Athabasca Falls - Jasper National Park, Alberta

The Icefields Parkway had been written about as one of National Geographic's top scenic drives in the world. Running 143 miles from a little north of Lake Louise to the town of Jasper, it is a road full of "wows". The Canadian Rockies tower over it with pristine glacier lakes almost everywhere. While there are not a lot of easily accessible waterfalls on the parkway, there are a couple close to Jasper that certainly measure up to the high landscape standards of the Parkway. 

The most accessible waterfall is this one, Athabasca Falls, less than twenty miles from Jasper. While not the tallest waterfall in the Canadian Rockies, it makes up for it with the force of the water. The Athabasca River feeds into the falls, making it a Class 5 waterfall. There are plenty of angles to shoot the falls from, but I like this one the best, allowing for a view of the river upstream with the towering Mount Kerkeslin making a wonderful backdrop.

Fishing Shack - Rockport, Massachusetts

Is this the most photographed fishing shack in the world? Many in New England believe that is the case. Maybe that is the case, but the shack has an unique name, Motif No. 1, that was given to it in the 1920's by an art teacher who thought it was the most painted fishing shack in the America. He came to that conclusion as his students over the years would repeatedly draw or paint the shack and exclaim in exasperation, "What? Motif No 1 again!"

The fishing shack is located In the small town of Rockport, Massachusetts on Bradley Wharf. The original shack was destroyed by the blizzard of 1978 when it was swept into Rockport Harbor. Motif No. 1 was rebuilt within a year. The fishing shack has even been commemorated on a postage stamp.

Tenaya Lake Beauty - Tioga Road, Yosemite National Park, California

While Yosemite Valley attracts the most visitors to this National Park, Tioga Road has quite the number of attractions spaced further apart. The old gold rush quote, "There's gold in them thar hills," might be an apt description. Mike Louthan and I spent a few days in Yosemite before heading to Lee Vining to join Jeff Clow's Mono Lake Photo Tour. One of our great friends, Bobby Strader, was getting in and we asked him if he wanted us to pick him up in town and head to Tioga Road. 

We had great late afternoon light and we ended up spending some significant time at Tenaya Lake, pictured here. The opposing granite rock formations Polly Dome (left), Medlicott Dome (center) and Tenaya Peak (right) began to take on a golden glow as we stood along the dark lakeshore. It was a very nice beginning to our Mono Lake adventures and gave Bobby his first glimpse of Yosemite. 

 

Reeds and Color - Eagle Lake, Acadia National Park, Maine

New England Fall foliage is renowned for its great colors and attracts visitors from all over the US. The challenge is trying to time your trip. The peak of the foliage is very unpredictable as many factors contribute to when it occurs. Being a New Englander for twenty five years, I have seen it as early as late September and as late as mid-November. Complicating the challenge is that most of the hotels are sold out well in advance so booking a trip is akin to a crapshoot. What affects the timing of foliage? Weather condition is the main determinant of the timing and the intensity of color with temperature and moisture being the most important factors. Is there a way to time it? Yes, but it means moving to New England so you can drive to catch the peak season. This photo, taken in mid-October in Maine, was on a photo tour that I co-hosted with Jeff Clow. We were extremely lucky to be there when the peak foliage in Maine happened. 

 

 

Feeling Spiritual - Jasper National Park, Alberta

Ever visit a location that you fall in love with, even though on your visits there, you get only twenty minutes to shoot? Well, I wouldn't have though so but Spirit Island did that for me. Located on Maligne Lake in Jasper NP, once you see it, you realize that it is aptly named. There is something very spiritual about this tiny island that is surrounded by the majestic Rocky Mountains towering above it. 

Why have I got only twenty minutes per visit there? The answer is simple, it's not easy to get there. The island (it is only an island for part of the year) is about two and a half miles from the docks at Maligne Lake. That's right, the only way to get there is by boat and, if you rent a kayak, it would take your four hours to paddle there and another four to get back to the dock. There are no roads or trails that lead there. The only option is to take a boat tour to it that allows you twenty minutes at the island. The boat tour, all by itself, is pretty awesome. The good news is that the tour company announced longer tours for 2017 so I am hoping to take advantage of that on my visit there next year.

Ocean View - Coquille Point, Bandon, Oregon

The Oregon Coast stretches along the Pacific Ocean for 363 miles and there are some amazing places to visit and photograph. One of my favorite places on the coast is the town of Bandon on the southern part of the coast. If you are driving on the coastal highway (Route 101) though this bedroom community, you might miss one of the must see seascapes in Oregon. The gem is Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint, where there are some of the most amazing sea stacks that you will find anywhere. After visiting there, you might be tempted to be on your way. Don't. A few miles down the road, there is another spot you need to see -- The Coquille Point Interpretive Trail.

At the southern end of the trail there is a parking lot that leads to a big decision: do you take the trail or climb down the well-built stairs to the beach. My recommendation is to do both. The trail weaves parallel to the coast with beautiful cliff-top grass on either side of the trail. You can walk out to the edge of each outcrop and look down on superb rock formations and beach. This photo was taken from one of the overlooks. The trail is a little over a mile long and my advice is to descend to the beach and walk among the rock formations on your way back to the parking lot.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse - Newport, Oregon

The Oregon Coast measures 363 miles and is some of the most beautiful in the US with its magnificent sea stacks, beaches and rocky promenades. One thing that has always surprised me about it was the relatively low number of lighthouses that are located on the coast. I have also wondered about the lack of cities along the coast. I am sure there are lots of reasons that make that so, but I found out one reason from a local on my recent trip there. It seems that the Pacific Ocean waters are not very deep close to the shoreline, making it very dangerous for large shipping vessels to dock there.

That being said, there are still some gorgeous lighthouses that are found on the coast. One of my favorites is this one,Yaquina Head Light. The lighthouse is the tallest in Oregon, measuring 93 feet tall and is located north of Newport on Yaquina Head. On the morning that I captured this image, I literally had the whole place to myself. I couldn't believe it, as Newport is one of the more populated parts of the Oregon Coast. I wasn't complaining, as the early morning sun bathed the lighthouse and the wild grasses with golden light.  

Mono Beauty - Mono Lake, Lee Vining, California

Visiting Mono Lake is a unique experience, especially when in the South Tufa area of the lake. Mono Lake is 65 square miles in area, has no outlet and is one of the oldest lakes in North America with an estimated age of over a million years. Over this period of time, salts and minerals have seeped into the lake from melting snow and the resulting fresh water streams. The freshwater eventually evaporates, leaving behind the salt and minerals that have made the lake very alkaline. The lake is more than twice as salty as the ocean. The interaction between the alkaline and freshwater created the tufa columns at the bottom of the lake. Over time, as the level of the lake decreased, the tufa columns became visible in some potions of the lake. This phenomenon has made for a great photogenic subject, as can be seen in this photo.

Happy Halloween - Manhattan, New York

Halloween. Chances for children to dress up as their favorite ghoul or superhero and collect lots of candy from their neighbors. Although it  has been countless years since I walked around my hometown looking for treasures, I still fondly remember the fun I had way back then. I am pretty sure that Halloween these days is much different than I remember. Just think if we had smart phones back then. The homes that were handing out the best candy would be inundated with kids ringing their doorbells. Those handing out the worst candy might have been tricked. It is hard for me to relate, as for the past 15 years, we have had less than ten “trick or treaters” visit our house due to its location. I sort of miss the interaction with the young kids dressed up, although I wouldn’t miss the barking of our ferocious watchdog, Jack the Miniature Schnauzer.

I have never posted a Halloween photo before, but as I was looking through my Lightroom catalogue, I found this old photo that I shot in Manhattan about ten years ago and decided to post the first one. To all of the kids out there, have fun and be safe. 

Above the Valley - Yosemite National Park, California

Carved by glaciers over millions of years, Yosemite Valley attracts visitors from around the world for its unparalleled beauty and grandeur. The oldest of the rocks in the valley are 114 million years old and the youngster of the group Half Dome (pictured here) is a mere 87 million years old. The valley itself is approximately 7.5 miles long and up to 5,000 feet deep.  The valley is surrounded by huge granite rock formations and its floor is made up of forest. While Yosemite National Park is much bigger than the valley, visitors flock to the valley because of all of the attractions there. The valley gets the bulk of the over 4 million visitors each year.

There are two locations that give a true glimpse of the valley: Tunnel View and Glacier Point. While Tunnel View gives a ground level view into the valley, the view from Glacier Point, pictured here, does the best job at showcasing it. The best time to capture this view in September is near sunset. The challenge in photographing it is that when the valley and Half Dome are fully lit, the light is rather harsh. To get the great soft light, you have to shoot it closer to sunset because that renders the valley floor dark as the sun sinks below rock formations to the east.  Regardless of the challenges, it is a wonderful scene to watch in person.

Seastack Glory - Cannon Beach, Oregon

Perhaps the best known town on the Oregon coast is Cannon Beach. It is a very popular destination due to being close to Portland (less that two hours) and of course, the famed Haystack Rock. The Haystack towers 235 feet above the  beach and is one of the largest in the world. There are other haystack rocks on the coast, but this one seems to get all of the press. When the tide is out, as it was the morning I took this, you can walk along the beach and get a great reflection of it along with the other two smaller sea stacks. In fact, later in the day, we were able to walk out to it and, if we were allowed to, could climb on it. That is prohibited, of course, due the proliferation of sea life that is abundant on or around it. The Haystack Rock tide pools are home to many animals, including starfish, sea anemone, crabs, chitons, limpets, and sea slugs. The rock is also a nesting site for many sea birds, including terns and puffins.

Spanning the Columbia - Astoria, Oregon

On my recent trip to Oregon, I planned to show my wife and great friends all that it's coast had to offer. In order to do that, one has to start in Astoria. Astoria is the most northern city near the coast and is situated fourteen miles from the mouth of the Columbia River at the Pacific Ocean. The Columbia River acts as the "state line" between Oregon and Washington. Thus, the only way to drive to Washington is via bridges. The Astoria-Megler Bridge is the longest bridge that spans the river. The four mile bridge is, in fact, the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

Three Brothers - Yosemite National Park, California

Last week, I posted an image of El Capitan from Yosemite's Cathedral Beach. Later that morning, Mike Louthan and I walked along the Merced River away from El Capitan. The trail, if you call it that, weaves along the river and offers many glimpses of El Capitan and this one, the Three Brothers. The Three Brothers are east of El Capitan and just opposite of the Cathedral Spires (behind my shoulders). Every twist and turn of the river gave me a different view of the Brothers, but there seemed to be some obstruction that made the composition less than what I wanted. When I got to this spot, I realized that it was going to be the best vantage point if I wanted to capture a reflection. The light was very different from my El Capitan photo as it was a bit more east and the mountains took on a purplish tint.

A little tidbit. The Three Brothers have names. The highest peak is named Eagle Peak, the place that John Muir believed provided the most beautiful view of Yosemite Valley. I'll take his word for it, as I don't think I will ever be atop it. The other two peaks are boringly named the Middle Brother and the Lower Brother.

Emerald Bay Morning - Lake Tahoe, California

There is no doubt that Lake Tahoe is a terrific place to visit and photograph. It had been almost 20 years since I had been there, and back then I wasn't seriously shooting photos. The one thing I remembered was Emerald Bay on the southwest portion of the lake. The bay was created by a glacier that carved a canyon that became submerged by Lake Tahoe's waters over time. The bay's shape is quite apparent in this photo with it's small entrance from the main body of Lake Tahoe.

There are quite a number of vantage points to shoot Emerald Bay from, but my favorite spot was this one high above the bay. This view allows for a great view of the lake coupled with Fannette Island (the only one in Lake Tahoe). My research had indicated that the best time to shoot from this spot was at sunrise and it proved to be right. As the sun began to poke above the opposite shore, the foreground lit up wonderfully. I also decided to take advantage of the sun and create sun rays by shooting with a small aperture.

Bandon Beauty - Bandon, Oregon

On my recent trip to the west coast, we flew into Portland and drove down the Oregon and California coasts down to Big Sur. This was the second time this year I had driven down the Oregon coast and it was a night and day difference. Back in April, Jeff Clow and I scouted the Oregon coast for a possible 2018 photo tour. For ten days, we were rained on, sleeted on and snowed on, not to mention severe winds. If we added up the total time we had sunshine during the full ten days, it might have added up to a day, if that. Fast forward to last month. During our total time on the Oregon coast, we did not have a drop of rain. The good news is that Jeff's 2018 Oregon Coast tour is scheduled for September. The first week has sold out and there are still a few spots open on the second week.

One of the stellar spots on the Oregon coast is Bandon. This is sea stack heaven and you can spend a lot of time walking among the stacks and getting some great shots. Many of the stacks have their own unique names, such as this one: Howling Dog. This stack is so unique, it has a second name, Wizard's Hat, when seen from the north.

Tufas in the Mist - Mono Lake, Lee Vining, California

While the tufas that populate the lakeshore of the southern end of Mono Lake are the primary subjects for photographers, the weather conditions and great light can make the tufas in the lake stand out. I was fortunate to experience these conditions on our second sunrise visit to the lake earlier this month. When we got to the lake, there were clouds present in the sky for one of the few times that week. Even more of a surprise was the low hanging fog / mist that was rising from the lake's surface. The early morning sun added the finishing touch that colored the whole scene in yellow-orange light. All I had to do was pick out the tufas that I wanted to capture and push the shutter button. I chose to contrast the tufas close to me with the tufas in the distance.

Lion's Mane Jellyfish - Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California

My twenty-eight day trip was a combination of vacation with my wife and great friends along with a ten-day photo excursion to Yosemite and the Eastern Sierras. While the vacation was not photo-centric, I was still able to get out a few mornings and get some photos. At the end of our vacation, we were in Monterey and decided to spend a half day in the Monterey Bay Aquarium before we headed to the San Francisco Airport.

I typically don't take many shots in aquariums as they are very dark and crowded,  but do try to sneak in a shot or two. I do admit to having a weakness for jellyfish (Why? I have no idea) and when I saw this tank of Lion's Mane Jellyfish, I knew I was going to capture them. I didn't know anything about this species of jellyfish but here is what I found out. They are the largest species of jellyfish and are found in the cold waters of the Arctic, found in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They get their name after the long tentacles that are supposed to look like a lion's mane (Okay, I don't get it but I am running with it anyway). Their color is said to depend on their size, with the smaller ones  more of a dark purplish color and the larger ones more of a vivid crimson color. Not sure where these measure up on the size range, but they were pretty big.

Still Waters - Lake Sabrina, Bishop, California

On my recent trip to the Eastern Sierras, I was not prepared for so many beautiful mountain lakes that I was going to visit and shoot. I should have anticipated that, as beautiful mountain ranges have their fair share of pristine mountain lakes. One of the things I learned was that this whole area of eastern California is a mecca for fisherman. This particular lake was man-made, created in 1908 by the damming up of the middle fork of Bishop Creek. The lake was named after the wife of C.M. Hobbs, who was the first General Manager of the California Nevada Power Company that built the dam. Regardless of its origin, the lake is a beautiful spot to photograph. A little tidbit is that Apple's newest operating system, High Sierra, has Lake Sabrina as its wallpaper.

When we first got to the lakes, we saw a small marina and walked along the length of the dam to get some decent angles of the lake. The water was quite rough and getting a reflection was almost impossible. As I walked back toward the marina, I noticed Mike Louthan shooting boats in the marina and went to join him. As I was setting up, I heard some voices above me that surprised me as the terrain was a bit rocky. I headed back out and discovered a small, unmarked trail that took the "high road". Walking down the trail, I discovered this scene with an island surrounded by these small boats. The water had become still in this part of the lake and the sun had risen high enough to light up our side of the lake. I heard a noise below me and saw Bobby Strader where I had stood only minutes before. I told him about the trail but, since we were running out of time, he played mountain man and scaled the rocky incline.

Rays of Light - Bodie State Historic Park, Bridgeport, California

One of my main reasons for attending Jeff Clow's Mono Lake Photo Tour (other than hanging out with my best buddy) was to visit and shoot the famous ghost town of Bodie. Over the years, I had seen many photos of the town but never seemed to be able to fit it into my travel plans. Now I can say that I can check it off my bucket list and would have loved to spend more time there. 

Bodie was a bit different than I expected but enjoyable nonetheless. What was different? More non-photographers for one. Trying to photograph a popular spot can be challenging, as many people aren't interested in taking photos and often don't even think about the fact that you have been standing there waiting for the scene to clear so you can photograph it. They have every right to be there as much as we do and, while we wish that they weren't there, we have to learn to be patient (a tough task for me). The second surprise was that many of the structures there were not open and we had to shoot through windows, sometimes through very dirty windows. The added challenge to doing this is that you have to have the lens touching the glass to avoid reflections (I have a gadget that fixes this problem but I left it in Connecticut). This minimizes the number of compositions you can capture.

Those challenges being said, you sometimes come upon a scene that works out fine. I spotted the inside of this house through a not so dirty window. I have a fondness for roofs that are decrepit and allow beams of light to create an interesting play of light and shadow on the inside walls. I knew immediately that I would capture this scene come hell or high water. I knew I got what I wanted when I got home and looked at this photo on my big screen.

Merced Reflection - El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California

Picking where to kick off our short visit to Yosemite at sunrise is no easy task. There are so many choice subjects that we could have picked in the Valley. A bit of research into where the sun would be rising, specifically in late September, helped narrow down the choices. Then, trying to figure out when the sun would rise high enough to light up the valley was a bit more of a challenge, Finally, as every landscape photographer has experienced, be prepared for the unexpected. In our case, the prior two days in the Valley with two large pieces of granite falling from El Capitan (with one death) caused utter confusion, as a considerable portion of Northside Drive was closed. Suddenly, one-way roads were converted into two-way roads with very little notice and signs.

In the end, we ended up at Cathedral Beach, which is along the Merced River. From this spot we were able to get El Capitan and later, the Three Brothers, reflected in the river's still waters. I have been there to this spot a few times in the past. I am always amazed that this spot is almost always deserted in early morning but am also very thankful for it. Mike Louthan and I had the whole stretch of the river to ourselves. We patiently took in the serenity of being there, watching the sun slowly light up El Capitan until it was fully lit. I didn't count the number of shots I took as the sun moved down the granite monolith, but I know it was a lot. I decided to post this one first, as it was fully lit and the water still unbelievably still.