Photography. Skiing. Hiking. The 3 things I tell people that I spend my time doing ... or at least I used to tell people until California started enduring drought after drought. When I planned a February ski trip I never thought that there would be so little snow that many Tahoe resorts were forced to close early. After spending a fun day avoid rocks while skiing at Squaw, Rebecca and a few friends and I decided to go to my favorite spot for sunset: Bonsai Rock. It was immediately apparent how low Lake Tahoe is. When I first visited in 2011 you could practically swim right up to the edge of the “ramp”. Now it’s 5 feet above the water. On the other hand there’s a ton of boulders that are great as foreground elements! Sunset that night was gorgeous but cloudless. The next day our skiing at Alpine Meadows was a lot like the day before but with one noticeable difference: the sun kept getting hidden behind thin clouds. With the sky looking juicy we left the slopes early and made our way back to Bonsai. A quick text message from Jeff/Escaype confirmed my own research: tonight was going to be beautiful! Rebecca and I were one of the first to arrive and we quickly staked out 2 different spots. Thanks to Social Media and Google Maps I had the feeling that it would get crowded quickly. By the time the sun had set there was a line of 20 photographers elbowing for spots (which is insane in itself because this area is so huge). In fact, I had to somewhat forcefully remove a photographer from setting up directly in front of her! Sure enough once the sun set, the sky lit up with reds, pinks, purples, and oranges and lasted that way for over an hour! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8: 17mm, f/11, 1.0 sec, ISO 50
First Light hitting Cascade Mountain Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada It's funny how you go to a new place to photograph it, with the intention of photographing a number of different locations, yet you end up going back to the same few spots over and over. That's how it was while we were in Banff: Willie and I kept finding ourselves at Vermillion Lakes during sunrise. On this particular morning the sky was starting to burn before we even got out of the car. We knew that this "pre-burn" meant we were in for a beautiful morning. As the sun continued to rise the colors in the sky grew more intense and we quietly snapped away, trying to not crack the thin ice forming on Second Vermillion Lake with our excitement. Light rays beamed out of Mount Rundle. Just when we thought the show was over, we turned around to find new scenes to photograph. While the sun rose in the east, we looked west and caught the first rays of light hitting Cascade Mountain. I loved the orange glow that it cast on the mountain, while the clouds behind it give the illusion that it's spewing fire. I kept the entire scene fairly dark to maintain the peacefulness of the waking morning. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 155mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec, ISO 100
Lower Antelope Canyon Page, Arizona When people ask where my favorite place to travel is they’re often surprised when I don’t answer “abroad” and instead tell them the Southwest might be my favorite place to visit. Every time I head to Utah and Arizona I’m just blown away. Antelope Canyon is one of those amazing places that leaves you speechless every time you visit. I’ve visited this slot canyon several times yet there’s always something new to see and explore. I’ve wanted to get this shot for quite some time but just never made time for it until this trip. With some time to kill on a cloudless morning, Willie, Breezy and I meandered the slot canyon for an hour by ourselves before the place became overrun with tourists. The rock formation on the left is known as “Lady in the Wind”. Can you spot her head, torso, and flowing hair? Standing underneath her, looking up at the sky creates quite the dramatic scene. I’ve photographed the Lady twice before from different angles and of the three I love them all for different reasons. Warning: We were in for a bit of a shock when we arrived. As we waited for the canyon to open we noticed that there were 2 new, fancy, buildings at the entrance. It turns out that a new, and quite awful, company opened shop at Lower Antelope Canyon called “Lower Antelope Canyon Tours.” They are not the original tour company and they may even be operating illegally. They led us false information (for example: they claimed that the photography tour had to be a guided tour that started 1.5 hours after the canyon opened, well after the light would become harsh and horrible and that un-guided tours are no longer allowed). We went over to the original, Ken’s Tours, and were able to head into Lower Antelope Canyon unguided. We had the whole place to ourselves for almost an hour. After that is when things went downhill — it became so crowded I couldn’t even move. When I reached the end and wanted to turn back my only option was to climb up, out of the canyon, walk to the beginning from above, then climb back in to nab a few more shots. Lets hope they don’t over commercialize Lower Antelope and turn it into the zoo that Upper Antelope is. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 24mm, f/11, 1 sec, ISO 100 Exposure and focus stacked for increased dynamic range and depth.
