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.

Convict Rocks - Convict Lake, Mammoth Lakes, California

Convicts and rocks. This might bring to mind a group of prisoners that were put in a chain gang where, using picks and axes, they spent days and months breaking up rocks. Not so for this photo. Yes, the lake was named after convicts that had escaped a Carson City prison in the 1870's that made their stand against a posse, resulting in many deaths on both sides. The rocks pictured here were not created by picks and axes, but rather moved here to create a small marina on the lakeshore. The lake is a prime destination for fisherman (and photographers), especially during the foliage season. Our group spent about 90 minutes shooting from various places around the lake. I  wandered to the marina and climbed onto the rocks forming a barrier for the boats and really liked how they formed a great leading line that seemed to lead to Laurel Mountain. The rocks protected the water in the marina, making it comparably still, which provided a good reflection of the mountain.

Tunnel View - Yosemite National Park, California

Yosemite. Just its name conjures up visions of large granite rock formations, amazing waterfalls and the the famous men like John Muir and Ansel Adams who made it a nationally recognized national treasure. It is my favorite national park in the US. It had been seven long years since I set foot in the valley and I don't want to wait that long again until I return. Yosemite Valley, pictured here, is where the majority of visitors to the park spend their time with the high concentration of granite rock formations that can be seen. Formations like El Capitan, Half Dome and Sentinel Dome are visible from most of the valley. Waterfalls like Yosemite Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are also popular sights. The one place where you can see most of these formations is from Tunnel View and is one of the first scenes that visitors driving through the park's western entrance see. This view was made famous by Ansel Adams'  black and white photos, making it an iconic photographic spot. On all of my previous visits, I had not got a decent shot of it and I was determined to get one on my visit there. By the last day, I thought I was going to be shut out again but was able to capture it on my last evening there. 

Tufa Glow - Mono Lake, Lee Vining, California

I am finally adjusting from my four-week trip to the west coast. The first 18 days were spent with my wife and great friends, and the final 10 days were spent with both old and new photo friends photographing some amazing landscapes. Most of the places that I visited were ones that I have been to before, so I thought I would post my first photo from my trip to one of the places I had never visited before. 

Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierras have long been on my list to visit so when my best buddy, Jeff Clow, held a photo tour there, I was all in. The lake is located in the town of Lee Vining at the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park. The lake is a large shallow lake that has no outlet, causing high levels of salts to accumulate which make the water alkaline. Over time, tufas (columns of limestone deposits) were formed and became visible when the lake's water levels became shallow. The tufas have become a terrific photographic subject and we were fortunate to photograph them with clouds in the sky on our second sunrise visit of the tour. As can be seen in this photograph, the tufas began to glow from the soft light of the morning sun.

 

Many Glacier View - Glacier National Park, Montana

Many Glacier Hotel is an historic hotel built in the early 1900's by the Great Northern Railway in an attempt to put Glacier National Park on the map. It was actually part of a series of resort hotels that the railroad built along its routes. The railroad was trying to promote Glacier as the "American Alps" and built the hotel on the shoreline of Swiffcurrent Lake in a Swiss Chalet style. The hotel, over 100 years old, is on the less-visited eastern side of the National Park and has one of the park's most iconic views from it's rooms, that of Mount Grinnell. The day I took this photo was a dreary, rainy day, but for a few moments, the waters of the lake were still and I was able to get a reflection of the hotel. The dreariness of the day gave this scene an almost black and white feel to it.

Houseboat Heaven - Lake Mead NRA, Nevada

Sometimes the coolest places that you visit are the ones you never heard of or thought of visiting. Last year, Jaki Good Miller and I "discovered" this place by mere chance. We had flown out early to Las Vegas before a Death Valley Photo Tour to photograph the Valley of Fire. Rather than take the direct route, we decided to travel up the western shore of Lake Mead through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. What a great choice. The scenery there is amazing and definitely beat the interstate. As we headed to our destination, we saw this road that looked like it went down to Lake Mead, and it took us to this marina where there were literally hundreds of houseboats docked. The mountains on the other side of the lake made a majestic backdrop to the scene. 

Valley Drive - Monument Valley, Navajo Nation

Straddling the border of northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico lies the largest Native American Territory in North America, namely Navajo Nation. It's size (over 27,000 square miles) makes it larger than ten US states. The landscape that can be found there consists of desert, sand dunes, plateaus, mesas, buttes and mountains. The land is the color of sandstone (a beautiful orange) that contrasts wonderfully with blue skies, making it a great photographic destination. Perhaps the most desired location to photograph in Navajo Nation is the famed Monument Valley, with its unusual rock formations that have been given unique names by both Native Americans and settlers to the region. 

Monument Valley was put on the map outside of Navajo Nation by movie director, John Ford, who filmed the first and one most famous western there in 1939, namely Stagecoach. It's start was a relatively known actor named John Wayne. Since then, many movies, commercials, television shows and music videos have been filmed there. Monument Valley is one of my favorite places and whenever I see it on film, I want to hop on a plane and visit it.