Surf's Up!The Wave Coyote Buttes, Arizona After spending 3 days in Zion it was time for another one of our most anticipated parts of the trip: a hike to The Wave! I had been here a year before but the weather conditions weren't ideal for photography here. Hoping that this trip would turn out better Willie, Yan, and I had been monitoring the weather rather closely and kept praying that the clouds and rain from the past couple days would finally leave and give us some blue skies. I think we checked the weather forecast perhaps every 20 minutes to see if we would be in luck! Several months earlier I had applied for and been lucky enough to get a permit for 4 of us to visit the Coyote Buttes North, which includes the Wave. This section of Pariah Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness is on the border between Utah and Arizona. As we hiked the several miles to The Wave we could see the clouds disappearing. We got really excited! It only took us 1.5 hours to reach The Wave and we got here just in time. We were the first to arrive after passing several other groups along the way. We had the entire place to ourselves for about 20 minutes before the others showed up. We also arrived just before the shadows started to creep in. Most people photograph this during the summer, when the sun is overhead and creates less shadow and our early arrival gave us a shadow-free window. A half hour later and the sun dropped huge black spots into the wave. I absolutely LOVE this place. Photographs make this area seem larger than it is, but it's actually quite small. Still, the sweeping lines, beautiful texture, and wind-swept sandstone rock make for an amazing scene. We didn't want to leave, and I'm sure you can see why! I tried a number of different angles but as always, the classic shot is always the best! Later on we found the "Second Wave", a "Brain", and some other interesting rock formations! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 17mm, f/16, 1/100 sec, ISO 100 B+W Circular Polarizer
Surprise AwakeningSunrise over Dead Tree Glacier National Park, Montana I normally try not to get too excited for things in the future that have a high probability of changing but as Willie, Alan, and I checked the weather forecast for our upcoming trip to Glacier National Park I couldn't help but let the excitement build up. The weather looked perfect! Things didn't go quite as planned. We would watch beautiful clouds fizzle away right before our eyes, thunderstorms roll in, rain pour for hours and the fog get so thick you could barely see your feet. For a day and a half we sat around doing nothing because the weather was so bad. On the 3rd morning we woke up at 4am and saw a few stars peaking out. "Maybe the storm will break" we thought. Dragging ourselves out of bed we made our way into the park and started to get excited! It looked like the clouds might be thinning! You know what happened next, right? Mama Nature was right on queue and within a blink of an eye made those clouds disappear completely. At this point we felt pretty defeated - even almost to the point of anger. It's a good thing we're not quitters because just as quickly as the clouds disappeared they came back and positioned themselves perfectly in the mountains. They say the best photos come from patient photographers and in this case it's true. When the sun rose above the horizon it lit the entire scene in a beautiful orange glow. The word "dynamic" continuously came up whenever we talk about this scene. Everything came together perfectly: the glow in the branches, the S-curve in the river, and the illuminated mountains all made for the perfect scene to wake up to. And let me tell you -- we had quite the "wake your tuchas up" moment ... Earlier in the morning, I asked Willie and Alan: "What do we do if we see a bear while we're there?" Willie replied "it's too steep for a bear to be up there. We should be fine." I didn't really believe his answer but it was too early in the morning to argue. While snapping away I noticed something move in the background. "Oh hey, look… Bear" I thought to myself. About 2 seconds later I realized what I just said in my head: BEAR!!!!!!!! GRIZZLY BEAR! About 40 feet away! The first thing out of my mouth was "holy sh!t!". Willie and Alan looked at me like I was crazy. "BEAR!!!!" I scream as I run for the bear spray. Willie backed up. Alan picked up a rock. When the bear realized who we were it too freaked out and galloped off. My previous 2 photos had picked up the bear! Can you find the bear here? Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 17mm, f/16, 1/4 sec, ISO 100
Perfectly AutumnOld Barn Amongst Autumn Trees Glen Arbor, Michigan Every year I travel to Michigan to spend a long weekend with my favorite college buddies. We call it "Tundig" and it's a sort of mini-reunion. We spend the weekend in Northern Michigan eating, drinking, cooking, hiking, photographing, swimming, sleeping and just having a great time. Traditionally it occurred during the University of Michigan autumn break and that means that I get to see the amazing fall colors in full bloom. On this particular day my friends and I decided to go wine tasting. Yes, Michigan does actually have wineries, specializing in mostly white or exotic type wines (like cherry wine). While driving to the wineries we passed by this beautiful barn hidden amongst the trees. I immediately asked my friend to pull over so I could snap a few photos. I loved the way the barn, the beautiful autumn colors, and the blue sky all came together here. Nikon D80 w/Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5: 50mm, f/10, 1/60 sec, ISO 800
