Guarding the Pacific

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon

Many of those who follow this blog are well aware of my love for lighthouses. Living in New England, there are some amazing ones that can be found from Connecticut to Maine. I am always on the lookout for lighthouses wherever I go and my trip to the Oregon Coast this past summer allowed me to visit and shoot quite a number of them.

This particular lighthouse, Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon, is perhaps Oregon's most picturesque. The light was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1870's. The lighthouse tower measures 93 feet tall and is the tallest in Oregon.

The day we visited the light, we were attacked by swarms of flies. I am not talking about a few flies but rather hundreds, if not thousands. I asked a volunteer if this was normal and he told me it was, especially when there was no wind. He further informed me that there were two types of flies: ones who bite and ones that didn't and I should be happy that the flies present were the non-biting type.

I wasn't about to give up an opportunity to shoot the light, so I put up with the onslaught to get some shots (my wife and son headed for the car after taking a quick walk to the light).  I second guessed myself when, walking back to the car, I spotted another photographer that literally had half of his back covered with flies. 

 

Hot Rocks

Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park has a very diverse landscape. Its geological features includes volcanic thermal features; waterfalls; forests; canyons; rivers; lakes and mountains. The park is extremely large measuring almost 3,500 square miles and each section has its own feel to it.

In the northwest corner lies Mammoth Hot Springs where the park's thermal hot springs are the most prolific. This amazing landscape was created over thousands of years as a result of hot water flowing from the Norris Geyser Basin and fed into a spring where the water cooled and deposited calcium carbonate forming the rock formations. As can be seen in this photo of Palette Spring, this process continues to form the landscape of the area.

Magical Evening

  Myers Creek, Gold Beach, Oregon

 

The Oregon Coast is one of the most beautiful coasts in the US. The rock formations that dot the coast are amazing to see and I always wonder how they got there. In my opinion, the best time to photograph them is in the evening. This particular stretch of the coast is known as Myers Creek (after the creek that feeds the Pacific) in Gold Beach. 

Shooting in the evening often means getting an early dinner and hoping that the weather cooperates. Most of our stay was challenged with fog, so after eating dinner, we hoped for the best. It turned out to be a magical evening. There were only a few people on the beach, leaving us with this wonderful landscape to enjoy. The setting sun cast some great light and the reflections on the wet beach were outstanding.

When I took this shot, I didn't see my son hurrying out of the photo, I noticed him during the post-processing but decided to leave him in to add some scale to the rock formations. 

 

Won't See This in Connecticut

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

Usually I write a little blurb to go with each image that I post, but I think this sign that my son spotted at a store just outside Devils Tower National Monument speaks for itself. Have a great weekend and watch where you step.

No Encounters of Any Kind

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

Ever since I saw the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", I knew that someday I would get to visit Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming. Well, it has taken me 36 years (the movie premiered in 1977) but I finally got there last month. It is located in the middle of nowhere about 60 miles northeast of Gillette, WY and about 110 miles northwest of Rapid City, SD.

We got a late start from Gillette and the winds were quite strong. Driving on the highway was challenging, requiring two hands firmly on the wheel. When we got off the interstate, we were shielded a bit by the formations on either side of the road. Devils Tower is quite a large formation that sticks out of the landscape as it is surrounded by plains. Despite that, I couldn't get a glimpse of it until we were almost there.

This image was the first one I shot of the day and is a great view of the structure. The wind was blowing so hard that I had to hold onto my tripod to keep it from blowing over. The clouds were a bonus and were moving quite rapidly the whole morning. And as the title of the post suggest, we did not see any aliens.

Badlands Moonrise

Norbeck Pass, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I have been going through the images that I shot last month at Badlands National Park and they have confirmed that the park has to be one of my very favorite places. The landscape has everything that a photographer could ask for: jagged buttes, twisted canyons, rugged spires and rock formations in the shape of domes often striped in different colors. All of these contrast greatly with prairies on either side of the park.

The formations and buttes form what it is known as the Wall. It extends for 100 miles. Approximately 31 of those miles is paved and easy accessible on Route 240, otherwise known as Badlands Loop Road. North of the Wall, there is nothing but plains and the formations cannot be seen.  Coming from the south, the formations can't be missed, showing a sort of natural "skyline".

This image was taken from Norbeck Pass on the other side of the jagged peaks that I shot here.  It shows an almost- full moon lighting up the dome-like formations with their colorful striations. It is amazing to realize how close these two type of formations are from one another. 

Time for a Drink

Bull Moose, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

One of the major attractions of visiting national parks out west is the possibility of seeing wildlife in their natural environment. Since I am not a wildlife photographer, my main reason for visiting the parks are the landscapes. Good wildlife photography requires very large, expensive and heavy lenses along with a lot of practice and expertise in shooting wildlife that is usually far away and moving pretty fast.

That is not to say I won't try to take shots of wildlife when I encounter them, but rather, will do so if the opportunity arises. Usually, I am disappointed when I do as my lenses are not long enough or my skills in capturing fast moving subjects are not up to par.

Once in a while, I get lucky when an animal is pretty close and not moving at all. Such was the case when I captured this bull moose in Grand Teton National Park this past July.  The leader of our group, Jeff Clow, noticed a bunched of cars parked along the road. Usually when you spot a group of parked cars in a  national park, it usually means wildlife is in the area. True to form, the moose was feeding alongside the creek. The group of us were situated above it on the opposite shore. It was my first exposure to a bull moose and I must say, it is quite the large and magnificent animal.

Anticipation

Snake River, Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Landscape photographers know that to get that golden hour light, especially in the morning, getting up before dawn is a requirement. Sometimes the alarm clock goes off at 4am and the immediate reaction is to hit the snooze button. Those who hit the button will often miss some wonderful light.

This scenario was very tempting for me in Grand Teton National Park last month. Pretty tired after driving almost 500 miles the day before, I almost didn't get up to take the ride down to Oxbow Bend. When I got there it was still dark and, even after finding a location and setting up, dawn was still some time away. It is during this time period that the anticipation of the sunrise becomes the only thought in my head. Will the clouds block either the sunrise or block the mountain tops? 

On this morning, as the sun was almost up, I glanced eastward to check out the sky and saw this wonderful scene. While this is not the typical Oxbow Bend image with Mount Moran, the tranquility and beauty of what I saw needed to be captured in an effort to convey the feeling that I had when I shot this. 

Cascading

Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

As I mentioned in previous posts, my recent travels took me to many national parks. There are so many to choose from that it is hard to pick the ones to visit, especially in the west. Once you start getting east of South Dakota, the number of parks shrink considerably and they are far and few between. Fortunately, after we left Chicago, we headed to a national park just south of Cleveland, namely Cuyahoga Valley National Park. 

I had heard of the park but really didn't know anything about it. It was established in 2000 and is the fifth most visited national park in the US. It is unlike any national parks I have visited as there are no spectacular formations or mountains that you find in the west but rather loads and loads of trails, numerous waterfalls and lots of other outdoor activities.

This photo depicts a portion of the park's most famous waterfall, Brandywine Falls. There is a nice boardwalk trail that takes you to the falls but only gives a fixed view. Leaving the boardwalk is not permitted so it is hard to shoot it from other angles without being significantly blocked by trees and branches. Nonetheless, it is quite a relaxing and tranquil location.

Playing the Tourist

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota

After yesterday's post from Badlands National Park, we remain in South Dakota, become tourists, and head to the state's most famous attraction, Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Even though it was mid-September, the crowds were out in force. I can't imagine what it must be like in the middle of summer especially in the heat. The number of photos that were taken by tourists the few hours that we were there was mind boggling. It was hard to come up with anything original so I focused on a tight shot and tried to bring out the details in the heads in post-processing.

The memorial was the brainchild of a local historian who came up with the idea to promote tourism to the then remote area of South Dakota. The head sculptures themselves are carved in granite and measure 60-foot high.

As I write this, I wonder what these four great presidents would say about the craziness that is happening in Washington with the government shutdown. Certainly nothing favorable.

 

Jagged Landscape

Norbeck Pass, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Badlands National Park has been on my must visit list for quite a long time. When we planned out our cross-country trip, I knew that I would finally get there. There are two main entrances to the park and I decided to stay near the northeast entrance, as my research indicated that there were numerous sunrise and sunset locations in that part of the park. The choice proved to be the right one. The challenge then became to pick two sunrise locations out of the almost ten possibilities. Fortunately, both locations turned out to be stellar. 

This photo was taken from an overlook just around the corner from Norbeck Pass and was taken on the second morning. The jagged peaks that are part of the pass were a great subject, particularly in the early morning light.  The shadows added terrific definition to the photo.

The diversity of the park's landscape makes it a must visit park. After one visit, it has become one of my favorite parks and I definitely think a return trip is in order.

Unexpected Find

Wind River Canyon, Wyoming

After our stay in Grand Teton National Park, we headed towards Devil's Tower National Monument in Northeast Wyoming. It was quite a long drive, so we decided to stop just short of the park and stay in the city of Gillette. As we came across the state, we had two different routes that we could have taken. Not knowing the territory and wanting to drive on back roads, we decided to take Route 20 instead of the interstate. 

Our choice was rewarded with great scenery. As we approached the first mountain range, we expected to drive over the top, but instead, we found ourselves driving through a valley alongside a river that had train tracks on one side and the road on the other. This area is known as the Wind River Canyon and, as can be seen in this photo, the landscape is quite rugged. Quite the unexpected find.

Oxbow Beauty

Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

It seems like forever since I last posted on the blog. I am finally home for a while after traveling most of the summer until late last week. Since July, I think I have driven over 8,000 miles while visiting 18 different states and numerous national parks and monuments. It has been quite the adventure.

This last trip was a cross-country drive with my son from Portland, Oregon to Connecticut. I flew into Portland, met my son at the airport and immediately drove to Boise, Idaho where we revisited one of our favorite Triple D restaurants, Bar Gernika. We had another great meal and I highly recommend it. From there we headed to Grand Teton National Park. Even though I had shot there in July, we stopped there as it is one of Greg's favorite parks. This time, I didn't stay in town, but instead stayed at Jackson Lake Lodge.

One of the reasons I wanted to stay at the lodge was that it was only 5 minutes from this location at Oxbow Bend as opposed to a 45-minute drive from Jackson. I was very thankful for the choice when I left the lodge the next morning as the clouds were very thick and I may not have made the drive if I was staying in town. Since I was so close, I took a quick drive and about 15 minutes after setting up, the cloud cover began to clear leaving this beautiful scene. The  morning sunlight gave Mt Moran and it's neighboring peaks a truly great early morning glow.

Fog's Retreat

Whaleshead Beach, Brookings, Oregon

Earlier this year, my son Greg and I drove cross country from Connecticut to Oregon. He spent 6 months with friends and will be coming back to the east coast.  I am boarding a plane this morning to Portland and we will be driving back to Connecticut. Looking forward to finishing the return trip.  I will try to periodically post updates on our progress.

This image from Brookings, Oregon is the result of persistence that one needs as a photographer.  We stayed at the Tu Tu' Tun Lodge on the banks of the Rogue River in Gold Beach. It is one of our favorite places to stay and is world renowned. It is about 12 miles from the coast, so when I got up before dawn and checked out the weather, I was disappointed to see fog in the river valley. As I drove to the coast, the fog got worse and worse. I stopped at various beaches and lookouts, but there was nothing to see but white. My first inclination was to head back to the lodge but, after thinking about it, decided to plod on and hope I would find at least one spot where the fog wasn't so bad.

My persistence paid off when I turned onto the access road to Whaleshead Beach in Brookings. There was a small break in the fog where the sun was starting to shine through. The retreating fog was temporary, as it lasted for only 5 minutes, but I was able to get this image before the scene turned white again.

 

Wizard Island

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, my recent trip allowed me to check off two national parks from my bucket list. This is an image from the second park that we visited - Crater Lake National Park. It is an amazing place to visit and I wish I was able to fit it in during the golden hours. Due to our travel schedule and it's remoteness, we were only able to get there in mid-morning. Even then, the visit was well worth it.

The lake and the island were created almost 7,700 years ago when a volcano (Mount Mazama) erupted and left a 4,000 foot hole where the mountain once stood. Wizard Island was formed over the next few hundred years as a result of numerous smaller eruptions that formed large cinder cones on the bottom. Wizard Island is actually the top of the tallest cone that rises over 2,700 feet. 

Once the crater's walls solidified, water from the surrounding mountains' melting snow slowly filled the crater (it is estimated to have taken 720 years to reach its current level). Since Crater Lake (the lake) has no inlets or tributaries, the waters of Crater Lake are some of the purest and bluest in the world. 

 

Meandering Creek

Kings Creek, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

One of my many bucket list items is to visit all of the US National Parks. I have visited most of the major ones but it is the lesser known that will be a challenge to get to. Many of the remaining parks are a bit more remote and not ones that you plan a whole trip around. The next best thing is to try to squeeze them into other vacations and trips. Such was the opportunity on my trip to Oregon last month. After I made my plane reservations to fly to Portland, my son decided that we would take a 10-hour drive to San Francisco, which is our favorite city in the US. 

I probably would have flown to San Fran had I known but, after looking at the map, I saw that I could check off two national parks from my bucket list. This image is from the first park we visited - Lassen Volcanic National Park. I didn't know anything about the park but after reading a bit about it, I expected something that resembled Yellowstone on a smaller level. I couldn't have been more wrong. Most of the park is very scenic and, while there is a vey small section that has thermal features, Mount Lassen is the major feature. 

The park road only allows glimpses of the mountain but there are stretches like this one where an unobstructed view is possible. This composition called to me as I spotted Kings Creek meandering through the open field toward Mount Lassen. I just loved the scene and, while I would have preferred sunrise light (this is a westward looking shot), I was quite happy with the colors and the leading line that the creek provided.

Coastal Beauty

Myers Creek, Gold Beach, Oregon

Hard to believe that it has been a month since I last posted. This summer has been a blur with all of the traveling that I have been doing. I am back from my 3 week vacation to Oregon and California, but I will be headed back out on Thursday for another couple of weeks. We had a great time there although, from a photography standpoint, the coastal fog made some days a bit of a washout. Despite that, I still had some days that were outstanding and the fog can add so much interest as long as it is not as thick as pea soup.

 The Oregon Coast, particularly the central and southern portions, have outstanding beaches and rugged landscapes. This was my second trip there and I think that this particular stretch of beach, just south of Gold Beach, is my favorite. The first glimpse of this area, called Myers Creek, is when you drive down Route 101 through the trees and the mountains. The first thought that enters your mind as you round the corner and see the landscape is "Wow".  I shot this long exposure the first afternoon we got to Gold Beach.  Little did I know that for the next few days, I would be fogged in except for one evening.  Lesson learned - take advantage of the nice weather when you can, especially in coastal areas.

The Roar of Nature

Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California

I am headed off today on another trip out west and will be gone for almost 3 weeks. I know I just got back from Wyoming, but the west is still calling out to me. I am meeting my son, who has been living in Oregon, and we will be spending some time in San Francisco and northern California. Next week, my wife will be joining us and we will be spending almost all of the time in Portland and the rugged Oregon Coast.  I hope to be able to post a few images while I am on the trip but, whenever I say that, it seems I never get to it. Perhaps this time will be different. Anyway, today I am posting an image from my favorite national park, Yosemite. While I will be probably passing only 4 hours from there this week, I just couldn't get to fit it in to the itinerary. 

Caboose View

Alaskan Rail, Denali National Park, Alaska

I have such a great love of railroads and trains that I sometimes wonder if I was born in the wrong century. Maybe it is not just the train rides but also the combination with great scenery that makes them so special to me. I have been fortunate to travel some of the great train routes in North America. That is why I was so psyched about my Alaska trip that I took a couple of years ago.

Part of the trip itinerary was an all-day train ride from Denali National Park to Whittier to board our cruise ship. As soon as we boarded, I had a prime seat on the observation deck with great views all around me. Then I realized that I wasn't going to get some of the prime photos that I wanted because of the reflections from all of the glass in the observation car. So what to do? I quickly headed down to the caboose of the train and hung out there for most of the day shooting the Alaska countryside. This is one of the many shots I took from there. Trust me, picking out which image of train tracks to post was tedious work, but now I can rest.

Andrew Pinckney Inn

Charleston, South Carolina

Wandering the streets of historic Charleston, South Carolina, is a special treat for someone who loves history and architecture. As you see all of the quaint houses and streets, you feel like you have been transported to a different time. For a photographer, the feeling is that you have gone to an architectural Disney World. There are no tall and overly modern buildings, but rather the differing architectural styles that were built over the span of almost 350 years since it's founding.

As I was on one of my numerous walks around the city, I came upon the Andrew Pinckney Inn and was attracted to its bold color. Built in 1840, it was originally used as a cotton warehouse. When it opened as an inn, it was named after a freed slave that was originally owned by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a prominent plantation owner and and one of the signers of the United States Constitution.