Mixed Palette by ihozjan

As an unusually mild February flowed into a mild March, the mornings around Vermilion Lakes yielded some lovely colours. A minute after taking this shot, the skies turned grey for the day. Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada via 500px

Winter - Lake Louise (2) by shuchun

via 500px

Quiet Afternoon on Lake Louise by waltlevin

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. via 500px

Majestic by PerriSchelat

When I recently visited Banff, I had missed the polar vortex that blew in from Alaska and by the time I arrived the area was experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures. At the begining of my trip I went to Lake Minnewanka only to find...well nothing..except what you might expect, water smile emoticon There were a couple slabs of ice covered in snow, but no compositions. At the end of my trip, after a few days of very cold temperatures, I went back and found all kinds of fun things. The lake can get very windy and very cold. The waves bring all kinds of pretty ice in all shapes and sizes to shore. I like the sound they make when they wash up agains each other. I found this big chunk of ice sitting on a big slab of new ice and thought at first that it was to straight forward and not interesting as a foreground. Then I remembered what one of my photographer mentors once said to me. " A lot of people don't always share your idea of interesting, but they all understand and appreciate beauty". I shot this with a 5 stop solid ND. The water was a little choppy, therefore making the reflection weird and choppy. I decided I would prefer the reflection smoothed out by a longer exposure time. Lake Minnewanka means "Water of the Spirits" in Nakoda. It's a glacial lake, 17 miles long and 466 feet deep. I'm not sure the name of this peak, but it might be Mt. Inglismaldie, but I'm not sure. Lake Minnewanka, Banff NP, Alberta, Canada via 500px