Calgary, and wrote a big email I realized is a perfectly helpful thing to post on our blog! It’s not pretty yet, so I’ll update over time, but here’s my thoughts on that. In time we can add photos from these locations and make it a bit more user friendly.
Upper Kananaskis Lake
This is a great location that’s a bit more remote. You’ll most of the time find a quiet spot. Along the lake, in trails, etc. You could use this as a starting point for an adventure shoot too, like to Rawson Lake or up one of the summits!
Permits: you will need a Kananaskis park pass, as well your photographer will need a Kananaskis Park Photography Licence.
- Grassi Lakes
- Located in Canmore, it’s very accessible, does require a bit of hiking but not that much. A series of beautiful green-blue lakes, with cliffs and mountains around. Weekdays it could be good, but weekends it’s a bit of a zoo.
- Quarry Lake
- A most accessible location in Canmore. A nice mountain lake, lots of views. Weekdays it could be good, but weekends it’s a bit of a zoo.
- Policeman’s Creek
- A really accessible place in Canmore. Boardwalks and rivers and some buildings and forests.
- Rundle Forebay
- Lake Minnewanka
- A very accessible location in Banff, this spot has everything! Mountain views, forest trails, rocky stones, it’s great. Can be hard to find parking on a busy day, but weekdays could be ok. Nice thing about this is even with lots of people, you can still find some privacy.
- Smaller Spots around Banff
- You’d want to visit several of these for a well-rounded shoot
- Mt. Norquay lookout
- Vermillion Lake
- A field on Two-Jack Lake Road
- Fenlands Trail
- You’d want to visit several of these for a well-rounded shoot
- Moraine Lake
- One of my favourite spots in the world! It is so beautiful. I’d recommend this for an evening shoot when it quiets down. You’ll need to organize shuttles for you and us. It’s a bit further, so we’d have to figure out another budget for this. It is much nicer than Lake Louise, so I won’t even recommend Lake Louise.
For the more adventurous shoots with up to 2h of hiking in then back out again, you could consider some of the following:
- Tent Ridge
- Wasootch Ridge
- Mt. St. Piran
- Pocaterra Ridge
- Rawson Lake
If you could travel just a bit further, Peyto Lake is great too, and doesn’t need any hiking to speak of, but a bit more travel time is needed.
There are of course other spots further afield that are great, like out in Yoho National Park (Emerald Lake for instance). But we’ll leave it more local for now!