TurkeyThe last thing I had expected to see in the ruins of an ancient Greek theater in the heart of the Ephesus, was a wedding couple getting a photoshoot done. I tried to envision what the life of the largest theater of the ancient world would have been like during its heydey in 200BC: 25,000 spectators watching riveting Greek dramas and later, when the city came under the control of the Roman Republic, gladiatorial combat, with the sounds of throngs of spectators going around this massive openair arena egging the gladiators.
Times certainly have changed, and it was somber to witness this lovely couple spending a moment, being the center of attraction of an empty arena. Nevertheless, this scene was a delight to shoot as the couple tried various poses, and it added a sense of perspective to the scale of the theater.
Ephesus
Izmir Turkey
A Maze of Hoodoos
After a mere four hours of sleep, I trudged myself on that freezing morning to the knife's edge at Inspiration point. The dawn skies were still dark, save for a sliver of light on the eastern horizon. Below me, the vast amphitheater of hoodoos were cold and pale, awaiting the morning light.
And as the sun broke through the clouds, the warm light lit the amphitheater aglow. The steep slopes down below were a bright orange, while the maze of hoodoos turned a deep red from the afterglow. It was a scene I could not take my eyes off.
Bryce Canyon National Park
UT USA
The Best of the West
This landscape is animate: it moves, transposes, builds, proceeds, shifts, always going on, never coming back, and one can only retain it in vignettes, impressions caught in a flash, flipped through in succession, leaving a richness of images imprinted on a sunburned retina.
- Ann Zwinger
Of all the National Parks in the southwest, Bryce has some of the most unique geological formations - the amphitheater of hoodoos. While hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) exist on every continent, the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth is at Bryce. Hiking in and through these hoodoos and observing them from below and above, I had marveled at the innumerable canyons, gullies and gorges that changed this landscape over the geological timescale. And I am excited to be returning to this amazing park after over 8 years, and I can't wait to shoot the morning light over the cavernous amphitheater or the glowing reds of the hoodoos at sunset.
Bryce Canyon National Park
UT USA