This famous location in Banff National Park has been photographed many times at sunrise and sunset, but I wanted to create something a little different, inspired by a Christmas classic: The Polar Express. The train in this area does not pass at exact hours, so photographers could wait anywhere from minutes to over an hour to get a shot.

For this blend, I needed to wait at this location for a total of approximately 8 hours in order to get pictures of the foreground, train and starry sky. While I was shooting the stars, the train actually did come by, so this moment did really happen the way it is pictured.

One challenge I did not foresee was the apparent light pollution in the sky in this photo, demonstrated by the lack of stars. To this day, I'm not sure why the sky has so few stars, but the light pollution from nearby towns must have affected the sky that I did not anticipate to that degree. I

f you plan on coming to this spot in winter, bring some warm clothing and your patience because you could be waiting a while. The great thing about this place is you'll probably make some new friends as you freeze together, waiting for the Polar Express to pass by.