Its the time of the year that I start working on the photography calendar. I have had plenty of adventures this year yielding many keepers, despite the fact that I was bedridden for about half the year. That said, I had to revisit the archives to get a bit of variety.
That opened up the choices quite a bit more, and I had to make many difficult decisions to keep some and discard others. This was one of those that I had to discard from the 2025 calendar. I still like the image for what it captures: a slice of the fall in the mountains in the North Cascades. Clumps of short blueberry add vibrant reds and oranges to the subalpine meadows in this fragile landscape dominated by glaciated mountain peaks. It lasts but for a very short time, but it leaves an impression like no other.
North Cascades National Park
WA USA
Faces of DeVa
Picture a desert and the first vision that crops up is that of sand dunes stretching endlessly to the horizon. Undisturbed ripples of golden stand wiggle their way on the windward side, forming patterns akin to life-sized fingerprints. Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park is a classic example of this. But the park also features a vast low-level basin that are filled with white salt-flats. The salt flat is the remnant of an endorheic lake that dries out by late spring, leaving behind hexagonal patterns of crystallline salt.
Death Valley is more than just sand dunes and salt flats. But these are two key faces of this DeVa.
Death Valley National Park
CA USA
The Salton Sunrise
At 4 in the morning, I was still dazed in my hotel bed, wondering where I ought to be for sunrise at Joshua Tree National Park. As I gathered my senses, I started scouting the nearby locations, completely unaware of the conditions the sky would present. As I headed to the park, I kept peering into the horizon, hoping for a clue of where I ought to be to capture the magic of sunrise. In the end, I headed up to a viewpoint where I got a glimpse of the distant Salton Sea, one of the largest inland seas of the continent.
As the sky slowly transformed into the colors of dawn, the edges of the high clouds changed to a deep shade of pink, which reflected faintly on the vast surface of the sea. Surrounding this sea was the vast inland desert of California and Arizona, dominated by the distant blue mountains that were still in shadows early in the morning. I waited a bit, hoping for this vast landscape to light up, but before that could come to fruition, the sun promptly disappeared behind a large bank of clouds, dashing any hopes of a bright sunrise. Nevertheless, I tried to capture the vastness in scale of this unique vista of Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
CA USA
The Women of my Life
There have been many incredible women who have been part of my life, women who have struggled and succeeded against many odds. But perhaps one person I continue to admire every single day is my partner, whether it be her zest for life, her curiosity to travel, her openness to new adventures, or her passion for social causes. Every single day, I get to learn new stories about her past, and the challenges she has faced in getting to where she is today.
This is dedicated to her tenacity to see and set the world right, and to the other women who have endeavored to do so in their own way.
White Sands National Park
NM USA
Basking in the waves
When I hiked to this remote beach in the Virgin Islands, I wasn't expecting much. Barely a couple of hundred yards long, this small beach sandwiched between the a tropical forest and the gentle waves wasn't much to look at. But being a mile away from the nearest road meant that I had the place to myself for a while.
Walking on the soft white sand while listening to the soothing sound of the waves, and basking on under the warm sunlight instantly made me forget about my worries and just enjoy a grand vista of puffy white clouds and azure blue waters. Because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.
Virgin Islands National Park
USVI
Caribbean Paradise
After going through multiple days of cold winter weather, including what has been the snowiest day in over 30 years, I cannot wait for the days to get longer and warmer. And even though the winter isn't yet over, the signs of spring are just beginning to blossom everywhere. Pretty soon, we will witness colorful blooms, meadows of fresh grass, carpets of wildflowers and more.
But until that occurs, I keep myself hopeful with my travel memories accumulated over the years, including this one from the beautiful tropical beaches of Virgin Islands National Park. Here, the azure blue waters dotted with catamarans and sailboats meet the white sands of a palm-fringed beach that anchors this part of the mountainous island. I delighted in driving around the island, seeing these blissful vistas, and creating soul-enriching imprints that I would treasure for a lifetime.
Virgin Islands National Park
USVI
Of Sandstorms and Windy sunsets
One of the country's newest National Parks has something going for it that no other place on this planet can lay a claim on - the largest gypsum sand basin. And that lends this place a surrealism like no other. While most visitors only spend the daylight hours here, the time for photography in this place when the sun crests below the San Andres mountains, and the predawn hours when everything lays still.
At sunset, in the shadow of the mountains, the white sands take on an unnatural blue hue, which, combined with strong winds at dusk, lend an ethereal soft glow to the undulating striations on the dunes. And on those rare occasions, all these happen with a sky lighting up for sunset, like in this scene above.
This park holds within it many such unique photographic opportunities, and I really do hope I can get back there, if only to spend one more night at this amazing National Park
White Sands National Park
NM USA
The Curtains Reveal
Precisely a year before this image was taken on the eve of the Fall equinox, I had climbed up Fremont peak at Mt Rainier during a cloudy afternoon. The lookout at the summit had been socked in dense fog, reducing visibility to mere yards. And when all hope seemed lost, the inversion layer dipped below, and I was witness to one glorious sunset above the clouds.
I was hoping to repeat that this year, and with the dense smoke having finally receded, I was eagerly looking forward to a return visit. However, fire damage had temporarily closed the main access road to the area, and I turned to the next best fire lookout in the Mt Rainier area.
I started the hike in high spirits despite the foggy weather, hoping that the clouds would lift up just like last year. But as sunset approached, the snowy summit of Mt Rainier barely managed to peek through the thick fog rolling over the lookout. The glimpses of the inversion layer kept teasing me, prolonging the agony in the freezing cold. And just as I was about to turn around barely 30min before sunset, the clouds lowered.
I was now dropped into an ethereal landscape with the mist still clinging onto the nearby ridges and peaks, while the summit of Mt Rainier, towering over an alpine lake, managed to catch the last bit of alpenglow.
Mt Rainier National Park
WA USA
Dreamstate
It was a sunrise that wasn't.
A few years ago, I found myself camping in the heart of Yellowstone National Park, giving me the opportunity to get some unique photographs of this National Park. And I really looked forward to shooting a sunrise with beams of light catching the rising vapors of a nearby river, attempting to recreate a composition I had previously done.
This time around, that sunrise wasn't to be - a thick layer of fog had all but enveloped the meadow, dropping visibility and light. And it wasn't until an hour after did it thin enough to let the light through. As I was wandering around struggling to get compositions, I came across this poignant scene of a lonely tree standing steadfast in a vast meadow still moist from the morning mist.
Which version do you prefer - the Color or Black and White?
Yellowstone National Park
WY USA
An Unrivalled Vista
It was a beautiful sunrise - a speck of light peering through the distant mesas and buttes, lighting up the red underside rocks of the sandstone Mesa arch, hanging over a lip of one such steep mesa, with nothing but air between the arch and the floor a 1000ft below. And to capture this premier attraction, more than a dozen photographers had crowded around, jostling for the strategic position that get the perfect angle of light and shadow.
This image, however, is not your typical image from the Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. I waited a while until the crowd cleared, and peered through the arch at the landscape that opened up in the light - an endless range of buttes and mesas rising up from the myriad formations on the floor 1500ft below. The play of shadow and light gave rise to strange silhouettes and bizarre vistas, a sight that was a delight to photograph. This is one such take on a unique vista in Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA