Finally getting around to posting some shots from a much needed vacation to Iceland this May. In my opinion, Vestrahorn is one of the most beautiful mountains that I've ever seen but until this particular evening, I had only been able to admire it in the photographs of others. I truly believe that I could have easily spent three or four days just shooting this mountain and never gotten tired of it or run out of original comps. However, since I was traveling with family, I only had one evening in Hofn and therefore, at most, a few hours at the mountain.

When we first arrived in Hofn, (just before dinner time), we were pretty disappointed to find the mountain range completely obscured by a thick blanket of fog and gray clouds. We looked around a little but the conditions were so drab that I left without taking even taking my camera out of the bag. Sunset was still several hours away and the wind was picking up, so I was hopeful that things might clear up later in the evening. When I returned for sunset the clouds had indeed started to clear. The winds, however, had picked up and were blowing at a sustained 45-50 km/hr (gotta love Icelandic weather). In fact, the winds were so strong that it made getting in and out of the car quite difficult - I'm sure if someone had been watching, they would have had a big laugh watching me struggle to open and close the car door and hatchback.

The winds not only made it difficult to simply keep my camera and tripod from blowing away (I've got a fairly sturdy tripod and this was the first time that I felt like I could not let go of of it without fear of it being blown over), it became virtually impossible to keep my eyes open for more than a couple of seconds at a time as the wind had turned the sand into miniature projectiles. Naturally this also made it more difficult to find pleasing compositions and every set of shots was followed by a long, somewhat painful walk back to the car to flush sand from my eyes and to get a short respite from the wind.

Although I was pretty miserable at the time, looking back, I feel fortunate to have found a few comps, such as this one, that I am really happy with despite having to pick sand out of my eyes, clothes and camera for days!

Tags:   Vestrahorn Mountain Wave Clouds Landscape Iceland South East Coast Icelandic Vestrahorn Mountain Game of Thrones Sand Sand Dunes Beach Black Sand Beach Black Sand Sunset Colorful Landscape Photography JMK/Photography Nikon z7 Nikon Travel Sunrise Spring Stokknes Beautiful Nature Hofn Höfn Fjall Fjords East Fjords Stokknes Peninsula Ring Road Stokksnes Stokksnes Peninsula

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This shot was taken on my last morning in Canada just as the sun's rays were beginning to hit the peak of the distant mountain range. The forecast called for nothing but clouds and the rain throughout the trip but as this picture shows, the weather is never a certainty in the mountains. If any of you familiar with this lake, no, I did not take the plunge off the diving board.

Thanks for looking and please let me know what you think of the shot.

Tags:   Canada Canadian Rockies Banff Banff National Park Nikon z7 Really Right Stuff RRS Lake Beautiful Clouds Ice JMK/Photography Kananaskis Landscape Landscape Photography Light Mountain Nikon National Park Opt Outside Park Water Winter Snow Blue Golden Hour Alberta Ice Fields Parkway Sunrise Travel Reflections Reflection Icy Spring Mountains Bow River Mist Fog Purple

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Ansel Adam's iconic shot of Mt. Williamson from Manzanar has always been a personal favorite. A few years ago, Kevin Benedict and I went on what amounted to a wild goose chase looking for the spot that Adams took his famous shot. After driving around for what seemed like hours on some very sketchy dirt roads that were nearly impassible even in a four-wheel drive and one very close call that almost resulted in our rented SUV becoming a permanent fixture of the landscape, we ended up heading home empty handed.

In hindsight, striking out on that day was probably for the best as the mountain was covered in clouds and the light was frankly terrible. On the plus side, we did get quite a story out of our little backroad adventure.

This past February Kevin Benedict, Sky Matthews and I were back in the Sierra Nevada's and decided to give it another go (probably due more to my persistent nudging than any real desire on their part, so thanks to them both for indulging me). This time around, armed with some slightly better intelligence, we were actually able to find the right spot - though it did take quite a bit of looking, Sky's eagle eye, and a nice hike (yes, this time we were smart and left the car in the parking lot).

It was the middle of the day when we began our search, so I wasn't really expecting to take anything other than some snapshots on the cell phone before heading to a better location for sunset; but as luck would have it, when we finally found the right spot, some interesting looking clouds started rolling in prompting me to take out the tripod and camera. While not even close to the light show captured by Adam's in his Mt. Williamson shot, I really like how the clouds above Mt. Williamson seem to take on the look of a second, distant mountain range. While nothing will ever top the original, I do hope that my homage does it some justice.

Tags:   Lone Pine California Sierra Nevadas Mt. Williamson Ansel Adams Sunset Clouds Mountain Mountains Nikon JMK/Photography Winter Beautiful Black and White B&W RRS myrrs Really Right Stuff Shadows Light and Shadow Nikon z7 Nikon z6 Manzanar Sierra Nevada Mountains Alabama Hills YBSNature22

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Upper Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona

One from the archives - taken during a family trip out west a few years ago.

I hope you enjoy the shot and as always, thanks for looking and for any comments!

Tags:   Antelope Canyon Arizona Antelope Canyon Slot Canyon Slot Slots Light Beam Light and Shadow Red Rock Really Right Stuff Navajo Navajo Tribal Land Navajo Nation JMK/Photography Beautiful Southwest Sandstone Nikon Nikon D810 16-35 f/4 Rock Formations Rock Red Upper Antelope Canyon

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I've had the pleasure of hiking the Narrows several times; I've also seen countless amazing shots of the reflected light casting its trademark warm glow on the canyon's distant walls. However, I don't recall ever seeing a scene like this one (whether live or in a photo). I was lucky enough to stumble upon this particular light show while hiking out of the Narrows during a November 2019 trip with Kevin Benedict and Sky Matthews.

While I cannot honestly say that this is the best of compositions, I can say that it is probably the best I could manage in my photogasmic panic that ensued once I stopped starring, closed my jaw and realized that I probably only had a few minutes at most to unpack my gear (which I had of course packed up thinking that I was done for the day) and set up before the lightshow disappeared for good.

All in all, I'm fairly happy that I was even able to fire off a few shots and get something in focus and usable. I cannot wait to see what surprises will be revealed the next time I have the opportunity to hike one of my all time favorite places.

I hope you enjoy the picture and as always, thanks for the time to look!

Tags:   Red Rock Slot Canyon Southwest Southwest U.S. Desert Landscape Landscape Photography Nikon Nikon z7 Beautiful JMK/Photography Reflections Water Springdale The Narrows Narrows Canyon slots 24-70mm f/2.8 hiking hike Rock Formations National Park Zion National Park Zion Utah River Virgin River Long Exposure Red gooutsideandplay myrrs RRS Really Right Stuff Visit Utah

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