In early June, we headed to Iceland for an 18-day photo trip. If you have visited Iceland yourself, you will not be surprised to hear that the weather was quite challenging and we had to completely change our plans in response. While we hoped to take our rental 4x4 campervan into the interior highlands, we ended up mostly sticking to the Ring Road because of rain, relentless wind, and quite a bit of late-season snow. Despite these challenges, we still had a lot of fun experiences, including visiting a puffin colony in the snow, photographing Iceland's incredible river deltas, and seeing a perfectly peak lupine bloom across the southern portion of the country (this non-native lupine is invasive but still quite beautiful to see).
I have collected my photos from the trip into a 129-page PDF ebook portfolio, which you can download for free without any sign-up or checkout required. Below is the brief essay I include at the beginning of the ebook, along with a handful of the 100+ photos from the book.
Read MoreThis is the third in a series of three posts featuring my photographs from Death Valley National Park taken over the 2023-2024 winter season (first part here, second part here).
Death Valley is known for many things: the salt flats and polygons at Badwater Basin, the various sand dunes scattered across the park, and the impressive and colorful badlands. Perhaps less appreciated are the mountains, alluvial fans, and canyons spread across the park—and the rocks that comprise them.
Read MoreThis is the second in a three part series of photos from Death Valley taken this winter (see first post here). This post is about Lake Manly.
Lake Manly was a permanent feature in Death Valley until it evaporated about 10,000 years ago and now only forms during periods of heavy rainfall. During Hurricane Hilary in August 2023, heavy rains repopulated the ephemeral lake, and atmospheric river events in January actually raised the water level. During a few wind events in late February, the lake blew to the north before resettling back south and finally fully evaporating by May 2024. Watching the lake move was a surreal experience. Photographer Jerry Dodrill shared a video of the lake actually moving on his Instagram page and you can view it here.
Read MoreSarah and I spent almost ten weeks in and around Death Valley this winter in our trailer. Our first trip was a quick (for us) week-long visit in December to see the ephemeral Lake Manly before it evaporated. We followed that up with a longer eight-week trip starting in late January, during which our “ephemeral” lake refilled with several atmospheric river events in California. The winter weather was wet, providing many opportunities (lakes, wildflowers, and even fog), but it also closed the roads to many of the park’s further reaches.
Read MoreIn 2017, photo friends invited us to camp with them in Wyoming to view that year’s total solar eclipse. We accepted the invitation, mostly expecting some fun social time and an interesting life experience. By the time the eclipse ended, Ron and I both felt like it was a truly transcendent moment—one of the most special occurrences a person can experience in nature—and we decided we would put extra effort into seeing eclipses in the future.
As nature photographers, we contemplate the light that comes from the sun more than most humans. Sunlight interacting with the landscape throughout the day creates our photographic opportunities yet the sun itself is rarely included in our compositions and most often feels like a distant abstraction. During a total solar eclipse, the moon slides in front of the sun and the two come into perfect alignment for a few short minutes. As the moon blocks out much of the sun’s light, we can observe some of the sun’s qualities in a way that is not typically possible, and as a result, experience a much deeper sense of understanding, connection, and appreciation.
Read MoreAfter a very busy fall, I finally had time to process my photos from Alaska. The results can be downloaded here, as a portfolio ebook with about 100 new photographs. There are autumnal landscapes and plants, mountains, glaciers, misty fjords and ocean scenes, and even some wildlife sprinkled in this new collection. I have included a small sampling of the photographs in this blog post but they will look better in the ebook.
As I mention in the ebook, the size, scope, and wildness of Alaska is difficult to articulate. A map provides an intellectual approximation of its size, but the emotional realization of how big a place Alaska is doesn’t really settle in until visiting in person and for several weeks. This is the perspective I have from driving around the very small slice of Alaska that is paved (or well graded) within a reasonable distance of its largest population center. Even that “less wild” part was incredible—imagine the overwhelming majority of the state which is inaccessible except by water or plane. Hopefully in the future we won’t have to imagine, as we plan on making several return visits.
Read MoreAfter a busy fall in Colorado, the Adirondacks, Vermont, Maine, and Zion we took a needed break before heading to Death Valley in late December with our trailer and staying there nearly 8 weeks. That is a long time in a single place, but like every visit to Death Valley, we only scratched the surface of what is there to see and explore. Most free weekends were spent exploring the many canyons in and near the park. I have now visited over 60 Death Valley canyons - many without names and most with a few surprises.
Canyons (and the rocks within them) make up a large portion of my recent gallery of photographs from Death Valley, I have included a few favorites in this post, but see the full gallery for much more.
Read MoreI planned for this article to be a collection of my favorite black and white photos from 2020 but a few things intervened with that plan. Although I like all of the photos here and think they are worthy of including in my black and white photo collections, only a few feel like they will qualify as “favorites” as time goes on. I also found time to process some photos from previous years as well, broadening the collection a bit. So, below, you will find some recently taken and recently processed black and white photos, with a few stories about our travels during 2020. I hope you enjoy the photos and the stories - and I hope that 2021 is off to a good start for you, despite the complex circumstances of these times.
Read MoreSarah and I recently returned from a trip to Zion National Park. With our self-contained trailer it is remarkably easy to stay away from people, which we managed to do for the entire trip, our only visits up the main canyon were on bike. Prior to Zion we photographed fall colors here and there around our home in southwest Colorado. Here’s a selection of my photographs from that period, you can see the full gallery here, which includes over forty new photographs.
Read MoreLike many of you, Sarah and I have spent the last few months at home, keeping to ourselves and limiting our human interactions to the virtual kind. A few months ago - before COVID-19 asserted itself - I deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts, and have recently deleted my Twitter account as well. I may detail the reasons why in a future post but I don’t think they will be surprising. If you want to contact me email is the best method.
Recently as local travel restrictions lifted, we were able to spend a few mornings and afternoons exploring the forests nearby our home in southwest Colorado. We caught them just as they were coming out of their winter slumber and putting on the fresh green coat of spring. We are extremely fortunate to live so close to so many beautiful areas that are just a short drive from our home.
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