For all the hype that was Yellowstone, my first visit to this park, that was popularized by the various representations of Old Faithful in cartoons and movies, failed to live up to expectations. While the entire geyser basin with its innumerable hotsprings, geysers and colored thermal pools were otherworldly, it felt repetitive. Except for the Grand Prismatic Spring with its cornucopia of colors, Yellowstone didn't capture my heart the way Grand Teton did on my first visit there.
I really didn't grasp all the intricate machinations of Yellowstone until subsequent visits where I got to ascend mountain peaks that gave an overview of the vast landscape that stretched in all directions, and where I got to observe the intricate relationships between the flora and fauna, and between wolves, grizzlies and vast herds of bison. I realized at that point that Yellowstone offered far more than what met the eye: the complexity of the ecosystem and the unique land was far more than what I could comprehend. I don't think photos can ever do justice to this, but that didn't stop me from trying during those visits. This image was of a summer sunrise in Hayden Valley, with the morning rays catching the rising fog from the warmer waters of the Yellowstone River.
Yellowstone National Park
WY USA
Pano over the Canyon
The dry desertscape of Utah seem a far cry from the vibrant rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, but present a landscape with a refreshing palette of colors. Vast swathes of the Colorado and Green River basin near Moab expose sandstone buried from the Jurassic period and rich in iron oxides, exhibiting this characteristic red color. And in the amber hues and slanted rays of sunrise and sunset, one can really experience the incredible and diverse features of this landscape, from towering mesas silhouetted in sunlight to tiered gorges that evolve from tiny gullies to a vast rocky canyon.
I tried to capture the essence of this landscape at a sunset vista from an overlook in Canyonland's Island in the Sky district. From this viewpoint, once can spy the fingers carved into the undulating sandstone by the seasonal tributaries of the Green River, and its confluence with the mighty Colorado further south. The west-facing walls catch the last light of the day, with deep shadows highlighting the stark differences in terrain. This part of Canyonlands is replete with plenty of these viewpoints, offering a glimpse into the diverse landscape and into the storeyed geological history of the North American continent.
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA
Lapping the Sunset
The strange thing about the sunset is that, as a photographer, I actually don't want the sun to set. I want it to stay right on the horizon - not below it, not above it - just right on it. And yet, everyday the sunset laps us, signalling the end of the day. The passing of the sunset reminds us that time is ephemeral, and as much as I don't want the sun to set, it does, and we have to make sure we make the best of every single sunset, and every single moment.
Netarts
OR USA
The Irish Dance
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glencar
In pools above the rushes that
Scarce could bathe a star
- W.B Yeats
Happy St Patricks Day folks
Ring of Kerry
County Kerry, Ireland
Coral Dreams
When I first stepped on cobblestone shoreline, I was greeted by an amalgam of blue beach stones. But as I kept walking down the shore, I spotted a few white ones in the mix: a composite of different types of wave-smoothened coral rocks. It took me a while to realize the scale of this: a vast beach littered with thousands of these corals, and that meant I was seeing the remains of a rich coral reef ecosystem that over the years had slowly died off.
It made me realize the fragility of this ecosystem, which, over the last few years has slowly died off due to the direct and indirect effect of human activities. While snorkeling in different parts of the Virgin Islands, all I encountered were dead and dying reefs, and except for a few stragglers, the ocean floor was fairly barren, and sad. Seeing this all over the island, I wondered if this region would ever recover.
Virgin Islands National Park
USVI
Sunblooms
The wind was incessant and unrelenting. The tiny flowers struggled to hold on, dragged by the breeze that blew up the rolling hills. It was a battle that the flowers would eventually succumb to, but not yet. And until then, these tiny balsamroot blooms would grace the green hillscapes with their colorful blooms, lending a brief bit of yellow to the otherwise brown and dusty slopes on the Columbia River Gorge.
The sun had't crested the distant range, and in the shadow of the morning light, I spied a dusty rustbucket nestled in a field of balsamroot. I was still contemplating how it made its way down here, far away from the nearby roads and ranches, when the sun slowly appeared, blooming with a vibrant sunstar over the eager balsamroot.
Columbia River Gorge
WA USA
Sunstars on the Bay
Summers in northern California are dominated bluebird skies with not a speck of white, a balmy sun and glistening waters. The is why the Bay Area has such a sunny disposition. But the occasional winter storm does roll in, and when it does, it peppers the sky with beautiful clouds that, at sunset, is the canvas over which nature paints vibrant yellows, oranges and reds.
This was one such sunset a few years ago at the Alviso Marina in the southern part of the Bay.
Alviso Marina County Park
CA USA
Heralding Spring
The grass, green after their long winter slumber, carpeted the rolling hillscape. Skeletons of oak trees dotted this early spring landscape, awaiting warmer temperatures to don new leaves. And it was in this beautiful setting that I was wrapping up one of my last spring hikes of the East Bay foothills before I moved out of California.
The various parks and preserves that dot the eastern side of the Bay Area were a haven of peace and solitude, a welcome retreat from the bustling activity of the Bay. While they stay golden through most of the year, in spring, the life-giving rains paint the hills with a verdant green quite reminiscent of England. And for a short time that the green lasted, the trails here were my pathway to multitudes of photographic opportunities.
As the New Year approaches, nostalgia for one of my favorite hiking destinations rises strongly in my mind. I hope I get to hike there once again.
Sunol Regional Wilderness
CA USA
The light of Dawn
Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.
Theodore Roosevelt
One of the proudest legacy of the 26th President is the crown jewel of the American conservation era - the National Park system. And while I have been fortunate enough to visit 34 of these memorable places, very few have stuck to my mind and my heart, and one of them is the Canyonlands National Park. And nothing captures the essence of this rugged desert terrain like the view from Mesa Arch at sunrise, an arch suspended over a vertiginous cliff overlooking a vast canyonland.
One of the rituals as a photographer is to make the dawn trip to Mesa Arch, squeeze your tripod in between the two dozen others, and eek out a few shots just as the sun crests the horizon, and one more just as it disappears behind the arch. While it is photogenic place, it was the view that the location presented that I found the most endearing: cliff walls glowing yellow in the morning sun, stupas, stacks, and hoodoos silhouetting in the slanted light, twisted canyon disappearing into the vast expanse of the horizon. The sense of belonging and being humbled by nature is perhaps the primary reason why such regions must be preserved for posterity.
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA
Portal to Sunset
Summer sunsets in the Bay Area tend to be unremarkable: azure skies slowly fading away to a rusty sunset. Clouds rarely make an appearance in the summer, let alone stay until dusk. And when those moments occur, it can be pure magic. One such moment occurred in the middle of the Bay Area's summer, where vestiges of a cloudy day remained till the last light. A sputtering of different layers of high altitude clouds faded from bright yellow to a vibrant orange and onto a saturated pink before the colors eventually melted away.
I bee-lined my way to one of my favorite spots in the southern Bay Area to capture this colorful sunset - the Alviso marina. It's location right by the waters of the bay, combined with the wide open skies all around make it a great place to photograph. Moreover, the walkways and the wooden door-frames formed a great foreground to the last remnants of this memorable sunset.
Alviso Marina County Park
CA USA