This scene has been attracting visitors and photographers to the Grand Tetons forever. The Tetons are beautiful from almost any view, but Oxbow Bend is my favorite. The oxbow shape is formed by the Snake River as it meanders from Jackson Lake past Rockchuck Peak, Mount Woodring and Mount Moran. You can find people there all day and it is especially crowded at sunrise with photographers. I have shot this scene many times and you might wonder why. The quick answer is that you never know what you might see with respect to light and clouds. For example, I almost didn't get out of bed to shoot here, as it was raining when the alarm went off. But I was only 5 minutes away and thought that maybe I would be lucky. By the time I set up, the rain had stopped and I had great clouds. I didn't think that I would see any sunrise light, but I was thankfully wrong, as you can see.
Light at the End of the Pier - Venice, Florida
A #WE35 Photo shot as part of the Photo Frontier's 2015 exploration of the 35mm field of view.
The first morning of our trip to Florida to escape the winter found me in Venice, Florida. Wasn't planned that way, but the first of many major snow storms was scheduled to hit on the day we were flying from Connecticut. A three-hour long wait time on the phone (seems like everyone in the northeast was doing the same thing as me) proved to be worth it, as I was able to get out of town a day early. Where to stay was the only thing up in the air. I picked Venice, as a friend of mine had told me it was a nice place. Just before I headed out of town, I did an image search and saw that there was a fishing pier that might be worth a pre-dawn visit.
Anxious to start a field report for the WE35, I was equipped with my Fuji 23mm (35mm equivalent) and my XT-1. After setting up and taking a few test shots, I realized that I had to zoom with my feet instead of with a zoom lens. I wasn't sure if the light would even appear under the pier, but I figured it was worth a try. A little patience paid off as the light began to shine through the top of the pier. I decided to shoot long exposures, as I didn't want the waves distracting from the light at the end of the pier.
The Balcony - Newport, Rhode Island
This is an image that I shot quite a few years ago when I visited Newport. It is the balcony of the Breakers, which is the biggest of the mansions along Cliff Walk. The mansion boasts 125,000 square feet of space ("only" 62,500 square feet of living area), and was used by the Vanderbilt family as a summer cottage. Unfortunately, photography of any kind is prohibited and is strictly enforced (I dared to shoot a photo looking out a window and was told politely to stop (I did). The only place where photography is allowed is outside on this balcony.
This has always been one of my favorites, but I thought it needed a facelift as my editing and software programs have improved quite a bit since I first edited it. So here is the "new and improved" (at least I hope) version.
Iconic Barn - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Is this the most photographed barn in the world? Do a search on the internet and you will see that many believe it is. I suspect that this barn has been shot from every angle possible and that there are not any new compositions left. If that is what I believe, why shoot it? The answer is simple. It is a gorgeous scene when the sunrise light hits the front of the barn for about five minutes. To me that glow is worth shooting. There is another reason to shoot it and that has to do with weather, clouds and light. No one day is identical to another. When you get up before dawn, you almost never know what conditions you will experience once on location (I wish I could get paid for being wrong as many times as weather forecasters are). Great clouds? Low hanging fog? Will the sunrise reach the barn? Who knows for sure, but you will find me shooting this iconic barn later this year.
Ride on the Open Air Elevated - Lake Buena Vista, Florida
I am sure some of you might recognize where I shot this subject. No, it is not a nighttime exposure from a dark street. It is, in fact, taken from a moving movie ride in Disney World's Hollywood Studios. The folks at Disney pay great attention to details that really make you feel that you are somewhere else. This is the case almost anywhere you go in the parks, and is even more so in the various different countries in Epcot. Maybe that is one of the reasons that travelers flock to Disney year round. In any case, they have designed terrific subjects for photographers to shoot.
Fall in the Rockies - Aspen, Colorado
There are iconic places that are just magnets for photographers. Some of them are year round challenges such as Mesa Arch in Arches National Park, where maybe 15 people can fit to get "the" shot. Maroon Bells, pictured here, is another, especially during foliage season. The number of people that can shoot there at one time is much greater than Mesa Arch, but to secure a spot, you have to get there really early. For this shot, we left the hotel at 3:30am, and that got us to Maroon Bells about two hours before sunrise. Even with this early start, there were still plenty of people there already set up. The good news was that we still had some really good spots to shoot from. As the time passed, the lakeshore was lined up with photographers, probably numbering in excess of 200. It is quite the scene. Tripod legs are positioned in such a way that if you try to move, you might knock over someone else's camera into the water.
I normally work the scene, shooting from different locations by scurrying from place to place to get different angles. After all, the great light in most cases only last about 10-15 minutes. That wasn't going to happen on this shoot. Instead, I played around with different focal lengths, aperture settings, camera heights and orientation. Even shooting with a wide-angle lens was challenging, as all of the photographers on either side of me would be in the photo. On this portrait orientation, I wanted to get the rock in the foreground to anchor the scene. Do I wish that I was the only one there along with my friends? Sure, but I am sure that everyone else there was thinking the same thing. The subject, light and fall foliage was still worth the experience.
Desert Beauty - Moab, Utah
Just north of Moab, there is a turnoff that takes you along the Colorado River for 44 miles. The road is known as River Road, Route 128, or the Colorado River Scenic Byway. Regardless of its name, the scenery along it is simply outstanding. Passing such iconic places such as Fisher Towers, Castle Valley and Professor Valley, it is truly the American Southwest. There are wonderful ranches also along the way as well as a few great places to stay. Sunrises and sunsets give very unique looks to the landscapes. Being a north to south route, one side has spectacular light in the mornings with an equal amount of light bathing the other side in the evenings.
This particular panorama was taken one morning on a cloudless day. My shooting companion, Michael Louthan, and I left the group and began to hike up the trail you see to the left. As we got a bit higher, I knew it was time to shoot a panorama to show the ruggedness and colors of the landscape.
Glass Planets - St. Petersburg, FL
On my recent three-week trip to Florida, one of the stops we made was in St Petersburg. I had never been there and I really enjoyed the city. One of the days, we had rain (can't complain too much given the terrible winter we were missing), so we decided to visit the local art museum that was featuring Chihuly glass. I had never heard of Chihuly or seen his work, but my friend who taught the arts in high school knew his work. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was blown away by the shapes and colors of the glass. Better yet, photographs were permitted of the art.
I shot quite a few of these works of art and was quite pleased with the results. This one was my favorite. It features wonderfully colored glass globes that are to represent planets. I am not sure how the boat plays into the artist's mind, but I thought it was cool. In any case, I highly recommend this exhibit, especially on a rainy day.
Thunder Hole Sunrise - Acadia National Park, Maine
This past fall, I spent a little over two weeks living and breathing photography. My travels took me from my home in Connecticut to Colorado to New York City to Maine before I headed home. Almost every day, I was up well before dawn and shot though sunset. Lots of shooting time and not lots of sleep. I met many long-time online friends in person for the first time and we had a blast. But, of course, all good things must come to an end, and this photo was taken on the last day of our trip. We were treated to a great goodbye by Mother Nature with some great light before the clouds overtook the sun. By the afternoon, everyone was either on the road or on a plane to all parts of the country. Can't wait until we do this again in the future.
La Sal View - Moab, Utah
I have visited Moab quite the number of times over the years. I am attracted by the colors of the American Southwest and the diversity of its rock formations. Moab is a great home base for viewing numerous attractions, from Arches National Park (one of my favorites) to the Colorado River Scenic Byway, to Dead Horse State Park (one of the most iconic views of the southwest) and the vastness of Canyonlands National Park. You would think that I have seen it all, but, when I took a photo tour with my buddy Jeff Clow, he showed me another side of Moab.
When you are in the Moab area, you always seem to have the LaSal Mountain range as a backdrop. Until the tour, I had never ventured into the mountains themselves to explore. This shot was taken during our explorations last March and shows that desert is not the only thing within a short driving distance of Moab. I thought I would post this image today, as Jeff is off with two other groups soon that I couldn't make. I will be with them in spirit.
Blue Morning - Glacier National Park, Montana
Sometimes Mother Nature has different plans for photographers that end up being better than they imagined. I had visions of getting up well before dawn to drive from Kalispell to Lake McDonald for a glorious sunrise. That is my most favorite time of day, not only for the great light, but also for the lack of people. On the almost hour drive to the lake, we encountered lots of low clouds and periods of drizzle.
Upon arrival to the lake, our group was looking at this scene that was quite different than the golden light I had hoped for. Instead, we had these low-hanging clouds along with these unbelievable blue tones (yes, this was the color that we saw). This anchored boat was the only one visible on the lake and made a great subject. So instead of an image that had those golden tones that come mostly every clear day, I ended up with one that had these great blue tones that happen only once in a while.
Dali in the Morning - St Petersburg, Florida
The Southwest Florida coastline was uncharted territory for us (I traveled to some places for business but never had time to explore), so when we decided to spend three weeks in Florida, we thought we would experience it for the first time. One of the places we stayed was in the city of St. Petersburg. For some reason, I thought the city bordered on the coast and was surprised that it actually lies on Tampa Bay. We stayed at a bed and breakfast a few blocks from the waterfront, so I had easy access on the first morning I was there. Heading out before dawn, I walked down to the Dali Museum. As you would expect, the building is unusually designed, making it a great subject. The best compositions are from the north side, so that is where I spent the bulk of my time. For this shot, I decided to go behind the museum and shoot out toward Tampa Bay and the palm trees. I really liked how the glass on the museum created some great reflections. I was limited to my 23mm lens (35mm equivalent) as part of my Field Report for the PhotoFrontier's WE35 project.
Venice Fishing Pier - Venice, Florida
Earlier this week, I posted a shot of the Venice Fishing Pier from the beach. I had never been to the pier before and got there before dawn. It was quite easy to get to the beach and I was able to shoot it from both the sides and from under the pier. As I was shooting, there were only a couple of fisherman on the pier, so I decided that, after I was done, I would head onto the pier and take advantage of the lack of people. Easier said then done. It is a bit confusing to get to the pier, as it seems that you have to go through a restaurant (that wasn't open) to get to it. After walking around the place, I spotted a couple of back "door" openings that I took advantage of. Not knowing if I was trespassing or needed to pay a fee (I found out later that both were okay), I came to this sign telling me that I reached my goal. Framing the sign was challenging, as my 23mm lens (35mm equivalent) was just wide enough as I couldn't back up any further. I was happy to include this in my Field Report for the PhotoFrontier's WE35 project.
Southwest Florida Beauty - Siesta Key, Florida
I have always heard that Florida beaches claimed to be some of the best in America. In fact, Siesta Beach on Siesta Key just outside of Sarasota was named the number one beach in America. Of course, with that claim, I had to check it out. I am not a big beach aficionado but I must concur that it is a beautiful beach. We were going to do a little swimming during our three weeks in Florida, but the weather was quite cold for Florida (I was not complaining, as Connecticut was being pounded by snowstorms) and we did not swim at all. We did do a lot of beachcombing though. We started out at the abandoned fishing pier shown in this image and walked the beach for quite a long time. While there were quite a few sailboats out on the Gulf of Mexico, I decided to compose the pier with one sailboat showing the serenity and beauty of the southwest Florida coastline. Shooting with only a 23mm lens (35mm equivalent) as part of my Field Report for the PhotoFrontier's WE35 project made isolating the one sailboat a little challenge, but patience proved to be a virtue.
Step Right Up - Sarasota, Florida
One of the places we had targeted to visit on our trip to Sarasota was the Ringling Museum. While none of us were big circus fans, the museum tops the list of places to visit in Sarasota. After spending the better part of a day there, I can wholeheartedly recommend the museum. One of my favorite (and most popular) displays was the miniature replica of the Ringling Circus circa 1920s. I know what you are thinking, what is so great about a miniature circus? The answer is with the size and breadth of it. It was created by Howard Tibbals, who started work on it in 1956. It took him 18 years to complete it (and a year to set it up at the museum). It consists of over 42,000 items with a ¾-inch-to-the-foot scale. Strangely enough, Ringling did not give Tibbals permission to use the Ringling name, so he called it the Howard Brothers Circus.
Shooting this was quite the challenge. The model is encased in glass, so reflections became a big problem. Not only that, visitors can walk the length (and it is long) on either side, so getting a composition without people on the other side of the replica was difficult. Finally, I was continuing my shooting with a 23mm lens (35mm equivalent) for the PhotoFrontier's WE35 project. I was expecting none of my shots to come out, but a few did, and this one really caught my eye.
First Morning in Warm Weather - Venice, Florida
I am back from my three weeks in sunny Florida, and I wish I had stayed there a couple of more weeks! I haven't posted any of my Florida photos yet, so I will be posting a few over the next two weeks. This was a photo that I hadn't planned on taking, as I had no plans to stay in Venice on my trip. I can thank the winter storm that threatened to cancel our flight. We were scheduled to land in Tampa and then head on to Sarasota. We decided to get out of town a day early and it was impossible to get to Tampa, so we ended up flying into Fort Myers. I decided to stay overnight in Venice, as a friend of mine had mentioned that it was a nice place. A quick scouting of the area indicated that shooting the fishing pier was a prime choice, so off I went the next day before dawn.
Being on the west coast of Florida, I didn't know what time the light would hit the pier and at what angle. I also chose to only bring my Fuji 23mm lens (35mm equivalent) as part of my Field Report for the PhotoFrontier's WE35 project. In other words, a lot of uncertainty before I headed out. My worries proved to be unfounded, as the light hit the pier perfectly, and, after doing a lot of zooming with my feet, I shot from a lot of angles. It was a windy day, and I decided to shoot some long exposures to smooth the water and have the flag blurred by the wind. A great start to the trip.
Waves - York, Maine
A quick post and run today. When the NxNW crew headed to Maine to shoot Nubble Light, the weather and rain made shooting the lighthouse quite the challenge, being that I have shot the light many times, I focused on shooting long exposure shots of the ocean flowing onto the rocks along the coastline.
Street Art - Union Square, San Francisco
Nothing beats walking around the city by the bay and looking for photo opportunities. Even on early mornings when the weather doesn't cooperate, subjects seem to attract my attention. We had visited Union Square the night before, and the place was packed with people taking in a free concert. The light was great and the mood was festive. I figured I would head out before dawn and shoot the area. There was no sunrise due to the overcast skies and drizzle. Union Square was deserted, especially when compared to the night before. I spotted this cool piece of art and shot a few shots of it.
Three Sisters - Canmore, Alberta
If shooting all week in Banff National Park and the Icefields Parkway wasn't enough, we headed down south of Banff Townsite to Canmore. Looking to find a decent view of the Three Sisters, no roads were spared in our search. Roads that looked promising turned out to be dead ends as far as views. The we turned onto a road that didn't look promising, and we ended up not only in a trailer park, but also with this view. Proves that exploring, no matter what the prospects start out to be, might end up with a treasure.
I Want This House - Newport, Rhode Island
Headed home to Connecticut today after three weeks in the warm Florida sun. Weather forecast for when we land is 11 degrees, about 65 degrees colder than when we board our flight. I know those we left behind in New England have been suffering through one of the worst winters in a long time. While I am wishing that winter would be over once we land, I figured I might as well go for it and wish that this home located on Newport's Cliff Walk was mine.