On a cold, windy, day last August, our group ventured to the east side of Glacier to visit Two Medicine Lake. It is almost a two and a half hour drive from the western entrance of the park along the narrow and winding Going-to-the-Sun Road to get to this spot. Is it worth it? No question about it. No visit to Glacier is complete without seeing the lake with Sinopah Mountain towering as a backdrop. For me, my hope is to get a great morning light reflection of the mountain in the lake. This morning, the wind proved to be dramatic, so I opted to shoot a long exposure and capture the movement of the water and clouds. I was lucky to spot these rocks to act as a foreground for the composition.
Venice Side Alley - Venice, Italy
I can't believe that it has been almost seven years since I have walked the "streets" of Venice. Of all of the European cities that I have visited, I keep coming back to Venice as the most unique and mysterious. Maybe it is my Italian heritage that comes into play. Even with the passage of time, I still remember wandering aimlessly through the city, looking down small side alleys in search of scenes like this one. The funny thing is, they aren't that hard to find. It seems every alley has its own story to tell. I don't get that same feeling anywhere else and I hope to experience it once more down the road.
Last Light - Myers Creek, Gold Beach, Oregon
This section of the Oregon Coast has captured my imagination since the first time I drove around the curve and spied this scene. In my opinion, this is the best section of the coastline, and I make sure that I take an extra few days to experience it. Beyond its obvious beauty, this terrific beach is a mere steps off of the highway. Gold Beach is also the terminus of the Rogue River, with a world class resort and spa (TuTut Tun Lodge) on its banks. It is one of the premier areas along the Pacific coastline.
Cruising the Palouse - Pullman, Washington
I almost went a week without posting a Palouse photo, but with this photo, my addiction continues. One of the interesting thing about the landscape in the Palouse is the lack of trees. Every inch of the rich farmland is usually dedicated to the crops that the area is known for. Many of the trees that existed were cut down by early settlers. There is an effort underway to plant more trees there to help with erosion of the land. Until that time, when a lone tree is spotted, a photo stop is required (it might actually be a law).
In this case, I was driving aimlessly on my last evening there. I spotted this tree and thought that the great clouds would only augment an already beautiful scene.
Everett Covered Bridge - Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
On my cross country trip a few years ago, I tried to stop at as many national parks as I could fit in. The highest priority was given to ones that I had not visited before. Near the end of the trip was Cuyahoga Valley National Park and I knew very little about it. After seeing the great national parks in the western part of the country, I was a bit taken aback with this one. There were no huge mountains, lakes or other spectacular attractions. Instead, there were lots of quaint scenes like this one that dot the park. Detracting from the park's feel is the fact that the park is nestled in and out of neighborhoods, giving it a disjointed feel. Nonetheless, as I now look at the photos that I took there without the comparisons to the parks I visited earlier in the trip, its beauty shines through.
Totem - Monument Valley, Navajo Reservation, Utah/Arizona Border
Is it possible to have ten number one locations? I think it is possible depending on what day you ask. Monument Valley, located on an Indian Reservation, is certainly my favorite southwestern location. The Navajo name for the valley is Tsé Bii’ Ndzisgaii meaning "Valley of the Rocks". The structures in this image "Yei Bi Chei" on the right and "Totem Pole" on the left hold deep spiritual meaning for the Navajo. “Yei Bi Chei” means Navajo spiritual gods and is viewed as a formation of dancers emerging from a Hogan.
To get this shot, one needs to hire a Navajo guide that will take you off of the 17 mile drive that you can do without one. I am planning to revisit this spiritual place next March.
Plantation Gates - Boone Hall Plantation, Mt Pleasant, South Carolina
I have always wanted to explore some of the southern plantations and capture some of their grandeur. One plantation in particular always captured my attention when viewing photos from the south, and that was Boone Hall Plantation outside of Charleston. One glorious early morning, I drove the 45 minutes to it only to find that the main gates were not open. I should have done some research on that - a rookie mistake. I returned later in the day, but the weather had changed and that great shot wasn't there for the taking (I tried but the light wasn't great). A bit discouraged, I drove under those stately oaks with the long Spanish moss hanging from them and came to this second gate. While not what I came for, I thought it was a terrific scene to capture.
Granite - Yosemite National Park, California
This view might be my favorite one that I have ever shot. Yosemite National Park is my favorite national park in the United States and I never tire of it. While there are some great granite formations to be found there, Half Dome is the one I gravitate to. In my opinion, the best view of it is from Glacier Point featured here. This is one of the few places to get to an eye level view of Half Dome and also get a decent view of the valley. While standing at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley, you can almost look straight up and see Glacier Point. Getting there is a little more difficult and requires a 32 mile (1 hour drive) but it is well worth it.
I took this image five years ago (time really flies) and edited it then. When i looked at it last week in my Lightroom library, I knew it was time to re-edit it to give it renewed life.
Barely Standing - Colfax, Washington
I will admit it, the Palouse has become my new addiction. I can't stop looking at my images from there and editing them. The Palouse has a number of old abandoned buildings, barns and farmhouses. All of them are terrific subjects, and, in my mind, I classify them as a "Rural" Urbex Photography genre. One of my favorites is this one known as the Crooked House. Even though it has some support, it defies me how it is still standing. I looked at this from all different angles and it has earned its name, I didn't see one piece of it that was straight. I shot quite a number of different compositions that I will probably post in the future, but I thought this straight on look at it would be a good start.
The Narrows - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
I occasionally look at older photos that I have shot in the past to see if the editing software and my editing skills can make an okay shot a good one. This is one of my favorite locations in Yellowstone National Park. It is known as the Narrows and is located in the northeastern part of the park on the way to Tower Junction. It is the part of the park that is not visited as much by vacationers and tour uses. This is the only decent shot of this that I took way back in 2004 and it had a lot of haze in it. When I came across it last week, I wondered how Lightroom's new DeHaze feature would work on it. The fact that it was shot with a Nikon D100 and was a JPG file gave me pause, but what the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
As I hope you can see, it worked out quite well. Much better than I expected. The DeHaze slider worked like a charm, and with some styling done with OnOne's Perfect Effects, I took a photo from never to be seen by anyone to a photo that I don't mind showing others. Lesson to be learned: don't get rid of those okay photos because you might be able to transform them down the road.
Serenity - Edith Cavell Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta
When talking about the Canadian Rockies, Banff National Park is usually the first thing that comes to mind. It seems that its sister park, Jasper National Park, is a more of a step sister. After spending some significant time there, I think that Jasper holds its own with Banff. Many may not know that Jasper is actually quite a bit larger (10,900 square kilometers vs. 6,650 square kilometers). Another factor is the proximity to a large city. Jasper is almost 4 hours from Edmonton, while Banff is only 1.5 hours from Calgary. Take into account that Calgary's population of 1.2 million is significantly greater that Edmonton's population of 878 thousand.
So what does all of this mean? To me, it means that there is so much more to see in Jasper and a lot less people to contend with. Take this shot of Edith Cavell Lake that I took in early morning last June. It was probably around 9am, and I had been in the area since around 5:30am. I literally came across only two other people in 3.5 hours. I felt like I had the park to myself (I actually did) and the serenity and beauty that I enjoyed is just what I love about visiting Jasper.
Cracked - Endicott, Washington
I guess I can't stop posting images from my recent trip to the Palouse. A number of my friends have asked me where the Palouse is, as they have never heard of it. The Palouse is a region of farmland located in Eastern Washington State and into parts of Western Idaho. Truth be told, it is a destination that primarily attracts photographers because of the great rolling mounds and hills of farmland. After spending time there, it is obvious why non-photographers never heard of it. It is pretty remote with only a few very small towns. There are not many hotels and restaurants, and, other than driving the roads for the scenery, not much for vacationers to do. It has become the new hotspot for photographers, with many tours and workshops being conducted.
This photo was from a privately owned classic car collection on one of the farms. I posted a photo of an old Texaco gas station a couple of weeks ago on the blog. The gas station sits at the front, and behind it is a great collection of cars. This one really caught my eye with its bright color and cracked driver window. It looks like a bullet hole caused the crack, and I wish I knew more about its story.
Wetlands - Vermilion Lakes, Banff National Park, Alberta
Just outside the town of Banff is a group of three picturesque lakes known as the Vermilion Lakes. They are located in a wetland area that features Mount Rundle as a backdrop. The lakes are also known for wildlife, and, on at least one occasion, the road was closed due to grizzly sightings.
I was hoping to shoot this great place at sunset, but it seemed that every night was overcast. On the last day, there were some nice clouds, so we decided to head back there to shoot. It was late afternoon and the light was pretty decent. The lakes were surprisingly pretty still, and we were able to get some nice reflections of the Canadian Rockies. I guess I will have to go back to Banff for my sunset shots.
Happy Fourth - Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts
I hope everyone in the US is enjoying the Fourth of July. This is a field of flags celebrating the holiday that I took a couple of years ago at Sturbridge Village. Enjoy the holiday weekend.
Road to Rainier - Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Since I started shooting with my great friend, Jeff Clow, I am always on the lookout for road shots that lead to impressive subjects. He is a master of these shots and is known for them. He has influenced how I shoot and there is nothing better than learning from other skilled photographers. The challenge is to have a spotter looking out to make sure that you don't get run over by a car. Unfortunately, I was alone, so I parked in the pullout to the left and carefully went down the road to get the composition that I liked. Even though there was little traffic that morning, I shot from the right shoulder of the road in order to get off of it quickly.
Grazing in the Snow - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
One of things that surprised me on my Teton photo tour was that one morning we actually got some snow. I am not sure why I was surprised as it was still May, and it is the Rockies after all. There wasn't a lot of snow, but just enough to give everything a solid coating. After shooting at an abandoned dude ranch, we headed for other parts of the park and we spotted these bison grazing in the snow. The thin layer of snow proved to be a perfect background to make the bison stand out.
Teton View - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
I always like exploring an area wherever I shoot because you never know what you might find. Many times the results are a bit different that the standard shots. When our group got to Colter Bay, I headed north along the shoreline of Jackson Lake. I was trying to find a place where I could shoot south and make a leading line of the Tetons. In my haste of getting this shot, I totally missed this viewpoint. After taking my shots, one of my fellow photographers pointed out this composition, which was way better than the ones I had just shot. I am not sure who it was that told me, but whoever it was, thanks.
Floating Boardwalk - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
After visiting the Palouse, I hooked up with an on-line buddy, Phil Kuntz, to spend a day exploring Idaho. Say what you want about social media, but I have met so many people online that have become friends, even though we have never met in person. Even better, when you do meet them in person, they almost always exceed your expectations. That certainly was the case with Phil. He is a wonderful photographer living outside Spokane, and his collection of images are impressive. You can see his work on his Flickr page https://www.flickr.com/photos/phils-pixels/.
Phil wanted to show me some of the great spots in Idaho, so we headed out. The light wasn't great but the companionship was. One of the stops was the Coeur d'Alene Resort, where we had lunch. The resort boasts of having the longest floating boardwalk in the world. I am not sure that is true, but it is long. As we were walking on it, I snapped a few shots of the boats and their blue covering. I thought the contrast with the amazing clouds was cool. At first glance, this looks like I processed this with selective color (I am not a huge fan of those shots), but I can assure you, this was the scene as it was.
Rainer in the Fog - Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
This photo is a perfect example of not deleting images because, at first review, they didn't look like they would be worth editing. I had left the Paradise Inn at 4:30am and headed to Reflection Lake to get a reflection shot of Mount Rainier. Rainier was visible from the Inn, but as I drove into the valley, a layer of clouds/fog covered it (see my shot of this from last week's blog post). Sure enough, when I got to Reflection Lake, I could barely see Rainier. Of course, being a never give up type of photographer, I shot a number of shots, not thinking that any of them would come out. I had to push the ISO to 6400 just to get some light.
When I looked at the images after I got home, I almost deleted them. Upon a second review, I thought that maybe I could get something out of them to make them presentable, not thinking that it was remotely possible. After editing it for a while, I began to see something that I thought was better than passable resulting in this image.
A lesson learned here is not to give up on an image too soon. Editing programs keep getting better and better, and editing skills do improve when you push the software.
Roaming the Palouse - Palouse, Washington
By this time, I am sure that you are getting tired of the Palouse images that I have been posting. Next week, I will be returning to the posts from all of my different travels that you are used to. I hope you enjoyed my images from this magical place. To close out my Palouse trip, here is one last image.
Earlier this week, I posted an image that I took on the last evening where I set out with no destination in mind. I ended up driving to the town of Palouse and then decided to meander back to my temporary home in Colfax. Along the way back, I came upon a high point on Clear Creek Road that displayed this scene. You know that the brakes were jammed and the camera came out.