The Mighty Sierras - Madera County, CA

This scene comes to you from a fairly well known 4x4 trail in the Sierras, but what is "well known" to the locals is almost never photographed. I knew that there would be some cloud cover and hopefully a little "action" on this June evening, but what I didn't expect was the below freezing temps and a light dusting of snow to accumulate while I was there. Within minutes of snapping this shot, the ridge I was on looked like the one on left hand side of the image. I used a 2-stop grad and stitched together 3 shots to get this final panorama.

*IMG#9605 - Numbered to 200

Hole in the Wall - Pfeiffer Beach, CA
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Every winter, when the sun is in it's southern most position and conditions are just right you can find an extraordinary scene at Pfeiffer Beach. As the sun sets a ray a brilliant orange, sometimes red, light burst through an opening in the massive sea stack that sits in the surf.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 500.

Upper Cathedral - Yosemite National Park
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This shot comes to you from the popular "Cathedral Lakes Trail" in Yosemite's wilderness. I captured this shot on a crystal clear summer's evening when the last rays of sunlight were hitting Cathedral Peak. Scenes like this can be found all over the backcountry throughout Yosemite and the Sierras.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 300.

Madness in the Merced River - Yosemite National Park
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These tiny twigs and branches made for a "big" abstract. Photographed around sunset on the banks of the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 250.

Alberta Falls - Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
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This long exposure of Alberta Falls was taken on bright summer morning.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 400.

Winter Blows In - Convict Lake, CA
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This scene comes to you from the eastern side of the Sierras around the Mammoth Mountain area. The lake was named after an incident on September 23, 1871, where a group of convicts escaped from prison in Carson City. A posse, from Benton, led by Deputy Sheriff George Hightower, encountered the convicts near the head of what is now Convict Creek.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 300.

Wind and Circumstance - Death Valley, CA
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They say that conditions have to be perfect for the rocks of the racetrack to move. It apparently takes the exact amount of moisture or ice on the playa. Then the gail force winds that Death Valley is famous for do the rest.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 300.

It was Written - IMG#6314

On a trip over to the Eastern Sierras for our annual holiday ski trip and I made sure to leave a couple of days open for shooting. I had searched for this spot on two different occasions prior to this trip and on the previous trip I had literally walked around in the middle of the desert for about 8 hours looking and never found it, I don't think I have ever walked so far and gone nowhere. It would turn out that I was way off my mark and probably would have had to walk at least another 8 hours to stumble across this infamous rock. All that being said, I guess my wife is good luck and I should take her more often. Because on this trip we dedicated a whole day just to looking for the spot and the next morning to shooting it assuming we found it the day before. And somehow my wife seemed to pretty much walk right to it in less than an hour.

Clear Skies and the Crescent Moon - Glacier National Park, MT
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I awoke too early on this particular morning but decided to head out anyways. As it turned out this would be my best decision of the morning. Upon stopping at this overlook I noticed this beautiful crescent moon rising in the eastern sky to welcome the morning. Mother nature's way of telling me "good morning."

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 300.

The Beauty of St. Mary - Glacier National Park, MT
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This image was shot near one of the most popular locations for photographers in Glacier. I walked right past the "iconic shot" on my way down to the bank of St. Mary Lake. I found this awesome foreground and came away with one of my best shots of our whole trip. Funny part was that when I came back up the hill there were no less than a dozen photographers set up at the well known location. One of them said to me - "too bad there isn't any good light this morning, huh..." I just smiled and nodded.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 350.

Grand Prismatic Spring - IMG#0120

By far my favorite geothermal feature in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Prismatic is unreal. It's vividly colored rings and fingers of algae and micro-organisms not to mention it's shear size make it truly a sight to see. In fact, I had to climb to the top of a ridge about half a mile away to be able to capture this detail of the outer "fingers" of the spring. *numbered to 25

Many Flowers in Many Glacier - Glacier National Park, MT
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During my eight days in Glacier the wild flowers kept getting more and more plentiful. And I repeatedly looked for a nice location to shoot some. Finally on my second to last day there, I came across this field on the road to the "many Glacier" area. I shot here two mornings in a row. The first morning was too windy to get anything good from the flowers, but luckily I had spent the actual sunrise shooting a panorama near the Many Glacier Hotel and the light was phenomenal. This one was taken right around sunrise on the calmer of the mornings when I could "stop" the flowers from swaying in the wind. I shot numerous photos on this morning featuring a few different colored flowers but I felt like the yellow ones contrasted best with soft hues of the morning. Later this day, around noon when the light was very harsh, I drove past this spot and saw no less than 15 photographers shooting in the same field. I couldn't help but smile and think how much better the scene was just a few hours before.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 450.

The Three Wise Men - Salton Sea, CA
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This is an image of three posts sticking out of the water at Salton Sea, California. Salton Sea is a salt lake in the southeastern California Desert. The barnacle looking crusts at the base of the posts are actually dried salt formations. I converted to monochrome for a more abstract effect. Many people say it looks nothing like posts sticking out of the water, but I guess since I was there I easily see it. What do you see???

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 250.

Avalanche Lake - GLacier National Park, MT
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During a rainy gloomy day we made the hike up to Avalanche Lake. The trail winds through a lush green forest and ends at this picturesque lake. The flat lighting and drab atmosphere worked particularly well in black and white.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 400.

Eye of the Beholder - White Pocket, AZ
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I was immediately drawn to the repeating lines and octagonal formations carved into the petrified sandstone that layers the remote desert floor. Most people immediately comment that the reflection in this looks like an eye, hence the name.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 300.

Point Sur Lighthouse - Big Sur, CA
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On a trip to the Big Sur area of California, I captured this scene during a crystal clear sunrise. Many people think that sunrises on the west coast is not worth the effort, but I have learned that if you know where to be and how to acheive the result you are looking for then every sunrise is worth the effort.

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to 350.

Delicate Light - Arches National Park, UT
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This is the famous Delicate Arch. Just a short hike through Arches takes you to one the most amazing spots in the National Park System. And as such this landmark has been photographed to death. With that in mind, I had opted to head up here for some long exposure and moon light work after sunset. Then this happened! An explosion of wicked desert light and a sunburst you could see with the naked eye.... in short, a "picture" perfect sunset.

This image will be sold in a limited edition numbered to 100.

Looking Glass Falls - Great Smoky Mountains, NC
*IMG#0961 - numbered to 10

Upper Falls Lunar Bow - Yosemite National Park, CA
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They said that the May 6th 2012 moon was to be a "super moon." Well maybe it "technically" was but it wasn't near as big as I expected from the pictures I've seen from the 2011 "super moon." Either way I manage to capture this amazing scene form the trail to upper yosemite fall. I hiked up that afternoon figuring I would shoot the late afternoon light then wait around for the moon. This turned out to be a bad decision. I had read in the forecast that it would be about fifty that night, well 50 at 6,000ft on an exposed ridge, wind blowing and getting sprayed by mist feels like ice! Not only did I nearly freeze to death but, the lunar bow didn't show up til around 1 AM and I didn't end up hiking out of there until after 2. Meaning that I sat up on the trail for well over 7 hours. Amazingly, however, I only saw one other person after about 7 PM that evening. And this photographer apparently got the "memo," he didn't show up until around midnight. But when all was said and done it was well worth the wait!

This image will be sold as a limited edition numbered to "350."