Looking at this aquatic scene it is hard to believe the normally here we would be looking at arid salt flats extending toward the horizon, not the reflective surface of a very large lake. But this is Death Valley, a place of astonishing variety, and sometimes that arid landscape is full of water.
Continue reading Desert Reflections, Lake Manly
I took me a while to figure out this location in Utah, along the edge of Boulder Mountain. Years ago we drove through here in the spring, and I was astonished by the huge aspen groves. I resolved to return in the autumn, and a few years later we did —timing our visit to synchronize with peak of California’s Eastern Sierra aspen color. It turns out that the color change earlier in Utah, and by the time we arrived the groves were past their peak.
Continue reading Boulder Mountain Aspens, Evening
Last fall I was in a popular Eastern Sierra location to photograph autumn aspen color. I had arrived before sunrise, while it was still pre-dawn twilight. I began photographing before the sun came up, continued through the arrival of first direct light, then moved on to some other nearby subjects. As I continued to work I could not help noticing that the full moon was setting in the western sky.
Continue reading Sierra Setting Moon at Sunrise
Arriving at Lake Manly to photograph on this late-February morning, I would have rated the conditions as “OK but not stupendous.” I was hoping for a colorful desert sunrise over the reflecting waters of the temporary lake, but clouds muted the intensity and color of the light. My practice is to not give up but to instead find other ways of seeing the landscape. I kept photographing, and soon realized that the morning was special in different ways than I had expected.
Continue reading Morning Clouds, Lake Manly