Canon RF 24mm f/1.4L VCM for Night Photography
As should be obvious for anyone that follows my photography, I enjoy creating images at night. As I’ve developed my skills, I have progressed from just being excited that I was able to take a decent shot at night, to trying to render the Milky Way well over a landscape, to striving to create nightscape compositions that would be compelling even if they weren’t taken at night. One aspect of this is researching locations, moon phases, star charts, and sometimes tides to get the lighting and elements that I want for my photo. Another aspect is gear.
Continue reading2024 Favorites
Looking back at my favorite photos from this past year, it is clear that I spent quite a bit of time standing around in the dark. Six of my ten favorites were taken at night and four of those included at least some amount of aurora. The photographic highlight of my year was my trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway in February. This year’s collection also includes images from my usual haunts in Yosemite, Glacier and the Mendocino coast. Here are my favorite photos from 2024, presented in the order they were captured.
Continue readingSierra Autumn 2024
I spent the last weekend of October in Yosemite and nearby parts of the Eastern Sierra in search of fall color. My usual goal at this time of year is to photograph autumn in the valley, but I was a week or two too early for that this year. Fortunately there are still plenty of photographic opportunities including reflections in the calm Merced River, night skies, and colorful aspens just east of the park.
Continue readingWaterton Lakes
Waterton Lakes National Park is the sister park to Glacier National Park, just across the border in Alberta, Canada. The park shares many similarities with Glacier, including impressive mountains, lakes, waterfalls and wildlife. It also has a nice town on the shore of the lake the provides many more choices for lodging and places to eat than you will find in most national parks in the U.S.
Continue readingLofoten Islands Part Two: Leknes and Svolvær
This post covers the second half of my February trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway. My previous post (here) featured photos from the first part of the trip, when I was based in the western end of Lofoten and many of the photographic subjects were the small islands and fishing cottages common in that area. From there I moved east, staying in Leknes and then Svolvær, which provide closer access to some of Lofoten’s beautiful beaches. I also had some better luck with the northern lights…
Continue readingLofoten Islands Part One: Hamnøy
The Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway have become a popular location for hiking, boating and exploring in the summer and for viewing (or attempting to view) the northern lights in the winter. Even though there are some challenges traveling above the Arctic Circle in the winter, the reward is a beautiful array of islands, mountains, fjords, villages and beaches that provide a multitude of photographic opportunities. I spent about 10 days in Lofoten, splitting the time between Hamnøy for the first part of the trip and Leknes/Svolvær for the second. This post focuses on the first part of the trip and includes views around Hamnøy, Sakrisøy, and Reine as well as some nearby areas.
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