I am often asked whether the animals get close to you when you are on a safari in Africa. The answer is yes. This photo was taken with a 50mm lens, which is equivalent to a person’s normal vision - no long lens involved. In this photo, our group was sitting in two open-air vehicles parked in an open area. We had seen a group of elephants approaching in the distance. As the elephants neared the vehicles they split up and walked on all sides of the vehicles. This elephant was about ten feet away as he passed. The sun was in the perfect position, as our Rangers were experts in positioning the vehicle in exactly right spot. As big as these magnificent animals are, they are very docile for the most part. It is always a thrill to have a herd of elephants passing by.
Resting Boats - Lake Alexandrina, New Zealand
A beautiful lake. Mountains in the distance. No one around except you and your photographer friends. Boats in the foreground seemingly at rest. Golden light bathing the scene as the sun is setting to end the day. No noise or distractions as you take in the scene to compose a photo. These facts describe pure peace and tranquility to me.
Fly Me to the Moon - Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand
On one of our last stops in New Zealand, we visited the town of Kaikoura on the eastern coast of the South Island. After shooting the mountains in the fading light, we noticed that the moon was out in its full glory. As the moon began to glow, we started to capture birds flying in the sky appearing to fly to the moon. The blue hour sky was the perfect backdrop to the moon and the approaching bird.
Marching Tulips - Keukenhof, Lisse, Netherlands
Last year we visited Europe in April so that we could visit the famed Keukenhof Gardens. Keukenhof is one of the world's largest flower gardens and is only open to the public for eight weeks a year when the tulips are blooming. Keukenhof covers an area of 79 acres and approximately 7 million flower bulbs are planted in the gardens annually. While the gardens were full with visitors, it is so big that it didn’t feel that way. The garden beds are meticulously maintained and the colors of the tulips dazzle your eyes. The garden bed above looked to me like the tulips were marching for some destination unknown.
Mountain Goat on Lookout - Queenstown, New Zealand
On one of the many mountains that surround Queenstown, we had great views of the landscape below. There were a group of mountain goats hanging around hoping for some handouts. This guy seemed to be on a lookout for something or someone.
Bruges Serenity - Bruges, Belgium
Last year, I finally was able to check off one of my bucket list items when I was able to visit the city Bruges. Of all of the medieval cities in Europe, visiting Bruges made me feel like I was transported to the past. The architecture is the first thing that makes you feel that way. Bruges’s architecture is predominantly Gothic, with brickwork dating from the Middle Ages. Its many canals have earned it the nickname of “the Venice of the North” with almost eighty bridges to traverse, either on foot or auto, The morning I captured this photo, I wandered to one of its many photographic spots in the center of Bruges. From here you can view an attractive grouping of 15th-century buildings the city has to offer. The perfectly still water allowed for an almost perfect reflection.
Peeking Through - Lake Manapouri, South Island, New Zealand
When preparing to photograph mountains, the first things a photographer checks are the weather forecast and where the sun will be rising and setting. These days there are phone apps that help inform photographers on both of these items.
The easy question to answer is where the sun will be rising and setting. These apps track the sun accurately throughout its journey across the sky no matter where you are in the world. The hard question to answer is the weather. Weather apps are not as accurate especially when mountains are involved. Mountains shape the weather and climate around them leading to complex and interesting weather patterns. They alter local wind patterns, deflecting the winds in different directions, sheltering some areas from winds, and enhancing winds in others.
The morning I took this photo was a prime example. All signs pointed to a clear day when we left the hotel. Twenty minutes or so later, we were standing on the beach looking at nothing but clouds and fog. For the next two hours, the mountains played hide and seek with us. We would get a peek at the mountain peaks for a minute or so and then they were gone. Most of the time they peeked through, the peaks were not clear. This game went on for the rest of our time there. This photo was one of the times when the peaks could be seen without any clouds to hid their details.
Road Glow - South Island, New Zealand
Not a lot to say about this photo. When driving with seven photographers and they see this ahead, there is no way that they are not stopping to photograph it.
Fiery Sky - South Island, New Zealand
On the day we headed out from Te Anau to Milford Sound, we made an unplanned stop along the way. Mother Nature put on an amazing sunrise light show for us to photograph and enjoy. The sky looked like it had caught fire giving the snow a red glow.
Peaks - Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand
When shooting iconic subjects like Mount Cook, it also pays to make sure you look around to see if something else catches your eye. I surveyed the scene after taking quite a few photos of the main attraction and saw this composition. What attracted me were the layers in the landscape, the geometry with lots of triangles, and, of course, the beautiful soft light.
That Wānaka Tree - Lake Wānaka, Wānaka, New Zealand
The Wanaka willow tree started off more than 80 years ago as a fencepost. A fencepost made from the branch of one of the nearby willows, to be precise, which wasn’t quite dead and took root on the edge of the lake. This was an impressive feat of resilience, but not a famous one, that is until a photographer took an image of the tree on a misty June day which won awards.
Becoming known from that photo, the tree has been the target of Instagramers around the world, making it even more famous. Unfortunately, crowds have visited the tree, and a small few have damaged it by climbing the tree.
Historically, the tree has been offshore and was not as easily gotten to, but the waters of the lake have receded as you can see in this photo, making it more accessible.
Sun Fire - Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand
Some days you need a bit of luck and patience. Visiting Lake Wakatipu outside of Queenstown, we had hoped to get a glorious sunset scene. Arriving early, we were subject to lots of low hanging clouds that covered the mountain peaks. As we waited, the sun peaked through a few gaps, creating very small slits of light at the base of the mountains, and then faded away. It became clear that a grand sunset was not to be. If I was by myself, I probably would have left to catch an early dinner (patience is not a trait that I possess). Fortunately, there were some optimists with me and they were set to stay. Then this happened. A small slit opened up in the clouds, causing the top of this mountain peak to look like a fire had started. It sort of looked like lava flowing, and the low hanging clouds acted as smoke. As soon as I captured this photo, I knew I had a keeper.
Lenticular Formations - Fox Glacier Village, New Zealand
On one of our days in New Zealand, we were blessed with many lenticular clouds most of the day. Lenticular clouds are one of my favorite clouds and are always a treat to watch. Lenticular clouds are stationary clouds that form mostly in the lowest layer of the atmosphere of the sky, typically in parallel alignment to the wind direction. They are often comparable in appearance to a lens or saucer.
When we got to the viewpoint of the Fox Glacier, there was a circle of seven lenticular clouds above the glacier. As the moon began to rise, I waited until it was above Douglas Peak and I captured this photo. It was a perfect way to end the day.
Mount Cook Majesty - Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand
Wow, It has been almost three years since my last post. Lots of things have happened since then! I have had New Zealand as number one on my bucket list since the Lord of the Rings movie came out. After my first three times of getting there were foiled, I finally got there at last two weeks ago.
It is the beginning of winter in New Zealand and the morning I captured this sunrise image of Mount Cook, it was really cold. By the end of the shoot, my hands were so cold that I almost couldn’t press the shutter button. Mother Nature made the cold worth it as she blessed us with an amazing sunrise and the light was exceptional.
Some facts about Mount Cook. It is located on the South Island and is the tallest mountain in New Zealand at 12,218 feet. The mountain range it is part of is known as the Southern Alps. Mount Cook is bordered by two glaciers: the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier towards the west coast.
All in all, New Zealand exceeded my high expectations. Its natural beauty, the welcoming and kind people, and its awesome food made the trip for our small group very happy. I hope to revisit sometime in the near future.
Midnight Sun - Kirkjufell Mountain, Iceland
The first night of our Iceland tour was my first experience during the Midnight Sun. I must say that having light for 24 hours it is a photographer’s dream. There is actually a sunrise and a sunset each day. During our trip, the sun rose a little before 3am and set a little before midnight. During that three hours between sunrise and sunset, it gets a little darker but it is still pretty bright. I took this photo at 12:30am and you can see that it is quite light out. During normal times and locations, landscape photographers best photos are taken during what is known as the golden hour each day (one hour after the sun rises over the horizon and one hour before the sun sets below the horizon). During this time, the light is at its best with soft golden glow bathing the landscape. During the time of the midnight sun, the golden hour stretches out for multiple hours which increases the chances of capturing some magical moments.
Emerging from the Fog - Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Iceland
The first leg of our sojourn in Iceland was to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula on the western side of the country. Snæfellsnes translates to Snow Mount's Peninsula mainly because the peninsula is home to a volcano with a glacier at its peak. The drive to Arnarstapi from our first hotel is only three hours but with the many photography stops along the way, it took most of the morning and afternoon. The weather was beautiful with great sunshine. Our plan was to visit the Snæfellsjökull Glacier after a quick dinner. As we ate, fog quickly moved in, endangering our shoot for the night. Undaunted, we headed to the glacier through the fog.
When we got to the glacier, we were pretty socked in and it looked like our shoot had ended. Our fearless leader, Nathaniel Smalley, thought otherwise being a veteran of Iceland tours. We were somewhat doubtful but why not? Off we went to our next destination, Kirkjufell. Driving toward the coast, we encountered fog and more fog. Just over the pass we saw the coastline and a break in the clouds
bathed the valley and mountains with great light. Our next obstacle was the high winds that I estimate to have been 50 miles per hour. After struggling to stand still and dealing with the cold, we were able to get some excellent photos.
Drangurinn Rock and the Elves - Drangshlíð, Iceland
The Ring Road is 825 miles long and circles the island, although it bypasses part of northern Iceland, the western fiords and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Most of the Ring Road is pretty remote, which is not surprising as Iceland’s population is only about 325,000 with more than two-thirds living in the Reykjavík area in southwestern Iceland. As a result, you can drive the road for miles and miles without seeing any buildings. Of course, the drive is overflowing with natural beauty.
The buildings that are visible are filled with history and Icelandic lore like the Drangurinn Rock that provides the background of these two concrete sheds with sod roofs. According to Icelandic folklore, this giant boulder was ripped from the mountains and placed at its current location, where it became home to elves who lived in the caves. According to the myths, the elves cared for pregnant cows that were placed by farmers in these sheds and miraculously gave birth overnight aided by the elves.
Glacier Lagoon (Jokulsarlon) - Southeastern Iceland
Last week, I posted a photo of Diamond Beach that was “littered” with ice chunks. I mentioned that the source of chunks originated in a glacier lagoon (known as Jökulsárlón) and floated the short distance to the beach. The chunks calve off of Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, which is part of Vatnajökull Glacier, the largest polar cap in all of Europe. It is fascinating to watch and hear the ice chunks breaking off the glacier into the lagoon and make their way toward the Atlantic Ocean.
This process is a continuous one, at least during the warmer months. Some of the chunks are smaller and they make the journey right away. Others are large and often get stuck on the lagoon’s bottom, but ultimately break free when they melt. This process appears to happen daily. We visited this location two nights in a row, and the chunks that were present the previous night were nowhere to be seen, being replaced my new ones.
This photo was taken about 1am, about an hour or so after sunset and only two hours before sunrise. It is kind of different when the golden hour stretches over several hours and it is interesting that the sky never gets dark. I totally appreciate the midnight sun of Iceland.
Looking for Love - Vik, Iceland
Bird watchers from all over the world come to Iceland to see puffins. Why? Iceland is home to more than 60% (8 - 10 million) of the world’s entire Atlantic puffin population. Puffins are not full time residents of Iceland. They spend 8 months of the year at sea. In late spring, thousands of puffins form large colonies on coastal clifftops, coming together for the breeding season.
Fortunately for us, we stayed in the town of Vik for a night. Vik is close to the Cliffs of Dyrholaey where a large breeding colony has been known to nest. The weather had turned for the worse being cold, damp and with extremely high winds. As we hiked to the top of the cliffs, we spotted puffins everywhere flying into the wind and diving here and there. It was quite a scene to experience. I guess the puffins were well into the mating as they totally ignored us as we snapped away.
Ice - Diamond Beach, Iceland
Iceland is home to the largest ice cap in Europe when measured by volume and it is named Vatnajökull. During the warmer months, pieces of the ice cap “calve” (break off) into a lagoon and ultimately float to Diamond Beach. The beach is located off the Ring Road north of Hafn. The beach consists of black sand and gets its name from the ice chunks that glisten like diamonds along the beach. It is a very impressive sight.
Our first night was first spent near the lagoon where the calved pieces of the ice cap filled the lagoon and, as we were there, we saw numerous ice chunks float toward the ocean. We then drove to Diamond Beach to find it littered with sparkling ice. This photo was taken during sunrise (just before 3am) as the sunlight was lighting up the tip of the mountain across from the beach. It was amazing to watch and experience.