One of the best places to spend the summer is the Jersey shore (don't in any way attribute the Jersey shore to the reality show). Every year, thousands of people from the surrounding area (South Jersey, Philadelphia, New York and Delaware) head to Wildwood, NJ. Wildwood's beach is arguably one of the best beaches in NJ with it's two mile boardwalk. The crowds were sleeping in on this early summer morning so I had the beach to myself along with my nephew. I really liked the lines of this fishing pier and shot off a couple of brackets.
Trail of Birches
Just a quick post today. This image was taken at the beginning of a trail in Jasper National Park. It was my first time to the park and we had terrible weather for our 3 day stay as it rained pretty much the whole time we were there. In a brief moment of no rain, I spotted this birch grove and wanted to walk along it for a while. As soon as we started out, it began to rain again and this is as far as we got before heading back to the car.
Breaking Through
Earlier this week, I posted an image of Mt McKinley Lodge's cupola. After having breakfast, I headed to Byers Lake in Denali State Park with a small group of other guests at the lodge. While the adjacent national park of the same name is world famous, I discovered that Denali State Park was well worth a visit. I might even venture to say that it is the best state park I have ever been to. The lake was about 20 minutes away from our lodge and is accessible from the Parks Highway that connects Anchorage and Fairbanks. The park is undeveloped wilderness with the exception of the two day-use areas, three campgrounds, and two trailheads, one of which leads to Byers Lake.
Alberta Morning
I know that I have been posting a lot of images from Alberta but I can't help it! I just love the Canadian Rockies and it's surrounding lakes and towns. I would probably go to Banff every year if my wife said it was okay. Okay, now that I have warned you, today's image is of Cascade Mountain from the town of Banff. It was very early in the morning, shortly after sunrise. The town was pretty deserted, especially for a summer morning. I am sure that it is very hard to shoot a bad photo when the subject is so magnificent, the light so nice and soft and the weather being just about perfect. Just another day in paradise (at least to me).
Looking Up
I always am surprised what other photographers see when shooting the same subject. I always seem to say to myself, "I didn't see that." This simple question has trained me to continue to work a subject from as many angles and perspectives as I can think of. I try to shoot high and low; left and right; and close and far. Depending on the subject, I always make sure I look up. On our trip to Alaska last year, we stayed at a wonderful lodge in the wilderness, The McKinley Lodge. I wanted to photograph the lodge and realized that the only way to shoot it was to get up before dawn as it was crowded throughout the day and night. I was able to get some great shots of the lodge and it's enormous windows looking out at the famous mountain. As I was finishing up, I started to look up at the ceiling and discovered this great view of the lodge's cupola and it's light. It is probably my favorite image of the lodge and was not even on my list of shots before I started to shoot.
Stamen
Just a quick post and run today. I took this photo while walking around our neighborhood with my wife and dog, Jack. I don't normally take my camera when walking around our home but, for some reason, I picked it up before the walk. I must have subconsciously wanted to shoot a flower macro (not my normal type of shot) but I am glad I did.
Got Milk?
Today's image is from a small farm in Sutton, Vermont. After shooting the Vermont countryside from the farm, I was walking back to my car and I spotted this milk sign on a weathered side of a barn. I was taken with it's color against the weathered wall with it's bright red color. For whatever reason, I immediately thought of the Got Milk? advertising campaign which is probably better than the "Drink Milk" sign.
Better Look for Cover
While there are many beautiful countries in the world, my favorite has to be Italy. It may be my favorite because my mother's parents were from Italy but it also could be for the food and the countryside. For whatever reason, I have always wanted to visit Portofino. On our Mediterranean cruise, our first stop was this wonderful fishing village on the Italian Riviera. When we got to the village, it was raining and we were not able to walk around. We headed on our tour to Genoa and hoped that when we returned to Portofino, the weather would cooperate. When we got back to Portofino, the sun was shining for a short while but when I looked out toward our cruise ship, I saw the darkest clouds that I had seen in a while. The juxoposition of the sunlit village contrasted with the dark skies just called to me to shoot a photo. I knew that I had just a little time before the storm would come leaving me little time to run for cover.
Merced Light
The Merced River is a 145-mile tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada to the central valley of California. The most famous section of the river is where it travels through the renowned Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park. The Merced drops over the Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls and passes into the valley, where it flows in the pine forests that fill the valley floor. Visitors to Yosemite Valley can go almost anywhere along the Merced's banks and see the famous granite cliffs and formations. This image shows one of the most famous formations, El Capitan. It was early morning and the light started to bathe the formation and the opposite bank. It's no wonder that the Yosemite Valley is one of the most visited national parks in the US.
Rugged
Last week I posted the shoreline of Bow Lake located on the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park. Today we travel further north on the parkway to Upper Waterfowl Lake. The lake is easily accessible from the parkway and is surrounded by the awe inspiring mountains of the continental divide including the rugged Mount Chephren that is shown in the photo. The mountain was originally named Pyramid Mountain but was renamed after a Egyptian pharaoh when it conflicted with the identically named Pyramid Mountain in Jasper National Park.
Blackberry Falls Revisited
Been a busy few weeks for me. Those who know me well know that I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. Bruce started his new tour in late March and I have been able to see him in Boston, Madison Square Garden and, most recently, Albany. Each show was almost 3 hours long with no breaks - not bad for a 62 year old. Anyway, heading back from Albany, Carol and I stopped at Blackberry Falls to see if they were running again (last time I went, they were closed for work). Thankfully they had reopened and while the light wasn't great, it was good to see the falls running again.
Wild Horses
I've previously posted images of one of my favorite train rides, namely the Durango-Silverton Train that travels the rugged San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The trip has everything from mountains to streams to gorges to valleys. One of my favorite recollections though was this group of wild horses that were just beginning to gallop as the train rolled past. Given the movement of the train and the moving subject, I was just hoping to get one decent shot of them before we sped by them. All of my shots were pretty bad except for this one. All things considered, I am pretty happy with this one shot.
Bow Lake Morning
Today we head back to the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, Alberta. There are so many lakes that can be explored along the road that if you stopped and explored each one, it would take days to drive the 140 miles. One lake that must be explored is Bow Lake. It is a relatively small lake at about 1.25 square miles so it can explored in a short time. It is home of the Crowfoot Glacier and the old quaint lodge, the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge. As can be seen in this image, there is a decent gravel path that borders part of of the lake. The road is only about 30 yards from this spot and the rising sun cast beautiful light through the trees onto the lake.
Flow
This image was taken a couple of years ago somewhere on Route 9 in southern Vermont. I had decided to take the day to drive to Vermont to catch some foliage shots. Unfortunately, I had missed the peak of the foliage season in Vermont and, although I shot a number of images, I simply wasn't feeling it. I thought I saw an opening from the road where there was a decent shot, but as I climbed down, I realized that the scene was not what I had thought. While climbing down the ravine, this stream and it's rocks had some great light shining on it which greatly enhanced it's color. Sometimes you just get lucky finding a subject you weren't expecting.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
A visit to Montana's Glacier National Park is a must for anyone who loves the Rocky Mountains. Located on the US - Canadian border, it was named for the many glaciers that carved the mountains into their present shapes. Unfortunately, the glaciers are being adversely affected by global warming and there are some who believe that all 37 of the remaining glaciers will be gone over the next 10-15 years. The park is also home to many large and beautiful lakes. This image is of Swiftcurrent Lake located in the Many Glacier region of the park. This view is from the east shore of the lake taken from the back of The Many Glacier Hotel looking across to the magnificent Mount Grinnell. Boats can be rented from the hotel and, if you are lucky as I was, you have a lone boater rowing toward shore anchoring the composition of the image.
Acadia Guardian
The cliffside Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Acadia National Park marks the entrance to Bass Harbor on the southwestern side of Mount Desert Island. This composition is the only decent view of the lighthouse as all other perspectives are really unappealing. The challenge, particularly ay sunset, is getting to this vantage point. There is a slippery climb down from the parking lot and trying to find any spot among 40+ other photographers that can fit there. I was fortunate to get one of the last physical spots on the rocks and, even then, it was hard to get a shot without someone's head, arm or other appendage in it. The light is a wonderful place to shoot and my advice is to get there very early before the parking lot and the rocks are overflowing.
Dawn has Broken
New England's famed foliage is the subject of today's image as we revisit Echo Lake located near Conway, New Hampshire. This image was taken just after dawn and shows the beautiful light and color that was there in all of it's glory for the 20+ photographers that were at the lake. The water was still and the fall foliage was reaching its peak. I decided to shoot a bracketed series so I could make sure that the beauty of the sky and the foliage came through the image. As you can see, Echo Lake is a wonderful location to capture the beauty of the New England's fall season.
Beautiful Day on the Coast
One of my favorite drives in the United States is California 1. The road begins in Orange County to the south and ends north of Mendocino in the town of Leggett. The road is about 650 miles in length and I have driven it probably about 15 times or more. It was the first real scenic drive that I took when I started traveling on business to the west coast. There are sections that are more scenic than others and some have been designated as a scenic highway. My most favorite section is located in Big Sur and is an official National Scenic Byway. For about 90 miles from the San Carpoforo Creek to the Carmel River, the road winds and hugs the cliffs of Big Sur, passing various coastal parks.
On the day I shot this image, the weather was glorious as we left San Simeon for the drive to Monterey. Every pullout seemed to be screaming at me to stop and take a photo. If I had, it would have taken forever to reach our destination. I was compelled to pull over to get a shot of the Bixby Creek Bridge in the distance by my son, whose favorite author, Jack Kerouac lived in a cabin in the Bixby Canyon. He later penned his book "Big Sur" about his experiences there.
Sandstone
Delicate Arch is one of Utah's most famous icons and can be seen on magazine covers, tourist guides and on Utah's license plates. The classic view of the arch requires a 1.5 mile (one way) moderately strenuous hike leading up a steep slit rock trail from the parking area at Wolfe Ranch. It is an exhilarating hike and well worth the effort. There are times that the hike is not feasible whether it be rainy weather or traveling with people that cannot traverse the steep climb. In these instances, there is a viewpoint that gives a good view of the arch, albeit from a very different perspective. The viewpoint is about a mile from the arch and it was from this vantage point that I took this shot. There are normally lots of people around and under the arch, but for some unexplained reason, there were very few people there (the ones that were there were at the mercy of the content-aware brush).
Cameron Reflections
Today we are headed back to the Canadian Rockies to visit the smallest and least famous national park in Alberta, namely Waterton National Park. Given it's location in southern Alberta, it is often the forgotten park when compared to Canada's national parks to north (Banff & Jasper) and the famous U.S. Glacier National Park that abuts Waterton. There is a real relaxed atmosphere to the park that serves as the perfect place to view spectacular scenery, wildlife and enjoy recreational activities. This image is of Cameron Lake which is located at the end of the Akamina Parkway. Cameron is a hidden gem and has some great trails for hiking or you can rent canoes, kayaks and paddle boats. Even though we visited in August, you can see that the mountain face still had snow with numerous small waterfalls tumbling into the lake. The lake was deserted and I had the pick of perspectives.