When I first heard the name Lake Atitlan, it conjured up a a god from Mayan mythology, an overseer who overlooked a pristine lake in a caldera of a volcanic nation. It turned out to be partially true, as it was the name given to one of the many volcanoes that ring this glistening lake in the mountainous center of the country.
My first glimpse of the lake was during a multi-day trek that terminated on an overlook of this lake. We arrived at this viewpoint at before dawn, in the calm stillness of the night. The jeweled lights of the villages dotting the lake mirrored the star-spangled banner that was the sky. Venus shone brightly above the eastern horizon anchoring the sky, while the blazoned gold of Fuego's eruption did so for the volcanic horizon. And below it, the dark glassy blue of the lake stretched into the distance, interrupted only by the shimmering reflections of the city lights.
It was freezing at the viewpoint in the early morning, and I was only warmed by hot cocoa slipping down my throat. And despite the lake of sleep, my mind was fully engaged in taking this expansive view of Lake Atitlan.
Lake Atitlan
Guatemala
Ushguli Skies
While I was standing in the dark on top a small hill in the town of Ushguli, trying to compose this very image, I felt a small nuzzle on my legs. I turned around and it was a stray dog. Not just any stray dog, but one that I had fed a few cookies earlier in the day while hiking on a trail a couple of miles away. How it found me in the dark so far away from where I had seen it earlier is a mystery that may be hard to solve.
It just lied down beside the tripod quietly. And it didn't want anything. Just a few pets and scritches. I can still picture that scene, a mutt with floppy ears lying down and watching walk back and forth on that small hill under a moonlit sky. It was one of the friendliest strays I had ever met.
After finishing this star-trail shoot, I headed back, wondering if I would ever see that mutt again. And to my surprise, it showed up just as I was about to board the van taking me away. I almost wanted to bring it with me...
Ushguli
Georgia
Lights Out
One of the perks of living in the PNW, or so I thought, was that I would have easy access to see the northern lights. But lightshows like the one yesterday are few and far inbetween, and it is hard for the weather to cooperate as well. Thankfully, it cooperated yesterday and I snagged this. While not as impressive as my previous glimpses of the aurora in Iceland, it was a pretty sight at a place very close to home.
This scene shows the deep red pillars that appear when the intensity of the ionic storm becomes particularly strong.
Anacortes
WA USA
Ray of Stars
The brilliant light of the Milky way makes an appearance on a rare smoke-free moonless night sky in Oregon
Wallowa Whitman National Forest
OR USA
A Night Out
Unlike the previous one, which was a fortuitous coincidence of circumstances, shots of the Milky Way, like the one above, are far more planned. Having had an image in mind of a composition involving the galactic arm rising above the snow-capped volcanic cone of Mt Baker, just as the first rays of moonlight light up the east-facing slopes, I trudged up an appropriate viewpoint at sunset hoping to stake out such a location. But despite the planning, this too required quite a bit of luck: a cloud-free smog-free sky unaffected by the wildfires raging the Pacific Northwest, and snow-free access to a location where this shoot was possible.
Thankfully, the atmospheric conditions cooperated for the most part, and except for the light polution at the horizon, and the light haze from the fires, it was a blissful night for photography. I watched as the sky slowly transitioned from the orange hues of sunset to the deep purple of twilight, and small sparks of light slowly appeared in the sky, starting with the brightest planets (Venus and Jupiter) followed by the dimmer stars. Soon thereafter, the band of the Milky Way slowly made its appearance, first visible only to the camera, and then to the naked eye. The mercury dropped too, and I found it ever more harder to keep myself warm, but I persisted, waiting until the band slowly moved over to the summit of Mt Baker.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
A National Park Journey - Yosemite National Park
There is no grander a cathedral of granite than Yosemite National Park. Stepping into its hallowed halls with walls of towering granite from whose ledges gush waterfalls, is like stepping onto another planet. And while its star attraction, the Yosemite Valley, carries all the trappings of modern civilization, the towering geological features put the human efforts to tame it to shame.
When I lived in California, I used to visit the park multiple times a year, enough to observe the sharp change of seasons. But the summer in its mountains holds a special place in my heart. In the summer, my favorite place in Yosemite, however, was not the valley, but the high Sierra terrain. Far away from the maddening crowds, the quieter pace of the delicate alpine terrain offers an opportunity to slowdown and admire the small flowering plants as well as the iconic granite peaks topping above the forests. And at night, the higher altitude affords an humbling opportunity to observe the night sky far away from sources of light pollution.
This image showcases the night sky during one such summer visit.
Yosemite National Park
CA USA
A National Park Journey - Kings Canyon National Park
The first National Park I had visited in the country was Sequoia National Park. Being a sister park to Sequoia, Kings Canyon was the obvious choice to visit after Sequoia. After the intimacy with gentle giants in the first park, Kings Canyon was a shift in scale. I gazed with wonder at the towering granite canyon walls where gushing waterfalls flowed into bubbling creeks that meandered amongst grassy meadows laid out along the South Fork of Kings River. I even gained my first hiking chops on one of the many hiking trails that climbed up from the valley.
That vast mountainous landscape would draw me again for many years after that. Since then, I have hiked and backpacked in many different parts of that park that covers a vast swath of the Sierras far away from any civilization. I have been blessed to have been given the opportunity to explore this spectacular part of California, and this wilderness nestled in Kings Canyon holds a special place in my heart.
This image was a night sky from one of the many backpacking trips to Kings Canyon national Park
Kings Canyon National Park
CA USA
A Strike on the Galaxy
As part of the work to create my annual photography calendar, whose proceeds this year will go to National Park Foundation, I look through the archive of over 5000 photos I shoot every year. I don't ever get time to comb through every single one; it is a task which I have been failing miserably at. However, occasionally I chance upon gems that I often missed at first glance.
This is one such catch from a trip to the eastern half of the North Cascades in a remote wilderness region, far away from any light pollution. I visted this place early in the summer, far before devastating wildfires impacted visibility in these areas. As I was shooting a timelapse of the Milky Way, a bright meteor streaked the southern half of the sky. I had no idea if the camera had captured it, at least not until I came back and reviewed it on the big screen. I was lucky to catch this bright streak arcing across the band formed by the central disc of the galaxy.
Paseytan Wilderness
WA USA
Skyfall
From the time of childhood, I had been exposed to the wonders of the night sky, starting with the lullaby Twinkle twinkle little star. And that fascination with the night sky continues to endure to this day, where with every backcountry trip I take, I look forward to staring at awe at the starscape that forms every night.
This trip to the Sawtooth wilderness was no different. Apart from being a fascinating place to explore a new environment, the lack of any light pollution provided a prime opportunity to indulge in this passion. And the Sawtooths delivered like no other. Tracking the band of light that stretched across the sky, I tried to capture the swirling masses of spectral clouds at the heart of the Milky way that seemed to illuminate the light of a thousand suns. Right at that moment, a bright (possibly) Perseid meteor scintillated just above the jagged outline of the Sawtooth range.
Sawtooth Wilderness
ID USA
Stretching the Stars
The pandemic does strange things to ones mind. I have spent many a dull moment cooped up indoors thinking what my past self was up to a year ago.
And this time, last year, I was up in the mountains of the French Alps, hiking a portion of the Tour du Mont Blanc, a famous hiking circuit that circumnavigates Mont Blanc on the border of France and Italy. Hiking up and down rugged mountain passes through glacial valleys and lush green meadows, and never far away from the jingle of a rustic cowbell, the trip will take a special place in my heart.
On this one rain-free night, I snuck out of the Rifugio to catch a catch a glimpse of a moonlit valley, with mellow clouds streaking above a windswept landscape of the Valley of Glaciers
Bourg St Mourice
France