so my story starts with this camera right here I first saw this when I was
13 years old it was in the window of the camera shop and I saved up all of my
money to buy it from my part-time job and ever since then I've been taking
pictures my dad's driven by photography always
going on photography trips I love taking landscape photos and for
my entire adult life I've been taking landscape photos my dad is driven by
moraine lake is the gem of Canada my dad's always talked about as being
one of the most beautiful places on earth it's like every landscape
photographers dream photo I've been to the Rockies a couple times but I've
actually never been to Moraine Lake it's the most beautiful place in the whole
world and the photo that I have always wanted is Moraine Lake under a fresh
snowfall with blue sky as the Sun comes up and hits the top of the distant Peaks
so it's early October there's going to be this early season snowfall there's
going to be a huge blizzard in the Canadian Rockies tomorrow an incredibly
rare weather event is about to happen and I am not going to miss it and then
the following day the skies are going to completely clear it's going to be sunny
and this presents the most perfect opportunity to get that photo I've
always wanted a Moraine Lake with a fresh blanket of snow on it but really only
happens maybe once every few years but it's happening now I want the photo so
I'm going to drive all day tomorrow we're going to get there just in time
for the weather to clear we are not gonna miss it we're gonna get some
awesome photos let's go so typical my daddy's going on another photography
trip and he actually asked me if I wanted to come I'm I'm so busy in this
time of my life I am managing how to talk to your restaurant full-time I'm
also in school getting my master's degree I just I don't have time
to do anything it feels like remarkably he has said yes to my absolute surprise
my professor actually encouraged me to go on this trip what this involves it's
a 12-hour drive to get there and we are going to drive for the 12 hours have the
one day at Moraine Lake and then drive 12 hours home three days that's so crazy
like that so much driving time and as it turns out he's going through a real time
of transition in his life he has this most difficult if not impossible
decision to make he wants to leave the security of his job I want to start my
own online business and be an entrepreneur but I don't know what that
looks like specifically so it's scary I don't know what to do he is looking for
any advice that he can get in order to help him make this decision I feel like
if I go on this trip I can get some clarity on what steps I should be taking
at the same time I can feel that I've been so busy throughout my life with my
own job my own career my own photography I wish that I had spent more time with
both of my kids and especially with my son Andrew I kind of feel like sometimes
I'm getting left behind I think that this trip is going to be an
opportunity where we can just have some great father-son time this trip has the
potential of being really good for us okay it's 5:30 in the morning not
exactly sure what I was thinking but the weather's looking awesome it's going to
be minus 10 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning and totally clear skies so it's
gonna be good so because it's a 12 hour drive we're
leaving at 5 o'clock in the morning this is gonna be brutal 12 hours there one
day at Moraine Lake then twelve hours back what on earth was I thinking I
really don't enjoy driving I used to when I was 16 but I'm no spring chicken
anymore okay it's six o'clock in the morning and I've got my awesome son
Andrew with me holding the camera and we are on our way our zero out of hopefully
12 Maurine Lake in the Rockies probably the
most photographed Lake in Canada I would say we're driving along and at hour one
we're hitting a huge traffic jam traffic isn't moving then it's hour to hour
three I'm starting to get tired well we've been driving for something like
three hours I am kind of wondering what the heck was I thinking oh my goodness
I'm getting tired I slept so little last night anyway time to rock time's
a-wasting the truck must keep moving my dad was possessed to get to this place
and thankfully I wasn't driving I might not be here today if how it was but we
keep pushing we keep pushing andrew is sleeping away as he loves to do when he
has his downtime we keep pushing then it's our 6:00 and the realization that
oh my goodness we're at hour six and we're only halfway there
we're probably halfway there we've been driving six and a half hours my goodness
is this ever a long drive there is snow all over the roads cars are in the ditch
the snow is falling hard I've got the windshield wipers going fast and it's
like dangerous driving conditions and I'm saying to myself this shot had
better be really worth it because this is somewhat risky in order to go
somewhere just to get oh no we are in the eye of the storm
right now and all of this snow that's coming down hopefully is falling at
Moraine Lake and hopefully all of this cloud is going to clear overnight so
that we're gonna have clear skies sunny skies and an amazing sunrise in the
morning and I just really want that photo
this is a photo that I've sort of dreamed up for my entire adult life and
finally this opportunity is happening I want this to turn out I really hope it
works out finally we're at our 11.5 and we roll into the little bit of
civilization that's about half an hour before moraine lake so we've arrived at
the road to moraine lake and here's this man telling us that we can't go any
further it's fully closed and worst of all they only closed it an hour earlier
are you kidding me if we had left one hour earlier in the
morning we'd be at Maureen link right now fail utter fail so Andrew and I are
sitting in the camper we're talking about what we should do we've come too
far to allow the trip to fail so we're willing to hike uphill three hours first
thing in the morning in order to go get this Shawn and I'm not the biggest
morning person a sunrise hike 11 kilometers in the snow to get to a lake
to take a photo it's not really my cup of tea but it's something I'm willing to
do for my dad because he wants this shot I am feeling like like this trip is just
a failure that we're not making it and we talked about the possibility well why
don't we hike in in the morning the downside of that is that we won't make
it in time for the sunrise but we're going to go for it anyway so our plan is
that we'll arrive first thing in the morning at the roadblock at 5:00 a.m.
talk to whoever is there and see if they're going to let us in but the trip
just can't fail the next morning comes oh my goodness I
just felt so beat up like I'd been run over by a train because of that 12-hour
drive the previous day so it's 5:00 a.m. in the morning we wake up we pack a
lunch we pack our backpacks prepared mentally for the three-hour hike I
stopped in front of the roadblock I get out there's a new guy standing at the
bottom of this road I'm thinking to myself this is it then I start talking
about hey can we make it through if this man does not let us through we're hiking
11 kilometers three hours long it is freezing cold so I'm just waiting I
don't know what's gonna happen
he said no sorry the road is closed and I don't think it's going to be open for
the rest of the season it was like my worst nightmare
so I started to talk to him about this trip what it means to my son and I how
far we had come how important this photo is what we're trying to achieve have a
four-wheel drive truck lots of tread on my tires lots of experience with winter
driving and then like miraculously the guy says okay I'm gonna let you in
he actually lets us past and he moved his van out of the way and we drove
through and we were the only people who were able to drive through there were so
many RVs and other vehicles who were driving up to the roadblock at the same
time and the guy lets us through it was awesome we were so excited it was like
totally miraculous I can't believe that this guy just led us through we just got
through it's incredible we're probably gonna be the only people
up here at sunrise I couldn't be happier we're coming it and we're driving in on
the road it's pitch-black it's still like 5:15 in the morning the Sun is
nowhere near rising yet the road is covered in snow I'm looking out the
window I see stars I see the moon so this means to me it's going to be like
an epic sunrise the sky is going to be clear we're getting closer and closer to
achieving the goal for this whole trip of getting this shot and we arrived at
the parking lot to the viewpoint at moraine lake there are no cars there
we're the only people there I'm just like I need to pinch myself is this
really happening how did we just get through this roadblock it's incredible
normally there are hundreds of people and you can't even park at the lake so
it was insane that we were up there all by ourselves we start to hike to the
viewpoint the sky is clear it's still dark I can hear that sort of crunch
crunch crunch under the dry powder snow under my feet as we're walking in the
direction of the viewpoint everything was just working out so perfectly I
could believe it was really happening we did
it this is it so we just parked the truck the sunrise will be in about 45
minutes there's fresh little crystals of snow falling off the trees like if ever
this was a time when so many things aligned to work out so that we can be
here for this morning in this sunrise this is it this is like it feels like
it's once in a lifetime to me use literally myself and my dad and then we
get to the top where the view point is we're standing there the Sun is not up
yet it's just getting light and it's like wow this really is going to happen
but then of course there's one more barrier to that perfect shot and it's
the wind it's always the wind there were ripples
on the lake because of the wind so we couldn't get a perfect reflection Sean
there's meant a big deal to my dad and sure enough the wind comes up and
creates a whole series of ripples on the lake so there's no reflection and a
moraine lake photo depends upon the reflection after we've come so far and
after everything went so well in the morning how is it that this wind can
ruin the shot so I set up my camera on the tripod I'm shooting as the Sun rises
and it's a beautiful sunrise the Sun is just hitting the tops of the mountain
but still that darn wind is causing these ripples on the water and I wasn't
getting that perfect Maureen Lake reflection I got pretty bummed out
thinking that this isn't gonna happen and my dad was very disappointed because
this is the purpose of the trip he wants this shot I shot a panorama a single row
panel a double row pan Oh I put my dark filter on the lens to try
and smooth the water out nothing was really working I wasn't getting the shot
and then it just kind of happened I looked at the water and I realized hey
the wind isn't blowing and hey the water is smooth I run over to my camera and I
just start snapping photos and it was just like I don't know the heavens open
I can hear like angels singing and I'm getting the shot that I've always
dreamed of
it was just one of those moments that everything was coming into alignment
just so perfectly so it happens and my dad is just jumping for joy and there it
was completely alone with my son I don't know if I've ever seen him happier at
this most incredible majestic place like the gem of Canada I just couldn't
believe that this could all happen I'm so happy with the shot I love the shot
there are so many things that said we were not going to be able to make this
trip happen we're wearing our same jackets that day which is actually
pretty funny began taking some little selfie shots
for fun just a good bonding moment and all around it's been just an
unbelievable experience but really the transformation that occurred is that the
shot is so much less important than the time that I had with Andrew that we were
able to spend this time together and talk through and work through this
important life decision that he was making just by connective my dad over
countless hours in the truck in the kapor taking photos I decided it's time
to take this next step in my life I've decided I'm going to leave my job I need
to make a change in my life I need to move on from my current job and start
pursuing my dreams and my passions and moraine lake and this opportunity
allowed that to happen that was the most important aspect of
this trip it made it all worthwhile what it's great that I got that photo that I
wanted but it's even greater that I was able to build the relationship with
Andrew and it was just time that I'll never forget I'm forever grateful for
this trip and even though there's only three quick days you'd be amazed at what
can happen in such a short of time it was a life-changing trip for him and it
was a life-changing trip for me
my dad takes this photography stuff very seriously so if you have not make sure
you subscribe to him and follow along just okay so I just found a big thing
somewhat unique shot of where in like okay so there's Andrew enjoying the
downtime so the best snap of my life