Glowing Morning Light on The Narrows Zion National Park, UT Zion National Park might be my favorite of all the National Park’s I’ve been to. There’s something about the uniqueness of the hiking that just captivates me. From Walters Wiggles up Angels Landing to hiking in the rivers of The Narrows and The Subway, there’s always something amazing. And those red rock walls! Despite the fact that Willie and I had been to Zion a number of times, we had never brought Sarah or Sammi. We decided to correct that and do a part fun, part photography trip. On our first morning we woke up early, rented gear for the ladies, and hopped into the Virgin River and up The Narrows. Hundreds (thousands?) of photographers have photographed this scene before us but it was one we had previously scouted (and found the location) and wanted to add to the list. We pretty much sprinted here and, of course, another photographer beat us there! Luckily for us it was taking him a while to setup his large format camera and he had no problems with us hopping in front and getting our photos in. Thanks buddy! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 24mm, f/11, 0.5 sec, ISO 250
Blue Hour over Silver Lake Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah Working for a photography company has its advantages and when the entire company ends up spending a week in Park City, Utah, I knew I’d get out at least one night to do some photography. Fortunately a few of my co-workers lived in the area and wanted to take several of us to a few lakes to photography the Milky Way. Ryan, Nick, Dan, Mike, and I drove over to Silver Lake and I came upon this spot on the lake that I knew I would spend the rest of my night at. The clouds looked perfect for a beautiful sunset and I was eager for the sun to dip a bit lower and light up the clouds. In typical mountain photography fashion, the clouds disappeared right before sunset and the sky fizzled to a dull grey. Fortunately, the Salt Lake City light pollution lit up the clouds with a new orange glow during blue hour! Once the clouds disappeared I had high hopes for capturing a stunning Milky Way in the reflection of the lake. Of course Mama Nature felt like being mischievous and just as the sky got dark enough to see the Milky Way, she blew in a new patch of clouds to cover the sky. If you visit my blog I’ve posted another photo of the Milky Way peaking out from the clouds. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-3245mm f/2.8: 17mm, f/2.8, 10 sec, ISO 1000
Snow covered trees Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada Willie and I woke up to find several inches of fresh, beautiful snow on the ground. We had grand plans of doing a bit of driving and kept our fingers crossed that the roads would be clear enough to visit all the spots we had planned for the day. The plans involved finding as many snowy trees as we could, plus a drive all the way up to Peyto Lake to see a grand vista. We stopped at a number of spots before making our way to the highway and over to an area known for rows and rows of trees. We had stopped at the Castle Mountain vista point before and couldn't help but find ourselves drawn to this pull-out off the highway once again. The way the clouds kept pulling at the mountains in the background drew us in. Willie and I both grabbed our big lenses to continue with our theme of intimate photos. Neither one of us spoke but we happened to both see the same thing in this scene; the clear patch of trees was just calling to be photographed. I love how the mountains peak out in the background while the clearing just begs for someone to lay down and take a nap. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 56mm, f/11, 1/125 sec, ISO 320
