Category Archives: Landscape

2017 Favorites – Honorable Mentions

I sat down at my computer last week and went about my annual process of selecting my ten favorite photographs I made this year. I always enjoy this and usually find it interesting. There are always some photos that I loved when I took them, often because of fond memories of the experience, that seem less spectacular overt time. There are others that just stick with me. There are photos that others really like that I’m not as enamored with, and some that I think are really cool that didn’t get much of a reaction from my friends. So I mix all that together and create a short list of my favorite photos and then work to cull that list down to ten.

This year was especially challenging and getting down to ten favorites forced me to cast asides some pictures that I really like! Next week I’ll share my favorites, along with some background information on each of them and why it was included. In the meantime, here are the honorable mentions (in no particular order).Continue reading→

Shooting the Stars

Yosemite National Park, California (Kyle Jones)

Tunnel View Stars – Yosemite National Park, California (Kyle Jones)

I truly enjoy making photographs at night. If I’m willing to give up some sleep and risk some cold, I have the opportunity to photograph some beautiful locations in relative solitude. It always amazes me how much detail modern cameras can pull out of a night sky. So with that in mind, here are some of my favorite night images from the last year.Continue reading→

Snæfellsnes Iceland

Grundarfjorour, Iceland (Kyle Jones)

Kirkjufellsfoss Sunset – Grundarfjorour, Iceland (Kyle Jones)

I had the opportunity to spend a little over a week in Iceland back in May with two friends (Alejandro Velarde and Matt Olivar) to explore the country and hopefully take some nice pictures. One area that was on our agenda was the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in the Northwest of the country, and its most famous landmark: Kirkjufell Mountain (pictured above). I typically try to share what I consider my best pictures from the locations I visit, but I felt this would be a nice opportunity to show a little bit more of Iceland, including some of the less iconic countryside.Continue reading→

The Great American Eclipse

Corvallis, Oregon (Kyle Jones)

Total Eclipse Sequence – Corvallis, Oregon (Kyle Jones)

Like many thousands of others, I decided to make the trek to a spot where I could see the total eclipse on Monday. My brave and patient wife Sandee agreed to join me on this adventure and I arranged to spend the weekend with my Aunt Kris in Eugene, Oregon – just 30 miles from the zone of totality. I kept a close eye on the traffic, weather (clear) and smoke from the nearby forest fires (variable) and decided that Corvallis was the place to go Monday morning. This allowed us to stay off of the interstate in case it became clogged with cars and would give us plenty of clear areas to view the sky.Continue reading→

Bowling Ball Beach

Mendocino Coast, California (Kyle Jones)

Bowling Ball Surf – Mendocino Coast, California (Kyle Jones)

I made a trip to Bowling Ball Beach on the Mendocino Coast with my friend Matt Olivar back in December. I’ve been there many times as it is just a few miles from my parent’s house, but I had never seen particularly special conditions there. When Matt proposed that we make the drive, I checked the tides and the weather and realized it would be worth the trip! We drove up the coast, picking up my dad along the way (you have to say “hi” to your parents when you drive through their neighborhood), and made for the beach.Continue reading→

2016 Favorites

I definitely enjoy looking back through my pictures each year. My goal when I start is to pick out my 10 favorites so I can share them here. What ends up happening is I remember trips I’ve made, time spent with family and friends, and beautiful sights I’ve seen. This year is no exception and I’ve had a chance to capture some scenes I had been wanting to visit for a long time.

This year I made a photographic trip to Oregon to shoot waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge and I also made a family trip to Europe. Both trips are well represented here. As I do every year, I made a couple of short trips to Yosemite and Big Sur as well as other areas closer to home. So in no particular order, here are my favorites from 2016:Continue reading→

Oregon Day 3 – Multnomah, Wahclella, and Abiqua

Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon (Kyle Jones)

Wahclella Falls – Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon (Kyle Jones)

Sunday was the last day of our waterfall hunting trip and we had three falls on the agenda. Our plan was to get up early, stop by Multnomah Falls before the crowds arrived, and then hike out to Wahclella Falls. After that we would take Matt to the airport and Alejandro and I would drive to Abiqua Falls for one last adventure before we went home.Continue reading→

Sleeklens Lightroom Workflows

I had some time this weekend to try out the “Through the Woods” landscape workflow created by Sleeklens. This is a set of Lightroom presets and brushes (they have solutions for Photoshop as well) that can help simplify image editing. They also provide a set of video tutorials explaining how to install the tools and use them as an image processing workflow.Continue reading→

Oregon Day 2 – Washington

Cook, Washington (Kyle Jones)

Spirit Falls – Cook, Washington (Kyle Jones)

Day 2 of our Oregon trip brought us across the Columbia River into Washington. My goal was Spirit Falls. I had never visited this one before but I had been captivated by its turquoise waters in pictures I had seen online. Access to Spirit Falls is somewhat sketchy. As I understand it (because the internet says so) the falls themselves are public. However, access to the falls may be across private property and the owner has been known at times to make that clear (as is his right). So we decided to leave early in the morning to minimize the likelihood of running into anyone and arrived at the “trailhead” just after sunrise. The trail is mostly just a scramble down some loose rocks, eventually reaching a wet, wooded area and the Salmon River.Continue reading→