Glacier National Park is one location that will forever capture my imagination and reverence of nature. No matter where I travel in Glacier National Park I can always find myself lost in thought as I gaze across the landscape. Whether its towering mountains, reflections, eroded stone, or wildlife it can be found with in the maze of glacially carved valleys. It is no wonder that this amazing place is considered sacred by the Blackfoot nation.
Glacier National Park in Montana is a location I’ve always been able to travel to with a virtual guarantee of finding a quiet place to soak in Mother Nature’s very best. The incredible snow covered peaks and cliff walls of Glacier National Park are incredibly beautiful and awe inspiring. The light and wind constantly transform the view minute by minute. If you’re lucky, as I was on the morning I took this photograph, with a little patience you’ll also see the moon dance across the mountaintops teasing you with its presence.
Glacier Moonset - Glacier National Park, Montana
Photo Info: Canon 1Ds Mark III, 420mm (300mm f/2.8 + 1.4x), f/18 at 1/160 sec
If taking in the view of the mountains makes you feel closer to the top of the world, the moon has a way of reminding us all how inseparable we are from Earth… our oasis in space.
In 2009 I was very fortunate to have had some incredible photo opportunities. Selecting my best photos from this past year was much more difficult than choosing my best photos of 2008 and 2007. After taking the time to review the best of the tens of thousands of photos I took this year I narrowed my choices down to the best 50, then best 25 and finally down to these 10 best photos. To view higher resolution versions of these and my other favorite photos of 2009 less the heavy watermark check out the video at the end of this post.
Honorable Mentions:
Honorable Mention #4: Clark’s Grebe and Fish (Aechmophorus clarckii)
This was one of many wildlife photos taken during my Sea Otter Photo Tour trips this year. While Sea Otters are plentiful one cannot ignore the amazing variety of bird life in this area as well.
Honorable Mention #3: Sinopah Mountain Reflected in Two Medicine Lake at Sunrise – Glacier National Park
In early June I was fortunate to arrive in Glacier National Park after a late snow storm. With in the next few days I was graced with amazing scenery and light.
Honorable Mention #5: Yosemite Valley Chapel in Snow Storm
The highlight of the later part of this year was to be present for 11 inches of snowfall in Yosemite valley. It was an incredible experience capturing the essence of winter and the holidays while photographing Yosemite Valley Chapel.
Honorable Mention #1 Illumination
The Sierra foothills are an amazing place and I was quite fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to photograph an Oak tree under an amazing sunset sky.
My Top 10 Favorite Photos of 2009:
#10: Sea Otter and Sleeping Pup (Enhydra lutris)
The highlight of every Sea Otter Photo Tour is being able to photograph Sea Otter pups with their mothers. This was one of my favorites.
#9: Vine Snake (Oxybelis fulgidus)
While in Costa Rica I was very fortunate to see a master of camouflage, the Vine Snake (Oxybelis fulgidus). Their intensely green scales and leaf shaped head make them incredibly challenging to find.
#8: Racetrack Textures – Death Valley National Park
One of my favorite landscape abstracts taken at the Racetrack in Death Valley National Park during one of my many photo tours this year.
#7: Mount Grinell Reflected in Swiftcurrent Lake at Sunrise – Glacier National Park, Montana
An early morning view of Mount Grinell reflected in Swiftcurrent Lake just before fog obscured the view.
#6: Zabriskie Point Sunrise, Death Valley National Park, California
Remnants of a storm that swept through the Sierra Nevada mountains added to an already amazing view of Zabriskie Point at sunrise. This was one of the many great landscape opportunities to be had during my Death Valley photo tour.
#5: A Brown-throated Sloth and Her Baby Eat Leafs – Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
Wildlife in Costa Rica is plentiful and this special moment of a Brown-throated Sloth and her baby feeding on leafs was one of the many highlights of my trip. My wife was dismayed that this wasn’t my top choice for 2009 as it was her favorite of the year.
#4: Star Trail Abstract
This ultra long exposure of the Milky Way over silhouetted mountains is among my top favorites this year.
#3: Racetrack Light Lasso – Death Valley National Park, California
Never satisfied with the status quo I had a blast experimenting with some light painting on my Death Valley photo tour. After hours of experimentation I came away with 5 excellent photos similar to this, but this is my favorite.
#2: Pattern Abstract I
In 2009 I was working on numerous photo projects, many of which are still under wraps for the moment. One photo that inspired me to start yet another project was this nature abstract. Stay tuned as there’s more to follow for this project.
#1: Mobius Arch Star Trails
7 hours in the field and numerous more in post-production, this photo of Mobius Arch with star trails in the background came out exactly as I had envisioned. Extremely fond of this location I’m always striving to capture something new when I visit.
Bonus: Best Photo Not Taken By Me…
Normally I highlight photos that I’ve taken through out the year, but this is my favorite photo taken by someone else. Baby G should arrive in early June and if my wife and I are lucky we’ll know the sex tomorrow.
Best Photos of 2009 video
Music “Comfort Zone” courtesy of General Fuzz
Thanks a ton General Fuzz your music makes the video!
Check out more of General Fuzz’s great music at http://www.generalfuzz.net
You know that feeling when you were a kid on Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza/<insert holiday here> morning and you were up before everyone else waiting in anticipation to get/open your gift(s)? While visiting Glacier National Park earlier in the year I had that feeling every morning. Much like Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza/<insert holiday here> morning I woke up too early on the day I took this photo of first light at Two Medicine Lake. I got in to place to photograph sunrise an hour too early and being rather groggy it took me about 30 minutes to figure out why the sun wasn’t coming up as expected.
First Light at Two Medicine Lake, Glacier National Park
I’d much rather wake up an hour too early than an hour too late. In this instance I took the extra hour to just enjoy my surroundings even if temporarily confused by the lack of appearance of the sun. The highlight of sunrise was seeing the first rays of light filter through the atmosphere painting the face of Sinopah Mountain a deep red and magenta. Unfortunately this moment passed much too quickly. Thinking back to how it felt to see, experience and photograph this location I’m reminded of the cold clean air, silence and intense awe that came over me as the light falling over this scene transformed the landscape. In retrospect I’m not surprised I find myself waking up extra early to photograph such scenes as I live to experience every minute of these moments.
This photo of Sinopah Mountain Reflected in Two Medicine Lake epitomizes the “take your camera back out” moment. While this photo was taken with in the window of the “Golden Hour”, Mother Nature had one last surprise for me… after I put my camera equipment away of course. Before this photo was taken clouds had moved in quickly behind me obscuring the rising sun turning the landscape grey. Just as I was about to pick up my bag to move on the clouds opened up in one last gasp, golden light painted the landscape and I scrambled to get my gear back out before it disappeared. While I wasn’t fast enough to capture Mount Sinopah completely lit, I still find this photo to be one of my favorites from this particular morning.
Sinopah Mountain Reflected in Two Medicine Lake at Sunrise
Scale and perspective are fascinating components of photography. They can be used to create optical illusions, disorient a photographer through abstraction and create visual impact. Â Are the flowers in the following photo the size of a coffee cup or of a thimble?
In this instance the clusters of flowers are smaller than a thimble. Â These alpine flowers photographed high atop a mountain near Two Medicine, Glacier National Park caught my eye not just because of their beauty, but because of their ability to wow viewers with their scale.
An ant feeds on an alpine flower's nectar - Glacier National Park, Montana
The web is unkind to photos such as this. To truly appreciate the components of this scene you have to see it at full resolution. Since a 3744 px X 5616 px image is not blog friendly I’ve cropped the image down to highlight what caught my eye… an ant feeding on nectar and likely pollinating these plants (see below). The ant can be found in the clusters of flowers on the bottom right of the original photo if you look close enough.
While this may not be a photographic masterpiece it does document nature in action and reflects the pleasure I get out of exploring with my camera. I’ve always been fascinated by plants and animals that have adapted to extreme conditions. Alpine plants, being dwarfs, are short and thus close to the ground, have short growing seasons, and endure extreme weather. To witness the interrelationship between insect and plant in such an environment was a real treat. Something you’d likely never think to look for on a hike in Montana. Bears, mountain goats and other animals would be a more typical subject, but for me discovering this scene was one of the highlights of my day.
An ant feeds on an alpine flower's nectar - Glacier National Park, Montana
The magic of Glacier National Park is that its bigger than life beauty is seemingly presented like acts of a play. Through out the day or sometimes slowly over several days various acts are revealed. Â Most know Glacier from its iconic sun kissed glacially carved peaks and valleys (see Swiftcurrent Lake Panoramic, Glacier National Park), but between these amazing moments curtains of clouds descends as harsh weather continues to sculpt the landscape. Â The thrill of Glacier National Park is witnessing these acts, each different the last. Every time I visit I never know what I’ll be graced to see and the anticipation is always palpable. Â Even when the curtain descends Glacier has a magic to it, teasing you with glimpses of its grand terrain. That alone keeps me coming back.
I’m not much of a breakfast person, but this American Black Bear certainly was into his/her breakfast. It seemed to be having a good time foraging for food and eating large mouthfuls of Dandelions. It is always great to see a healthy and happy bear being a bear and not a nuisance. Fortunately this bear wanted to just be left alone while it ate. It wasn’t too long after my brief encounter with him/her that he/she headed back up the mountain.
American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) Eating Dandelions
Not too long after this encounter I read in a local paper outside of East Glacier that two bears had been shot and killed because they were eating out of a small dump next to a restaurant. They were charging employees as they approached to throw more garbage into the dump. The owner eventually went outside and shot the bears dead.
After reading the article I was disgusted. You watch a majestic animal like this long enough and you realize that they’re just doing what they’re programmed to do… feed, fatten up and prepare for a harsh Montana winter. With civilization constantly encroaching on their territory they don’t have much of a chance. Personally I’d like to see creative approaches putting the onus on people to be wildlife conscious. It’s far too easy to kill a bear or any wild animal for that matter and discount it. The only way someone who maintains a private dump next to their restaurant will change how they manage their waste is to give them a financial incentive to do so. I see no reason why a $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 fine per animal killed should not be imposed in such cases. People will certainly go out of their way to make sure their waste is bear proofed and eat the cost of doing so if they know they’ll incur greater cost by not doing so and having to kill wildlife. The same type of incentive should also be put in place for animals hit by speeding motorists. I’m aware of fines being given out to campers who don’t store food properly. Is it enough? I’m not sure. Is it overkill? I’m sure some will think so. I guess it comes down to how much you value wildlife. It’d be nice if wildlife were valued more by society before animals become endangered.
