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Thread: Banff in March

  1. #11
    Senior Member Jonathan Huyer's Avatar
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    I think I'd lean towards the 14 mm Sigma. I love my 24 f/1.4, but for a lot of night photography I find myself wanting a wider angle so I often reach for the 14 f/2.8. The 24 has given me great aurora shots, but the 14 would be awesome at f/1.8.

  2. #12
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    Thank you, just ordered the Sigma 14 f1.8
    Scott

  3. #13
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    Ok, better late than never to post a report, right???

    Just to reiterate, our group consisted of our 21 year old daughter and her boyfriend, our 23 year old son and his girlfriend, my wife and me. Goal was to ski, snowmobile and sightsee, not necessarily in that order. I ordered and printed the two books Jonathan mentioned above. Asked everyone to read them and pick the places they wanted to see most. We looked at maps, ski resorts, hotels, restaurants, etc. and made lists of what to do when.

    My goal was to catch the sunrise or sunset on each day, weather permitting. I quickly learned that by coincidence, we would eat dinner every single day as the sun was setting (regardless of what town or time-zone we were in). I also learned that it’s tough to wake five other people up before sunrise to get that ‘wall hanger photo’ we all wanted. I ended up with one decent photo as the sun set (gray skies - less than ideal), and one clear early morning with a few decent night sky shots and couple good sunrise shots. Maybe not wall hangers, but certainly keepers for sure. We hoped to see some wildlife, but our timing was off (middle of the day is not typically feeding time), we did see ravens at almost every destination. We also hoped to see the Northern Lights, but that did not work out.

    We visited Johnston Canyon, it was a perfect day but the young people were convinced we did not need ice cleats. Despite some good advice I got from Jonathon and people on other forums I just went along with the majority (big mistake, should have bought or rented them). We were surprised to see so many other tourists, but compared to NJ crowds it was still doable. We slipped and slid to the upper and lower canyons, middle of the day photos were not great, but certainly glad I got a few. None of us ever watched real climbers before and that was certainly cool to see.

    We planned to spend a long day at Icefields Parkway, unfortunately they closed the road for maintenance (avalanche work, I think) on the day we had free. By mid-morning they opened up the southern section so we visited what we could, it was certainly worth it.

    We went skiing at Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and Revelstoke. All were excellent, but my favorite was Revelstoke, the rest of the group loved Sunshine Village. Conditions were perfect for the most part. Some of the best skiing any of us have experienced. Some skied one day, some skied two and my wife, daughter and I skied all three days.

    We did a “full day” snowmobile tour with our group of six and a guide. Some very nice scenery but it was kind of expensive and we did more stopping for breaks than actual touring. Conditions and sleds were great, but most of us were expecting more adventure.

    I suspect we will all remember the trip to Banff/Golden/Revelstoke for the rest of our lives. Next trip we’ll do a smaller group or try not to do so many things in such a short time span. I’m certainly guilty of saying, “Who knows if we’ll ever get to come back here again?” I’m hoping to get back to this area again someday and focus on photography, I think with some better timing I could have gotten a few wall hangers for sure.
    Last edited by Always Looking; 05-23-2018 at 11:18 AM.
    Scott

  4. #14
    Senior Member Jonathan Huyer's Avatar
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    Hey Scott -

    Thanks for posting the detailed report! Glad to know you had a good time overall. And if you ever plan a return trip, by all means please get in touch again --- maybe next time it will work out that we can connect in person.

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