Tag Archives: Yellowstone National Park

Loose Ends and Random Thoughts

“Haunted By Waters” Spruce Flats Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

The image above was taken in April of this year in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. This is an excellent example of what I try to teach my students when photographing waterfalls: We are not taking a portrait here. We are creating a landscape image with a waterfall as one of the elements. Walking up on the rocks and filling the frame with the waterfall would have been an easy thing to do but the end result would have been boring and banal. This composition includes the waterfall as a crucial element – as well as the primary focal point – but the image has an elegant visual design that goes beyond being just a portrait or documentary photo. Primarily, the flow of the stream and the placement of the rocks below the falls gets the eye moving back and forth through the frame giving it a dynamic quality that a static portrait would lack.

“Haunted by Waters” is a new addition to my Smoky Mountains Galley and depending on the conditions, is a location we will be visiting on the Smoky Mountains Autumn Workshop in October.

WORKSHOPS

Speaking of workshops, there are two new workshops listed for the first quarter of 2014. For the 4th straight year, Ian Plant and I are leading another tour to Patagonia on March 10 – 19.

For the very first time, I am offering a Winter in Yellowstone photo tour and workshop in February that will combine the very best winter landscapes with wildlife photography. Jackson Hole professional wildlife photographer, Jared Lloyd will be my partner on this trip.

I’m sorry to announce that Arches and Canyonlands, Utah in November is now full, as is Acadia in October. Joe Rossbach and I still have a few openings for the Tetons in September so let me know if any of you have questions about this trip.

Photographer Christina Donadi has written a detailed review of my Smokies workshop from this past spring. Check out the rest of her blog for more excellent photography!

TRUE MODESTY

Last week I was listed as one of the top 100 travel photographers in the world for 2013 by ChiliSauce, a travel blog in the United Kingdom. When I made the announcement on Facebook and Twitter, as a courtesy to the the owner of the blog, I made the announcement with a controversial preface: the words, “For whatever it’s worth…..” This was met by more than a few emails and private messages by annoyed fans and followers. Most began with a mocking, “For whatever it’s worth….” and eventually got around to making the point that I was not being grateful or gracious about the “honor.” For whatever it’s worth, you’re acting like an ass.

Look, this is not merely false modesty on my part. I do appreciate being listed with at least 99 other very accomplished photographers. But the list is just one person’s opinion and there are some very conspicuous names missing as well as some people I’ve never even heard of. So that’s what it is, one person’s opinion and that’s about what it’s worth. Sorry to offend.

So now I’m off to Africa for two weeks. I’ll try my best to post some crappy phone images here as well as a report or two on how I’m doing. Be sure to Subscribe to Earth and Light to keep up with my latest travels realtime.

May 13, 2013 | 3 Comments

Posted in Announcements, Essays, General, Images | Tagged Acadia, Argentina, Chile, composition, Creativity, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, landscape photography, Nature Photography, North Carolina, Patagonia, Tennessee, Wildlife, Winter, Yellowstone National Park

Eleven for ’11: Looking Back At My Favorites

Once again, it’s that season when we look back and reflect on what we’ve accomplished during the past year. Hopefully, there is some degree of accomplishment. We all have a finite number of years remaining and every one of them should be lived to its fullest – to achieve real personal growth and experience as much as one is capable of in a short 365. Last night I sat awake and ruminated over the past year and I feel as if I accomplished many – if not most – of my personal and professional goals for 2011. I still feel as if I have a lot to prove – not to any one person, mind you, but only to myself – and I’m looking forward to a challenging and exciting 2012 as well. And with that, a Happy New Year to you all.

As for the images that mark many of my fondest experiences, here they are in no particular order. These are only my favorites, for whatever it’s worth. You may disagree. But I do hope you enjoy the indulgence of my reminiscing on the year that was through the lens.

September 2011: Midway Geyser Basin by Moonlight, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming USA

May, 2011: Canyon Flame, Upper Antelope Canyon, Arizona USA

March 2011: Los Cuernos, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

August 2011: Ursa Major, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska USA

July 2011: Reynisdrangar at Twilight, Iceland

March 2011: On Earth as it is in Heaven, Iguassu Falls, Brazil

November 2011: Wall Street, Zion National Park, Utah USA

July 2011: Braurfoss at Midnight, Iceland

September 2011: Beam Me Up, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming USA

July 2011: Dyrholaey Puffins, Iceland

October 2011: Indigo Dawn, Acadia National Park, Maine USA

December 29, 2011 | 18 Comments

Posted in Announcements, General, Images | Tagged Acadia, Alaska, Argentina, Brazil, Iceland, landscape photography, waterfalls, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone’s Surreal Landscapes

Yellowstone National Park’s geyser basins are some of the most geologically active areas in the world. In addition to the many dozens of geysers that punctuate these basins, the region also percolates with other geothermal features such as hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots, and travertine terraces. This is all due to the fact that the entire area sits atop an ancient active caldera and super volcano.

Acres of scorched, lifeless earth, the pervasive smell of sulfur, and drifting steam through the air gives the impression that you’re visiting a different planet, not the one with which we are so familiar. And in a national park no less! So as I set out to capture the landscape during a recent visit, I wanted to avoid being too literal, too documentary in style. That’s usually my photographic intentions anyway – imparting my own personal interpretation of a place through my photography that appeals to the emotions, not the intellect. But his place is so surreal, so different, that I wanted to take that artistic philosophy to yet the next level. Thanks to some imagination, a full moon, and some dramatic weather and clouds, I was able to capture, to my satisfaction, Yellowstone’s geyser basins through the filter of my raw emotional response to these surreal landscapes.

MIdway Geyser Basin and Firehole River under the light of a full moon, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Canon 5D Mk2, 17-40mm @ 40mm, 30 seconds, f4.5, ISO 320