Creativity, exploration and getting the shot with Banff photographer Paul Zizka

BANFF — In the world of panorama pictures, most nice photographs do not come with out a little blood, sweat and tears. 

Capturing the grandeur of the Rockies for over a decade, famend Banff photographer and adventurer Paul Zizka has skilled this firsthand.

“So much of photography is tied to exploration … and I’ve been living in Banff for a long time now, so I’ve … seen a lot of the roadside locations, so I’m drawn to going a little bit further from the road where then that means I’m giving myself a new canvas to explore,” stated Zizka.

Despite having completed expeditions on each continent from Antarctica to Nepal, the Rockies have remained the towering giants Zizka finds himself pointing his digicam towards time and time once more.

“It started off with just being surrounded by all that beauty in the mountains and those special places and wanting to share that with folks and family back home,” stated Zizka.

“Sooner or later, everybody feels compelled to document that in one way or another and share that with people who don’t have the chance to see those places and have those experiences.”

One of essentially the most photographed locations in Canada, Zizka is frequently in pursuit of recent vantage factors whereas exploring the Rockies — whether or not capturing an iconic Banff scene or wandering right into a hardly ever trodden pocket of the backcountry.

“I think if you go out there and you just chase the moments that really get you going as a photographer to really get your mind engaged and get you creatively excited then that really increases the chances that down the road you’re gonna have something that will be special,” stated Zizka.

Setting up the shot

Whether it is a Mount Robson dawn or a trek as much as Bow Glacier, Zizka notes a number of of his photographic ‘practices’ that always put him on the trail towards capturing a compelling picture — one which doesn’t simply doc a scene however tells a narrative.

“The mountains are so dynamic. … Usually if you stick around for a little bit, you’ll see a whole array of conditions of light and weather and I think that there’s some amazing stories to tell there,” stated Zizka.

Teaching workshops and mentoring photographers, Zizka emphasizes the significance of “engaging” together with your topic. He says his college students are sometimes stunned by how lengthy he’ll ask them to work the digicam in a single spot.

“We’ll go to a location, I’ll say, ‘OK, we’ll be here for a couple hours’ and then they look at you and they’re like, ‘A couple hours really?’ but eventually they get it and they appreciate being so involved and in the zone and you almost have to drag them away from there,” he stated.

With curiosity as a information, Zizka notes that slowing down, placing in time and “moving your feet” all contribute to a greater probability of uncovering photographic gold out within the discipline.

“Living in Banff park we all see it, like people seem to, on average, spend less and less time per location and try to cram in as much as they can, cram in as many places as they can in one day, and we see that in photography too,” he stated.

“That gives you no chance to really engage with the landscape and really just develop an appreciation for it, which in my mind is much more likely to lead to compelling images.”

Exploring is one other avenue to nice pictures, Zizka notes. When he’s out immersed in wild locations, in a second, gentle can change, situations change and, immediately, the mountains are telling a complete new story.

“A lot of the photogenic conditions happen inside or just on the edge of weather systems. I think shortly after nearly everyone who gets into landscape photography will sort of get a little bit bored of blue skies and sunny days pretty early on,” he stated.

“Then you start looking for that weather drama, which pairs up so well with the mountains and so that means that you’re, you know, almost intentionally going to go out in adverse weather to just try to capitalize on that.”

Zizka remembers an expedition up Mount Robson a number of years in the past that exemplified the significance of exploration in his pictures.

With an awesome climbing companion, good lighting situations and in a great “head space”, the photographic stars aligned for Zizka to seize a number of memorable frames from the best peak within the Canadian Rockies.

“I’d photographed Mount Robson from basically all different angles, you know, all the way around. I’d shot aerials of Robson, I’d shot underwater housing night and day, and long lense, short lense. I’d tried a bit of everything over the years and it was so nice to finally just have that moment in the centerpiece of all those photographs,” stated Zizka.

Featured within the new paperback version of his guide, The Canadian Rockies: Rediscovered, Zizka says he nonetheless appears again on lots of the pictures from that journey fondly.

“When you put physical work into an image, I think you’re more likely to be intentional about what you do and get stronger images because you don’t have the luxury to just drive over there the next day.”

“The nice thing is these days, you know, the gear is so good that if you’re properly equipped and you’re willing to put up with temporary discomfort, there’s no reason that you can’t head out in those inhospitable places and harsher weather and in the search of an image that will showcase a lot of drama in the mountains,” he added.

Stepping into the body

Initially drawn to photographing uncooked landscapes, the concept of inserting any human or artifical ingredient into his pictures was unthinkable to Zizka.

“I had a couple of moments out there where I couldn’t get the effect that I was after purely with the elements provided by the scene upon arrival,” he stated.

“I sort of got over that aversion that I had, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. I thought, ‘Well, maybe … I was [not] supposed to see it as something I should avoid, but it should be more of like another tool in my belt, I guess, adding the human element and then it grew on me very, very quickly.”

Now he brings individuals into mountain scenes to convey scale, create sure compositions, to make a picture relatable or to provide the viewer a way of being current within the panorama themselves.

Venturing out with buddies, climbers and fellow adventurers, Zizka will talk together with his topics by way of radio to coordinate pictures, and at instances, on solo adventures, steps into the body himself.

“Just out of necessity, often it was me ending up in the images, just because there was no one else available. It’s not because it was important to me that it would be me in the shot,” he stated.

Zizka notes that experimenting with new methods or concepts is one other key to “keeping things fresh” in his pictures — one thing he encourages his college students to do.

“I think that’s part of how you keep the fun in it is instead of repeating the same old recipes all the time, you try weird things that oftentimes won’t work out but when they do work out, they can yield some really interesting results,” stated Zizka.

While there is no such thing as a constant “formula” to observe that may at all times yield a stellar body, Zizka says that generally solely time will inform if he’s captured a picture with that means.

“I’ll know if an image is meaningful to me, if weeks, months, years later, I look at that image and it sort of transports me back to an experience that it still stirs up emotion.  Long after the fact, you know, I can still feel the awe even though I’m just looking at a collection of pixels or something in print. It still gets me excited down the road,” he stated.

“In the moment you try to sort of get the technical stuff right, you try to get the math right in terms of the settings and the composition and all that, you try to get your timing right in terms of the light, the weather, but I find that only time really tells if you’ve just captured something that will be memorable.”

The social media drawback

In the digital age, virtually each photographer is aware of social media has shortly grow to be the supply mechanism for getting work in and out entrance of the eyes of the world.

“It’s a delicate dance for sure …  and it’s one that every photographer that I know just struggles with a little bit,” stated Zizka.

Experiencing the flurry of social media stardom after a picture went viral a number of years in the past, Zizka began to replicate on his relationship with the platforms.

“I would go out in nature and then think about all those things that I need to accomplish, and all those deliverables and I would just sort of check things off the list and then after a few years of doing that, I thought, ‘Hang on, that’s not why I go out there.  I’ve gotta do something about this,’” stated Zizka.

“I think the photo community, with the explosion of social media, I think everybody’s felt like they have to play the game and get into that arena and just try to outdo everyone else and scream louder than everyone else  and try to rack up as many followers as possible in as little time as possible.”

Now an advocate for largely stepping away from social media, Zizka says “letting go of the metrics” has allowed him a freedom and peace of thoughts out on journeys to craft genuine pictures that categorical his full creativity and never simply ones that observe a viral picture recipe.

“ I’ve always had a hard time reconciling the types of things that I photograph and that I try to celebrate, which is time outside in nature, away from everything and meanwhile, when you want to get the images out there, then you have to almost go with the opposite direction where, you know, you have to be as connected as possible in order for those images to appear in front of people,” he stated.

Acknowledging there are positives to the platforms, Zizka stated stepping again from the social media “grind” has led to a much-needed breath of recent air.

“You could spend 10 hours a day on social media just trying to put your images out there, but ultimately, I don’t think that’s the reason anyone does photography. …  I decided to just trim down quite a bit and it’s been way, way better since,” he stated.

Equipped together with his instruments of the commerce, creativity, authenticity and a drive to discover, Zizka has been educating workshops within the Bow Valley and internationally for over 15 years, serving to different photographers discover authenticity of their pictures and faucet into their potential.

“I think a big reason why I love photography is that it really helps me tap into that sort of inner child curiosity that I think we all kind of risk losing as we grow up, you know, and life gets busy, et cetera, and so I love just how photography makes me feel like a kid again,” stated Zizka.

Even if he doesn’t come away with images to indicate for it, Zizka says getting out into nature together with his digicam, exploring and adventuring are the experiences that proceed to feed his soul.

“When you’re really engrossed in what you’re doing, you’re forgetting about all the little daily worries and the clutter of daily life, and you’re really just honing in on what’s the task at hand,” Zizka stated.

“It’s a type of meditation the way I see it.”

Originally printed in 2017, the brand new paperback version of Zizka’s The Canadian Rockies: Rediscovered is now obtainable at: rmbooks.com/products/the-canadian-rockies-rediscovered-1?srsltid=AfmBOoqTlT6cHuRLobznqd_iM5nwt_XAgyiEJadGSNYJzQwUFxgD4hXc

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The place covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.