Thanks to Mountain Equipment Co-op, Adventure Kayak, and Rapid Mag for running my images recently.

MEC Spring + Summer Catalog, "Packs" pg. 44.

Hikers Urszula Lipsztajn and Carolyn Wendt, Yukon, Canada.

Mountain Equipment Co-op, Spring + Summer 2010 Catalogue, Packs Section. Photo by Kamil Bialous.

Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2010 issue, "Stills" double page spread, pg. 10.

Kayakers Paul Bredin and Alan Hamilton, Lake Superior, Ontario, Canada.

My image:

Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2010 issue, "Stills" double page spread. "Dawn Start - Floating Heart Bay, Lake Superior" Photo by Kamil Bialous.

Issue Cover: (cover image by Michael Paul Franklin)

Adventure Kayak, Early Summer 2010 issue Cover, Cover photo by Michael Paul Franklin.

Please check out the entire issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine for free online here - email required.

Rapid Magazine, Early Summer 2010, "Watercolours" pg 12.

Kayaker Isabelle Filion, Kananaskis River, Alberta, Canada.

My Image:

Rapid Mag, Early Summer 2010 issue, "Watercolours" pg. 12. Photo by Kamil Bialous.

Issue Cover: (cover image by Darin McQuoid)

Rapid Mag, Early Summer 2010 issue Cover, Cover photo by Darin McQuiod.

Please check out the entire issue of Rapid Magazine for free online here - email required.

Now stop reading this, get out there and do something outdoors!

Cheers,

Kamil Bialous

Tags: adventure, adventure kayak magazine, alberta, banff centre, catalog, hiking, kananaskis, kayaking, lake superior, magazine, MEC, mountain Equipment Co-op, ontario outdoors photography, published, rapid magazine, river, tear sheet.

Whitewater kayaker playboating on a section of the Kananaskis River in Alberta, Canada.

For a complete slideshow of whitewater kayaking images from Kananaskis River in Alberta, check out my porfolio site.

White water kayaker Paul Manning-Hunter plays on the Kananaskis River in Alberta, Canada.

During my very short shooting stint in Banff in late September, I absolutely lucked out with the weather. The days before I arrived had some rain and cold weather, and when I left, snow flurries began. However, for my 4 days of Rockies photography, the weather was absolutely killer. 15 degrees (that's like 60F for my American friends) and blue bird. Sun shining brightly, slight breeze in the air, and the sweet sweet smell of fresh Rocky Mountain air.

White water kayaker David Manning plays on the Kananaskis River in Alberta, Canada.

Enough boasting about how good the weather was. I've mentioned before that during the whtiewater kayak shoot, the sun and location complemented each other so well, that it literally looked like a photo studio for the majority of the day. Beautifully blue and green water, some of the best paddlers in the Rockies, if not Canada, and vegetation action as filters for the light created sick and almost dream-like aesthetics.

Whitewater kayaker Paul Manning-Hunter plays on the Kananaskis River in Alberta, Canada.

Hope you enjoy the images. But that's not all, more amazing whitewater photos here.

Thanks for watching,

Kamil Bialous

Tags: action photography, adventure, alberta, banff, banff centre, canmore, dagger boats, david manning, jackson boats, k-country, kananaskis, kayakers, kayaking, kokatat drytop, paul manning-hunter, playboating, river, werner paddles, white water, whitewater.

Whitewater kayaker, David Manning, playing on "Santa Claus" wave on the Kananaskis River, Alberta.

So welcome to day three. Thanks for reading (still). Banff is very easy to wake up in the morning in, and I'm not a morning person at all. It must be the air. After a long night of editing photos, I woke up to my alarm, and a rather chilly zero degrees outside. Still a beautiful day though, and a perfect day for kayaking. The morning session was a class lecture about digital asset management and input through output techniques by Alec Pytlowany. It's always great to watch a well crafted presentation.

Isabelle Filion dropping into the pool above "Widow Maker" rapid on the Kananaskis River, Alberta.

The Kananaskis River in Alberta is very interesting for many reasons. First of all, it's a photo studio. I call it that because you can create good images in almost any light by varying the background. Secondly, it's turned off and on every day. That's right, on, off, on, off, on, off. Every day. You see, there's a dam that controls the flow further upstream, and when they shut it off, the river actually goes bone dry. Look it up here if you don't believe me. This however, results in two things. First, the river is dead. There is nothing living in it. Second, there is continuous flow year-round, even when all the other rivers starting losing flow due to drying up. You pair this great river with some people in fancy colours, who are quiet good at the sport, and it's like shooting fish in a barrel. You can create images even with your eyes closed.

White water kayaker, Paul Manning-Hunter, playing on "Santa Claus" wave on the Kananaskis River, Alberta.

Again, as yesterday, the models were great. Completely competent and reliable. Great athletes and great people. Thanks guys and gal. I promise to get your names up here in a few days. While I said it's easy to create a white water image, I think it's takes some skill to create a good image. The reason I love it is that you can really play around with shutter speeds a lot, and create motion, as well as freeze it in the frame. In addition to that, the action is really quick often resulting in frames where the paddle goes right across the paddler's face, which isn't too flattering. So you have to anticipate the correct moment, and it obviously helps if you've kayaked before.

Anyway, it's late, and I need sleep. Hope you're enjoying this. Tomorrow, I'll post the last post of the series as I depart for Toronto. Banff is truly an amazing town, and I will miss it a lot. More about banff tomorrow.

Cheers,

Kamil

P.S. For those who like to "borrow" photos from websites, I thought I'd point out this.

Tags: 2009, banff centre, national geographic, paddling, photography workshop, river, white water kayaking.

Mountain biking just outside of Banff. Model name will follow shortly.

Day two was great straight in to shooting. The day began with a mid-morning meet-up with great models from the area, and the shoot was mountain biking. Technique was primary focus, especially motion blurs and flash blurs. I have to admit, I was pretty apprehensive about working with models, for various reasons. But the guys and gals were great. Super friendly and keen on trying stuff over and over again.

Environmental action shot of mountain biking in Banff.

The great thing about the field sessions is that i am forced to shoot outdoor adventure in ways that I otherwise wouldn't. For example, I would previously have left my flash at home and shot a more side lit photo of the above two mountain bikers. I'm not quite sure if I like the fill flash on it, but the point is that shooting stuff outside of your norm is great for expanding creativity. In the future, I can definitely see myself shooting way more with flash in the outdoors. (Maybe.)

Elise Sethna climbing at the base of Rundle Mountain. The cool thing about Elise is that she placed third in Women's Open Tour de Bloc Championships in May 2009, and twentieth at the World Juniors in France in August 2009.

So working with "models" and shooting climbing had me a little worried. I think the worry stemmed from the fact that when I've shot climbing previously it was with people who were trying to send a route or project, and were not "acting" for me, but climbing for their personal fulfillment. It didn't take long for my worry to pass as I realized that working with models is actually quite amazing. They are there solely to do what you ask them to, which is photographically beneficial in many ways. You can ask them to hang out at a particular spot for a few more seconds, look at the camera or look away, move a hand or a foot in this way or that, and if that didn't work, to re-climb the route all over again until the photo you're trying to create works out.

Sasha (last name to come) climbing at the base of Mount Rundle in Banff.

The models turned out to be excellent climbers and were really cool to hang out with. I may see some of them in Kentucky if I can try to make it there this fall. Super cooperative, just all around great people. Can't say enough about them. Sure, the photos don't look as "hardcore" when people are top-roping and smiling, but the exercise was to try different techniques in photography, not get the most gripping, run-out lead shot. Lots of fun in the end.

My day ended with a braised lamb shank at the Vistas Dining Room at the Banff Centre where I'm staying. If there is one thing that the Banff Centre does well, it's gotta be the food! (and perhaps construction).

Stay tuned for tales from day three coming to ya tomorrow. I'm too tired to do much else right now, as tomorrow is another early wake-up call.

Talk Soon,

Kamil

Tags: 2009, banff centre, climbing, mountain biking, national geographic, photography workshop.