Back to Banff!

I have been reliving my experience in Banff National Park for years. I didn't think I would be going back so soon, but guess what. It's happening! Actually it's happening in just about a week. Banff is a special place for me for several reasons. It was where my wife and I went on our honeymoon 4 years ago. We stayed in the town of Banff and at the Chateau at Lake Louise. It was an incredible experience.

It was also the first time I had seen the rocky mountains. Seeing those mountains was a life changing experience. I live on the flat plains of Minnesota. We have a beautiful landscape in our own right, the land of 10,000 lakes. Northern Minnesota has similar beautiful conifer forests that surround beautiful lakes. But we don't have the MOUNTAINS. It was a beauty like I've never seen before. That mixed with water that is impossibly blue, it's a beauty I will never forget.

It will only be a short trip, four days and three nights, but we plan to make the most of it. A friend of mine will be joining me on the trip and it should be an incredible experience for him as well. Like me, four years ago, this will be his first trip to the rocky mountains. Also, he is new to photography. What a unbelievably photogenic place to learn. Although this location will be tough to beat, it might be all downhill for him after this!

Favorite Photo of 2010 by Chad Griggs

Nikon D90, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS + TC-14E II @ 700mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/800

Derek challenged me to pick a single favorite image from 2010. I knew choosing just a single image would difficult, but I was surprised just how difficult it was. This a wild wolf in Yellowstone, taken in September 2010.

This photograph isn't nearly my best photograph technically speaking. I had to run my ISO all the way up to 1600. It was one of the first times I used the TC-14 and I now know that stopping down to f/8 would have made for a significant improvement. Despite all of this, I still choose it, why?

Wolves have been a fascination of mine since I was a young kid. In fact, wolves are the primary reason I got into wildlife photography. Even though Minnesota has one of the largest populations of wolves in the continental US, I've never photographed them in the wild. Wild wolves are very shy and generally keep a healthy distance from people. So being able to photograph a wild wolf was an amazing opportunity for me.

The other part of this was the amazing experience. We spent many hours sitting on the side of the road near an elk kill from the previous night. Coyotes, eagles, ravens and other birds came and left over that period of time. In the distance we could see a pair of wolves who already had their fill for the day. We could only hope they would come back for a second helping. As the light began to run out, a single black wolf approached! It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life.

For more information about our wolf encounter, see and earlier post titles, "Wolves in Lamar Valley."