Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

First Day of “Summer-Ends-Soon?”

Autumn Lake, Dawn, Eastern Sierra
“Autumn Lake, Dawn, Eastern Sierra” — Dawn light comes to an Eastern Sierra Nevada lake surrounded by autumn aspen trees and reflecting distant peaks.

Every August there is a day when something changes in the light and the air, and I clearly sense that that summer is going to end soon and fall will arrive. I think that today may have been that day where I live.

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Alpine Lake, Mirrored Reflection

Alpine Lake, Mirrored Reflection
“Alpine Lake, Mirrored Reflection” — Cliff wall mirrored on the surface of a rockbound alpine lake in Sequoia National Park.

There’s a story and a lesson associated with this photograph. Explaining may take a bit more than the usual two paragraphs. (It takes five. I urge/invite you to click through and read the whole thing — and I’ll be interested in your comments.) I’ll start with the subject though. Years ago (I’ll reveal how many years below) I was on a trans-Sierra pack trip of over a week’s length with a group of backcountry friends. I had walked this route years before this trip, and there were a few places that I specifically wanted to photograph again, especially this lake. I stopped there long enough to make a few careful photographs, including one of my favorites. (That one also comes with a bit of a story and lesson.)

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Mountains and Cascade

Mountains and Cascade
“Mountains and Cascade” — A stream cascades down from a mountain valley in far northern Scotland.

Most of our May visit to Scotland consisted of a big loop from Inverness out to the Isle of Skye, north (often on the NC500 route), eastward along the North Sea coast, and then down the eastern coast to return to Inverness. This took us through lots of highlands country, but on this day, as we drove across the north towards John O’Groats, the mountains were receding more and more into the distance. Driving east and looking south (the North Sea was to our left) we saw this spectacular ridge.

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Below Applecross Pass

Below Applecross Pass
“Below Applecross Pass” — The road from Applecross Pass winds through a deep canyon toward Kishorn and Ardarroch.

We were surprised by this spectacular canyon soon after we began our return drive towards Ullapool from Applecross, on the western Scottish coast. The road climbed steadily from Applecross, passed through barren alpine country, and offered great views to the west toward Skye and other islands. The road leveled off near the high point as it arrived at the pass.

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