I love the look of a path or trail covered with leaves, trees along the sides dropping more leaves. It is like a “gathering” of fall, marking the approach of winter. It’s a snuggly feeling that makes me want to curl up with a book and a cup of apple cider with a cinnamon stick.
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On a back road near Dolores, CO we found some great stands of Aspens. One group was probably the tallest, straightest aspens we’d ever seen. Standing among these big trees and looking through the yellow canopy to the blue sky beyond, while leaves fell all around, was dizzying. I had to lean against the trunks to keep from falling over!
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These rock formations in Death Valley always remind me of the neapolitan ice cream I had as a kid. If you let it melt just a little, you could swirl it into all kinds of formations!
If someone mentioned Death Valley to you, what would come to mind? Would it be hot and dry, dirt and sand, mirages rising from the heat? Or would it be reds and purples and pinks, milk chocolate, blue skies and snowy mountains, rich golds and tans? All of this describes the amazing diversity of Death Valley.
The Panamint mountains rise to 12,000+ feet to the west of the valley. In winter and early spring they can receive snow, emphasizing the bluish mountains and variations in color of the land and rock..
This has been a great year for photography. Trips to Tanzania – whoo hoo – and Yellowstone/Tetons and the CA Coast. I’ve seen some wonderful sights and wild things. This is a collection of some of my very favorites.
One of the most known features of Yellowstone are the geysers and hot springs. It is the most geologically active area in the world; the next closest is Iceland.
The variation and beauty of these unique geologic wonders is fascinating. The springs are mostly around 200 degrees, some going as high as boiling. The water is caustic as well, with sulphur being a prime chemical. The bright colors in and around the springs are microbes, each color representing bacteria that grows at a different temperature.
Here are a few of my favorite places from this year’s trip (it rained a lot while we were there as you can see from the dark clouds in the photos).
Blue, blue waters
White Dome Geyser
Grand Prismatic Spring runoff
Old Faithful
Dead trees in hot spring
Mammoth Hot Spring Terraces
Canary Spring
Just before I went to Tanzania I purchased a new lens, a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VRII for over $2K. I had been reading about this lens for a long time (actually the previous version) and debating whether or not to get it. When you’re talking that kind of money, well, it’s not an overnight decision. This has been touted as the best lens Nikon ever made, so it wasn’t just another lens. See, I already had 2 lenses that cover that range, a Nikon 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 VR and an older Nikon 80-400mm f3.5-5.6 VR lens. But I didn’t have an f2.8, nor was either of these lenses as highly rated. So, I got it.
The difference is amazing. The clarity of this lens shocked me; I thought I had clear pictures before, but now I had really clear, crisp images. A bonus that I didn’t expect was the beautiful rendering of backgrounds. Additionally, I expected the lighting in Tanzania to be much harsher than it was. We had a lot of cloud cover to soften that equatoial light. It was great fun to photograph with my new lens, as well as the 2x teleconverter for closeups and birds. Good buy:)
For a slideshow of Giraffes and Elephants visit the Tanzania Galleries or click here
The Serengeti is a huge area extending through parts of Kenya and Tanzania. Serengeti National Park is part of the area in Tanzania. The Ngorongora Conservation Area is also a reserved part of the Serengeti, and is adjacent to the Ngorongoro Crater National Park. These are the primary areas I visited on my adventure. Lake Manyara and Arusha National Park were each a day on the agenda.
The Serengeti is everything and more of what I expected from my many viewings of nature programs and books. The expanse of land and sky is greater than anywhere else I’ve been. The plains have long waving grass in places, and short grasses in others – depending on the rains. And you see animals almost everywhere! They’re all looking for something to eat, or resting from just having eaten.
These pictures can’t quite do justice to the spectacle, but they are representative of the beauty and expanse. There are a few pictures of Massai herders in their environment; one picture is of Connie, our tour operator and Boni, our tour guide/driver. We were Connie’s 109th safari; Boni has been showing people his country for 18 years. A great pair to learn from.
It’s time for winter to go away! We had another snow here; woke to 5″ or more on Saturday morning. However, it was all gone by mid afternoon:)
Winter offers some beautiful scenery and great photo opportunities. In Alaska and the northern reaches, you can get “wintery” photos about anytime, like those below.
Canadian Rockies
Ice in Prince William Sound
Everybody loves a beautiful sunset. They come in all colors, from deep red to purple to pink. Here are a few from my travels.
Costa Rica Red
Costa Rica, 2008, from atop a hill. The sun is setting over the Pacific, although you can’t see the water from here. We had been photographing birds; it was too foggy for good pictures. Then, as the sun got ready to set, we drove up the road and got this spectacular view.
Saguaro in Rose
The desert can be a beautiful place for sunsets. Much of the color is produced because of dust in the air. The particles reflect colors to make for some interesting sunsets. A saguaro against a colorful sky is an iconic view of the desert.
Ocean Colors
Then there is the ocean sunset, which is probably one of the most seen in photographs. It is also one of the most varied in color and drama. Stormy skies, big waves crashing on rocks, reflections on the sand – these are all elements that make the ocean sunset magical.
Lone Rock Aglow
Water and clouds always add an atmospheric element; they create a calm, exciting, stormy and/or peaceful mood. This sunset is inland, but it is opposite the setting sun instead of into the sun. Often you can see beautiful color “behind the sunset” which can be as lovely or even better than the sunset itself.
Don’t forget to turn around!
msummersphoto 