Recently, June 2010, I had the chance to do a 5 day photo shoot in Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.  For those who might not know, Olympic is made up of three distinct types of ecosystem, an expansive rainforest, a mountainous alpine section and some very rugged and rocky seashore.  I spent a bit of time at all three but it is a big place and would take a couple of weeks to do justice to the whole park.  Weather was late spring/early summer with about equal parts sunshine and rain, temps mostly in the 50 to mid 60 range.

Beginning with this gallery posting, I'll take a gallery down when a new one goes up to keep the site manageable in size.  If any regular viewers want to see any images from the departed gallery, an email or comment to the home page will get my response.  The gallery going away this time is the oldest one, from Zion/Bryce N. P. in Utah.  I appreciate your interest and welcome comments.

This image is from Olympic, a footbridge on the trail to Marymere Falls.  The bridge is unusual in that it is a log that has been sawed in half lengthwise with the flat side up and is only wide enough for single file traffic.  The Park Service is working on replacing the bridge; I'm sure the new one won't have the character of this one.   Marymere is a very tall waterfall and hard to shoot  because of the terrain. 

  Click here to go directly to the new gallery.

UPDATE:  May 22 - The panoramic gallery is now up, the first choice under the galleries heading.  Enjoy!!

There hasn't been a new gallery since this site was reorganized late last fall.  Of course, I've put up new featured images and periodic blog posts but not a full new gallery.  The new gallery, one made up  exclusively of panoramas will be up in about a week and will feature  images from a variety of locations.  They will range in size from 3 to 6 shots wide and have been 'stitched' using Photoshop.  The image widths vary depending on the scene as I saw it at the shooting location.  This type of image is intended for printing in large sizes for display on large walls; so the web site representation will not do justice to what I saw at the location or what you would see on a full size print. 

As an introduction, here is a representative shot.  This one is 4 images wide and was shot from Olmsted Point overlooking Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park, CA.  The view is WNW, the time is late morning and the elevation is about 7,800 Ft.  When the Panoramic gallery goes up, I'll describe the general process I use to take and process this type of image.  Yosemite is a spectacular place; ENJOY! 

As this site is about photography and environmental awareness, the 'Home' page will feature what I hope is a compelling image to start your viewing experience.  

Yosemite and, in general, the Eastern Sierra is a place where there are a number of species of trees that, for the most part, aren't found elsewhere in the U. S.  Among them are the Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine, the California Red Fir and, of course, the giant Sequoias, Redwoods, Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce.  Another one, and one which has become very visually attrative to me is the Western or Sierra Juniper, (Juniperus occidentalis).  It grows at elevations up to 10,000 ft and in soil that is frequently more rock than dirt.  At numerous locations, I have seen examples of hundred year old trees lthat are growing in what look to be decidedly uncooperative  locations; yet these trees endure and seem to thrive.  This image is of one such location, in Yosemite National Park on the east side of the park a short hike off of the Tioga Road.  The elevation is about 7,800 feet and the group of trees appear to be growing in solid boulder.  Part of what attracts me to the species is the ruggedness of the terrain, part is the asymetrical shape of the growth pattern, part is the red shaggy trunk.  On this group, although the image isn't very large, you can also see examples of Staghorn Lichen, (Letharia vulpina) the almost neon green colored lichen that attaches itself to many old growth trees in Yosemite.

Ass this site is about photography and environmental awareness, the 'Home' page will feature what I hope is a compelling image to start the viewing experience.  

For much of the northern hemisphere, this has been a tough winter.  In the east and south, there was lots of snow, out west, it has been somewhat dry and mild and in the upper Midwest where I live, we have had continuous snow cover for nearly all of January and February.  So, for most of us, signs of spring are welcomed.  This image is one of my favorites of early spring even though it isn't an early spring flower such as a crocus.  This is an emerging leaf set from a tree that is widely found throughout the eastern U. S., called an American Hornbeam or Blue Beech.  (Carpinus caroliniana)  As a photograph, I like it because of the vivid colors and the way in which the out of focus background set of leaves mimics the shape and orientation of the foreground.

As this site is about photography and environmental awareness, the 'Home' page will feature what I hope is a compelling image to start the viewing experience.  This one can also be considered a  photo tip.

Pretty nearly universally, when you ask either a wildlife or portrait photographer for their most important shooting tip, you will hear, 'focus on the eyes'.   This image of the eyes of a Gray Wolf, (Canis lupus) shows exactly why that universal advice is correct.  This is a crop from a full body portrait of a young captive wolf that lives at the Wildlife Prairie State Park in Peoria, Illinois.  He was looking right at me from a distance of about 40 yards, the catchlight in his eye comes from a fill flash; the lens is a 500 mm telephoto.  The eyes have it!!