New Releases

Waterfall Cave

Waterfall Cave, Ice-Cave under glacier Vatnajökull, Iceland At SmugMug HQ we had an entire conference room dedicated to photos of ice-caves in Iceland. Most of the photos were taken by Iurie Belegurschi, who now runs photography workshops for a living and has some of the most amazing Iceland photos you'll ever see. There's this one photo of a man standing in the ice-cave with a giant waterfall gushing down it. Ever since I saw that photo I said to myself "I have to see this with my own eyes!" Inspiring people to travel is my main motivation for my photography, so I always love when someone else photography motivates me to go see something unique. Entrepreneurs in Iceland run ice-cave tours, but most of those caves are dry when you go in them. Seeing an ice-cave with a waterfall -- now that's different! After visiting ice-caves in prior years I started reaching out to private ice-guides to see if any would be willing to take me to the waterfall cave. I found one and a few other photography friends and I decided to split the cost of the private tour. We met with our guide and promptly began driving out to the glacier in a gigantic raised 4x4 with huge wheels. Unfortunately we found ourselves stuck at one point due to snow/rain from the previous day causing a stream to fill with very wet, heavy snow. It took us about 30 minutes to dig the truck out and get going again. We then put on crampons and carefully made our way over the glacier and into the cave. Wow, what a sight! Unfortunately for us the delay meant the sunlight was starting to creep into the cave - creating harsh light spots and very difficult photo conditions. That didn't stop us. I knew I wanted to capture the water streaming in and placed the water as the main element in the photo. It's amazing how quickly the glaciers melt. On our way into the cave we came to a giant opening that we had to carefully climb down. Our guide instructed us that this had been the chamber I saw in the photo 2 years earlier. It was now completely exposed to the sky and the "waterfall" part of the cave was now lower and deeper in. Global warming in true form, right before our eyes. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/13, 2.0 sec, ISO 100

Sunsets' Gym

Sunset over Seastacks San Francisco, California COVID put a major damper on my photography plans for 2020. As I look back through my photos for the year it became clear that there weren't many new photos. A couple sunset outings to the coast, a few Redwoods trips (and *lots* of tree photos) ... the Comet ... a few drone pictures ... so when any chance to get away from our normal day, get out of the house, and take some photos is appreciated. Willie and I have been photographing the San Francisco Bay Area coastline for nearly 10 years now, so we've photography most or all of the popular beaches more times than we want to count. It's easy to grow tired of them, so when he suggested we explore an area we hadn't shot before, I was very excited. The beach is really only "epic" at a super low tide, which we had on this evening. On higher tides, the beach is under water and it's extremely hard to photograph the coastline. Escaype correctly predicted a beautiful sunset. The color was isolated to a band just above the horizon but it surely was beautiful. I had intended to photograph a different part of the beach but the scene looked further south and the colors weren't quite reaching that way, so I picked up and redirected the scene. I loved how the rocks and the seastacks make a triangular line that sucks the eye in. I used a slow shutter to add to the lines in the scene. And of course the orange-red reflected light on the rocks seals the deal. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/11, 0.6 sec, ISO 80

Winter Hats

Snow on the Merced River Yosemite National Park, CA Willie and I arrived in Yosemite just as winter storm Leo was wrapping up dumping over a foot of snow into Yosemite Valley. It was still snowing when we arrived and we made sure to take advantage of the snow to look for something different for our portfolio. Previously we had photographed the clearing winter storms -- Yosemite bathed in snow, but with skies turning blue and light entering the park. While we hoped the capture the clearing storm, we also wanted that shadowy, cold but peaceful look while it was still snowing. When you enter Yosemite Valley you're put into a giant one-way loop. You enter the valley, get to the Yosemite Village, and then can head back out (or to a number of destinations). While doing a lap around the valley we found ourselves exploring the meadow outside of Yosemite Falls. The Merced River was mostly just a stream and the foot of snow had landed on top of the rocks, making little hats dotting the river. I think we spent nearly 45 minutes trying to figure out the best way to photograph the snowcats and this was one of my favorite of the scenes. The river, following by beautifully snowy trees, with a mountainous backdrop to remind us we were in the mountains. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 38mm, f/13, 1/100 sec, ISO 100

Sunburnt

Mud Cracks after Storm Painted Hills, Arizona After exploring some spots that Willie and I were familiar with, we set off for a new location in search of badlands and canyons. While driving along the road we saw some hills that looked like they could be interesting and we pulled over at an opening in the fence. While walking out to the hills, we stumbled upon something else... Willie and David promptly stopped in the middle of their tracks and explained "daaayyyum". These amazing mud cracks were peeling themselves away all around us. A winter stream that had dried up left beautiful cracked mud in its place. The sun was still quite high and made for some harsh lighting, so I was a little confused what David and Willie were seeing at first. But once I looked towards some of the shadows and the parts that weren't catching the blinding light, it was impossible not to ignore the beautiful shapes these peeling mud cracks were creating. This one reminded me of skin peeling off a sunburnt face. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 36mm, f/7.1, 1/80 sec, ISO 200

Breckenrise

Sunrise over Mt. Powell Breckenridge, Colorado My coworker Ana is another landscape photographer like myself. She lives in Slovenia and has some of the most amazing photographs ever taken of her country. She visited the USA for manager training and realized that the end of the trip was perfect for photographing fall colors in Colorado and asked if I would join her. I've long wanted to shoot Colorado fall and this was a perfect excuse. We flew into Denver, picked up the rental car and spent our first night near Breckenridge. Our photographer friend, Nick Selway, had moved to Brek to open a photo gallery and met up with us for sunrise. He knew the perfect spot to take us for sunrise so we hopped in his car and drove about 20 minutes outside of town. I was the pessimist for the day -- the clouds looked too thick to light up. Nick, on the other hand, kept screaming "this is going to be great! Just you wait!" And sure enough when the sun rose over the hills behind us, the clouds over the mountains lit up with a beautiful orange. A dusting of snow fell overnight and capped the mountain peaks for just that extra bit of goodness. D850 w/Nikkor 80-200: 200mm, f/11, 1/30 sec, ISO 320

All Tangled Up

Algae covered Cypress tree Pt. Lobos State Reserve, CA I first came across a photo of the Monterey Cypress trees in Pt. Lobos State Nature Reserve while at work. Someone pulled up a photo and I thought it was one of the coolest things I had seen in a long time. I just loved the way the tree branches intertwined amongst each other, while white moss and green algae (which appears orange) give the entire scene a crazy mood. I knew I had to go see the trees for myself. Having been "trapped" in doors for weeks with the COVID lockdown, Sammi, Willie, Sarah and I were itching to get out into some nature. So we decided to drive down to Big Sur (separately so we'd be COVID safe) and get out into fresh air. Unfortunately so did a gazillion other people and it turned out that this day, New Years Day, was the busiest day in the park. A green algae, known as Trentepohlia, which ironically looks reddish orange on the trees, grows on these trees on the shadowy seaward side of the trees. Kicked up by the salty ocean spray, the algae attaches to the trees and they live in a natural harmony. It's orange color comes from carotene, the same pigment found in carrots. Trying to take pictures here is tough, especially on a crowded day, because there's a steep hill on one side, and a path with all the COVID carrying tourists on the other side. Setting up a large tripod and lens blocks the path, so Willie and I tried to be quick, get our photos, and get out of there. The scene doesn't make a "quick snap" easy though -- the massive depth of the trees and the telephoto lens mean that multiple photos are required, at various focus points. In this case, I used 6 photos, focused in different parts of the trees, to create more depth in the scene. I then used a computer program, Affinity Photo, to automatically determine the sharpest parts of each photo and blend the photo together into one fully focused photo. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8: 120mm, f/16, 1/15 sec, ISO 320 6 photo focus stack

Damn that Path

Afternoon glow in the Redwood forest Redwood National Park, CA I've lived in the same home for over a decade but with so many beautiful hikes nearby, I've never really explored the neighborhood around me, other than to get groceries or eat at a restaurant. When COVID hit and the parks closed, I was forced to walk the neighborhood and I was shocked to find how many cute areas were within blocks of me. More surprising, was how there were Redwood trees all over my neighborhood, in peoples front and back yards. It definitely helped with feeling stuck at home while sheltering in place. But that itch to get out still persevered. When things started to improve at the end of May, Willie, David and I made a COVID-safe dash up to the Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California. Willie and I arrived first and explored a particular Redwood grove that we had hoped was filled with rhododendrons blooming. From the road it looked like the rhodies blooming all over, so we parked at a pull-out and followed a trail into the forest. Redwood photos look even more stunning when fog sets in, removing some of the distracting elements of a crowded forest. We had noticed fog as we drove in, but it was hugging the coast, so we followed the trail hoping it would take us back to the foggy areas. The trail led to no-where and we decided to turn back. Sometimes the best scenes are behind you, because on our walk back we realized we had walked right by this scene. I loved the way the bit of trail draws the eye into the forest, and some nice soft spot-lighting crept in through the trees. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm: 24mm, f/11, 1/40 sec, ISO 320

Before the Storm

Sunset over green hills Silicon Valley, CA I mentioned to Willie that I wanted to photograph more of the Bay Area hills and he was kind enough to invite me out to go shoot on a stormy evening. Actually, I think he just wanted me to drive him there (which is fine by me. Chauffeur Meyers at your service). When we arrived it started to drizzle. I was a little worried that the rain wouldn't play nice with the drones, but the rain stopped and we thought it was safe to launch. We spent about 25 minutes exploring the area before bringing the drones back. Just as we went to launch the second battery, the rain came back, so we took a little break and waited for the sun to dip lower in the sky. We had been waiting for a gap -- low clouds blocked the light, then the clouds gave way, before the sun dipped below the mountains. When the sun did finally hit the sweet spot, we had the drones in the air to capture the way it illuminated patterns onto the hills. The sky caught a bunch of the glow as well. Later on the sky turned pink and purple, before pouring and hailing on me while I drove home. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/4, 1/120 sec, ISO 100

Eggs Benedict

Cloudy night skies over salt flats Death Valley National Park, California I'm not quite sure why the name "Eggs Benedict" stuck out in my mind. Perhaps it's because these salt flats reminded me of the shape of eggs, and you've got the white/yellow (ok, in this case reddish brown) contrast. Or maybe it was just because I was ready for breakfast when I took this prior to 6am. Willie and I had scouted this area on a previous trip but the salt wasn't quite good looking at the time. That's Death Valley for you... some years the salt flats are beautiful and others they're not. It all depends on the rain and how frequently there was last water in the area. It was March and we decided it was cool enough to camp (hah, yes, "cool" enough since it can be 120°F in the summer). We set out early in the morning and got out to the location while the moon was still up. I loved the way it made the scene glow. And oddly enough, that night it rained on us. It's the one time I've been camping in the rain, and it happened at Death Valley of all places! Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/11, 1.0 sec, ISO 100

Fern Line

Sunrise in the Redwood Grove Redwood State Park, Humboldt, CA Different Redwood forests all have different characteristics in spring. Some Forrests have beautiful rhododendron blooms, while others have carpets of sorrel fields (similar to clovers), and some just have beautiful green and red contrasting colors. We came to Humboldt for the carpets of sorrel mixed with ferns. David flew into San Francisco, we picked him up, and drove 5 hours north to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It has some of the biggest and oldest Redwood trees in California and they're truly breathtaking when you stand in the groves. The previous evening we had tried to photograph sunset in the forest but the mosquitos were so bad that we ended up running back to the car for protection and gave up. Oh well. Our final morning we visited this particular grove which was known for sorrel and ferns, and sure enough the forrest was stunning. We could have photographed the grove for hours, had the sun not risen too high and started adding spotlights to the trees we were trying to photograph. In this scene, I loved how the ferns lined up in a row as if they were leading you down a path into the Redwood grove. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/10, 5 sec, ISO 100

Follow the Pink Fog Road

Foggy sunrise enveloping San Francisco Hawk Hill, San Francisco, California All of us that live in the Bay Area have grown accustomed to the fog. Although we don't get much rain, we do get fog. It's our version of "weather", and if you live in SF, it's the thing you check on a daily basis in the summer. No fog and there will be a beautiful warm day. But on the days when the fog rolls in, San Francisco can be 20-30 degrees colder than the rest of the area. The forecast had called for low fog on this particular morning, so naturally there were a bazillion photographers on Hawk Hill when I arrived with Zack. I had been to the same spot the morning previous with Willie for another morning of beautiful fog. The fog height was higher than we wanted for the Golden Gate Bridge, so I focused my attention on the way the fog was enveloping San Francisco. I used a longer telephoto lens to get into the city. In this capture, I Loved how the rising sun was glowing off the top of the fog, making what looks like a road into the city. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: 135mm, f/11, 0.6 sec, ISO 80

Taking a Break

Sunset at Secret Beach Brookings, Oregon One thing I've noticed when taking pictures is that if you stare at a scene too much, you end up taking the same photos over and over again. So it was nice to get away from the Redwood forests and rhododendron blooms and see something different for this sunset. Miles had wanted to photograph some of the Oregon coast and since it was only 30 minutes away, we decided to hop on up. He knew of a few beaches and we stopped at 3 or 4 before deciding to head to Secret Beach. We arrived after a mile hike, in which we were *very* careful not to step on Poison Oak, which filled the sides of the trails at every step (and of course when we arrived, I set my camera down in a clearing surrounded by more Poison Oak). Thankfully none of us ended up touching the Poison Oak. The seastacks along the Oregon coast are known for there bulbous shapes that dot the coastline. Secret Beach is no different and was a beautiful place to watch sunset. At one point David walked out onto these rocks for a selfie, and he was a perfect model in my composition. I ended up loving having the human element in this photo. It reminded me of the break we were taking from life, from COVID, from the Redwoods and Rhodes ... and even the break David was taking from photographing to just BE IN THE MOMENT. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 18mm, f/22, 1.3 sec, ISO 31

Sneffels Milk

Milky Way over Mt. Sneffels Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado Growing up in the east coast I always loved fall. My parents house is surrounded by trees that would make a mess for my brothers and I to have to clean up. Of course that meant we got to rake big piles of leaves for us to jump into too! Yet when I got into photography I somehow never made a trip to Colorado to photograph the fall colors. The finally changed when my coworker Ana invited me to join her in 2019. We flew into Denver, stopped at Breckenridge, had our car break down in Crested Butte and then finally made it to the San Juan mountains. Fall colors were nearly peaking with the Aspen trees lighting up with beautiful yellow and orange. Unfortunately there wasn't a cloud in the sky our entire trip. David had taught me to make due with the conditions we had. Cloudless skies meant that epic grand scenes were off the table, so I looked for more abstract scenes I could zoom in on. Ana and I had spent the afternoon and evening looking for scenes along this particular county road. Just as the sun went down we found ourselves at this particular spot and nearly packed up when the other photographers did, but I had an idea: what if we stayed another hour and let the Milky Way come up. The view faced perfectly south and I knew the Milky Way would rise perfectly over Mt. Sneffels. We had bread and peanut-butter for dinner so of course we waited and this is what unfolded before our eyes. When the moon came out it also provided just a touch of light onto the Aspen trees to make them glow. D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm: 62mm, f/2.8, 8.0 sec, ISO 800

Crystal Sparkles

Sunrise on Aspen trees Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado My coworker, Ana, had spent some time in Colorado in the past and had some ideas on where we should scout for photos. When we arrived in the San Juan Mountains we spent a few days driving along dirt roads in search of beautiful mountain scenes. We had some time to kill one day and wanted to see what the colors were like in Ouray and made our way there. Along the way we passed beautiful strands of trees and every 2 seconds I wanted to get out and shoot but sun was high in the sky and most of the scenes were meh. We came upon an alpine lake and got out to take iPhone photos when I realized the high mountain peaks nearby were providing some protection from the harsh light. It was just starting to spotlight a strand of trees high up in the mountain and I thought "damn, I need to capture this." I literally sprinted back to the car because I knew the light wouldn't last long. I grabbed the bazooka lens and my camera and raced back a few steps to get a better line at the hills. Sure enough the light hit some of these aspens and made them glow like crystals. I couldn't help myself. Nikon D850 w/Sigma 150-600mm: 180mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO 400

Spotlit

Sunrise on Aspen trees Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado As I prepared for my Colorado fall colors trip with my coworker Ana, I asked my friend David if I should bring the "bazooka" lens (my ultra-telephoto). He looked at me as if I was an idiot for asking. *OF COURSE* I should bring it. I'm glad I did because some of my favorite photos were taken with the super telephoto lens. This one included. Ana and I spent a couple days in Breckenridge and Crested Butte before spending the rest of our time in the San Juan mountains. On this particular morning we had scouted a county road for fall colors. We had seen a pretty epic view the night before but it really needed clouds in the sky to make it work. On this particular sunrise there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We photographed the grand scene but it was just missing something, so I put the wide angle lens away and waited for the sun to strike the Aspen trees. As it came up I could see this particular grove of Aspen trees was able to be baked in warm beautiful light, so I grabbed that super telephoto lens and waited for the light to hit it. I loved how it spotlit the yellow Aspen trees. I photographed this for about 30 minutes and watched as the light changed every minute, lighting more and more of the trees, until the whole scene was blown out by too much light. D850 w/Sigma 150-600mm: 480mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO 500

Aspens Last Glow

Last light on Aspen trees San Juan National Forest, Colorado This fall I spent a week exploring Colorado with my coworker Ana. We started in Denver, drove to Breckenridge (met up with Nick Selway), had our car break down in Crested Butte, and eventually made our way to the San Juan mountains before flying back home. The majority of the trip was spent near the San Juans and we had clear skies every single day. Clear skies are great -- except when you want to photograph grand vistas and need clouds in the sky to make something interesting. I spent most of the time making the best of the light and photographed intimate scenes. There was one reason for shooting grand scenes though -- Milky Way photos. On a clear night, face south and the Milky Way will rise over the mountains. As much as I hated having to lose a day on the trip for our broken-down car, there were some positives: our replacement vehicle was a beast of a Ford Expedition that handled the rough terrain of Last Dollar Road like a champ. The extra clearance proved handy multiple times. Towards the end of the road, as we neared Telluride, we came across this viewpoint of the San Juan mountains with a beautiful patch of aspen trees changing color in front of them. We waited for the sun to sink well below the horizon and for the Milky Way to come out, snapped some photos, and then raced back to the hotel to get some dinner before everything closed down. D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: Foreground: 60mm, f/9, 0.6 sec, ISO 640 Sky: 24mm, f/2.8, 15sec, ISO 6400 After Ana and I spent a few days in Breckenridge and Crested Butte we made our way over to the San Juan mountains. We used the town of Ridgway as our "home base", which has a hotel or two, some decent food, and is central to all of the mountains and trees. Typically the San Juan mountains are photographed using wider angle compositions -- there's stunning mountains all over that look beautiful with the color aspen trees. These scenes, however, need clouds to make the scenes interesting. Without clouds you either come home with no portfolio photos or you have to adapt. I put away the wide angle lenses and looked to my telephoto lenses to make beautiful photos. We had spent the entire day driving up and down different county roads scouting the different scenes and looking for great groves of trees. Ana had photographed this particular spot in a previous trip because of a criss-crossing fence she really liked. As we drove in at sunset we saw the last light glowing on the yellow Aspen trees and I pulled over and grabbed the long lens to get the last light on the trees before it died. We stayed another hour and photographed the Milky Way and went home happy campers. D850 w/Nikkor 80-200mm: 100mm f/7.1, 13 sec, ISO 320

Lady Bird Morning

Sunrise in the Redwood Forests Redwood National Park, CA Willie, David, and I had planned on doing a Redwood National Park trip well before COVID hit, and we weren't sure if our plans would be ruined. Actually, we were pretty sure they would be. But things started looking better by early May and the hotels and parks opened up enough for us to decide it was safe to do the trip. We took as many precautions as we could, including quarantining, wearing masks, using hand sanitizer at all times, socially distancing, and using separate vehicles. At the last second, Miles Morgan decided he needed to get the heck out of the house, and he joined us too. It's a long drive up North -- about 7 hours. We spent a few days photographing various Redwood groves, searching for rhododendron blossoms. On our last morning we decided to drive an hour south, to Lady Bird Johnson Grove, as it would reduce the long haul back to the Bay by an hour. The grove was super hard to photograph in but we made a few images that worked. In this particular scene I loved the combination of the old Spanish moss on the tree, combined with the rhode next to it. The light was filtering in through the trees and created a spotlight effect. It was too juicy to pass up. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8: 40mm, f/11, 0.5 sec, ISO 320

Pot of Gold

Sunset rainbow over green hills Silicon Valley, CA One of my favorite local scenes to photograph are the hills. The Bay Area has a lot to photograph but it's mostly known for its cityscapes and seascapes, so it's fun to photograph something different. And photographing it from the air is even more fun and different. Willie asked if I wanted to go fly the drone with him and the forecast looked perfect for some hills photos. Low clouds with a clearing at the horizon are perfect to light up the hills but also provide something interesting in the sky. When photographing the hills, I don't actually want a colorful sky -- the orange and reds from the sky don't go well with the green hills. But a nice glow in the clouds pairs perfectly with the warm shades on the hills. The setup was perfect -- before the sun went down, a hole in the sky cast light-beams all around. The sun dipped behind the clouds for a while before popping out just before it was blocked by the hills and dipped below the horizon. For a while, Willie and I were getting rained on. We let it past and then put our drones back up, and that's when I noticed a rainbow had come out. I flew to a nearby hill to use as a foreground and captured this stunner. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO 100

Last Aspen Light

Sunset on the Aspen Trees Colorado In the summer of 2019, Sammi and I visited my coworker Ana in Slovenia. A few weeks later she came out to California for manager training and before she went back she asked if I would join her in Colorado for a fall colors photo trip. I've been wanting to photograph the fall colors in Colorado and happily agreed to join her. Our car broke down in Crested Butte. I'm so thankful that the car broke down when we were in town and not 5 minutes earlier when we were in the middle of no where. In the end we lost a day of photography but ended up with a bigger, more bad-ass car. That car was much more suited to drive the dirt roads towards Telluride, Colorado. We arrived at this spot earlier in the afternoon and instantly fell in love. There was a beautiful grove of Aspen trees with the San Juan mountains behind it. We drove on, scouted some more, photographed some intimate scenes inside a forest, and then came back here for dusk. Even though the sun had gone down many minutes earlier, there was still enough light on the trees to cast a beautiful glow on all of the Aspens. I pulled out the big lens and kept taking photos as long as I could. Then we stayed even longer and waited for it to get dark so we could shoot the Milky Way. D850 w/Nikkor 80-200: 155mm, f/9, 0.6 sec, ISO 800

St. Thomas's Fiery Breath

Sunrise over St. Thomas Church Slovenia St. Thomas Church in Slovenia is probably the most photographed scene in the whole country, despite the fact that the entire country is gorgeous and has photographs around every bend. The views are evident the moment you walk off the plane -- when you step out of the door you immediately gaze at the beautiful Alps and lowland foothills. Despite seeing a million photos of St. Thomas Church, I knew I wanted to spend a morning here. We flew into Slovenia, spent a day in the capital city of Ljubliana (pronounced Lee-oob-lee-ah-na) and then the next 5 near Lake Bled. This particular morning had a weather prediction of partially cloudy and was my only real chance of getting any color in the sky. Despite being extremely exhausted from hiking 16 miles the day before, I woke up hours before dawn, got in the car and drove to this very remote town. You're basically driving on 1 lane roads to get to this viewpoint. Of course when I arrived there were already 3 other photographers (some nice folks from Poland). Just as the sun came up, the clouds in the low portion of the sky took on the orange glow of the rising sun. I used a telephoto lens to focus on the church of St. Thomas and the rising fiery sky. D850 w/Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8: 120mm, f/11, 1/10 sec, ISO 64

Brain Game

Badlands, from Above Bisti Badlands, New Mexico I have major FOMO (fear of missing out), especially if David and Willie are involved. I've always admired David's desert photos and when he invited me to join on a trip to New Mexico, I knew I couldn't pass. Nevermind that the trip fell smack-dab-in-the-middle of a really good friends wedding. The trip was planned for Wednesday through Sunday and I figured I could join for 2 days and fly home in time for the wedding. Willie and I arrived Wednesday night and drove over to Bisti. By the time we arrived there was no point going to the hotel - instead we drove straight to a sunrise location and slept for a few hours in the car. David joined us just as we were about to wake up. Sunrise was fun with the best photos taken with the drone, we caught a few hours of sleep, met up with Paul Rojas, and scouted for sunset. The area was looking like a dud, so we tore off for a different spot that David knew would be great from the drones. We all flew the drones through 3 batteries that evening. The light on the badlands was beautiful, creating some really abstract and unique shapes. Just as my first battery was depleting I brought the drone back towards me and noticed this scene. I loved how the light was playing on the circular, brain-like shapes. Rather than landing, I kept the drone in the air until the battery nearly completely drained. I was standing just off the top of the frame here but kept coming back to this spot for these shapes. The trip and the next few days turned out to be crazy. After spending 2 days in New Mexico, I drove back Friday night, flew out Saturday morning, drove to Yosemite for the wedding, came back Sunday morning, then turned right around and drove to Tahoe, skied one of the top 3 days of my life Monday, and was back home and at work on Tuesday. Quite the whirlwind week! DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm (28mm equivalent), f/4, 1.0 sec, ISO 100

3 Smiling Amigos

Sunset over Sunflowers Silicon Valley, California This isn't the first time that I've photographed sunflower fields. I've always loved them -- I don't have many memories as a toddler but I still remember playing with a few sunflower stalks when I was teeny. In high school I loved to eat sunflower seeds while sitting on the bench at baseball games (hey, I was designated pinch runner!). Willie, Zack, and I drove over to these sunflower fields on a night that was predicted to have a beautiful sunset. Thanks to Escaype, the prediction was spot on and the sky lit up beautifully. We arrived right as the sunflower fields were at their "peak", meaning the flowers were still blooming beautifully, their heads weren't drooping, and the petals are nice and fresh. A week or so later and the heads would be dipping down and the leaves withering. I looked for a set of flowers that filled the screen and found that here. In previous years I had taken vertical sunflower photos so I was on the hunt for a landscape orientation scene that filled the frame. These reminded me of the 3 amigos, smiling up at us. D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/10, 1/60 sec, ISO 640

Million Dollar View

Milky Way over Telluride San Juan National Forest, Colorado This fall I spent a week exploring Colorado with my coworker Ana. We started in Denver, drove to Breckenridge (met up with Nick Selway), had our car break down in Crested Butte, and eventually made our way to the San Juan mountains before flying back home. The majority of the trip was spent near the San Juans and we had clear skies every single day. Clear skies are great -- except when you want to photograph grand vistas and need clouds in the sky to make something interesting. I spent most of the time making the best of the light and photographed intimate scenes. There was one reason for shooting grand scenes though -- Milky Way photos. On a clear night, face south and the Milky Way will rise over the mountains. As much as I hated having to lose a day on the trip for our broken-down car, there were some positives: our replacement vehicle was a beast of a Ford Expedition that handled the rough terrain of Last Dollar Road like a champ. The extra clearance proved handy multiple times. Towards the end of the road, as we neared Telluride, we came across this viewpoint of the San Juan mountains with a beautiful patch of aspen trees changing color in front of them. We waited for the sun to sink well below the horizon and for the Milky Way to come out, snapped some photos, and then raced back to the hotel to get some dinner before everything closed down. D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: Foreground: 60mm, f/9, 0.6 sec, ISO 640 Sky: 24mm, f/2.8, 15sec, ISO 6400