Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

Experiencing the purity of nature is always exhilarating. Nothing to me exemplifies the purity of nature more than the untouched patterns found in the desert. While often explored by Death Valley National Park visitors the desert winds always reclaim Mother Nature’s domain. These still moments are fleeting and oh so prized.

Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley National Park

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Death Valley National Park is both extremely hostile yet beautiful. Late last week and through much of the weekend I made my way to Death Valley in an effort to scout out some new locations for a workshop I’m holding there next month (details below) and to take advantage of the new moon for some night photography.

Death Valley Sand Dunes at Sunset

Temperatures peaked at 114 degrees during my time in Death Valley. The heat during late morning to mid-afternoon poses quite a physical challenge and is also photographically difficult due to the intensity of the light. In contrast early morning and late evening light in Death Valley can make the varied desert landscape a photographers paradise. Such was the case with sunset light painting the vast Mesquite Dunes landscape near Stovepipe Wells (see photo above). Pastel colors emerge and contrasty shadows can create attractive patterns as the sun rises or sets. I can’t wait to return and share some of my favorite spots with those who join me in October.

Death Valley Photo Tour – Death Valley National Park, California – Friday October 16th – Sunday October 18th, 2009

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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.  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.  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.  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.

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With an eye towards big landscapes its easy to become focused to the point of having tunnel vision when trekking around. These days with every step I take I’m often taking note of what’s beneath me as much as what is in front of me. In some instances this is to make sure I’m not at risk of being bit or stung by animals or insects, but its also to look for photo subjects that I might otherwise quickly walk past or worse crush.

Case in point are these dew covered Harebell flowers. Kneeling down to get what later turned out to be a mediocre landscape photo of the Grand Tetons at sunrise I noticed these beautiful flowers. I made sure to set my knee down off to the side of them knowing I’d come back to photograph them before the morning light became too harsh. While I came away from this particular morning hike with several photos I liked this is among my favorite.

Dew Covered Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) Flowers

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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.

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A bad day at Glacier National Park is better than my best day in so many other locations. The landscape of Glacier is beyond description and even a panoramic photo such as this, of sunrise at Two Medicine Lake, can’t truly do it justice.

I woke up an hour too early to watch and photograph sunrise on this particular morning in Two Medicine. While clear to the west, the direction at which this photo was taken, clouds were forming behind me in the east creating patchy spotlights of light on the mountains. At one point the light was completely flat and I thought Mother Nature’s lightshow was over, but I was fortunate enough to catch her encore.

Sinopah Mountain Reflected in Two Medicine Lake at Sunrise

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It’s interesting how different niches of photography require different levels of patience. I suppose all forms of photography require the same degree of patience… the perceived difference in patience is likely a result of photographers being in synch creatively with one subject versus another. Some subjects click with photographers while others do not. It’s a fascinating phenomenon if you stop to think about it. I’ve always enjoyed jumping into a niche of photography and relearning… its a bit of a vacation if you will from the status quo. On that note I wanted to share a macro photo from last year that was a bit of a creative vacation if you will.

Hibiscus Macro - Maui, Hawaii

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In any family, herd, pack, pod, etc. there’s always someone to lean on. These young Bison calves (Bison bison bison) were having a good time in a Yellowstone National Park meadow. Clearly one was trying to lure the other into some activity other than resting by leaning on him/her. 

Here’s to family and those you can lean on. Have a great weekend!

Bison Calves (Bison bison bison) - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

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