Tag Archives: usa

Autumn Tree, Sculpted Sandstone

Autumn Tree, Sculpted Sandstone
“Autumn Tree, Sculpted Sandstone” — A cottonwood trree with autumn foliage grows next to a sculpted sandstone cliff.

A group of us ventured down into a narrow Utah canyon, lined with red rock walls and dotted with autumn trees. A creek flowed along its length, and the soft sound of its moving water was never far away. With the fall colors and the colorful rock faces there were photographs everywhere. Not surprisingly, our progress was slow… but very productive.

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Desert Gold Bloom

Desert Gold Bloom
“Desert Gold Bloom” — Desert gold wildflowers in bloom, Death Valley.

You often hear the expression that there is a “carpet of wildflowers” in a landscape. That description was apt in quite a few areas of Death Valley National Park when we visited in late February. To be clear, much of the landscape of this desert park sill looked like… desert. But in places there were wildflower blooms of impressive size.

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Desert Reflections, Lake Manly

Desert Reflections, Lake Manly
“Desert Reflections, Lake Manly” — Desert mountains and sky reflected in Lake Manly, Death Valley.

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.

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Egret and Chick, Evening

Egret and Chick, Evening
“Egret and Chick, Evening” — A great egret, accompanied by an egret chick, stands in evening light.

Near the end of October last year, while returning from a fall color visit to the Western Sierra Nevada, I decided to make a stop at a Central Valley location where I have photographed migratory birds in the past. I wasn’t expecting to find the winter birds that I usually see there, but I was surprised to find large numbers of other birds that usually diminish at this spot later in the season. Among them were large groups of great egrets.

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