Travel Photography

The NAPCP recently asked me to write an article about my top 5 favourite things to capture when I travel...If you are interested in reading it, check it out here: http://www.napcp.com/blog.php/2014/09/02/spotlight-travel-photography/

I also provided links at the end of the article to some people who take pretty cool travel shots as well. A little eye candy for you all to enjoy :)

Thanks!

Dana

Herbert Lake, AB | Travel Tuesdays

It's the first picnic spot on the Icefields Parkway going north from Lake Louise. It seems like a quaint little mountain lake. And, it is. If you stop there, make sure you have your bathing suit because it is the only lake in the area that is not glacier fed. The water is crystal clear though and you can see quite a ways down...which is fairly typical for this area of the mountains. The real treasure is tucked away in the furthest corner from the picnic spot. There is a diving board jammed into the rocks. Legend has it that it is the old diving board from the outdoor pool at Lake Louise. You know the one--the one that is no longer in use? When they were forced to drain it and shut it down around 20 years ago(that's the number I heard, but I haven't verified) due to the chlorinated water being so close to the glacial lake, the diving board was given to the staff who brought it out here and installed it. It is the favourite spot of locals from Lake Louise to spend a warm summer afternoon. We saw it while swimming off the picnic spot and hopped in our canoe to check it out. The last two shots show us getting back in our canoe and a local diving for us ;)

You don't need a canoe to get to this spot(although canoeing feels super duper Canadian to me). You can just walk to it. Go counterclockwise around the lake.

Thought I'd share this hidden gem in the Canadian rockies. Awesome little spot it is ;)

~ Dana

Travel Tuesday -- Grotto Canyon in Kananaskis

I am very used to working weekends. In fact, part of why I started this business was so that I could be home with my kids during the day and work on evenings and weekends. Over the course of the last couple of years, something happened though. I started to feel like I was missing out....like my family was doing too much without me. I realize that, for most photographers, they start when they have no kids or their kids are super young.  That was the case for me, but as my kids got older...well, the regular schedule wasn't working for me. So, I made some changes.

Now that I'm working less weekends, it has taken awhile to get into the swing of being organized to get out and do something awesome as a family. This past weekend, we had big plans to go camping, but were thrown a bit of a curve ball when a project that we are working on needed some attention(we'll reveal the project soon). So, once that stuff was dealt with, we hurriedly picked a hike close to Calgary and head out to explore.

Grotto Canyon was the hike we planned on. When we got there, we discovered quite a bit of damage from last year's floods. Lots of people were trying to figure out where the trail was...no one was very successful. So, we just hiked through the flood ravaged canyon that we did find(someone told us it was called Steve Canyon or something like that). It was NOT easy(the hike was labelled as easy to do with kids). It was basically scrambling over fallen trees, smooth rocks and odd little formations. When we got to the end, someone explained to us how to find the 'real' trailhead...we went back with every intention of doing that little hike as well, but then we found this little teepee and had our packed lunch. Super chilled out, we decided that the best way to end this little adventure was to head into Canmore and get an ice cream from the school bus(everyone who has ever been to Canmore knows what I am talking about).

If you do go to Grotto Canyon, consider bringing your canoe and paddling around the little pond. Everyone was fishing there, too...so, we were wishing we had ours. If you can find the real trailhead, you could make a lovely day out of doing that and hanging by the pond.

Travel Alberta Everyone!! Let me know your favourite destination close to Calgary! We'd love to check it out!

~ Dana

Travel Tuesdays -- HooDoos and Coulees

I wanted to start a new regular feature that I'm going to call 'Travel Tuesdays'. I am finding myself, more and more, writing emails giving travel tips to certain areas of the world. I thought it would be nice to have one place where I could point people, too. Sometimes, I will post about places we were at that were far away--like Iceland(holy is there a bigger interest in going there now...that is by far the place I get asked about the most), but mostly, I hope to feature places close to home. A sort of Travel Alberta kind of feature. We do try to take small road trips fairly regularly and we often skip the 'popular places'. This weekend, with the forecast calling for rain and a tonne of work on our plates, we hadn't planned for much actually. May long weekend never really works out for us if we travel/camp. Come Monday though...we were feeling pretty cooped up and needed to do something as a family. We took out our trusty 'Day Trips From Calgary' book by Bill Corbett and decided to head east since we knew the mountains would be pretty busy. The drive we picked was called 'HooDoo Trail' and started in Drumheller. On our way there, we found this little gem quite by accident...an incredible playground in Irricana. There is lots for the little ones, but even my 11 year old enjoyed the big kid part(and that is getting pretty rare these days).

As we came into Drumheller, we took Hwy10(the Hoo Doo Trail) east. Our first stop was the Hoo Doo Recreation site. I promise you that we never went on the protected areas. It should also be noted that it was pretty wet--not raining really, but wet from the rain we have had...so the Hoo Doo area was quite slick with mud.

Then, we drove a bit further to the East Coulee School Museum. It was $15 for the whole family and we were the only ones there so luckily we were given a private tour by the guide. This is a fun little stop if you are in Drumheller and you are done with the Tyrell Museum. As much as we love large museums(and we are a museum loving family), we find small museums so quirky and fun. Plus, the staff there are always so enthusiastic and welcoming. The East Coulee School Museum is no exception. Once they discovered that Bob was so interested in the old equipment, the guide even took us down to the basement to see the old coal fired furnace. Definitely a fun stop for the whole family. Plus...there is nothing our kids love more than an 'illegal' playground. That's what they call it when we find ourselves in a small town and the old playground hasn't been upgraded in years. It means there is more than likely that 'spinning thing' as they like to call it. A Pugh family favourite...yes...maybe it isn't the safest, but oh so fun.

We did follow instructions and carried on down to the Atlas Coal Mine Museum. Since we hadn't planned it that well, we just missed a tour and the tour we were really interested in doing was an hour and 45 minute wait. That just wasn't possible, so we will have to go back there next time we are in the Drumheller area.

We did drive the 11 bridges to Wayne, AB, but the most fun we had was counting the bridges ;) There is a fun little saloon and that's about it. Inside the saloon though, we did get some old fashioned candy and 'caps'(remember them?). And, it was a very pretty drive. We turned around and went over to the Rosedale Suspension bridge. Not a fan of suspension bridges myself, but Bob and the kids had a great time crossing it. I went about half way and then turned around.

Last but not least, we really needed to stretch our legs so we found a spot where we could get out and go for a walk. I'll share those images tomorrow over on my 5 minute project blog, but here are a couple sneak peeks for now.

We love to get out and explore our own backyard. As a family, we have travelled the world so we feel we can safely say that we are so fortunate to live in a place where the landscape is so varied and the people are so friendly. Where do you like to go in Alberta?

~ Dana