A morning in the Valley of the Ten Peaks
Moraine Lake is a beautiful location in the Banff National Park to visit. To photograph it often proves to be tricky and that keeps me returning. The winds run haphazardly through, over and below the Valley of the Ten Peaks stirring the water, pushing the clouds low then high and generally making unpredictability the only thing predictable. I love it but it continues to demand flexibility every time I go up. There are a number of images that I have visualized, or maybe just dreamt about, but have yet to realize. On my last visit with good friend and fellow photographer, Jeff Rhude, the sky looked promising as we drove up from Lake Louise. Clouds were stacked along the peaks and the sky to the east was clear. As we climbed the rock pile which gives the lake her name, the wind came up, pushing the cloud off the cliffs. These slid eastward seemingly on a mission to block the early light of dawn. I stopped for a moment with my back to the lake to photograph these broken clouds as the pink sunlight brushed through them.
We scrambled into a spot with a view down the valley which seemed to still be sleeping. The wind was soft and the lake was calm, allowing for a beautiful reflection of the peaks and the sky above.
Around the valley the autumn colors were still hanging on while winter looked to be settling onto the mountains above the lake.
Christopher Martin Photography 
Sensational (as always!)
October 16, 2016 at 3:05 pm
BEAUTIFUL SHOTS CHRIS. MAKES ME WISH I HAD YOUNG EYES AGAIN AND TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE AMAZING GRANDURE OF THESE MASTERPIECES. THANKS FOR THE SMILES. FROSTY
October 14, 2016 at 2:24 pm
Wow!
October 12, 2016 at 9:54 am
YOUR WELCOME FYI we are your peers and followers keep up the good photos Christopher Martin
October 12, 2016 at 9:32 am
Reblogged this on Site Title and commented:
wow that looks beautiful
October 12, 2016 at 9:28 am
Amazing images.
October 10, 2016 at 12:38 am
It looks cold with the lake being such a deep blue and the heavy clouds. The sky is wow, again a reminder to always look behind you.Thank you for mentioning about the origin of the name as I didn’t realize the rock pile is a moraine.Great images.
October 8, 2016 at 3:18 pm
The colours in your photographs are extremely fascinating
October 8, 2016 at 9:46 am
Your pictures escape definition 🙂
October 8, 2016 at 7:57 am
you got that right
October 12, 2016 at 9:28 am
MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY! THANKS . FROSTY
October 14, 2016 at 2:34 pm
inspiring images
October 8, 2016 at 7:36 am
So beautiful
October 8, 2016 at 1:26 am
I agree
October 12, 2016 at 9:29 am
Hey Christopher! I love your work it’s a pleasure to be following your page!
I just wanted to know, for the pictures above, if you don’t mind, could you tell me what settings, number of shots (if more than one) was taken?
Appreciate it! ☺️
October 7, 2016 at 10:09 pm
Hi Yash – thank you! All of the images are single exposures. The first image was 1 second, f/16, ISO 200 at 17mm with a Canon 17-40 lens. Second was 1/2 a second, f/16, ISO 200 at 33mm. Third was 4/5th of a second, f/16, ISO 200 at 17mm. And the last image was 1/6th of a second, f/16, ISO 200 at 220mm with a Canon 100-400L IS II lens. I used ISO 200 as that is the lowest setting where Canon’s active highlight recovery works and f/16 as I wanted the longest exposures possible and both lenses are still very good at that aperture.
October 7, 2016 at 11:49 pm
did you take those pics because if you did that would be wonderful!!!
October 12, 2016 at 9:30 am
Yep – good or bad, they’re all mine.
October 12, 2016 at 12:35 pm
WOW Wonderful
October 7, 2016 at 8:22 pm
Reblogged this on O LADO ESCURO DA LUA.
October 7, 2016 at 4:44 pm
Pretty gorgeous shots Christopher. Thanks for sharing them.
Cheers,
Frank
October 7, 2016 at 4:26 pm
Thank you frank
October 7, 2016 at 4:59 pm
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