Mesquite Sand Dunes
Our last stop on our winter snowbird season in Southwest USA was at the Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park. After visiting Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Utah, White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, and Imperial Sand Dunes in California, I knew I was in for a tough trek on earth that [...]
Devil’s Cornfield, Death Valley National Park
One thing I was not expecting to see in Death Valley was a photogenic weed patch! Just like Devils Golf Course, where only the Devil could play golf, here at Devil’s Cornfield, only the Devil could eat this corn! It’s not corn at all — it’s arrowweed. I made this image in the early evening [...]
Artist Drive, Death Valley National Park
Hazy days made for difficult photography at Death Valley National Park when I first arrived. The air was dense and the clouds and haze obscured most of the grand views. The haze tended to lift around sunset and I got a few good shots at Devils Golf Course and Badwater Basin, but the days were [...]
Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park
So I’m thinking about getting one of those little mirrorless cameras with the interchangeable lenses like a Sony NEX7 or a Fuji X20. One of those would be perfect for a day like the day I made the photos in this post. I was already feeling sluggish and had a headache coming on and it [...]
Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park
I visited Death Valley National Park in mid-March and the temperatures exceeded 90 degrees! At 282 feet below sea level, it has the lowest elevation in North America and is the hottest and driest US National Park. I can’t imagine what it would be like to visit this place in summer when the temperatures reach [...]
Cactus Forest in Saguaro National Park
This winter we are trying to visit the National Parks in the southwest that we missed last year so, after our visit to San Diego, we decided to head over to Saguaro National Park in Arizona. The park is divided into two separate sections with the city of Tucson and it’s one million residents in [...]
Joshua Tree Silhouette
Finally! This is the image I had in my mind as the one I wanted to come home with after my visit to Joshua Tree National Park in California. I do like some of the other tree images I got as well, but this is the one I really wanted. Please click the image to [...]
Jumbo Rocks, Joshua Tree National Park
Have you ever seen a face in the rocks? This one was pretty hard to miss with the two round rocks balanced on a diamond shaped rock resembling a nose. I made this image at the Jumbo Rocks campground in Joshua Tree National Park just before sunset when the light was shining directly on the [...]
Juniper and Balanced Rock
This is one of the iconic locations in Joshua Tree National Park in California. I have seen many images from this location, but I figure they must all be from a few years ago because none of them contain the shrub in the lower left corner. Most of the images I have seen of this [...]
White Tank, Joshua Tree National Park
Like many places in the american southwest, the rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park can make you feel like you are on another planet. I made this image on the trail from White Tank Campground to Arch Rock. Please click the image to view a larger version.
Keys View, Joshua Tree National Park
The best place to watch the sunset in Joshua Tree National Park, California, is at Keys View where the vast panorama includes the noticeable fault line of of the San Andreas Fault, the Coachella Valley, and the city of Palm Springs in the distant background. I made these three images as the sun was setting. [...]
The Third Joshua Tree
I like being able to make similar images with different feelings to them by working with the lighting conditions at a given moment and using technique to emphasize the feeling I am after. As the light changed from one evening to the next, I had the opportunity to make very different images of Joshua Trees [...]
One Simple Tree
Simplify. It’s the word I always think to myself when I’m looking for the perfect composition. A photograph does not have to contain everything. And, even when you find your perfect subject, that one perfect Joshua Tree, it doesn’t have to dominate the whole frame to tell it’s story. Part of the story is the [...]
Joshua Tree National Park Star Trails
I love star trails! I’ve been waiting to find the perfect location that would have something great in the foreground and dark night skies so I could try it again – and I found it at Joshua Tree National Park. We found the most beautiful campsite at Belle Campground right in the park. There was [...]
First Joshua Tree Sunset
Here is the image I mentioned in my last post about how my plan for moonrise didn’t work out. Just as I realized my Plan A wasn’t working out and I was running out of time for Plan B, I abandonded my coveted position under Arch Rock, hiked out to see the glorious sunset that [...]
Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park
I had my first visit to Joshua Tree National Park in California a few days ago. It was one of those special days when the full moon would rise at sunset. In fact, it was to rise 15 minutes or so before sunset so it would be a perfect time to capture one of those [...]
Vintage Lobster Cove, Newfoundland
Going back over my images from last year and picking out ones I didn’t process at the time or re-processing ones I have done before is a lot of fun! I am more adventurous when it comes to processing these because I know I have my “natural” shots done so it is fun to play [...]
Revisiting Sun Point, Glacier National Park
I’ve been working really hard getting my next eBook ready to go and I’m so excited to release it later this week! Since I’ve been focussing on the book I haven’t made very many new images lately so I decided to go back and revisit some of the images I made on my North American [...]
Does the world really need another image of Mesa Arch?
I almost didn’t go. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of arches (and so have you by now!). Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, has to the be the most overly photographed place in the USA. Of course, there is a reason for that, it looks amazing at sunrise when the bottom of the [...]
Delicate Arch
Delicate Arch is the most photographed of the 2,000 arches in Arches National Park, Utah. It seems to be a right of passage to hike the 1.5 mile trail that gains 500 feet in elevation to watch the sun’s last rays on the arch at the end of the day. Ya, I didn’t do that [...]
Turret Arch
Today’s photograph is a high dynamic range image of Turret Arch at Arches National Park in Utah. I made this image by combining three exposures in Photomatix. Please click the image to view a larger version. In post processing I used the “color stylizer” filter in Nik Color Efex Pro to desaturate the colours and [...]
OMG a Double Arch! What does it meeeeean???
I still cannot get that half crazed double rainbow guy out of my head. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about just search on YouTube, you’ll find it.) It was all I could do to restrain myself from yelling out “Oh my god, oh my god, it’s a double arch, what does it meeeeean???” [...]
Balanced Rock at Arches National Park
I’m back to the icons again. I can’t help myself. I know it’s been done but icons are icons for a reason. When you visit Arches National Park in Utah you just can’t go home without an image of balanced rock. The first time I passed balanced rock along the scenic drive it was fairly [...]
Sunset at Arches National Park, Utah
One place I couldn’t miss on my North American adventure was Arches National Park in Utah where there are more than 2,000 natural arches – the greatest concentration in the USA. The arches are made of soft red sandstone. They started out as large rocks which cracked and became slabs known as “fins.” Sections of [...]
