November is here and first snow has fallen. The mountain tops are white, but it has not been cold enough for the lakes to freeze over. This is a beautiful time in Banff and the Rockies.
Banff National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the world, but November is usually a more quiet month for tourism. To take advantage of the season we decided to bring our camera and spend the weekend at our favorite photograph locations in Banff.
Banff Winter Photography Guide
Two Jack Lake
Two Jack Lake is a favourite among photographers for capturing the sunrise.
Lake Louise
Lake Louise is usually the busiest place in Banff National Park so strolling along the lake only seeing a handful of other people was a treat. The lake itself with sparkling reflections in the water and snow-covered trees surrounding it was like winter wonderland. What a perfect transition into winter!
Mount Rundle
Mount Rundle is one of the famous landmarks in Banff National Park. Any given evening you can expect to find photographers trying to get that perfect sunset shot of Mt Rundle with its reflections in Vermillion Lake.
Bow Valley Parkway
Driving Bow Valley Parkway offered some lovely scenes of red and green – it almost felt like Christmas! This spot is called Moose Meadows. The name relates back to the 50s when moose were common here, but you’ll likely not see one here today.
If you are lucky you may also see wildlife along the parkway. We came across this curious coyote that crossed our path and observed us from a distance.
Wildlife on grass plains around Banff village
At this time of the year the elk gather for their annual rut. It is a chance to get some photos of bugling elk. Since Banff townsite is in the middle of a National Park it is not uncommon to find large herds of elk at the outskirts of the town.
We found this herd of elk close to the hot spring Cave and Basin, which is the birth place of the park. Banff was the first national park in Canada and the third in North America, only beaten by Yellowstone and Mackinac National Park.
Thank you so much for visiting. Please leave a comment, we love getting you feedback.
Gorgeous shots.
Thank you Norm! Much appreciated:)
The Canadian Rockies is one of my favorite place. I promised myself to go back again some day but not with an organized tour. I want to see it again by driving myself, stop where I want and enjoy the scenery and the wildlife… and definitely not in the winter. (lol)
I so agree with you Alix – on both statements. The Canadian Rockies are lovely, and best explored at your own place! That also allows you to visit all those ‘secret’ places:) Winter is not too bad – eh!
I liked the coyote, as it was framed by the trees so well. Very nice, Inger! Hey, and great job on the history by knowing Mackinac was second! Most Michiganders don’t know that it was once a national park! 🙂
The coyote capture is my husbands favourite as well. There was actually two of them but when we stopped the car they headed is separate directions. I will admit I had some google assistance for the Mackinac facts:) Thanks for stopping by!
Wow, she’s wonderful nature, you live in a beautiful country,
Deer are beautiful and I love the reflections on the first picture.
I wish you a nice weekend.
Thanks you so much Hervé – appreciate you sweet comments! It is very beautiful around here, but so is also it where you live!
Simply glorious captures! 🙂
Thank you so much Joanne, much appreciated!
My favorite are : 1st,2nd,3rd,4th,5th,6th and 7th photos…
That’s to say all of them!
Splendid places greatly captured!
What an awesome comment! Thank you very much:)
Very beautiful pictures though not certain I am so glad to already see snow…(Suzanne)
Thanks you so much Suzanne! We have been ready for snow for a while here, it usually comes a bit earlier than it did this year. All the fall colours have been gone for some time here, so it was lovely to see some snow instead of the brown trees:)
The fourth photograph about Moose Meadows is my favorite. Looks like a place to be lost in a forest of another world. The whole series is quite amazing!
Thank you so much! I love that one as well – red branches as far as the eye can see. Couldn’t be all sorts of things hiding in there:) Thanks for stopping by!
wow, quality post!
Thanks a bunch Jeremy!
So beautiful! I love the capture of the coyote. 🙂
Same! Such a beautifully framed shot through the trees 🙂
Thanks Dominique, and thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Thank you so much Julie – much appreciated! We were so happy to just get a photo of the coyote as they are usually very shy, so lovely that it turned out so good:)
It’s very hard to choose a favourite, but the first image is the one I kept going back to for another look. 🙂
Thank you so much Sylvia! I was quite happy with the first. We were actually a bit late for sunrise and just caught the last little bit of it. Since we lost most of the colourful display I didn’t think it would be any good – but I actually quite like the yellow light:) Thanks for stopping by!
I instantly wished I was there. There are some amazing shots and we felt in love with a coyote!
Thank you so much Maciek for your sweet comment! I wish I was back there too, it is such a lovely spot! Well, maybe next weekend I will go again:)
Gorgeous photos. The yellow in the first one is especially beautiful.
Thank you so much – very happy to have captured the yellow as we almost overslept and missed it! 🙂
The first and last image are my favorite. The colors, clouds, reflections on the lake…superb. The last one is a wonderful composition. I have a few similar shots from a lake and park in Wisconsin. Having said that, all the images are just stunning and, as usual, great writing.
Thank you so much for your awesome comment! I haven’t decided for myself which one I prefer – but I do like the robotic look on the last one:) Would love to see your Wisconsin shots. Are they on your blog? Thanks for stopping by!
You are welcome. Yes…here is one:
https://rutakintome.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/what-are-you-lookin-at/
And the other: https://rutakintome.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/i-see-u/
Each image had me gasp out loud. Each photograph has its own beauty., I can’t pick a favorite. Thank you for sharing this trip.
Thank you so much for your generous comment Sharon! You put a smile on my face:)
OMG, the pictures are beautiful! I think I like the the one with the sunrise the best although as I was slowly scrolling down, I stopped at each picture and thought “wow, this is perfect”!
Thank you so much for your awesome comment Patricia! It was a lovely morning at the lake, I am happy I was able to capture the atmosphere. Thanks for stopping by!
Great elk photographs! Never seen a moose at Moose Meadows either…
I always have my hopes up when we get close to moose meadows but always get disappointed. Not so much this time as I was surprised by the lovely red colours. I have only seen moose in Kananaskis and in Kootenay. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!
Fantastic photos, love them all, but I’m particularly drawn to the reflections in lake Louise, it’s beautiful.
My husband and I have stayed in Banff for the last two Christmases and we love it, going to miss it and the snow this year 😢
Thank you so much for you comment Claire! Yes, it is not that often the lake has such lovely reflections, and the colours were also beautiful. Winter wonderland! I can just imagine how lovely it must be to celebrate Christmas in Banff!
Wooow Inger fantastic photo’s of a wonderful place.I’m favorite of the elk pictures.they are so real
Thank you so much! It was pretty neat to get that close to the elk and watch the bugling.
I like this new site theme. I quite often had difficulties loading the last one. Great photos and I just ‘liked’ you on Facebook. Best wishes with the photo venture.
Thanks Ingrid! I liked the design of the previous design, but it was just to slow. I think it must have been because it was trying to upload all those photos on the front page. I just had to give it up and find something a bit simpler. I am quite happy with this one as well:)
I found you on FB but seems I am not able to ‘like’ you side so that get your posts on my page feed. Not sure why this is, but I am still in the learning phase on having a ‘page’ on FB… You might have some experience with this already?
Hmm, let me see if I can send you a friend request from my end. I’ll go to your blog and to try and connect and will let you know if I have any problems.
Inger these are phenomenal photos. The one of Lake Louise with the snow covered binoculars superb. Call up National Geographic I say!
Thanks a bunch Sue! It was such a lovely atmosphere at Lake Louise with the first snow, I am glad I was able to capture it in the binocular capture:) Everyone seems to love that capture, think I will have to add it to my little shop. Thanks for stopping by!
Another great post. Thanks, jim
Thank you so much Jim, much appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!
Wonderful shots. Loved them all.
Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!
This is the second time this week I’ve read a blog about Banff, and Lake Louise and saw a photo of that hotel. And now I want to go even more than before. Some very stunning shots here! Is the final one of the glasses at Lake Louise near that hotel, or what?
Banff National Park is so beautiful, I am not surprised you would come across it twice in a week. I’d most about it every week if I could visit there more often:) Yes, those binoculars are on the viewing platform for Lake Louise close to Chateau Fairmont Lake Louise. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!
What can I say, Inger, other than these are stunning pics! Such beautiful scenery. 🙂
Thank you so much Jane, much appreciated!
Looks very beautiful. I love your photos!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, much appreciated! Kiitos!
Great photo series, Inger. I especially like the last photo; it’s easy to see the great care taken in composing and also with depth of field. 🙂
Thank you so much Frank! I was very happy with how the binocular photo turned out, happy you liked it was well.
An interesting post. My favourite photo is the coyote. Weren’t you afraid of being attacked?
Thank you! The coyote kept a safe distance to us, it was probably more afraid of us than we were of it. It sat there between the trees and watched us for probably 5 minutes before it decided to move on. An awesome experience!
Awesome photos Inger! I’m heading there in January! Maybe the lake will be frozen?
Thanks John! The lake will for sure be frozen in January. Bring you skates – Chateau Fairmont makes a small skating rink on the lake during winter.
Oh Inger, it is amazing!
Thank you Inese, much appreciated!
What an incredible opening shot ~ which set the scene for the rest of your great shots. While I am not in the Pacific Northwest, I do hear that the first snowfall was excellent ~ put some good ole color white back on the mountain peaks (and smiles on skiers faces). Great post!
Thank you so much Randall! I am glad you liked the first photo. We overslept this morning and almost missed it – only caught the last yellow light.
First snow was beautiful! Most of the fall colours had already gone so it started to feel a bit brown and dark, the snow really lighted things up. Beautiful! And yes, I believe most ski hills are open now and there are many happy skiers out there!
Thanks for stopping by!
Fantastisk! Kommer dere tettere inn på dyrene her enn i Norge?
Takk! Ja, mange av dyrene her er vant med folk (spesielt hjorten) og disse var ikke mer enn 10-20 meter unna oss. Coyotene er noe mer sky den holdt seg på god avstand, bilde er den er tatt med 600mm linse.
These photos are amazingly beautiful!!!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment!
Spectacular! This “transition” time is gorgeous!
Agreed, this transition time offers some lovely photo opportunities. Love the snow and colours of the lakes this time of year. It doesn’t have the clear blue colour but more like a pastel blue colour. Thanks for stopping by Sheryl!
So very hard to choose a favourite. Breathtaking!
Thank you Jennifer, much appreciated! Thanks for visiting.
Absolutely gorgeous! Breathtaking scenery and such rich colors, very nicely captured. I’m so glad to see you on facebook and thank you so much for sharing my post, so kind. Have a great day.
Thank you so much Karin. Appreciate you generous comment. Your photos are lovely, sharing them was my pleasure! Thanks for stopping by!
Fantastiska bilder! Vackra som ur en saga. Jag kan inte välja en favorit men sista bilden är rolig. Ser ut som ett ansikte med stora blåa ögon. Ha en bra ny vecka!
Tusen takk for hyggelig kommentar! Jeg liker også det siste bildet, kikkerten ligner litt på en robot gjør den ikke?
Precis! 😀
Your photos here are spectacular, Inger. You had great success in finding the wildlife, which might be part of the treat of the off-season and less humans. Really like the bugling elk and the coyote through the trees. Thanks for this delightful visit to Banff.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Jet! Fall is definitely one of the best times of year to spot wildlife in Banff, I am sure that there being less humans is part for explaining why. This is the only time of year we have seen wolfs in the park, but not during this visit though. Thanks for stopping by!
Ah wonderful photos all of them. It makes me wish I was there now!
Thank you Lyle! I wish I could be there all the time:) It is such beautiful place.
My favorite photograph is the last one. I’m not sure why. I guess I just feel kind of sorry for Robot Pinocchio getting caught in the snow like that.
I didn’t see the robot look when we took the photo, but had a lot of comments that it looks like one and I guess it does! Especially with those blue ‘eyes’. I do like the soft colours in that photo. Thanks for commenting!
I think we’re just wired for it. Stick two circles side by side and suddenly there’s a face. I think it’s a great photograph, though, as are all the others. 🙂
What a beautiful place! If I ever get north again, I will have to visit. Gorgeous photos.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Emilie! Banff is beautiful in winter as well, worth a visit:) Thanks for stopping by!
It’s been years since I was at Banff, but I loved that place. Have only seen it in the summer, so this is a treat. The last two shots are my favorites.
Banff is awesome – I have yet to met someone who didn’t love it! It is beautiful in winter as well – especially before the lakes freeze over. The last to are from Lake Louise, an romantic spot for a long weekend during the winter. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
The golden sunset in the first is really spectacular, but I love that ‘frosted ice palace’ shot too. 🙂
Thank you so much! The ‘frosted ice palace’ is Chateau Fairmont Lake Louise – a romantic spot for long weekend. During winter they make a little skating rink just outside the hotel.
incredible photos and incredible place 😀 i tag you the liebster award 🙂 by Sara
Thank you Sara! I much appreciate the liebster award, but I do not do any awards. Your visit and comments are more than enough for me! Thank you.
That’s an amazing photo series accompanied by interesting illustrations,dear Inger!It’s a real treat for me as the weather in my country is still unseasonablely warm.The sun is brightly shining and it feels like spring.I so much enjoyed the snow-clad sceneries and the wonderful portraits of the roaming Elks and the Coyote!The sunrise reflections on the placid waters of the Two Jack lake and the wonderful Moose Meadow scenery stole my heart!The blue-eyed binocular with the white ‘hat” on nicely wrote the epilogue of your Banff post.Have a wonderful day,my friend 🙂 Doda
Thank you so much for your sweet and thoughtful comment Doda – I much appreciate it! We were grateful to see this much wildlife, I think the wildlife is sensing that there are less people around this time of year and are not hiding as much. It is also the first time I have seen Coyote in the mountains, we usually see them on the prairie. I will tell you Banff stole my heart first time I visited, so I keep coming back:) Thank you so much for you visit!
That was a wonderful travel experience,your photo series speaks volumes!Have a creative and peaceful week ahead,dear friend Inger 🙂
wow – what gorgeous shots!
Thank you so much!
so gorgeous and colorful 🙂
Much appreciated Joshi!
Gorgeous pics! I don’t think I would mind snow too much if I got to experience it in Banff!
Thanks Sarah! I agree – Banff looks beautiful covered in snow:)
Impresionantes imágenes Inger! gorgeous shots! I love the coyote! Cheers 🙂
Thank you so much! I was very grateful to see the coyotes – it was actually two of them but ad soon as they spotted us they split in two different directions. Only one stopped to study us for a while before it moved on. First time I see one in the mountains. Thank you for visiting!
You were lucky!!!
Love Your photos. In Finland, there is snow only in Lapland (northernmost part of Finland).
Thank you so much for you lovely comment! I know many from my hometown (which is also in Lapland, only further north than the Finnish border….) drive to Finland for downhill skiing:)
Wow. Cool.
I forgot to say, that I have three posts from Norway. One presenting our road trip to “Nordkapp” and two post from our road trip to Kirkenes. Our road trip to Nordkapp stays in our memories all the life.
Here is:
Road trip to Nordkapp (North Cape).
Thank You.
I had to check out your trip to Nordkapp – awesome! 🙂
Fantastic photos!!!
The winners are in my point of view the “man” with blue eyes (1) – and the photo of the red grasses in front of the contrasting green trees.
Thank you so much Truels! Appreciate your lovely comment. I do also love the capture of the snow covered binoculars at Lake Louise, kind of looks like a robot right? Especially with those blue ‘eyes.
What a fabulous series of shots! Truly stunning! :)) ~ Jeannie
Thank you so much Jeannie! Appreciate you sweet comment and your visit.
Something beautiful this time of year as the pace slows down. Great photos!
There sure is Carl, seems like even wildlife notice that there is less people around and it makes them more relaxed. Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment.
Spectacular place and beautiful shots, all of them!
Thank you Anna – much appreciated!
Great photos. Banff NP is on our list this year, and your photos are beckoning us.
Thanks a bunch! Banff NP is beautiful – I am sure you will love it! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment:)
Such a beautiful post. I could almost feel the cold and the fresh and pure air all the way to the Philippines. THanks a lot for sharing, happy to follow your FB page (you ll find mine on my blog),
Thank you so much Estelea! Glad to send you some cold fresh air. Getting pretty frigid here now. I found you on FB as well. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!
Your blog is incredibly beautiful, so happy I found it ! Congrats for your incredible trips and thanks for sharing them, so invigorating. A treat for all the senses (and thanks for Liking my FB page. Do you have one too?)
Beautiful landscapes and photos… Magnifique!
Thank you so much Olivier! Much appreciated:)
Beautiful photos, what a treat to be able to visit these places outside of the tourist season!
Thank you Sharon! It is wonderful to see these places during winter, so quiet, and so different than during summer. Thanks for stopping by.
Inger
This is fantastic.You see a lot of animals in nature and the relections in the lake are gorgeous.
Thanks a bunch! We were quite lucky on this trip to see so many animals. Hoping to go back soon. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
Inger
It’s hard for me to decide which one of those photos to be my favourite. They all are amazing. I think you were lucky, to catch them perfectly even in the near low season.