Banff Photography — Local services in Alberta

Amateur photographers who clearly know nothing about photography but spend their days sitting around throwing lingos they don't even understand, but in order to confuse their customers thinking it will impress them.

The Pro-Services/Training they offer customers is just simple basics they read off from cards while taking their customers to shoot pictures. Yes, they literally read terminology and lessons from a print out to their customers, just shows how knowledgeable they really are.

The Portrait and Wedding photography is mediocre, be warned, MEDIOCRE!. They run around taking pictures of people and do a terrible job hoping that out of the many shots they could salvage some potential photos and photoshop them to satisfactory level. They never go above and beyond for their customers.

Lee Kissel is the Head of Professional Services, mainly takes photos of scenery, nothing original and no creativity. He's an amateur who calls himself a professional photographer and tries to display himself as the next Zizka by shoving his own (unappealing) photographs next to his on the print displays. Grade: 4/10

Gary Yip, apparently taking photos for 7 years, yet fails to produce professional quality images, especially for someone who has never studied photography and attempts to mimic other photographers poorly. NOT A PROFESSIONAL! this is the mediocre type I've stated above. He has failed to gain even 1 follower on the online photographic communities, especially on 500px. He strongly believes that the more expensive the gear, the more right you have to calling yourself a Pro Photographer. Grade: 0/10

Jennifer Beal, their wedding photographer, or more appropriately "The Snobbish Photographer" who dislikes competition and mimics other social media photographers but fails when it comes to post-processing. Would you rather hire someone who has more experience than someone who shoots amateurishly for 4 years? the stores wedding photography survives on her simple skills, sometimes Gary takes over and produces shots comparable to someone with a point and shoot, please give the camera back to Jen. A lot of people confuse her for the other 2 Jennifer Beal professional photographers because of the name, thinking they are getting their photos taken from one of the professionals until they learn that mistake from the results. Grade: 5/10

Tamara Oman, a so called master at framing for 2 years, yet when you walk into the store you'll see what frames you're getting with those photos, more like master of the cutting board and box cutter producing flimsy card board overpriced frames that look very unappealing. Be warned, DO NOT hand her your camera, she has a reputation for shoving her fingers inside mirrors!!! Grade: 3/10

Steven Relf, a person who does not act vastly superior to the rest and knows that expensive gear doesn't make the photographer. Gary could learn a lot from him rather than being smug about his own equipment making him a Pro. 8/10

The Banff Photography staff, especially Lee suffers from an inferiority complex, which as a customer I have analyzed while trying out their services. I went in and they assumed I was a customer that had no knowledge about photography, so I went along with it as they patronized me. They had no idea they were dealing with someone with much more experience (17 years) and gave me a lousy photographic run down on the technicals. Their prints are extremely overpriced. The only photos on their rack that stand out are the Zizka shots, the rest are utter garbage.

Lee and Steve Wong hire amateurs rather than professionals because they are fearful of competition, which is one thing that exists within the Banff Photography stores, they are all deep-seated stubborn people who prefer to listen to themselves rather than listen to outside (REAL) expert opinions.

Avoid Banff Photography like the plague, they will take your money and leave you mentally stranded with a childish education. You might as well ask someone at Toys R Us to help you...

I booked a surprise proposal with Nick of Banff Photography back in December of 2024. I was really nervous, as I had no idea how a surprise proposal was going to work and how I was going to be able to pull something like this off. Luke was the photographer who was booked to photograph the surprise engagement. The Banff Photography website already had a lot of good information and videos to show how things would work, but sometimes it is also nice to ask specific questions about what I wanted and had in mind. Fortunately, Luke made everything sound so easy and was able to break each step in the surprise proposal process down for me, so I was very clear on how everything was going to work. I was able to connect and text back and forth with Luke leading up to the moment and the day of as well. He had a map with a red X on where he was going to be standing and explained exactly what I should do so that he would know when his cue was. Honestly, this process was so much easier than I thought it would be and helped relieve some of the anxiety that I was feeling, especially considering I was very nervous for the actual proposal moment, let alone all of the work and planning leading up to it. My now fiancé had absolutely no idea that I was about to propose. She even told me that, during the proposal, she was feeling bad that this poor "random person," who she thought was just taking a quick photo of us, was now all of a sudden taking pictures of a proposal. It wasn't until after the proposal that she put together that Luke was the photographer that I hired for this special moment. Luke even captured some amazing surprise shots of my now fiancé's family surprising her after the proposal (who she had no idea was also in Lake Louise the whole time), which allowed us to get some really special shots that captured the surprise moment with her family, once they unhid themselves.

All of the photos from the day turned out to be breathtaking, and the editing was done beautifully. Nick was incredible if we asked for little tweaks to colours or adding in a photo of a specific moment that we wanted to see in the set.

Overall, if you are planning a surprise proposal and you want to capture the moment, these are your guys. I cannot give them...

Nick and the Banff Photography team are absolutely amazing! Planning a surprise proposal while in a different country felt like it was going to be a logistical nightmare - until I found Nick. From the start, the whole process was incredibly easy. I provided my choice of location, and Nick suggested a proposal spot (with a map that had an X marks the spot).

Nick is super easygoing and fun to work with! The kind of vibe you want when you're doing something as exciting as a proposal. Neither of us are people who naturally know how to pose for photos (perhaps a little bit awkward), but Nick guided us through it all.

His website is an incredible resource. I found myself stalking his Instagram for months prior to actually booking him, anxiously worrying if my photos would turn out like the ones I see. But what you see on his website and socials is EXACTLY what you'll get! The photos turned out so amazing!!! All 65 of them!!!

Even my entire family, whom were all confused why my photos from the day were taking long to be sent back, understood. "It's worth the wait for your photographer! He did a great job 😍" - My mom.

Finally, if you're debating whether to pay extra for sunset photos - do it!

Highly recommend Nick if you want someone who is talented, consistent in their style, and also makes the whole experience feel easy and fun!

Update: Photo attached is Lake Minnewanka on March 7. Weather conditions were better than normal for the week. Not terribly cold (around 4C from what I remember) and sunny. The next day, was just below freezing, and much foggier. One the foggier day, I could not see the top of the mountain (but that's...