Zoomed Bloom

​Sparta, New Jersey

One of the challenges that face many photographers is that they get into a rut. I consider myself a travel and landscape photographer that loves to capture the beautiful places that I am lucky enough to visit. That is why I like shooting with other photographers that have different ways of looking at things and challenge your creativity. That is one of the reasons that I frequently sign up for Denise Ippolito’s workshops. Not only is Denise a phenomenal bird and flower photographer, she just oozes creativity.

At her Sunflower Workshop last year, she suggested that I try zooming during my exposure. I had experimented with that technique in the film days with not much luck. With the digital cameras and their immediate feedback on the screen, it is easy to play around and see the results immediately. After experimenting a bit with the zooming technique, I got this image that I am very pleased with.

Thanks Denise. Check out her great work and workshops here.

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Yosemite Splendor

Yosemite National Park, California

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What can I say about Yosemite National Park that hasn’t been written or said before? With names like John Muir and Ansel Adams championing the park, it is easy to understand why Yosemite is something special. Muir fell in love with Yosemite’s beauty and worked tirelessly to ultimately bring National Park status to it. Adams popularized Yosemite with his stunning and surreal photos displaying the majesty of the park.

Every time I visit Yosemite, I marvel at its natural beauty from El Capitan to Half Dome and everywhere in between. Just walking in the same place where Muir and Adams may have walked is inspiring. My favorite thing to do there is to get up before dawn before all of the people start showing up and watch as Yosemite Valley begins to light up as the sun begins to rise showing its full splendor. This image was taken during one of these times.

Above the Treetops

​View From Hunting Island Lighthouse, Hunting Island, South Carolina

One of the days we were in Hilton Head, we decided to take a day trip to Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. Hunting Island is about an hour from Hilton Head and is South Carolina’s most visited state park. It is a 5,000-acre park and it actually is a semitropical barrier island.

One of the attractions in the park is the Hunting Island Light. The light is no longer operational and visitors can climb to the top for a nominal fee. The climb is about 150 feet and once you get to the light’s landing, you have a clear view of the surrounding area. Once I got to the top and went outside, I was taken with this view showing all of the different shades of green that contrasted beautifully with the blue sky.

Chilling on the Glacier

​Columbia Icefields, Icefields Parkway, Alberta

The Columbia Icefield is located along the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies. Part of the Icefield runs from northwestern Banff National Park to the southern end of Jasper National Park. It is made up of eight glaciers and is surrounded some of the highest mountains in the Canadian Rockies.

Parts of the Icefield is visible from the Icefields Parkway, particularly the Athabasca Glacier. There is an Icefield Interpretive Centre along the Parkway where visitors can get tickets to be taken on the glacier in specially designed snow coaches. These vehicles are actually snowcats that have been fitted with bus seats. Visitors are driven onto the Athabasca Glacier (at a top speed of 16 mph) and are able to get out and explore. The melting water is pure and is refreshing to drink.

Park Avenue Destination

​Courthouse Towers, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

I remember the first time I visited Arches National Park in 2005. My son Greg and I flew into Salt Lake City and hopped into a rental car for a four-hour drive to Moab. I remember being in quite the bad mood as the airlines left my luggage back home and I needed it for the next morning’s shoot in Arches. When we got into Moab, we thought we would get a quick lay of the land in Arches. We stopped at the first parking lot, which was Park Avenue, and I immediately was back in a great mood.

Park Avenue is a steep-walled smooth sandstone canyon. There is a one-mile trail that runs the length of the canyon and when hiking the trail, you know why it was named Park Avenue (especially if you have ever walk down Park Avenue in New York City). Near the end of the trail, you get a view of the Courthouse Towers. On our recent cross-country trip, Greg and I recreated our earlier trip and the first thing we did was head out onto the trail. The weather was overcast but when we got close to the towers, the sun peeked out, casting a nice warm glow to the sandstone structure.

Grand Canal View

San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Italy

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Even though it has been a while since I have been to Venice, I continue to go back to my images from then and see one that resonates with me. This is one of those images. We stayed in the Hotel Monaco, which is located on the Grand Canal waterfront just steps from St Mark's Square. It is a very popular tourist destination with St Mark's Basilica and the Doge’s Palace as main attractions.

What I loved most about the location was the ability to be so close to the waterfront at sunrise and sunset. This view across the Grand Canal was shot in the late evening, just before sunset. It features San Giorgio Maggiore, one of 188 islands that make up Venice. The buildings shown in the image are part of both the San Giorgio Monastery (built in 982) and the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore (built in 1566). The fading light gave the buildings a wonderful glow.

The Battery and a Triple D Update

White Point Garden, Charleston, South Carolina

April was a busy month for me. After my cross-country trip to Oregon, I was able to actually sleep in my own bed for five nights before heading on vacation to North and South Carolina. Our first stop was Charleston, a place that I have always wanted to visit but never seemed to get there. Now that I have visited it, I won’t hesitate to revisit it again.

My first impression of the city was what you would expect from a location so steeped in history from the American Revolution to the Civil War to the present. There are very few buildings that are not homes and the few that exist are no taller than 5-6 stories. The styles of homes include Antebellum, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Italian and Victorian. I haven’t visited any cities that have such a wide diversity of architecture.

The other lasting memory of Charleston will be the great old southern oak trees throughout the city. These wonderful trees, with their large far-reaching branches, are beautiful and add to the feel of the city. This photo was taken in White Point Garden located in The Battery section of the city.

Triple D Update – We were only able to visit three restaurants that were featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives television show on our southern trip.

  • Barbecue King Drive-In – We landed in Charlotte on the first day of our trip and headed here for lunch. With a three-hour drive ahead of us and with the place having no bathrooms to wash our hands, none of us opted for the fried chicken, which was featured on the show. Big mistake. Everything that we ordered was average at best (I had the BBQ Platter – Pulled Pork, Hush Puppies, Slaw and Fries). Not sure if we would have felt different had we had the chicken but I don’t think we will ever know.
  • Tattooed Moose in Charleston. I had what the menu described as the best sandwich ever made, Mike's Famous Duck Club.  It is a triple-decker filled with duck confit, apple smoked bacon, hickory smoked cheddar, on sweet Hawaiian bread with garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato, & red onion. I am not sure if it is the best ever made but it certainly is in the top ten that I have had.
  • Early Bird Diner – A classic old time diner outside of downtown Charleston. It was a late dinner and I opted to try the Chicken and Waffles mainly because it was featured on the show and also because I have never eaten it. It included pecan encrusted fried chicken and cinnamon waffles drizzled with honey mustard sauce and maple syrup. It was quite good and I wouldn’t hesitate to order it again.
  • The Wich Doctor – This was not featured on Triple D but absolutely should be in the future (hear that Guy?). We stumbled upon it in Folly Beach, SC and it specializes in sandwiches and pizza. I had a pork belly sandwich served on toast with a sunny side up egg, shaved cabbage & tomato. Absolutely yummy.

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Floating

​Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California

With all of the many times that I have traveled to the City by the Bay, I had never visited Golden Gate Park. Not sure why but I had it on my "must see" list on my last trip there.  Golden Gate Park is an urban public park ​that measures over 1,000 acres and is actually 20% larger that New York's Central Park. It is host to many of San Francisco's attractions and is a magnet for tourists, attracting over 13 million visitors annually. 

The day we went to the park was quite dreary and raw and while we were walking around, it started to rain. Fortunately, we were close to the ​Conservatory of Flowers and we headed in. The conservatory is a greenhouse and botanical garden that houses a collection of rare and exotic plants. It has a wonderful display of water lilies, one of which can be seen in this image.

Hiking the Hoodoos

​Banff Townsite, Alberta, Canada

Anyone who enjoys mountains, lakes and the outdoors will fall in love with Banff National Park. Whenever I am asked to recommend a place to visit, Banff is usually the first place out of my mouth (Yosemite is second). The lakes are pristine and easily accessible and the hiking trails are plentiful. Many of the hikes originate in the town of Banff like the Hoodoo Trail.

​The Hoodoo Trail offers some of the best views of the Bow River, Mount Rundle, the Bow Valley and the renowned Banff Springs Hotel. This is a relatively easy trail that makes it very popular and is even paved in parts. Depending on the season and time of day, it can be very crowded. The Hoodoos themselves were formed by  erosion made of rock and sand and are great to see, but it is scenes like this one that make this a great hike.


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Good Morning, Kotor

​Kotor, Montenegro

Sometimes there are days that are perfect for photography and every shot captures great memories. This is an image of Kotor, Montenegro just after the fog lifted (as can be seen in this post entitled Blue Fog). Looking at the two images, it is hard to imagine how much the scene changed within 45 minutes. 

Kotor is a great location that is relatively unknown but it is really only part of the experience. When the full length of the Bay of Kotor is taken into account, it is an amazing place, especially when sailing from one end of it to the other. I have never been to a place like it, where the surrounding mountains tower so high against the water (maybe in Scandinavia which I haven't been to yet).

Old Energy

​Kinderdijk, Netherlands

On my recent cross country trip, I was amazed to see the number of wind turbines ​that dot the landscape starting in the midwest and continuing to the west coast. We don't see that many wind turbines in the northeast and, while I have seen them in my travels, the large clusters of them in "wind farms" was quite the sight. I was particularly surprised to find out that Iowa has the third largest number of them in the US.

In researching wind energy for this post, I was surprised to find out that today's wind turbines are actually referred to as windmills if the resulting mechanical energy is used to drive machinery rather than electricity. 

I am sure to some, these wind farms are sleek looking and efficient but, to my eyes, I'll take the look of the old windmills that were built hundreds of years ago. When I look at this image that I shot along the banks of the Zaan River outside of Amsterdam, I wonder what the people who built this windmill would think of today's windmill replacement.

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Alien Landscape

​View from Double Arch, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

It has been a couple of weeks ​since I have posted although it seems longer. April was a pretty busy month driving with my son out to Oregon and taking a planned vacation to North and South Carolina with friends. All told, I was home only 6 days since March 30th and I estimate that I logged almost 6,000 miles in the car during that time. 

This is an image that I shot in Arches National Park. I was hoping to get the classic sunrise shot of Turret Arch but, as you can see, the weather was not cooperating. We headed instead to Double Arch which is one of my favorite spots on the park. As we walked toward it, we heard music that was actually a Mormon choir singing below one of the arches. I don't know what time they got there but it had to be early. As I climbed up to the bottom of the arch, I glanced out into the distance and saw this scene with the surreal clouds framed in one of the arch's opening. It looked very much like an alien landscape and I knew right then that this image would make it to the blog. The back of the arch was lit nicely though the other arch.

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We Are Off to See The Wizard - Part 2

​Snooze Café, 2262 Larimer St, Denver, Colorado

This is a followup to yesterday's post on the great Wizard of Oz mural that I wandered into in downtown Denver. This image show the right side of the mural.  ​

My wife and I are heading to North and South Carolina today for a vacation with our friends. I will try to post while I am away but probably won't be posting every day. Looking forward to visiting and shooting the Charleston, Savannah, Hilton Head and Asheville areas. If anyone has a suggestion on where to shoot, leave me a comment. Thanks.​

We Are Off to See The Wizard - Part 1

​Snooze Café, 2262 Larimer St, Denver, Colorado

Walking around the city of Denver this month was really ​a neat experience. I hadn't been downtown in almost 20 years and was amazed with all of the construction that was going on. Almost every area that we visited in the city was vibrant and had something to do and see. The area surrounding Coors Field was quite different than I remember.

​There were murals everywhere that were very cool, especially this one of Dorothy and her friends from the Wizard of Oz. It was one of the most colorful and interesting murals that I have seen in a while. The mural was tucked away behind a very narrow outside food bar at the Snooze Café. The only way to take a full shot of the mural was from across the street. Unfortunately, with the trees, fencing, chairs and benches, it is hard to get a clean shot of it (I know I tried). I was determined to get a decent shot of the mural and decided to capture it in two photos. This is the left side of the mural. Tomorrow, I will post the right side.  The mural is located at 2262 Larimer Street.

Vista House

​Columbia Gorge, Oregon

As I stated in yesterday’s post, my last day at the Columbia Gorge was rain-filled. When dodging raindrops and waterfall spray, a photographer always looks for places to keep dry and hopefully get a good photo. Such was the case with the Vista House located on a rock promontory about 750 feet above the Columbia River. Vista House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offers a great view of the river looking east. Built from 1916 – 1918 on what is know as Crown Point, it has provided millions of visitors with the perfect view of the Columbia Gorge. The house itself is also a frequently photographed subject from the Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint, from adjacent Chanticleer.

As can be seen in this photo, the inside is almost as impressive as the outside. Alaskan Marble was used for the floors and stairs in the rotunda and as wainscoting on the basement walls. The inside of the dome and its supporting ribs were painted to simulate the marble and bronze. Attached to the wall just below the dome, eight busts of four unidentified Native Americans are aligned so that each mirrors its own likeness. I really loved the stonework and the lighting that accentuated the colors.

Falling Water

Latourell Falls, Columbia Gorge, Oregon

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and originates in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and terminates 1,243 miles later in the Pacific Ocean. As it nears the Pacific, it forms the border between Oregon and Washington in a canyon known as the Columbia Gorge. One of the biggest attractions of the gorge are the numerous waterfalls that line the canyon, particularly on the Oregon side of the river. There are nine waterfalls that are easily accessible from the Columbia River Historic Highway that parallels the Columbia River.

Greg and I spent our last day together driving the highway checking out the waterfalls. It pretty much rained on and off most of the day so getting good photos of the falls was quite challenging. I became quite proficient in setting up the composition, wiping the lens dry and hoping that the rain did not get on the lens during the long exposure. The waterfall in this image is Lower Latourell Waterfall and is the nearest one to Portland. I took about 15 shots of the waterfall and only a couple came out without rain spots or waterfall spray.

Of course, the weather was supposed to be better the next day but I was on a plane headed home to Connecticut. I am sure if Greg stays in Oregon, I will have plenty of time to get nice weather to shoot the Columbia Gorge.

Road Trip Food Update – We were only able to eat at one more restaurant that appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives after Denver.

  • Podnah's Pit Barbecue in Portland. Nice little place that features some great smoked options. Both Greg and I had the “St Helens” Brisket that was smoked for 10 hours. The smoke rings on the brisket were impressive and it was extremely tasty and tender. Comes with two sides and cornbread. I had the slaw which was average and the green chili mac’ n cheese which was awesome. One of the best briskets that I have had.

Glowing Turret

​Turret Arch, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

One of the most photographed arch is in Arches National Park is Turret Arch. It is almost always photographed from the North Window in the early morning. Since it was cloudy on both mornings I was there, I decided to take a less classical shot of the other side of Turret Arch near sunset. It is hard to get a good shot from this angle because there is a big formation in front of the arch (you can see its shadow in this image). Fortunately, I had my 16-35 mm wide-angle lens with me and the sun did the rest. 

Road Trip Update:

It has been a busy three days since I wrote my last post. We followed through on our plans to find sunny and warm weather in Moab. On Thursday, we logged in the shortest leg of our trip at 354 miles.  After checking into the hotel, we headed right back out to visit one of my favorite National Parks, Arches. As soon as we got into the park, we hiked the Park Avenue Trail out and back and then drove around the front half of the park.

On Friday, we headed back into Arches and spent the morning there. In the afternoon, we visited Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse State Park before finishing up back in Arches (I told you it was one of my favorites). A lot of wonderful places packed into one day.

Saturday and Sunday were driving days. We covered almost 600 miles from Moab to Boise, followed the next day with a mere 430 miles. My biggest surprise was Idaho where I expected to see lots of mountains, but the route we took was pretty flat. The funniest part of that drive was somewhere in remote Idaho when I needed to get gas. After driving what seemed like forever, we found this gas station that had a hand-made sign saying “Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere”. It rang true but what really made us get in and out of there quickly was the sign to check out their Alpacas and Rattlesnakes – time to go.

That is it for now. My last day here in Oregon is Monday and I have a really early flight to catch back to Connecticut on Tuesday morning. I hope you have enjoyed reading about our quick cross-country trip (the next one will be less rushed) as much as I have enjoyed experiencing it with Greg.


Triple D Update – Since Denver, we were able to eat at three more restaurants.

  • Red Iguana in Salt Lake City. Great Mexican place we stopped for lunch en-route from Moab to Boise. I had the Mole Negro, self-described as the “The King of Moles.” The mole was made from dried chile mulato, negro pasilla, Mexican chocolate, raisins, peanuts, walnuts and bananas with chicken or turkey. I opted for turkey. This was my first mole (yes, I was a mole virgin) and I want it again soon. The turkey was a bit dried out but I didn’t care. Shoe leather would have tasted good with this mole.
  • Bar Gernika in Boise. Checked into the hotel and headed down to the center of Boise. This bar is a very small place and you seat yourselves. We were lucky that we got there early enough and snagged the last two seats. I had the Lamb Grinder, which was incredibly tender. I don’t usually eat lamb but since Guy had it, I thought I would too (they ran out of the beef tongue earlier in the day). Greg had a Solomo sandwich, which was marinated pork loin with pimientos served on a freshly baked French roll. He proclaimed it the best meal of the trip.
  • Podnah’s Pit BBQ in Portland. Just got back from there so the taste of that great brisket is still fresh in my mind. I had the St Helens Brisket that was smoked for 10 hours. It came with cornbread, a choice of 4 great sauces and two sides. I ordered the Green Chile Mac and Cheese. Do I need to say more? 

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Mile High View and Road Trip Update

​Denver, Colorado

It is Thursday evening and I am writing this blog post from Moab, Utah. ​I know we were supposed to be on our way to Oregon but the weather forecast for Portland was 70% chance of rain for Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Monday doesn't look too great either). We got out our trusty weather app and searched the whole northwest looking for somewhere that had sunny skies. Lo and behold, we found that Moab was going to be in the high 70's for the rest of the week. Moab is home to Arches National Park (one of my favorites) and not too far from Canyonlands National Park (one of Greg's favorites). Not too shabby for a backup plan. 

As I stated in my last post, we spent Wednesday in Denver. We had great weather and walked all over the city (by Greg's pedometer we logged almost 10 miles of walking). It had been a long time since I have stayed there. Denver is a real thriving and vibrant place. Construction is going up everywhere and there is so much to do and see. I wish that we could have stayed longer. ​

I wanted to get a shot of the Denver skyline before we left. Fortunately, one of the photographer bloggers that I follow (Rick Louie) came to the rescue. He emailed me the location where to capture the image above. ​Turns out it was only two blocks from our hotel. Thanks Rick. For those of you who have not seen Rick's work, you can check it out here.

Food Update - We were able to eat at two restaurants that were featured on Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins.

  • ​Sam's No. 3 in Denver. I had the Green Chili Mexi-Burger - a grilled burger inside a flour tortilla smothered in pork green chili sauce and melted cheddar cheese. If you like green chiles and burgers, this dish is for you although I am sure it contained about 50,000 calories.
  • Steuben's in Denver. ​Greg and I had to try the lobster roll being New Englanders. We were curious how a place in Colorado would stack up. Turns out that Steuben's was up to the challenge. A very healthy serving of lobster coupled with a great tasting mayo made this a winner. 

That is about it for now. We will be staying in Moab until Saturday morning and then we'll head to Boise followed by Portland (rain or shine).​

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God's Sculptures and Road Trip Observations

​Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Got in to Manitou Springs, Colorado late on Monday. The main reason for the stop was to revisit the Garden of the Gods. Since the weather was not promising, we checked into the hotel and got back into the car with hopes of catching a sunset shot there. Unfortunately, the sunset was not to be with the cloud cover. There was one moment when the sun peeked through allowing me to get this shot of the rock formations.​

​We decided to take a breather from the driving and spent Tuesday morning in Manitou Springs. We headed up to Denver where it has been raining ever since. Our plan is to spend time in the city Wednesday before we head on towards Oregon on Thursday.

​Food Update - When I travel, I am always on the lookout for restaurants that have appeared on the Food Network, particularly Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins. Here are a quick review of the places we have eaten.

  • The Bagel Deli in Denver - Awesome Matzah Ball soup. I am not Jewish, but after eating this soup, I wish I was.​  On par with the soup at Flakowitz in Florida and would need a side-by-side taste test to determine a winner. The brisket knish was very good but the texture of the kishke was not to my taste. 
  • Bang! in Denver - Great gumbo served with jalapeño cornbread. Just the right amount of heat. ​
  • Bangkok Kitchen in Maumee (just outside of Toledo)​ - The best Thai food that I have ever eaten. Hastn't been on any Food Network show but should have been.

Road Trip Observations

  • Rest Stops in Ohio are the best I have ever been to. Nebraska has the worst.
  • The speed limits on highways in many western states range from 65–75mph. Why can’t the northeastern states wake up and smell the roses?
  • Drivers in the Mid-West actually get out of the left lane when a faster car is behind them. Try getting drivers on the east coast to do that.
  • I knew that Iowa and Nebraska was flat and open but never realized that there were no trees to be seen – only farmland.
  • I like driving but didn’t realize how much my butt hurts after driving for 10+ hours. Never been a RV guy but the ability to stand up and walk around is now more appealing.
  • It seems to me that tolls are outlawed west of Indiana. They should really be outlawed in all states.
  • Living on the east coast, you can’t drive 15 minutes without being in a traffic jam. I just drove almost 2,000 miles in the last 3 days and I am still waiting to get in one.
  • Does Nebraska have cell phone service? If so, I have yet to use it.

Abstract Spires and Road Trip!

​Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado

I just finished the second leg of a road trip to Oregon. My son Greg is headed to Oregon to stay with friends for a few months to see if the Pacific Northwest is to become his new home. He was planning to drive across country by himself but I offered to go with him. Friends and family who have travelled with me know that I plan everything in great detail when going on trips. This time, there is no plan other than trying to get west (to the Rockies) as fast as we can and then we will decide where else to go once we get there.

Holy Toledo - We left Connecticut on Saturday morning and ended up in Toledo, Ohio for the night after about 661 miles of driving through 4 states (Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio). We hopped in the car on Sunday morning, drove 688 miles through another 4 states (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska) and ended up in Omaha, Nebraska. As I write this, our plan is to make it to Manitou Springs, Colorado late on Monday (a mere 612 miles) and maybe stay in the Denver area for a couple of nights and try to get some rest. The weather in Oregon looks pretty awful (lots of rainy days) toward the end of the week so I don’t know where we will be after Denver. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I haven’t been to the Denver area in a while and I thought I would post this image that I took last time I was there. It is the Air Force Chapel in Colorado Springs. This image was the first HDR image that I ever processed. Looking at the original HDR image now, it has all of the problems that you would expect from a first one – over-processed, lots of ghosting, too much grunge and radioactive colors. For this version, I took one of the brackets and processed it as I normally do. Much better result this time around (although I liked the HDR version when I first processed it).

Not sure how often I will be posting the rest of the week but I will try to get a few up as we move on west.