Rugged Beauty - Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Door Trail, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

This is a sunrise view (looking west) of the most easternmost section of "The Wall" in Badlands National Park. If I turned around, there would be nothing to block the sun as it peeks above the horizon. I had scouted out the location online, but this was my first visit, so I didn't know what to expect. I knew it was at the end of the Door Trail, and everything I read said it wasn't an overly long or strenuous hike. The first surprise when I got there was that there were no cars in the big parking lot. The second surprise was that the trail was actually a wooden boardwalk that was located just behind the formations in this image (the trail ended just to the right of this formation). The last and best surprise was that there was only one other person there the whole time I was shooting. I couldn't think of a better way to start my visit to Badlands.

Door Trail, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

One of the things I am going to try in 2015 is to play around with presets. For those of you who don't know what presets are, they are pre-arranged editing settings that come with different editing software. Presets can also be purchased (some can be found for free). Some people think that they simply apply a preset and you are done, but in my experience, they are just a starting point that needs to be tailored to the specific photo. In this case, I started with OnOne Perfect Effects preset named "Tarnished Bronze" and fine-tuned it to this end result.

Causeway to Sarasota - Bird Key Point, Sarasota, Florida

Our stay in Florida this winter included a few days in Sarasota. I had never been there and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As usual, as my wife and friends were sleeping, I would sneak out before dawn to capture the sunrise before meeting them for breakfast. One morning, I headed onto the causeway toward Bird Key. After parking on one side of the John Ringling Causeway Bridge, I went out exploring and found this cool little park on the other side of the bridge. I was intrigued by the palm tree shadows on the bridge with the city of Sarasota off in the background.  

Lost Hat - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Nymph Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

If you look closely at the bottom of this photo, you might notice a strange looking lily pad. The reason that it looks strange is because it is not a lily pad, but rather my hat. I was on a hike up to shoot Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. About halfway to Dream Lake, the weather turned south with rain and winds. By the time I got to Dream Lake, it was a downpour. It had been a bad day anyway as my tripod head got damaged, so I decided to take my losses and head back to the car. On the way back down, the weather cleared up a b,it so I stopped at Nymph Lake to take a couple of shots. A gust of wind came and there went my hat in the lake. Of course it was out of reach. I waited about an hour for it to move, but the wind had totally died. I headed back to my car and reported the lost hat (it was an expensive Tilley hat) knowing that I would never see it again. Heading back into town, I found a store and purchased the identical hat for the rest of my trip. 

I thought that it would be a funny story along with this photo of my hat floating in the lake. I was wrong. I was home about a month and I got a text from someone in Arizona. He had found my hat (it had my phone number inside it) and he was willing to mail it back to me as long as I paid the postage. Now I have a backup hat (just like a backup camera) in case I lose the new one.

Maligne Lake Beauty - Jasper National Park, Alberta

One of the most scenic spots in Jasper National Park is a visit to Spirit Island on Maligne Lake. The easiest way to get to the island is by a 90-minute round trip boat ride that allows for about a 20-minute stay near the island. Unfortunately, these boat tours don't run during the best time of day--to get the golden hour light, you must rent a boat. They do have photographer tours that unfortunately weren't running when I visited the lake. Regardless of the time of day you go, the surrounding scenery is amazing. This is one of the many shots I took on the way to the island.

Flower Textures - Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

You would think that being a photographer as long as I have and being fairly decent at editing photographs, I would have used textures before in my editing. The reality is that this is the first photograph that I have ever used one on. I always thought of doing it and knew that it was quite easy to do, but never got around to it. While attending Denise Ippolito's flower workshop a couple of weeks ago, I saw the terrific results that she got applying textures, so I decided to try it now instead of the future. I really like the result and hope that you do too.

Red Sky Over Gold Beach - Oregon

Myers Creek, Gold Beach, Oregon

The Oregon Coast is one of my favorite coastlines to photograph. It stretches 363 miles from the Columbia River to the California state line. The coast has many spectacular scenes that feature long beaches, rugged sea stacks and formations, lighthouses and great clouds. If I had to pick one spot along the coast to photograph, the beach near Myers Creek in Gold Beach would be the one. Not only does  Gold Beach host one of my favorite inns (Tu Tu Tin Lodge), it also is the terminus of the 215-mile long Rogue River. This, along with scenes like this one, make the long drive from Portland so worth the trip. This shot was taken near sunset which, in my opinion, is the best time to photograph there. If you visit the Oregon Coast, try to fit in a visit here.

Aspen Sunset - Telluride, Colorado

I will close the week out here on the blog with a short trip to Colorado during foliage season. This was my first day in the Telluride area, and I got this first-hand look at what I would be experiencing over the next few days. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but, looking at this great sunset light on the aspens, who cared? Typically, I love to have a great deal of clouds to add interest to a blue sky. Instead, I composed this photo to minimize the sky and give the viewer all of this glorious landscape to feast their eyes on. After spending over twenty years in New England, it was great to see foliage in a different part of the country.

Backside - Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

On Monday, I posted a photo of a Himalayan Blue Poppy from Longwood Gardens as part of my participation in Denise Ippolito's workshop. For those of you who haven't seen her amazing work, check her out at her website, A Creative Adventure. I have been on quite a few of her workshops and I always learn something new. She is one of the most creative photographers that I know and has become a good friend. 

In any case, I thought I would post the backside (see Denise, I was paying attention) of a Himalayan Blue Poppy for something a bit different.

Tranquility on Two Jack Lake - Banff National Park, Alberta

Persistence is sometimes a requirement in photography. Many times the weather doesn't cooperate when you want a certain subject, and it requires you to revisit the location. That works out well if you live close by, but when you live thousands of miles away, not so much. Last June, I wanted to get a sunrise shot at Two Jack Lake with Mount Rundle reflected in it. I think we visited it every morning, hoping to get "the" shot. On my last morning in Banff, I hopped in my car to head up to Jasper National Park for a few days before flying home. On a whim, I took a detour to Two Jack Lake and this was what was waiting for me. Perseverance and determination does pay off. 

Sailboat School - St Petersburg, Florida

St Petersburg Sailing Center, St Petersburg, Florida

When I was in St Petersburg last month, I went out before dawn and walked down the waterfront to shoot the very unusual looking Dali Museum. As I was shooting the museum, I heard a lot of noise off in the distance that was unusual for that time in the morning. As I finished up, I started back up the waterfront and the noise got louder and louder. It sounded like quite a crowd somewhere. As I turned a bend in the road, I discovered what all the racket was about. Turns out that there is a sailing school for youngsters in downtown St Pete. It was pretty amazing to see over a hundred sailboats on the water going in all different directions and crashing into one another. Sort of reminded me of a first year kids soccer game. The kids looked to be young teenagers and they were having a great time. The light was terrific, and I shot quite a few shots while enjoying their antics. Topped off a great morning sunrise.

Himalayan Blue Poppy - Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania

Every year I try to start shooting something a little outside of my comfort zone. Last year it was black and white photography, and this year I decided on macro work. What prettier subject to shoot than flowers. Now I am sure that I could play around and teach myself to do this properly, but I am a believer in learning from the best. When I saw that my friend, Denise Ippolito, was conducting a workshop, I signed up immediately. Denise is a master flower photographer (as well as birds and anything else she shoots), and I was hoping that some of her expertise and creativity would rub off on me.

The first thing I learned was that flower photography isn't as easy as it looks. I had to focus manually for the first time in a while. I also had to contend with movement in the flowers, as even the slightest breeze is magnified when shooting macros. It was also the first time shooting with my Fuji XT-1 with the 60mm (90mm equivalent) macro lens. I must say that the focus peeking on the XT-1 made manual focus a breeze, and I was quite pleased with the performance of the lens.

This photo of the Himalayan Blue Poppy was taken at Longwood Gardens. These flowers are not found much outside of the Himalayans, and the display at Longwood Gardens is a huge attraction for flower lovers.  I am quite pleased with the results on this photo, as I had to push the ISO to 800 to compensate for the flower movement caused by people walking by the display.

Camden Harbor Overlook - Camden, Maine

View from Camden Hills State Park, Camden, Maine

When one thinks of Maine, thoughts of rugged coastlines, lighthouses, shipbuilding and lobsters come to mind. Spend a little more time there and you realize that there is much more than that to enjoy. I am speaking of the little towns that can be found all along the almost 3,500 miles of coastline. You read that right. Maine’s coastline is actually longer than California. Each town has its own personality. My favorite little town is Camden. Located about halfway between Portland and Acadia National Park, it has some great shops, restaurants and art galleries. Its small harbor is a place where you can hop on a boat and explore the local lighthouses or sail along the Maine coast. This photo shows the view from Camden Hills State Park, where you can overlook the town and its harbor.

Painted Horse - Granby, Connecticut

I have posted a number of images that were taken for my involvement with the Photofrontier’s WE35 Project. The project involves 35 photographers (“scientists”) who conduct research shooting at the 35mm field of view. Being limited in the project to one lens and focal length will help me in the future. One result that was unexpected was finding subjects around Connecticut that were previously unknown to me.

Like a lot of photographers, we sometimes think that the only subjects to shoot are far from home. In my case, the mountains of the western United States call out to me, and, since there are no real mountains close by, I don’t shoot as often as I should locally. February’s project forced me to explore my local area and find things to shoot in my everyday life. Knowing that I had a deadline forced me to explore places with my camera that I hadn’t before. For example, I probably passed this painted horse many times, but never noticed it before. As soon as I saw it, I had to grab its photo. That taught me a great lesson to explore more with photography in mind, even if there are no large mountains or landscapes near by. 

Yellowstone Reflections - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yellowstone is so big (3,472 square miles) that it is almost impossible to see the whole park in just a few days. Unfortunately, that was all of the time that I had to spend there. My plan of attack was to stay at different hotels in the park so I wasn’t in the car driving too much. After spending my first two nights at Yellowstone Lake Lodge on the east side of the park, I headed to my second destination, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, in the northwest corner. Heading out before dawn, I planned to stop at the Old Faithful Geyser to explore the area. I knew that a storm was heading toward the area, so I was hoping to get to Old Faithful before the rain. Just about halfway, I spotted this scene off to my right, and I knew that I had to stop to catch the great light and reflection. I don’t know the name of this pond, but I am glad I stopped.

Is That Flipper? - Pine Island Sound, Sanibel, Florida

Our weeklong stay in Sanibel last month was a well-deserved and relaxing escape from the New England winter. One of the coolest things that we did was to take a boat trip on the Sanibel Thriller. We probably would have missed this adventure if it were not for TripAdvisor, who had it as the number one attraction on Sanibel Island. The boat itself is a fifty-five foot super-catamaran, and two 440 horsepower engines power it. If memory serves me right, it reaches a speed of 40 miles per hour, which allows the boat to fully circle Sanibel and Captiva Islands. The most exciting part of the trip is when the captain spots dolphins, slows down, and maneuvers the boat in a way that has lots of them following alongside the boat. It was quite difficult photographing these beautiful mammals, as you don’t know when and where they would surface. It happens so quickly that I started to manually focus on a spot where I thought they would jump out of the water, and pray that, when they did, they would be in focus. As you can see from this shot, I got this guy near the top of his jump.

Last Dollar Road Vista - Telluride, Colorado

It always amazes me how the same subjects can look so different from changing one’s viewpoint. After spending a few days shooting around Wilson Peak from down on the mesa, we headed up Last Dollar Trail to get a view of the peak and the surrounding area. It was quite cold and windy, but the view was amazing. The early morning sun lit up this beautiful vista, creating terrific light and shadow play on all of the undulations of the geology of the area. While most of the foliage of the mesa was not near peak, the road up to our viewing spot was lined with some already peak aspen color.

Lightkeeper's Home - Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Bristol, Maine

We are back to my favorite lighthouse on the Maine Coast on the blog today. The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is one of those lighthouses that give you a lot of different looks, depending on what angle that you shoot it from. From the rocks, you can get some amazing shots depending on which side of the lighthouse you are. From above, you get all kind of different angles of the light and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. For this image, the lighthouse takes a backseat, and I wanted to make the lightkeeper's home the main subject. I haven't seen many shots taken from this angle and I was trying to convey more than just the light. Hopefully, I succeeded.

Abandoned - Guilford, Connecticut

Grass Island, Guilford, Connecticut

I spend a lot of time looking at other photographer's work for inspiration and to discover new locations. Sometimes you see a photo that jogs your memory and you say to yourself, I shot there a long time ago. This is where Lightroom comes in handy. Within minutes, I had this photo on my screen and found that I shot it in 2008. As the story goes, this was a summer cottage that once burned down, was rebuilt, and then moved to higher ground. The owners ultimately donated it, along with the land, to the town of Guilford. I think it is still there, but I don't know what shape it is in. Maybe I will hop in the car and drive the 75 minutes one day to check it out.

The Road to the Tetons - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Potholes Turnout, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

I had just finished up my first Grand Teton tour with Jeff Clow (if you are looking for a great tour there, check his tour out - he literally wrote the book on photographing the Tetons) and was headed to Yellowstone National Park for a few days on my own. I got up before dawn and headed north via Teton Park Road. As most serious photographers do, I was constantly looking around for compositions and noticed this scene in my rear view mirror. Before Jeff's tour I might not have noticed this scene, but he is a master of road shots and I was extra aware of them. Time to find somewhere to pull over. Fortunately, the Potholes Turnout was just ahead and I was able to snag this shot.

Eyeball to Eyeball - Sanibel, Florida

Sanibel Fishing Pier, Sanibel, Florida

For those of you who have shot with me or have followed me for a while, you rarely see me shooting wildlife, especially birds. Don't get me wrong, if it is there, I will take a couple of shots. Since I don't carry those long heavy lenses that you need to get a proper bird shot, it has been hit or miss (mostly miss) for me. Last month, while I was in Sanibel, we headed out to the fishing pier. As I walked down the pier, I noticed this snowy egret simply staring at me, eyeball to eyeball. I figured that I would give it a try, but I wasn't close enough and moved closer. The bird didn't budge at all. Pressing my luck, I inched closer and got this shot. Even after I was done shooting, it stayed there just looking at me. I decided that he would win the stare down and walked away. Not too bad for a landscape photographer.