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Canada is a photographer’s dream location, and- it was on the top of my list of places to explore and capture on camera. For this project, I focused on British Columbia and the Rockies in Alberta; Due to the sheer the vastness of the country, I had to focus specific areas I wanted to shoot most.
With the help of a friend, who willingly flew out for two weeks to meet me, I had the support I needed for this massive undertaking. I started planning the trip way ahead in advance back in London, where I’m based. Using Google Maps and inspired by Instagramers who had explored the area, I pieced together an ultimate road trip itinerary, covering over 3200KM.
After a nine hour flight, we touched down in Vancouver, and picked up the a rental car from Wicked Campers. The camper allowed us to keep moving easily under the protection of a roof tent. A roof tent is the most awesome invention, as we discovered in our time in Canada. Being able to put it up and down in minutes it saved us during unpredictable weather.
We decided to escape the city and explore the beautiful suspension bridges of Capilano. I knew from photos I had seen that it can get really busy, but we managed to avoid the rush by going in the afternoon. It was peaceful and the late day light was perfect. Afterward, we camped nearby, as we were very jet-lagged and needed to rest before the next day’s trip up north.
Driving up the coast the next day was a blast, with epic scenery the entire way. We stopped at the incredible Brandywine Falls, just outside of Whistler. Brandywine Falls is unlike anything I had ever seen, perfectly carved into the landscape with unbeatable beauty – I could have sat and enjoyed the view all day.
That night we relaxed and talked to the people in the neighboring campsite who had come all the way from Mexico. Not being able to rent a car, they had bought bikes and decided to do a combination of cycling and public transport so they could to see the country. They really did manage to cover a lot of the area, as two weeks later we bumped into them again at a bar in Vancouver where they shared wild stories about their travels (and told us their bikes had been stolen).
The next day we crossed over a state and time zone, moving into Alberta’s famous Canadian Rockies! We spent two days in the area of Jasper, hiking around lakes Pyramid and Maligne. We were very lucky to be able to see Maligne Lake; just the day before firefighters had been tackling huge wildfires. The road just been reopened that day. The volume of land which had been destroyed by these wildfire was unreal, the damage was as far as the eye could see, but luckily it had not reached Maligne Lake.
The next day we were up early driving down the famous Ice Fields Parkway to reach the helicopter site by Cline River. The weather had turned, hitting us with massive rain storms and ruining what should have been a fun and scenic trip, which was a shame as the road is meant to be spectacular. Never the less, I was excited that Rockies Heli Tours had decided to still fly as the weather had cleared enough.
I absolutely love getting up in the air and being able to shoot, it adds a whole new reality and perspective to my work. It also adds a whole new challenge to photographing. It is essential to be able to think fast while shooting in the air.. I changed my settings constantly to ensure I got the most out of the photos. It was certainly an experience, and I’m thankful to Rockies Heli Tours for making this possible.
After this we headed to Yoho National Park for a couple of days, where Emerald Lake isset in the heart of the park. This is where I captured one of my favorite shots from the trip, while on the bridge over Emerald. We were looking at the mountains when kayakers where coming back to the jetty. I waited until one was alone and perfectly positioned in the center of the frame to take the shot. The clouds were rolling over the hills in the background and the reflection over the perfectly blue water really stood out.
With the next couple of days we had time to relax and spend time in the area and town of Banff.. Despite the weather still being veryunpredictable and cold, we decided to ayak on Moraine Lake. As we got in the lake, the clouds started becoming very dark and dramatic over the mountains.. This did make for some great shots as the storm hit – but hail in the middle of summer?! We didn’t expect anything like that!
With this lasting great memory of the Rockies, we had only a couple of days to get back to Vancouver. Spending the following night in Shelter Bay, just out of the way of Revelstoke, it was another great location to check out. The next day was a hard seven plus hours of driving over to near Summer Land where we took a dirt road into the mountains to stay at Osprey Lake that evening. It’s always great fun to go off-road and into the unknown, but we also had to be very careful as we discovered deer tend to run across the front of the car without warning!
After spending two weeks on the road, camping in the harsh weather, eating with limited supplies we finally ended up back in Vancouver. We took the great opportunity offered to us by the Shangri-La Hotel to stay at the tallest and most luxurious hotel in the area! Thanks so much for the Shangri-La for helping us out for our time in Vancouver. We had a fantastic time exploring and can only wish we could stay longer.
Canada was an incredible adventure and learning experience, and we met so many amazing people along the way, I’ll always remember one my favorite quotes by a local, “This is just like the other campsite but cheaper, no showers and extra bears.”
-Alex Stead
Instagram: @nikon_photography_
