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
Aurora over Skogafoss with Moonbow Skogar, Iceland When I visited Iceland last July, I crammed in almost everything I wanted to see into a very busy and amazing 12 days but a return in winter visit was in order. Willie, Alan, Rebecca and I made that happen at the end of February. In the middle of our trip we were treated to 2 nights of stunning aurora and on this particular evening we drove to the Skogafoss waterfall in hopes of a 3rd night of aurora. When we arrived at Skogafoss we knew cloudy skies were on their way. We also knew the sun had been quiet and our chances at the radiation storm required to produce the aurora were pretty low so we parked our Camper Vans with a view of the waterfall and went to bed. Every few hours I would wake up, stick the camera at the window and take a photo to see if the aurora had come out. Around 5am I noticed the clouds had thinned and the sky had a nice green glow to it. Rebecca and I hopped out of the car and fired off a few quick photos. I was so focused on making sure the camera was in focus that I almost didn’t notice the rainbow. When I finally had the camera all set I looked up and realized “OH MY GOSH! A MOONBOW!” I think Rebecca thought I was insane. “What’s a moonbow?!” she asked. “THE RAINBOW! LOOK! FROM THE LIGHT OF THE MOON! WITH AURORA!” I quickly fired off a few more shots and looked behind me to see the moon was about to set below the mountains. I didn’t even have time to get a better composition before it was gone. Nikon D800 w/Bower 24mm f/1.4: 24mm, f/5.6, 25 sec, ISO 800
