View allAll Photos Tagged TOURISTATTRACTION
Taken at The Butchart Gardens, a beautiful and well-known botanical garden in Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada.
Varenna is a comune on Lake Como in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 60 kilometres north of Milan and about 20 kilometres northwest of Lecco.
Varenna was founded by local fishermen in 769, and was later allied of the commune of Milan. In 1126 it was destroyed by the rival commune of Como, and later received the refugees from the Isola Comacina, who had met the same fate (1169).
Light trails from boats that ferry tourists around the Singapore river and Marina Reservoir and lights from the building brighten up the city when night falls.
One of the most iconic images of Zion National Park is this mountain formation known as The Watchman.
At the southern entrance to the park, easily accessed from the National Park Visitor Center, it is the first introduction to the color and grandeur that is Zion. At the end of the day, it is the last part of the park seen by most visitors, as well. I just was lucky enough to see it at the end of daylight on the last day of 2019, when the clouds above still captured the direct sunlight, even though the rest of the canyon was nearly shrouded in darkness.
Many photographers think this formation is far too popularized to waste their time on, but I felt that, with the light of day diminishing rapidly on the momentous occasion of the decade's end, there was something comforting about seeing The Watchman standing its post as it has done and will continue to do for millennia.
Hospital Beach (or the Tide Pools) in La Jolla is a pretty popular spot for photographers.
This was my first visit of what will be many more, I'm certain. I was surprised to find it relatively quiet with few other people. It was a beautiful evening with a decent sunset. I truly love living in San Diego.
Fire Canyon in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada is a dramatic sandstone formation that showcases exactly where iron deposits seeped into the silica millennia ago, by an abrupt change from white to red. On this evening, the last throes of the sun shone right along that line of demarcation to illuminate the prominent snowcap of Virgin Peak below the clouds in the distance, while also showcasing the full moon above the clouds.
It was a blustery evening with temperatures in the low 50s and winds gusting to 30 kts, but it was a spectacular sight to behold, and true to Colorado Plateau form, within a week the high temperatures were forecast to be near 100Ā°F.
Recognition:
Best in Class, Nature/Landscape category - NOV 2024, Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC)
Selected for Display, Large Print - JUN-JUL 2023, International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds, CA
While visiting Zion National Park for the first time, we took advantage of an opportunity to see Bryce Canyon under snow on New Year's Day 2020.
As seen here, the cloud cover was pretty significant in southern Utah, and Zion was socked in, so we decided to see the snow covered hoodoos at Bryce a mere two hour drive away. My personal favorite park is Bryce Canyon because of its otherworldly imagery, and this visit under a considerable amount of snow confirmed its position. Stunning visuals, relatively unpopulated trails and vistas, and easy access, made this a very worthwhile visit to start the new year off right!
A little earlier in the afternoon, the Painted Wall (on the right of this image) may have had some red/orange hues to it from the direct sun, though given the clouds that was probably unlikely.
My teenage son, our dogs, and I were driving rapidly from North Dakota to San Diego, CA after Thanksgiving 2021, and didn't have a lot of time for photo stops on the trip, but I wanted to see this place. Fortunately, we arrived just ahead of sunset. Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a relatively new National Park, having been established in 1999, but the canyon you see is some of the oldest exposed rock that can be found on the planet, dating back nearly 2 billion years!
Pegmatite dikes create the horizontal lines you see in the Painted Wall, the tallest cliff in Colorado at 2,250'. The steepness of this gorge reduces sunlight in some parts to only 33 minutes per day, hence the name Black Canyon. From the viewpoints, it's pretty steep and having dogs with us (even on their 6' leashes) made me feel very uneasy. While the Canyon definitely deserves its name and has limited opportunity for exploration beyond the rim vista points, I felt extremely fortunate to visit on an evening where the sun and clouds conspired to put on a colorful light show to contrast the bleak gorge below.
Maybe this image I saw on New Years Day 2020 was a foretelling of the year to come. On a blustery cold morning, in an inhospitable environment, isolated from all other forms of life and exposed to the elements of freezing temperatures, snow and howling winds, this lone juniper not only survives, it thrives.
With no eyes to appreciate its view of the West Temple, nor grow fearful over its precarious perch 1000' over the tunnel entry below, this lone tree grows tenaciously reaching toward the heavens, even though that exposes it to the dangers even more.
Isn't that what life is really all about?
Recognition:
Semi-finalist - North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Showcase 2023
Bronze Award - 2020 EPSON International Pano Awards (Open Landscapes)
On a delightful Spring evening, the Grand Canyon prepares to lay low for the night, rejuventing for more spectacular shows the following day.
Some digital modification to the original base image to include fog and light beams that simply weren't there during my visit.
One of my favorite lighthouses to photograph, Marshall Point Light is a humble structure in Port Clyde, Maine, which became famous when Tom Hanks ran out along its boardwalk as part of the running montage in the movie Forest Gump.
Recognition:
Merit Image - JUN 2023 Professional Photographers of California (PPC) State Image Competition - Open category
Merit Image - JAN 2022 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC) - Illustrative category
Accepted for Display - DEC 2021 Darkroomers Photographic Club, and can be found in the Photographic Arts Building in Balboa Park, San Diego.
Nymph Lake in RMNP reflects the remaining light of the day on a late Spring evening.
This small alpine lake (approximately 300' to the distant shore) is the first body of water encountered along the Emerald Lake Trail, one of the most popular hikes in RMNP.
I was very pleased to catch the last vestiges of light on the peaks of the front range, ahead - most prominently, Thatchtop on the right and Storm Peak, Longs Peak and Pagoda Mountain from the left.
Yosemite National Park is among the most beautiful places on earth. Because of its climate and geography, however, it is susceptible to devastating wildfires.
Here, along Glacier Point Road, you find swaths of snag forest from fires past. These stands of snag forest are very beneficial to the ecology and, to my eye at least, create a visually stunning landscape, especially in the early stages of the Sierra winter.
There's such a satisfying feeling as a photographer, when you reach a location before sunrise, when everything is still dark and deep hues of blue and grey, and the first light of the sun begins to illuminate the world in front of your lens.
Standing in the depths of Zion Canyon on a blustery winter morning, my eyes tearing from the sub-freezing gusts, the anticipation is palpable. When the first hint of light starts to warm the Towers and Temple of the Virgin under a still deep blue sky, it is truly one of the Creator's great ceremonies.
Recognition:
Merit Image - 2022 Professional Photographers of California (PPC), Landscape category
Best in Class - MAR 2021 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC), Nature/Landscape category
Sunset at the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park.
The fiery colors of the setting sun match the near boiling temperatures of the spring water releasing steam that dances across the surface of the mat with the breeze.
About 90 minutes before this I was chatting with another amateur photographer who asked where I thought the best sunset might be, and I pointed him south toward the Tetons to catch the colors illuminated on the peaks (where I'd been the previous evening). I wish I had his contact info to apologize. This turned out to be far more spectacular than I imagined possible.
Canyon X is the newest slot canyon tour in the Antelope Canyon region outside Page, Arizona. Located on Navajo Reservation lands, the tours are operated by tribal organizations, and they are closely managed.
The slot canyons are unique geologic formations which are far narrower than they are tall. Steep cuts in the sandstone, which catch an amazing amount of light in the mid-day to create fantastic visions of contour, color, and texture. Their depth and narrow passages can be deadly in inclement weather, where heavy rains anywhere in the region can cause flash flooding to quickly fill the slots, sending torrents of water at high velocity through the passages. In 1997, this canyon held a tragic end for 12 people who were touring on an otherwise acceptable day. No rain fell directly in this area, but the wash from rains at higher elevation quickly overtook their group, leaving only one survivor, badly bruised and battered.
Interestingly, the color vermillion, featured so prominently here, has in its history an element of danger, as it was originally derived from the mineral cinnabar, which contains toxic mercury. Here, it is the color of the light on the sandstone that causes this hue, and not the toxic mercury.
Recognition:
Semi-finalist - North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Showcase 2023
Accepted for Display - APR 2023 Darkroomers Photographic Club, San Diego, CA
Late afternoon leaf-peeping led me to South Lake on the edge of the John Muir Wilderness in the Eastern Sierras.
As the sun was starting to play hide and seek with the clouds, I decided that hiking further onto the Bishops Pass Trail was probably not going to yield much, so I loitered around the trailhead looking for interesting compositions. I like how this wide angle, including Hurd Peak worked out from this vantage.
With several years of la NiƱa plaguing Southern California, South Lake is extremely low. The cafe and pontoon boat proprietor at Sabrina Lake told me they haven't been able to put boats in South Lake for three years, and this coming winter looks like another dry one. These clouds, despite being a nuisance for photography produced no rain.
Something about the look from this Red-crested Turaco made me think of a Southern woman looking at me with soft sympathy, as if to say, "Bless your heart."
Every visit I have undertaken to the Brevard Zoo over the past 15 years or so, has impressed me by the breadth of their collection. Birds, reptiles, mammals from all over the world, in a relatively small regional zoo, which is very accessible and well maintained. If you find yourself on the Space Coast of Florida, I think it's worth a visit.
Recognition:
Accepted for Display - AUG 2022 Darkroomers Photographic Club, and can be found in the Photographic Arts Building in Balboa Park, San Diego.
This is my take on the Sturgeon Moon of 2019. The full moon of August is often referred to as the Sturgeon Moon.
It was pretty incredible to witness this on Coronado Beach as the moon rose over the historic Hotel del Coronado. Though, I must confess, this image is a composite of two different exposures, one to get the detail of the moon, and one to capture the foreground, the moon actually appeared in this size.
One of the more scenic routes from Moab into Canyonlands National Park is a drive along Potash Road (UT 279) that leads to Shafer Canyon Trail. From this vantage along the trail. looking east, you clearly see Dead Horse Point State Park and the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
Shafer Canyon Trail looks easy here, but jsut to the west is a very steep and narrow set of switchbacks leading up a cliff face to join Grand View Point Road near the Island in the Sky Visitor Center. The road requires a 4x4 vehicle and should only be driven by experienced people in ideal conditions. On this July day, we were lucky to be ahead of the clouds you see here, which later deluged Moab for about 45 minutes.