Milky Way Through Mobius Arch Alabama Hills Recreation Park, Lone Pine, California I have an amazing job. My dream job. I get to be an Engineer and work for a photography company. SmugMug isn’t just any photography company though, it’s a family who really loves its customers and its employees. Each year they take the entire company and their families on a retreat and this year we spent a week in Park City, Utah. Superstar photographer Ben Von Wong joined us on our epic week and I enjoyed getting to know him and his girlfriend Anna over the 7 days in town. When they asked me to cancel my flight home and spend 4 days driving to San Francisco with them and Nick, I knew I couldn’t refuse! I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Ben, whose photographs always include people, didn’t have the patience to wait for Nick and I to do our landscape photographer thing. As long as the hike or the scene would be epic we might capture his interest long enough not to make us pack up and head somewhere else. We hiked The Narrows. We walked the Vegas strip. We explored eroded landscapes and salt flats in Death Valley. And on the last night we showed him the Milky Way for the first time with his naked eye. The drive from Vegas to the Bay Area is long. 10 hours long. I decided we should break it up by spending the night in Bishop. As soon as Ben saw a photo of Mobius Arch he screamed “we’re going there!” So after Death Valley we made awry to Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills. We arrived at Mobius Arch just after sunset and figured out where it was and what time the Milky Way would line up behind it. Midnight to 3am meant that we grabbed some pizza, a nap, and then waited. Ben and Anna created a selfie-series photo. I snuck in a few photos of them posing under the arch. And when they left, I captured this one. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 3200
Sunrise at Sunset Point Bryce Canyon National Park, UT Willie and I spent 6 days in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and by the end of the trip we had visited most of the major spots and anything that didn’t require waking up at 1am to photograph sunrise. When the weather forecast predicted clouds for our last morning we were stumped on where to go. Half jokingly I threw out: “Bryce?”. Off to Bryce it was! We weren’t quite sure if our hour+ long drive to Bryce would be worth it. Patches of clouds existed but we couldn’t quite tell until the sun started to rise and lit up this patch of clouds gloriously. Strangly named ... “Sunset Point” is probably the best spot to photograph sunrise and we ran around the Rim Trail for quite some time trying to find our perfect spot. I love the way that this scene forms layers upon layers for our eyes. Up front you have the towering Hoodoo’s and Thor’s Hammer (on the right), while the whiter colors of the Upper Member sit behind. Sandstone hills lie further back before Bryce drops into a valley and is then finished with more mountains in the background. Thanks to Mama Nature for finishing the sky off with a matching orange and red sky. The drive and early wake up was *totally* worth it! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 28mm, f/11, 3 sec, ISO 100 3 image focus stack
Sunset at Castle Mountain Banff National Park, Canada When Willie and I flew into Calgary and drove to Banff we had high hopes for its season of "Ice and Fire". November has earned this reputation based on the beautiful pink and red sunsets that are more common during this month, while at the same time, Banffs lakes and rivers begin to freeze. On our first night in Banff we drove straight to Castle Mountain. Most of the riverbed was still flowing normally but we found a few patches where the shallow water was beginning to melt into neat patterns and shapes. We just had to sit and wait and hope that some clouds would arrive for sunset. When you photograph a sunset with this much depth between the foreground and the background, you often have to focus in multiple places, take a number of photos, and blend them together later. Sometimes this means you have to compose your photo before you know how much of the sky will be lit on fire, and that was the case here. While I hoped for more dragonplay in the sky, both Willie and I were pleasantly surprised with the pink clouds and the icy reflection we were treated to on our first night! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 17mm, f/11, 0.8 sec, ISO 100
