View allAll Photos Tagged TOURISTATTRACTION
Oceanic sunsets can be some of the most beautiful events a person could witness.
Here, at Two Lovers Point on the north edge of Tumon Bay in Guam, I had the great good fortune to capture this scene, looking to the south on a stunning June evening.
Guam is a popular tourist destination for people who live in southeast Asia, and home to thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines in the U.S. military. Because it is so remote, it's not a place U.S. or European tourists frequent in high numbers; but, if you get the chance, take in the beauty of this U.S. territory in the western Pacific.
As the morning sun clears the opposite rim of the canyon behind me, the Towers and the Temples of the Virgin seem to light on fire before the lens.
I wish that warm colors would have reflected some sort of heat, but it was actually around 20°F with strong, gusty winds when I took this photo.
The Narrows in Zion National Park seems to get all of the attention from hikers and photographers, and I can absolutely understand why, but for many, the strenuous hike, through the cold, rocky Virgin River may be daunting. My advice is not to let that deter you from visiting Zion - especially in the winter - there is an amazing diversity in color, texture, and feel throughout the park, and it is well worth a visit.
Recognition:
Bronze Award - 2021 EPSON International Pano Awards (Amateur Landscape category)
"Music is the silence
between the notes."
- Claude Debussy
When the garden goes into dormancy for the winter months, there is still color, sometimes lovelier than that of the spring flowers.
HSS
Images and textures my own
For some that phrase would describe their eyes after a late night of partying and ringing in the New Year. For me on this first morning of the 20s, it meant first-light reaching Towers of the Virgin in Zion National Park.
Being a native East-Coaster, who has transplanted to life on the West Coast, I still feel that the New Year occurs when the crystal ball drops in New York, and that's the end. So, with the aide of staid Springdale, Utah, it was easy to get an early bedtime on New Years Eve so we could begin the trek to the Canyon Overlook Trail at 6:00 AM to catch first-light and sunrise from this vantage.
The trail is a relatively flat mile hike with a few tricky spots where the ice and slickrock conspire to give even the most sure-footed concern in the dark. Once we reached the overlook, I was a little concerned that our cold trek may have been for naught, due to the heavy cloud cover. Though they were thick overhead, there still was some clearing to the East, along the sun on the horizon to light a narrow band, reflecting off the cloud bottoms and warming the sheer rocks faces of the Temple of the Virgin ahead. This image was captured about 10-15 minutes before the local sunrise time, and is considerably brighter than what we saw with our eyes, due to the 20-second exposure.
Once the actual sun rays reached the Temple directly, the light only lit the areas seen here in red for less than 5 minutes before disappearing above the clouds for the remainder of the day.
Recognition:
Merit, Nature/Landscape category - JAN 24 PPSDC Image Competition, San Diego
Selected for Display, Color Scenic Landscape: Winter - JUN-JUL 2023, International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds, CA
Art is a collaboration between God and the artist,
and the less the artist does, the better.
~André Gide
September is the end of Milky Way season in the Northern Hemisphere. Last week, I joined a group of photographers for a quick trip out to the Pumpkin Patch in Anza Borrego State Park to attempt a little astrophotography.
The Pumpkin Patch is made up of spheroid shaped rocks, geologically known as concretions. While not rare, it is not often you find them in large groupings like this. Anza Borrego is hot this time of year, the temperatures were above 100°F at sunset, and only cooled down to the mid-90's, by the time I departed around 2130.
As the group began to pack up and prepare for departure, I captured a last frame that caught the red tail-lights illuminating the more distant "pumpkins" in an almost orange hue, and I thought of Linus with his faithful pal Charlie Brown waiting in the patch for the Great Pumpkin to appear.
John Muir once opined, "It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter."
Yosemite National Park is a study in grandeur, from the massive granite cliffs to the towering giant sequoias, it is home to some of the most breathtaking spectacles on earth.
America's National Parks are some of the greatest treasures in the world, and people should make every effort to take in their beauty in person. I hope that, in some small way, sharing some of my images on social media and the internet helps to inspire people to unplug and explore for themselves, these "special temples of Nature."
Select Fine Art prints of this and other images can be purchased at bit.ly/ProPeak
Along the Upper East Canyon of Zion National Park travelers will find the aptly named Checkerboard Mesa.
The cone-shaped White Cliffs formation has unique cross-hatching patterns that, even when not filled with winter snow, conjure up its name.
New Year's Day 2020 was very overcast in this part of Utah, so we left Zion for a two hour drive to Bryce, where the skies were more open in the mid-afternoon. Along the way, this was a neat stop to hike down into the dry bed of Pine Creek and squeeze a few images on a relatively dull day.
My heart soars viewing the wild and desolate beauty of the great southwest. “Suum cuique pulchrum est,” which means “to each, his own is beautiful.”
~Christina
“This is a hard country, brush country, mean country, heartbreak country. Ugly in summer, drought-stricken, dusty, glaring, but in winter it is hideous.”
~ John Houghton Allen, Southwest
The setting winter sun casts a deep red glow on the tip of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. The Merced River flows slowly with air temperatures below freezing, creating a wonderful reflecting pool just north of the Sentinel Bridge.
Between the frigid temperatures and the government shutdown at the time, Yosemite was far more quiet than it usual is, with only a few intrepid souls at this iconic location.
As we seemingly turn the corner on the COVID-19 pandemic, I can't help but be hopeful about the opportunity to freely visit such places again.
Recognition:
Accepted for Display - MAR 2021 Darkroomers Photographic Club (Affiliate of Southern California Association of Camera Clubs {SCACC} and Photographic Society of America {PSA})
The Peek-A-Boo Loop Trail is a great introductory hike to Bryce Canyon National Park. Its trail head is near Bryce Point, which is the prominent point in the top center of this frame.
The trail quickly drops over 1500' to the canyon floor and is a 5+ mile loop before returning to the rim. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's a well trafficked trail exposing hikers to the Wall of Windows, the Cathedral, the Fairy Castle, and more hoodoos than can be counted. I find the trees almost as amazing as the rock formations, because they emerge from the rocky soil at all sorts of angles, and find a way to thrive.
This super panorama is a composite of 16 individual images and is designed to be printed in the largest possible format. At full scale you can make out the 10 tourists enjoying the view from Bryce Point.
It's hard in a still image to capture the vibrant life of sunset in the mountains.
The clouds/fog to the right roll over the ridgeline and evaporate into the trees, the sky comes alive in a rainbow of vibrant colors as the light plays off the clouds and through the various layers of humidity. The mountains themselves stay still, but their colors change from green to blue to indigo to black, and the sights, sounds and temperatures all send chills down your spine and raise gooseflesh on your arms.
When I look at this panorama, it seems so still, and yet, the moment felt so very alive.
I cannot recommend the full-day Denali bus tour enough. There is only one road in Denali National Park. There are no privately owned vehicles allowed past the 15 mile point, and the park operates two bus tours that go further. On our bus tour - the Kantishna Experience - we were able to see several grizzlies. At least 8 of which were no more than 50 yards away.
It rained all day, which made viewing Denali all-but impossible, but seeing all of this wildlife was more than worth the trip. This yearling was with a sibling and their mama foraging for berries. By mid-August, these bears can think of nothing else. They need to gain weight in advance of the winter months when they will be hibernating. They were not disturbed by the diesel bus or the shutters clicking away near by...but this guy did seem to be having enough of the cold rain.
Congrats on Explore!
#166 ⭐ February 23, 2023
Recognition:
Merit Image - FEB 2023, Professional Photographers of California (PPC), Animal category
Merit Image - NOV 2021, Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC), Nature/Landscape category
"I think we would be able to live in this world more peaceably
if our spirituality were to come from looking
not just into infinity but very closely at the world around us --
and appreciating its depth and divinity."
-- Thomas Moore
The sun will eventually break through these clouds and bring a beautiful spring day to coastal Maine. For now, it will be quiet and peaceful, with only a few fishermen working and the town of Port Clyde beginning to stir.
Select Fine Art prints of this and other images can be purchased at bit.ly/ProPeak
© Mieneke Andeweg-van Rijn 2016
All rights reserved.
How green is my valley.....
View on Hore Abbey from the Irish castle, the Rock of Cashel, a.k.a. the Kings & St. Patrick's Rock, Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland.
The trunk of a fallen tree lodged in the rocks at the top of Abrams Falls adds a bit of character to this forest glen.
The pool below the falls is a tranquil place along a hiking trail. The falls are loud, but consistently so, creating a sort of white noise that adds to the serenity. This tree, suspended as it is, adds a bit of tension to the scene. When will it fall? How long has it been here? Will a bear, raccoon, or some other animal end up making it an impromptu diving board?
In 1855, following California's admission into the United States, the government built this lighthouse on top of a 420' cliff on Point Loma to mark the entrance to San Diego Bay.
At the time, this was the highest elevation lighthouse in the U.S. inventory. Unfortunately, at that height, the fog and low clouds associated with the marine layer typically obscured the light from view by the mariners at sea, below. As a result, a new structure was built much lower (88' above sea level), and this light was extinguished in 1891.
Now a part of Cabrillo National Monument, the lighthouse is a museum operated by the National Park Service. This image captures the light in the mid-day under the higher clouds that occur along the coast, but typically don't appear inland this time of year.
I've been to some beautiful places, but I must say that I was completely stunned at how consistently beautiful Sedona is.
Despite the fact that the city is built within these amazing geologic formations, and the area can become crowded with tourists, the natural beauty is pristine, the colors otherworldly, and the access unsurpassed.
If you are thinking about places to visit and Sedona isn't on your list, perhaps it's time to rethink your list.
Select Fine Art prints of this and other images can be purchased at bit.ly/ProPeak
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVEb-BWpo8U
A number of my Flickr friends have asked how the atmospheric river storms that have been drenching the state of California have affected San Diego which is at the southernmost part of the state. Fortunately we've finally been getting the long awaited rains here, but so far they have been moderate and there has not been any flooding, power outages, or damage from fallen trees that I've heard of. We have pleasant days in between the storms and are expecting more rain over the weekend. Thanks to all who expressed their concern.
On location in Anza Borrego State Park to capture Milky Way images above the formation known as the Pumpkin Patch, the temperature was searing at 98°F around sunset, with very little air movement at ground level.
As I waited for nightfall, the few clouds in the sky put on quite a show with the assistance of the sun in its final throes of the day. To the west, these lower stratus clouds took on a brilliant red hue, contrasting nicely with the pale blue sky and white altostratus at higher elevation.
But, what really worked for me was the appearance of the two closest clouds, which had a somewhat ominous look of Chinese style dragons in flight, the lower one having just pulsed its wings and stretched out for full speed, while the upper rears its head in a beckoning cry.
Recognition:
Accepted for Display - JAN 2023 Darkroomers Photographic Club at the Photographic Arts Building in Balboa Park, San Diego.
Arches National Park in Moab, Utah is full of unique and photogenic geologic formations. Beyond the park's namesake formations, there are several reefs, buttes, balanced rocks, and otherworldly sights.
This rock. precariously balanced on a spire atop one of the reefs along the main park road is not, to my knowledge, a named formation, but it is approximately a half-mile from the three closely grouped spires known as the gossips. To my eye, this formation has the appearance of a proper, though somewhat stiff, woman looking off into the distance as if annoyed by the gossipy sisters down the road.
The second park I visited (though my day in Canyonlands National Park was photographically tangential at best) among Utah's vaunted Mighty 5 National Parks, Arches is the spot that spurred my interest in travel and landscape photography. If you get the opportunity to visit Moab, I absolutely recommend several days here.
After spending a few hours on Mormon Row to catch sunrise, I drove a bit farther back along Antelope Flats Road and hiked out onto the prairie to capture this image of a bison leading his gang (that's really what they're called) across the flat, and away from the areas where tourists usually inhabit during the day.
The gang was moving pretty fast, not stopping much to forage, so I wasn't able to make an image of them directly in front of the iconic Cathedral Group. After seeing this movement, I walked back to my Jeep and noticed two isolated bison across the road. In probably my riskiest move of the entire trip, I hiked to within about 75 yards of those two, but was unable to catch a clean image, as they kept in pretty tall brush, and repeatedly laid down. There was no iconic background from my vantage, as the mountains were at my back. Figuring I had a pretty good day, I decided not to press my luck further and returned to the Jeep in search of more landscape images.
Sedona, Arizona is a magnificent hub for ecological, artistic, adventure and spiritual activities.
During a recent visit, I was able to travel along Schnebly Hill Road to the Merry-go-round rock, near the end of Damfino Canyon. This location offers spectacular views toward Sedona, featuring the famous red rock canyon walls, limestone rock formations, and great trees that have endured hundreds of years in this beautiful environment.
While the view is spectacular without the juniper, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to capture this great specimen which seems to grow in line with the air travel routes overhead.
Select Fine Art prints of this and other images can be purchased at bit.ly/ProPeak
At Maximo Gomez Park, AKA Domino Park, in Miami's Little Havana district, the locals play dominos daily, seemingly oblivious to the throngs of tourists and others taking photos and milling about in the square.
HSS
The unseasonably warm weather in the mid-Atlantic region of the United State has delayed the peak autumn color change. Despite this, I was able to document some of the change during a trip through Ricketts Glen State Park in rural Pennsylvania, this weekend. Before today this region has had very little rainfall, so the falls are not roaring at their full grandeur, but I was quite pleased with what I was able to capture.
Recognition:
Excellent Merit - FEB 2023 Professional Photographers of California (PPC) - Landscape category
Merit Image - MAY 2021 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC) - Nature category
If you look closely, the last bit of sun is peeking above the horizon, through the marine layer in the distance.
The shallow waters over the rocky shoals create interesting wave patterns and textures here. The last stragglers of surfers are hanging on until last light, though one can be seen on the far left, paddling off from the crowd.
The ocean's waves, not exactly pounding, drown out (unintended pun) all other sounds here, and the breezes pick up as the cooler air, no longer heated by direct sunlight begins to move in. There is a certain balance in a Pacific sunset that can only be shown visually or experienced firsthand, words are inadequate.
The microbial mat is what brings out the most color in this, the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world. During the summer the mats are redder, in the winter they can be dark green. The steam and water in the center are blue because of its sterility caused by the extreme temperatures.
This is a 7-image panorama taken mid-day in June of this year.
The Bald River joins the Tellico River at this point. Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee.
In the early 20th century this region was almost completely logged by the Babcock Lumber Company; however, now this area is part of the Bald River Gorge Wilderness, managed by the US Forest Service.
This landscape is so different from any other. The environment so extreme, the geologic formations seem like something from a sci-fi fantasy world, with vibrant colors and thousands of pointed hoodoos that seemingly go on forever, though in reality only occupy a relatively small space on the map.
I've seen comments on my photos from Yellowstone and the Redwoods that show people's affection for those locations. And, while I agree that they're beautiful places, worthy of all their recognition, there is something just magical about Bryce Canyon.
Southern Utah is a vast wonderland of geography. Sparsely populated, remote, and with difficult seasons, I can understand why people don't flock here in as high numbers as some of the other jewels in the US National Park system. But once you do visit, your appetite for more will only increase, I promise.
Although we're already deep into the autumn season,
if one looks hard enough, a bit of summer remains.
The colors are soft and the fragrance can still be experienced; and we can for a moment "forget about life for a while".
Now if you'd like to have about six minutes of fun,
come sit and listen with me:
An Emperor Swallowtail rests on a leafy twig in the Butterfly Pavilion at the Smithsonian Institution Butterfly Pavilion.
Recognition:
Merit Image - NOV 2020 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC) - Nature Category
Something about this image of an early morning gondola ride leads me to believe that everyone in the boat was in dire need of espresso. How could I pass up on this Venezian iconography?
Monte Palace Tropical Garden was put together by José Berardo and has been open to the public since 1991.
The gardens occupy an area of 70,000 square metres and are home to a huge collections of exotic plants coming from all over the world. About 100,000 plant species to be almost exact.
Not forgetting the swans, ducks and Koi fish that populate the central lake. There are also peacocks and chickens that walk free in the main areas of Monte Gardens.
The plant collections include azaleas, heathers, different trees, and a wide variety of ferns. The garden also features a collection of Encephalartos’ which, because of their age, are considered living fossils.
Monte Palace Tropical Garden, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal