Looking through my archives, I found this great memory from 2011. When booking hotels for my lighthouse scouting trip with my son, I found this relatively cheap hotel within 25 minutes of Pemaquid Point. When we checked in, the hotel was the typical hotel room you would expect. We headed to Pemaquid Point to scout out the location for the next morning's shoot. After the scouting trip, we drove to Wiscasset to grab a quick dinner. Getting back to the hotel at about 8:30 pm, we walked around the hotel property and found this extremely long pier that was lit up. After seeing the pier and the great blue hour light, I ran back to the car and grabbed the tripod and camera. This was one of the images that I shot. It was a beautiful night and we spent a long time just hanging out on the pier. It was one of those totally unexpected moments and images that we sometimes discover and become one of our favorites.
Red Hills Overlook - Kelly, Wyoming
The Red Hills are a great side trip when you are visiting Grand Teton National Park. Located east of the Tetons, it is a beautiful drive where you pass lakes and ranches. I have been here a number of times and have posted a number of photos from there with the Red Hills as the main subject . I wanted to show a different look at the location and focused on the creek that runs beside the Red Hills Ranch. There still is a small section of the Red Hills in the upper left.
The hills on my visits here have never looked that red to me, but rather more of an orange color. I was a bit puzzled by this, so I did a little research. Turns out that the hills were not named for their color. In the early 1900's, there was a bitter feud between two Jackson Hole ranching families. The feud resulted into a bloody showdown between the families, and shortly thereafter they were called the Red Hills.
Picnic Time - Penwood State Park, Connecticut
Fall is here and parts of the country are beginning to show signs of the prettiest season of the year. Trees in New England will soon be changing to a wide spectrum of colors instead of their green color. There will be many scenes like this where the golden leaves create a carpet on the ground. The crisp air is a telling sign that the heat of summer is gone and that winter will be soon upon us. This photo was taken a few years ago and there was no one in the park. Given the idyllic setting, I am sure that some family or group of friends came by with a picnic basket to take in the beauty and serenity around them.
Parker Ridge - Banff National Park, Alberta
Like you, I am itching to hit the road again once this pandemic subsides. It has been over a year since I have been to my favorite subjects, the mountains. The famous naturalist and preservationist John Muir once said “The mountains are calling and I must go.” I have that quote resonating in my head more and more every day. The best I can do is to look at my archive images to minimize my inability to visit them in the near future. I found this photo from my trip to Banff and Jasper National Parks last year.
Driving north from Banff to Jasper on the famous Icefields Parkway, the are so many scenes along the 3-hour trip (assuming you don’t stop) that beg to be photographed. As you approach the border between the two national parks, you come to this scene of Parker Ridge and are almost forced to pull over. Ahead, Hilda Peak seems to rise up from the middle of the road to tower over you. The road from this vantage point looks like it ends at the peak’s base. Mount Athabasca to the left makes Parker Ridge seem like an impenetrable wall challenging you to turn back.
Palouse Evening - Colfax, Washington
The Palouse covers approximately 4,000 square miles in eastern Washington and western Idaho, which is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut. It is tough to truly set boundaries to it as there are no signs or boundaries. The best way to determine whether you are in the Palouse is to use your eyes. There is a unique look to the landscape.
The rolling green fields of the Palouse are everywhere. The challenge is to find a place high enough to get a good view of the land. I saw this scene in my rear view mirror and knew I was stopping at the first place that I could find. After taking it in, I decided that a panorama was in order to capture the full beauty of what I was seeing. The evening sun illuminated the shape of the landscape with light and shadows. To me, this is the classic Palouse scene.
Blackberry Falls - East Canaan, Connecticut
Along the Blackberry River in northwestern Connecticut, there is a Connecticut Industrial Monument known as the Beckley Blast Furnace. Built in 1847, the blast furnace produced pig iron, primarily for the manufacture of railroad car wheels that were known for their excellence and durability. The furnace closed in 1919 and stands today as the best preserved example of a technology that has long since vanished. A dam was built that helped power the furnace, resulting in the falls pictured above.
Close Enough - Welgevonden Reserve, South Africa
The sighting of a lioness is always an exciting encounter. Our Rangers tracked the lioness and expertly put us in the perfect position to get wonderful shots of her. She didn’t seem to be too worried about us as she slowly walked toward us. The closer she got to us, I knew that she would pass between our two vehicles. She seemed to stare directly at me the second I captured this photo and then continued to walk right passed my side of the vehicle probably only 10 feet from me. While very exciting and exhilarating, that was close enough.
Wilderness Lodge - Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
One of the things that Disney does so well in creating their resorts is that you think you have been transported to somewhere else. Take this photo of one of the buildings that comprise their Wilderness Lodge. The lodge was built in 1994 and Disney's goal was to recreate a turn of the century themed resort hotel that had the look and feel of the National Park lodges located in the Pacific Northwest. The main building was modeled after the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. An artificial geyser and hot springs are located on the resort grounds.
This photo was actually taken in the adjacent Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, which opened in 2000. We stayed there a few years ago and I took this from the center of the first floor looking up at the timbered ceiling. The Villas were themed to look like lodgings that were built by workers on the transcontinental railroad.
Keyhole Arch - Monument Valley, Navajo Nation
No trip to Utah is complete without stopping by Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border. Located in the northwestern portion of Navajo Nation, it is a place of great landscapes that have appeared in countless westerns and commercials. It has even been featured in a Metallica music video. The official name of the park is Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, which is the equivalent of an American National Park. There are many rock formations that, over the years, have been given names either by the Navajo or early settlers to the area. Many of the rock formations can be seen from the 17-mile dirt road that visitors to the park can drive for a daily fee. To get off of the road and see some of the lesser-known formations, the hiring of a Navajo guide is necessary. The arch in this photo is one of those off-road formations. I have been told it is known as Keyhole Arch, but have also heard it called Pottery Arch. Regardless of its name, the view through the center of it is pretty cool.
Smith Rock - Terrebonne, Oregon
A few years ago, I hosted back to back Oregon Photo Tours with Jeff Clow. What do you do when you have two photo tours over a two week period and want to do something different on the weekend? If you thought rest was in the cards, you are wrong. We hopped into the car and headed Northeast five hours to spend it in Bend, Oregon. I had dinner there several years ago when headed down to San Francisco. I remembered liking the area and I wanted to explore it. On the way there, we stopped for a little while at Crater Lake National Park. Upon getting to Bend, we set out and spent the day exploring the many lakes south of Bend along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. The highlight of the weekend was visiting Smith Rock State Park on Sunday. This impressive park reveals its secrets on the many hikes that take you through the rugged landscape along the Crooked River. We only had about 90 minutes to spend there and it is already on the list to revisit again, albeit for a much longer stay.
Cilantro Café - Yoho National Park, British Columbia
A couple of days ago, I posted a photo of canoes that I shot on a very dreary morning at Emerald Lake. I guess you can’t have great weather all of the time. After shooting the canoes, I wandered over to the other side of the little bridge and captured this photo of the Cilantro Café, the main eatery at the lake. I had eaten lunch there a few years before when the weather was nice and it was hustling and bustling with people eating. This was a different peaceful time at the Café with no one around. The water was still enough to get a great reflection.
Windows - Stone Mill, Lawrence, Massachusetts
A few years ago, I visited two of my friends in Boston, Bob Lussier and Stephen Perlmutter for their light painting workshop at the Stone Mill. While the attraction for shooting at the mill was light painting, I still wandered off enough times to do some old-fashioned night photography with ambient light. This floor was deserted and allowed the light from the buildings on the outside to shine through the windows, giving them a great orange glow. The multiple panes in each window create a great pattern. The light on the inside of the building was cast from a set of duplicate windows to my right.
Canoes Reflection - Yoho National Park, British Columbia
One of my top locations in the world is Banff National Park in Alberta. I have visited there many times and I love going back. Banff sits on the western border of Alberta, which allows visitors staying there to wander a little west into British Columbia to explore some truly beautiful spots. One of those spots is Yoho National Park. The centerpiece of Yoho is the beautiful Emerald Lake, where the color is the deepest emerald that I have ever seen in the Canadian Rockies (you can't tell that from this photo so you will have to trust me). One of the classic scenes of the lake are the canoes that can be seen being rowed on the lake. When we first got there, the weather was simply not in a cooperating mood. Walking around, I spotted this composition of canoes waiting to be rented and noticed their reflection in the glass-like water.
Telluride Morning - Last Dollar Road, 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.
Remember the Fallen - Freedom Tower, New York
Nineteen years ago, America experienced the worst terrorist attack in our history. In Manhattan, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were totally demolished. That day, almost 3,000 Americans were killed and untold others have suffered long term illnesses. Some of those Americans were first responders whose heroic efforts to save others were on full display. Many of them lost their lives. Since that time, Manhattan has rebuilt the area, erecting the Freedom Tower pictured here as well as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum located nearby. Even after all of these years, the impact of these attacks brings tears to my eyes. I used to commute through the World Trade Center in the early 1990s and wouldn’t visit this site again until I took this photo back in 2014. I will never forget my emotions when I walked around this hallowed ground. As long I am alive, I will always “Remember the Fallen”.
Independence Monument - Colorado National Monument, Colorado
Flying into Moab from anywhere can be quite the challenge, as the Moab airport is open only at daylight, and there are not that many flights that land there. As a result, I usually fly to Grand Junction a day early and drive to Moab (almost a 2 hour drive), to make sure I don’t have any plane connection issues. I had an ulterior motive in doing this as I wanted to be able to shoot the wonderful Colorado National Monument right outside of Grand Junction.
The first time that I visited there was in the 1990s, and I took a similar photo of Independence Monument, which became a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, I wasn't into photography then, and all I had was a point and shoot camera with me. When I got back into photography, I put this place on the bucket list to shoot near sunset to recapture the memory. I had been back there several times since, but I was with non-photographer friends, and it always seemed to be in mid-day. This trip, I hoped to be able to get a great sunset shot.
When I landed in Grand Junction in the afternoon, the weather was overcast and quite gloomy. I thought that I would again miss my opportunity. As the day progressed, the weather didn't improve, but I hopped into the rental car to scout out the area for shooting at sunrise the next day. By the time I got to park, the skies started to clear to the west, and I was able to check the photo off of the list. I got lucky, as I was able to capture the dark clouds in the distance heading east, with beautiful cumulus clouds taking their place.
Setting Sun - Marshall Point Lighthouse, Port Clyde, Maine
Those who regularly follow me know of my fascination with lighthouses. I am not sure exactly why. Maybe because they are quickly becoming relics of the past with the advancement of GPS electronics or because they are often built in some wonderful location or maybe because most of them have stories of sunken boats and how they were built to save lives. Whatever the reason, whenever I travel, I always am on the lookout for them. On this particular trip to Maine, we had stayed in Camden and were on our way south. Rather than hop on the interstate, I chose to hug the rugged Maine coast, stopping at lighthouses along the way. When we stopped at this particular lighthouse, the Marshall Point Lighthouse on Port Clyde, it looked so familiar even though I hadn't been there before. Then I read a sign in the museum and it came back to me. The light was featured in the movie "Forrest Gump" (one of my favorites). In the movie, Forrest starts on a 3-year run across the country and back. When Forrest hits the east coast, he stops at a lighthouse (the Marshall Point Lighthouse), turns around and starts running to the west coast.
Saguaro Curves - Saguaro National Park, Tuscon, Arizona
With all of my travel plans cancelled this year, I have been spending time going through my Lightroom archives and looking for some photos that have gone overlooked. As I looked at last years photos, I realized that I didn’t have some photos from Saguaro National Park on a cross country trip with my son. Fortunately I found them and will be posting a few in the coming month.
I have a bucket list item to visit all of the National Parks in the U.S. and Saguaro was my 34th one that I have visited. We only had an afternoon and the next morning to explore the park. Our first stop was the Visitor’s Center in the western section of the park. As I started to walk around, I spotted this scene that had a curved roof that led my eye to the open air windows that had the beautiful Saguaros in them. The play of light and shadow made “window” pop out on the view.
Olmstead Point View - Yosemite National Park, California
Yosemite National Park is one of nature's most beautiful places. Yosemite Valley, where most visitors head, offers more natural wonders than just about anywhere else. From most spots in the valley, one can see El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Falls, Sentinel Dome and Half Dome. All of these have been photographed many times over and it is very hard to get an original perspective. One of my favorite "off the beaten path" places in Yosemite is Olmsted Point. This location is about 45 miles from Yosemite Lodge on Tioga Road. Olmsted Point looks southwest into the valley giving a view of the northern side of Half Dome and a view of Tenaya Lake to the east. On this particular evening, we had eaten dinner in Lee Vining (home to Mono Lake) and we were heading back to the valley. I just had to stop at Olmsted Point when I saw the beautiful glow of the setting sun on Half Dome's sheer face.
Fall is Coming - Pittsfield, Massachusetts
I know the title of this photo sounds like I stole it from Game of Throne’s “Winter is Coming” but I have had this thought about the fall for many years before GOT made this phrase famous. Autumn is my favorite season of the year and this photo shows you why. The colors of the foliage during the fall are a photographers dream, especially during peak season in New England. This will be the very first year in the last 27 years where I will not experience the foliage in the New England area. Instead, I will need to find new places in the Maryland area to photograph to satisfy my “fix”. In the meantime, the best I can do is to look at some of my older photos like this one and dream about the upcoming fall season.