What Is The Kananaskis Wedge Pond And Where Is It?
Wedge Pond is what it sounds like, a pond in the Kananaskis Country area of Alberta, Canada. Kananaskis is a beautiful natural area that includes numerous provincial parks on the edge of Banff National Park. Prior to the pandemic it was a pretty mellow place and generally a great place to get outside and stay away from the Black Friday like crowds of Banff. There is a little lodging around Kananaskis but the town of Canmore is the largest town with the most lodging in the Kananaskis area.
If you are familiar with the Nakiska Ski Area, Wedge Pond is about an 8km drive from there. Drive out of the road to Nakiska, hang a right and drive about 5 miles up Kananaskis Trail Road (40) and start looking for the turnoff for Wedge Pond. Wedge Pond is a medium sized pond that has a lot of mountains surrounding it. It’s a nice scenic spot for a picnic and a pretty cool photo spot.
What Is It Like To Travel To Wedge Pond In Kananaksis Country?
Wedge Pond is an easy spot to get to. Depending on where you can find lodging, it might take a fairly long drive to get there. If you stay in Canmore it is about a 60km drive one way. With normal traffic it will take about 40 minutes to get there. If you are just visiting Canada or this area in particular, the Kananaskis area now requires purchase of the Kananaskis Conservation Pass. The pass is good for one carload of people and costs $15.00 per day or $90 for an annual pass. If you are a solo traveler, that is more than a day or annual pass for all the Canadian National Parks! It recently got a lot more expensive to go visit and photograph Wedge Pond!
If you want to spend the cash to stay closer to Wedge Pond and be in the Kananaskis area, there is a fancy lodge in Kananaskis Village that might be of interest. The Stoney Nakoda Casino is another place not too far way that might be worth looking at for lodging.
Back in 2019 before the pandemic, this area was generally not that crowded aside from a few very popular trailheads on weekends. From what I understand now, it is a mob scene and the Kananaskis Conservation Pass was put in place to generate funds to help maintain the area now that it is much more heavily used.
What Does It Take To Get A Wall Art Quality Photo Of Wedge Pond At Sunrise?
First you have to get yourself to Canada and find a place to crash somewhere in the Canmore/Kananaskis that fits within your budget. The two lodging options noted above are on the higher end but there are cheaper options, hostels, hotels and campgrounds around. If you are headed to Canada from the US in early 2022. The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is still quite good so most things in Canada are effectively about 20% off if you are paying with a US credit card. If you want to avoid the 3% charge often associated with credit card transactions, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card can do that for you.
is a great time to go to Canada while it is on sale! Choice Hotels does have one hotel in Canmore and if you have Choice Hotels Reward Points it may be a great points deal. Likewise, Wyndham Hotels has some properties around Canmore than may be good rewards points deals.
Once you’ve got a place to crash, the next thing to do is to look at the Kananaskis weather forecast. Look for calm winds and partly cloudy skies. If it’s been wet and rainy recently, Wedge Pond can be totally socked in with fog around sunrise. Some of those foggy mornings can make great photo opportunities when the fog lifts while other times it stays fogged in until well after sunrise. Anyway, look for calm winds and partly cloudy skies at sunrise on the day you plan to go.
When I went to Wedge Pond for sunrise I was often the only one there. At least back in 2019, it was not a well known spot. There is plenty of parking there. From the parking lot it is less than a quarter mile hike down into the woods to the edge of the lake. This is grizzly country and there are a fair number of grizzlies around Kananaskis so you’ll want to keep an eye out for bears, bear poop and tracks and carry a can of bear spray in case you run into a grizzly in this area.
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing Wedge Pond At Sunrise In Kananaskis Country?
You can get a decent shot of Wedge Pond with most any camera gear. You’ll want a fairly wide angle lens. Something as wide as 17mm could come in handy depending on your composition. A standard 24-105 lens on a full frame DSLR could be sufficient but something wider would give you a bit more flexibility.
If you are using only a standard 4×6 aspect ratio camera you will be able to get a portion of the landscape available at Wedge Pond. When I went I took a pretty big Induro tripod, a Nodal Ninja pano head and a 50mm and a 70-200mm lens to use to shoot panoramas along with the standard shorter zoom lenses. I think you’ll get the best results with a panoramic setup or a camera that can stitch panoramas internally. From there you’ll have more flexibility to crop exactly what you want and still make large wall art prints of Wedge Pond at sunrise or later in the day.
What Is The Story Behind This Wedge Pond Sunrise Panoramic Wall Art Photo?
For years I’d been going to Banff and Jasper and spending all of my time in Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise and even ventured off to Mt. Robson a time or two. I’d driven up through the dirt road that winds past Grassi Lakes and eventually comes out down around Kananaskis Village. There are some great views and photo opportunities along that road. It’s not uncommon to see grizzly and black bears along the road as well as bighorn sheep. I’d never really ventured off the road.
In 2019 I decided to take a break from the crowds of Banff and Jasper and spend some time down in the Kananaskis area. I stocked up on a bunch of food in Canmore before heading down to stay in Kananaskis and spent time exploring that area in more depth.
When looking at photos online and trying to figure out what might be a great sunrise photo spot that would not be too difficult to get to I came across Wedge Pond. While staying in Kananaskis, it rained, it snowed, heavy winds kicked up. At times I spent more time indoors than out hiking or photographing anything. The wild weather brought out some bears, moose and I think even a fleeting wolf along the road at dusk one night.
When the weather did calm down, I made many trips to Wedge Pond at sunrise. Most of the time I was the only one there. I was always the only person photographing anything. There was a dog walker or two but that was usually well after sunrise.
There was a decent sunrise about 50% of the time that was not ruined by thick cloud cover or moderate winds on the days I actually went down to the pond. If you count the days I didn’t go down it was probably about 25% of the time that a good or great scene presented itself at sunrise.
Getting wall art quality sunrise panoramic photos at Wedge Pond is not particularly difficult once you find a place to stay, buy the Kananskis Conservation Pass and get favorable weather conditions. Planning all that out and actually getting a great sunrise may just take some repeat trips and the associated time and expense.
In What Formats Is This Wedge Pond Sunrise Panorama Wall Art Print Available?
This Wedge Pond sunrise panorama and others like it are available on lots of different materials In lower light areas, this image can look great on a glossy or metallic paper, an actual metal print or on acrylic. If anything with a shiny metallic finish is hung in an area with bright lights or lots of natural light you may get reflections on the print.
For areas with more light that is brighter and not diffused, matte finish prints are likely to be a more desirable choice. Matte non reflective prints can look great anywhere but are best suited for brighter areas because they won’t reflect furniture or other things in the room where they are hung.
If you’d prefer home decor type items then shower curtains, Sherpa fleece blankets (Sherpa is much nicer than the regular fleece.) are pretty awesome. They are super comfy and the print colors look awesome. Shower curtains are another great choice. Since shower curtains are HUGE the images on them won’t be as sharp as a print but the colors are pretty awesome.
If you’d like something more practical to actually use, a phone case or, a canvas tote bag for grocery or other shopping makes a nice item. A wide variety of apparel and t-shirts can be pretty cool too.
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