Tag Archives: Mountains

Who Said the Badlands Look Dull?

‘Mid-morning Sunlight on the Purple Mounds’
Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Pastels proliferate the hills of the Badlands during mid-morning sunlight. The golden and green grasses in the foreground set the stage. The yellows, oranges, reds, and purples of the different sediment layers of the mounds provide the center focus. The purple striped rugged mountains and blue cloud covered sky creates an intriguing background setting.

Millions of years of creation stand directly in front of me. I dream of the wonder of nature and the beauty it brings.

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We’re Not in Eastern Washington Anymore

Lone Oak & Mt. Whitney”
Alabama Hills, California

Today, I thought I would post something a little different than an image from our Heatherwood garden. I haven’t been out of our immediate area photographing in nature much since last June in the Palouse. It feels good to take a little break from our garden.

The Alabama Hills have always attracted me since watching all those old cowboy movies when I was a kid. The unique landscape with its rolling hills, intriguing rock formations, box canyons, and rugged Eastern Sierras have provided, and still do provide, a great background for action movies. They are a wonderful place to explore.

This live oak in its yellow fall color provides a great foreground for Mt. Whitney in the background. I remember how disappointed I was the first time I saw Mt. Whitney. I was expecting a towering peak standing out above the surrounding hills. It was no Mt. Rainier! But the fact remains that it is still the highest peak in the continental US.

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Majestic Mt. Rainer

“Mt. Rainer Afternoon Sun Break”
Mt. Rainer National Park, Washington

This image was taken driving back down the hill from the “Sunrise” visitors center on the east side of Mt. Rainer. I had just finished a little hike up the side of the mountain to the tree line. Driving back down in the early evening, I looked back in my rear view mirror and saw a little sun break. I found the nearest turnout to enjoy a few fleeting moments before the shadows fully engulfed the mountain.

Every time I drive up to the Mountain it has a different feeling about it. Each facet looks different depending on the time of day and the amount of sunlight or shadows present. It may be covered with clouds or protruding into the clear sky above the tree-covered slopes below. It is a pleasure to just stop and gaze at its majestic presence.

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A Nice Day’s Drive

Mt. Hood and Columbia Gorge
Oregon and Washington

On a clear day, it is hard to beat the drive down to Bend, Oregon from Eastern Washington along US Highway 97. Leaving the Yakima Valley, the snow peak of Mt. Rainer is in the NW, and Mt. Adams overlooks the valley from the west. Reaching Goldendale, Mt. Adams is to the NW and Mt. Hood is to the SW. Turning the bend on Highway 97 heading down into the Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood is dead ahead (as in this image). Climbing back out of the Gorge to the Oregon Plateau, Mt. Adams is to the north and Mt. Hood is due west. Continuing south past Shaniko, one sees a little turn out with a clear view of the Cascade Range. From here, Mt. Adams is in the far north, Mt. Hood is in the NW, and Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, and Three-fingered Jack are to the west and SW. Traveling south out of Madras Mt. Jefferson rises prominently above the farm lands to the west. Approaching Redmond, the Three Sisters and Broken Top are seen to the west and SW. Then Mt. Bachelor rises up as you enter the Bend area. It is a pretty impressive four hour drive on a clear day, which is pretty common in sunny Eastern Washington and Oregon!

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Capitol Reef: Skyline Point #2

Skyline Point – The Henrys

Back to black and white.  I photographed this image in the middle of my last afternoon at Capitol Reef.  Who says you can’t create a good image in the middle of the day.  It was a beautiful afternoon.  The overhead sun lit up the Henry Mountains as well as provided nice shadows in the valley below.  I had the point all by myself.  It was a wonderful and peaceful feeling.  Looking down at the cliff walls and valley below, I was experiencing over 100 million years of history.  Human existence is pretty insignificant in the scheme of the natural wonders of our planet.  Let us all protect it for future generations.

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Alabama Hills #6

“Moon-Set Over the Sierra Nevada’s”

We got up early to see the moon set over the Sierras and Alabama Hills as they were being highlighted by the early morning sun.  It was a great morning.  We feasted on pancakes in Lone Pine afterwards!!!  The morning even got better!

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Alabama Hills #3

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA

This image is looking due west from the eastern side of the Alabama Hills.  The Sierras still have a little snow.  Notice the difference in the erosion patterns on the Alabama Hills boulders and the the sharp eastern Sierras.  Both ranges were formed near the same time.  Nature does funny things.

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Getting Ready …

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California

I am getting ready for a photography workshop with John Barclay and Mitch Dobrowner at Capitol Reef in southern Utah.  Part of the preparation is to select images of past work to show to the workshop group.  I’ve spent the last two days reviewing my images over the past year.  My focus for this workshop will be black and white photography.  Overall, I am disappointed in my progress in 2018.  I could not identify many individual stellar single images that stand completely by themselves.   However, I did notice that I have several good images when taken together tell a story of the feeling I had experiencing a particular site.  A collection of my images is stronger than any single image.  For the next few days I will post a series of images from the Alabama Hills last April.

The Alabama Hills is a series of rounded rock hills and rock formations on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range near Lone Pine, California.  Mt. Whitney towers above the range.  Since the 1920’s the rugged area has been used as a location for over 150 movies and TV show’s.

This image was taken looking northwest over some large boulders of the Alabama Hills toward the eastern Sierras.

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