Back from vacation: Pic Heavy!!

I'm back from our vacation to Alberta... the drive through the Rockies and all of that lovely prairie scenery (I sometimes miss the open plains, though I love the hills and mountains in our area!) was wonderful. We had some great time visiting with family too.

I had asked about landscape photos before I left. I mostly did pretty well with the camera. Sometimes I did sharpen things a little, but I had read advice to modify my camera's settings to maximum sharpness and bump up saturation just a notch as well, and that helped.

So here's just a share of our trip. Sorry SO pic heavy, but I have such a hard time choosing! There are more in this Flickr set.

Pretty much my fave photo from the trip is from Moraine Lake on the Alberta side of the Rockies:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/...b3a346f0_z.jpg

And this is Lake Louise, a much more famous lake just 11km away (closer to the highway, but it's a shame more people don't know about Moraine):
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/...25bd2460_z.jpg

In the canyon coming home:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8021/...e1fe1af2_z.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8152/...f7d3c6e1_z.jpg

The fantastic Badlands of Alberta:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/...b13b9145_z.jpg

The Hoo Doos in the Badlands:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/...40c55099_z.jpg

My second-fave photo from the trip, taken on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere in Alberta:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8154/...ecb7da2c_z.jpg

We saw so much wildlife. I have made this trip many times in my life and never seen so much. In addition to these two, we also saw mountain goats twice more and some young moose. This one's an elk:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/...8345278e_z.jpg

And a little baby mountain goat:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/...77584731_z.jpg

Beautiful lupins at the foot of one of British Columbia's most beautiful mountains, IMO... too bad the peak was obscured! :(
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7270/...674bf695_z.jpg

And a few of the kids and me:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/...e40e4c0f_z.jpg

Her face and eyes were lit up by the sun hitting the orange Creamsicle! You can even see the reflection in her eyes, LOL.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8010/...81cfd6ae_z.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7247/...c079edcc_z.jpg

Precious memories: our last living grandparent reading to Micah. She was the main reason for our trip.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/...30bc86f3_z.jpg

gorgeous shots! love the mountain landscapes!

Wow those are awesome! I love them all!!

AMAZING shots Tracy. Those landscapes are BREATHTAKING! I have to say my fave is the last one. Such a precious memory caught. Looks like a great time! Glad you are back! Off to check out your flickr!

These are so wonderful, Tracy! You have such an eye. My favorite is your favorite, but a very close second is the 5th from the bottom with the mountains. I love all the different layers of scenery going on there.

Beautiful, I would love to get out to Alberta/BC some time.

Thanks, everyone! It was really a fantastic trip, for the family visiting time and the photos. (Though some of the photos didn't come without a price... that train one cost me 30 cactus needles in my leg!!!) I sure did fully 'exercise' our new camera on this trip!

My favorite is the train!!!! LOL sorry you got stabbed making it!! haha I also adore the baby Mountain Goat (I love the looks on their faces lol), and the lupines, the Hoo Doos, and the first photo. Just wow, all of those.

great job Tracy! Looks like you did not need any help with the landscape shots at all! BEAUTIFUL!

Tracy, I LOVE when you post landscape pics, so I had to come out of lurk-dom and comment. These are just...... wow! Everyone is right. Your eye for setting up the perfect shot is one in a million. Great pics indeed.