This fall, I took an early morning hike from Harpers Ferry to the Maryland Heights Overlook. It was great to see the town light up from the sun on a clear fall day. In fall, the sun mostly aligns with the Potomac River. The town is lit up nicely before sunrise while the rays are blocked from reaching the surrounding hills.

Explored: December 19, 2024

Tags:   harpers ferry west virginia fall autumn maryland heights overlook maryland heights trail maryland sunrise

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Sunrise Sunday morning at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Remembrance wreaths from Wreaths across America have been placed along the wall for the holidays.

Tags:   Vietnam Veterans Memorial vietnam veterans memorial fund vietnam veterans memorial wall washington dc sunrise

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Early this year, I spent one night at Zion when traveling out west for a Las Vegas concert. It was a full moon, and I knew the moon would be behind me and light up the valley. I like these “moonscape” shots that show off the national parks at night. I’ve done similar shots at Yosemite and Grand Teton. Even though the forecast called for clouds to move in, I decided to try star trails. I spent about an hour and half shooting the star trails, but I only used about 45 minutes in this photo. After that, the clouds became too dense.

I had visited Canyon Overlook on an earlier Zion family vacation trip. I always knew I wanted to come back and try a blue hour or night shot. It was great to finally get back and see it at night.

Tech details: All frames used were taken from the same spot. The foreground (except for the car light trails) is a single image. The car light trails are an assortment of individual frames that I picked out where a single car was going in the same direction. Since it was late, there were very few cars on the road. Each time, it was a single car. I think this is a combination of two or three cars.

Tags:   canyon overlook zion zion national park findyourpark star trails light trails full moon moonscape YBS24Nature

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This is the view from Point of Rocks Overlook in Maryland a few weeks ago. From Maryland, I was looking across the Potomac River towards Virginia's Furnace Mountain. I've seen a few other people post photos from this spot, so I decided several years ago that fall would be the best time to check it out. It finally worked out this year.

Tags:   point of rocks point of rocks maryland point of rocks overlook fall leaves river bridge

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Yosemite Falls lit by a just-past full moon

What a view! 30 second long exposure of Yosemite Falls way past dark in April, 2019, when the falls were gushing with the spring snow melt. The sound of the falls was most impressive in the quiet conditions. The moonlight lit the falls and a few lights lit up the foreground. Can't wait to get back to Yosemite someday.

Explored: October 4, 2024

Tags:   yosemite falls yosemite national park night photography long exposure findyourpark waterfall california

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