Well I finally did it...new lens

[WesternGuy]

Well I finally did it - I had enough pennies saved up and went and got the Canon EF16-35 f2.8 L II and a battery grip for my 5D. Canon Canada has such a neat rebate system that if you buy two items off their rebate list, you get twice the rebate. With the purchase I made, the double rebate effectively gives me the battery grip for free and still takes a few dollars off the lens' cost. Now to go and find a duck - wait :blush2: - they've probably all gone south.

Maybe I'll have to settle for some of the newly snow-covered mountains - will post some here when I can get out.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Xia_Ke]

What, no pics yet?!?! Congrats on the new lens :thumbsup:

[WesternGuy]

So Sunday it was blue sky and sunshine in the city and my wife and I thought what a nice day to go to the mountains and try out my new 16-35 L II lens. Well, as you can see from the images it was not blue sky and sunshine in the mountains - it was WINTER!!! My wife was driving when we hit the snow on the road and she got to use her winter driving skills a lot sooner than she normally would. The road we were on eventually goes through a pass at over 2000 metres (highest accesible point by vehicle in Canada) and there was 8 - 10 cm of snow on the ground.

I am attaching two of my first photos with the new lens, the first one is with it set to 35 mm and the second with it set to 16 mm - IQ probably suffers a bit from the reduction for the web, but you get the idea anyway. Images are as is out of the camera, except for size reduction.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Xia_Ke]

Alright, now I'm double jealous... New lens AND you got snow?!?!...LOL Pics are looking good. Look forward to seeing what you come up with down the road with your new toy

Happy Shooting,
Aaron

[WesternGuy]

Thanks Aaron.

Snow only in the mountains - none in the city that has stayed. They have started skiing in Banff and Lake Louise this week, but then a lot of the operators can make their own snow if the air temperature is cold enough.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Photo-John]

Congratulations. I've been using that lens with the 1D Mark III and it's really nice. Please make sure to post a review for it. And your camera too, for that matter. Just a reminder - your reviews make this site go round. So everyone please post reviews for all of your equipment - new and old, loved, hated, and in-between.

Write a review >>

I like the photos. I'm guessing I'm wrong. Because it's so far north it has to be under snow by now. But that looks like Mount Robeson to me. Mount Robeson is one of the most impressive chunks of rock I've ever seen. It's awesome. So where were these taken?

By the way - I'm toying with the idea of visiting Calgary to ski in the Rockies this winter.

[barb_48]

Very nice, looking forward to some more pics.

[WesternGuy]

Photo-John, not Mt. Robson - way south of that location - 600 to 700 km. Don't know the name of the mountain in the image, but these were taken in an area of the southern, front ranges known as the Kananaskis, named after an early 1900's native guide who operated in the area. There are actually two lakes an upper one and a lower one, and you guessed it, they are known as the Kananaskis Lakes. The fall of water from the upper lake to the lower lake is used to generate electricity. (These were taken at the upper lake.)

In the summer time, the Kananaskis are is a very popular hiking, camping and picnicing area. A large part of the southern Kananaskis is closed from December 1 to June 15 because they don't have the resources to keep the road open with all the snow they get and a lot of wildlife winter in the area and calve in the spring so they need time for the little ones to grow and get strong enough for the trip to the high country. They don't want cars and trucks whizzing down the road and killing the slower animals. One nice thing about the entire Kananaskis highway is that no large trucks are allowed on it.

You are also right that Mt. Robson is an impressive chunk of rock I believe it is the tallest mountain in the Canadian rockies, at 3954 metres, until you get into parts of the Yukon further north. HTH

By all means come to Calgary and ski the Rockies. The hill operators around Banff/Lake Louise all opened last week and are saying it is the earliest November opening in a long time. If the trend continues, the skiing should be fantastic in January - March timeframe.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Photo-John]

Never heard of it :-D

[Speed]

What snow? There isn't any snow. Haven't you heard about global warming? All the ice caps are melting and we're all doomed!

"are saying it is the earliest November opening in a long time."

Sacrilege!

Next you'll be telling us the polar bears are NOT going extinct.

;-)

"a lot of wildlife winter in the area and calve in the spring so they need time for the little ones to grow and get strong enough for the trip to the high country. They don't want cars and trucks whizzing down the road and killing the slower animals. One nice thing about the entire Kananaskis highway is that no large trucks are allowed on it."

I like that. Sounds like common sense at work to me. And it sounds like a nice place to visit.

Congratulations on your new lens. New gear is always great, especially when it is quality gear that fills a need. The photo's are nice as well. Looking forward to seeing more.

[WesternGuy]

Speed, not sure about the polar bears, but the Kananaskis contains some of the nicest scenery in the Western Canadian Rockies after the area between Lake Louise and Jasper. My wife and I spend a fair bit of time there in the summer on picnics and walking around taking pictures.

It's only about an hours drive from the house!!

Photo-John, not many people outside of Alberta and BC have heard of it, but it is a fantastic place to visit any time of the year. It has Mount Kidd a great skiing area and if you come up for skiing in Banff you should give Mt. Kidd a try. Check out Nakiska on Google. :thumbsup:

Cheers,

WesternGuy