With my family's input we just decided on Banff (Alberta Canada) for our next vacation. This is likely the last family vacation for a while as our son and daughter will be graduating college soon and will no longer have off for spring break.

We'll have eight full days to see as much of the area as possible. We'll likely ski two or three days, go snowmobiling for one or two days and sight-see the rest of the time.

I'm hoping to see as much as possible as you never know if we'll be able to come back some day. As of this moment the only thing booked is the flight from Newark NJ to Calgary and back. None of us have ever even slept in Canada (unless my kids sleeping in the car on the way to Montreal counts), so were open to suggestions on what to see during mid-march. We're leaning towards staying in or very close to Banff in a Best Western type place for the first five nights. We may then head to the Golden BC area for a few nights. I'm open to suggestions on what to see, we're hoping that we might see the northern lights, some of Banff National Park and perhaps Glacier NP in BC. I only looked briefly, but I'm not sure when the Northern Lights are visible (if at all during March).

I own (notice I did not say i'm talented with) Canon 5Diii, 16-35f4L, 24-70f2.8L, 70-200f2.8L, 100-400L and Sigma 35f1.4. I'm hopeful this set of lenses will cover everything I will experience. Do you guys think I need to bring every lens I listed or could I leave one or two at home. Ideally we would get to see and photograph the northern lights, large wildlife, and some of the landscape photos that a few other's on this site have captured and shared with all of us. I've only tried shooting night skies a few times and will certainly practice between now and March. I assume the Sigma 35 f1.4 would be best for this? Do I need any filters for viewing the Northern Lights?


Sorry for all of questions, needless to say I'm just a little excited. Please share any ideas or suggestions you may have.

Thank you,
Scott