After months of chafing under the restrictions imposed by the spreading coronavirus, I escaped to where I often escape, to my original home park, the Great Smoky Mountains. I took advantage that crowds were still limited and spent time exploring and experiencing the calming effects of the Smokies and some quiet times in Cades Cove, a place that has been way overcrowded for many years...
Fall is always spectacular in the Tetons as falls colors race to beat the early snows that often fall in late September and early October. On cloudless nights, new perspective is gained as the milky way stretches as far as the eye can see...
I returned this fall to Denali National Park where I spent a week hiking, cycling and flying across the Denali landscape. The colors were vibrant and there is nothing like an aerial perspective of The Great One, Mount Denali...
Shenandoah offers some great opportunities to see wildlife, especially deer and bears, but this fall I also had an opportunity to capture some quality images of one its most elusive creatures, a bobcat...
In the early spring of 2019 Felicia emerged from her den below the Continental Divide with two cubs. Unfortunately, she quickly lost one to a boar. Felica and her suriviving cub, Pepper, were often seen near the highway that crosses the divide...
Winter in the Grand Tetons alternates between moments of absolute minimalism and brushes with nature's splendor, from blue moons to a diverse array of wildlife.
In the spring of 2018 grizzly bears 399 and Blondie and their year and a half old cubs put on a show for those lucky enough to witness. The highlight was watching Blondie walking her two cubs from the corals only to realize that the grand matriarch, 399 and her cubs, were coming into the same small clearing...
In the summer of 2018 the Big Island of Hawaii witnessed a large volcanic eruption and flow of lava to the ocean. Here are some images captured flying above the fissures and from a couple of pre-dawn boat rides across a violent ocean sea to where the lava was making its fiery entry into the sea...
For more than two weeks this summer, I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream - to explore the expanse and incomparable splendor of Denali National Park; followed by several days in Lake Clark National Park where I was able to photograph the large coastal brown bears that frequent its meadows and waterways, and concluding with several days exploring Kenai Fjords National Park, with its countless glaciers, rugged coastlines and moody features...
It was a spectacular late fall 2017 in the Tetons. Vibrant, snow-covered aspens; exquisite lakes reflecting sunrise on snow capped mountains; large, hungry bears hunting relentlessly for food, amorous moose, and a sense that for a few brief days, yesterday's loss could give way to new meanings...
The highest elevations of Shenandoah were covered in some of the thickest rime ice I have ever seen. Rime ice is created when fog freezes on trees and branches, making it look like it had snowed...
A rare autumn snow coated the upper reaches of Shenandoah National Park just as falls foliage peaked. The result was an enchanting mix of color and snow.
The Tetons have become a special place to witness our landscape's great wildlife, especially grizzly bears and other large animals in the wild. In many respects, I now enjoy the Tetons wildlife scene more than Yellowstone which has unfortunately become so overcrowded...
A short visit to Yellowstone in early summer yielded some quality time capturing a late snow, flower filled high mountain meadows, bears, wolves, foxes and more.
Shenandoah National Park has numerous waterfalls. Some are well known and easily accessible. Some require bushwacking. Almost all of them are best seen and photographed after considerable rain and on a cloudy day...
Spring 2017 witnessed a splendid display of wildflowers and redbuds thanks to the abundant rainfall. The waterfalls were gushing and the annual rebirth that was spring was at its most vibrant...
Springtime in the Great Smoky Mountains always brings beautiful wildflowers and a certain quiet. This was especially true as a surprise snow fell on the higher elevations in late April. Accessing many of the Parks on the east coast when there has been a recent snow is an increasing challenge, which made this experience all the more enjoyable...
There may be no experience I enjoy more than winter in Grand Teton National Park. The Park is buried in deep snow. When the weather cooperates there can be stunning sunrises. There is also abundant wildlife that literally must fight for survival every day as snows become several feet deep and temperatures plunge to 20 or more below...
A collection of fall photographs of Grand Teton National Park from my trip there this fall. In addition to the foliage and moose, the consistently clear skies provided a great opportunity to do night time photography of the milky way that made even the Grand Tetons feel miniscule...
Fall was very late arriving to the Great Smoky Mountains thanks to unusually warm weather. Peak color in some areas was several weeks late. But the fall foliage was spectacular the air dry and crisp...
One of the remarkable environmental stories is the restoration of the James River in central Virginia. A few decades ago this river was largely dead. As a result of a dramatic commitment to stop the pesticides and pollutants, the river has come back to life...
Iceland is a land of far flung peninsulas and, at least in the summer, almost 24 hours of light. Large waterfalls dot the landscape and there seems to be more sheep than people. But the most moving experience was traversing across Iceland's glaciers and seeing firsthand the effects of global warming as giants slabs of ice break off those glaciers every day into a nearby lagoon, to float to the sea where they get destroyed by wave, sun and salt, finally getting deposited on so-called Diamond Beach for their final death...
Shenandoah National Park can be one of the most difficult parks to photograph in winter because it is generally inaccessible except by foot when there is ice and snow. For this past winter, I made a determined effort to make the long hikes in through the snow and ice to experience the Park as very few can see it...
The lowcountry and islands around South Carolina are home to thousands of wildfowl and ospreys throughout much of the year, but especially in the winter. In the quiet hours before dawn egrets, herons, ducks, skimmers and cormorants can be seen feeding in the shallow waters of the marshes and lagoons...
Weeks often pass in the winter where the Tetons never reveal themselves. But to begin this year, the weather patterns that reduced the amount of snow created an exceptional opportunity for winter photography of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets for which the Tetons are so famous...
On Thanksgiving Day, a deep snow fell across Shenandoah National Park. That evening my daughter said she wanted to see sunrise in the snow. So we headed out at 430 and arrived for a sunrise to remember and found, surprisingly, Skyline Drive was open to allow patrons to reach Skyland Resort...
Few visits to Grand Teton National Park have proven as productive as this visit in late June 2014. The weather was varied - from significant snowfall to dramatic sunrises. Wildflowers were everywhere, as was Grizzly 399 and her two yearling cubs, and Grizzly 760...
I finally made it to the Tetons for its peak fall colors. But a few days of early snow and strong winds made the shooting a real challenge. Fall foliage was battered in many places of the park but there were a few exceptions, including especially Oxbow Bend...
Photographs of Grand Teton National Park from June 2013, the final weeks when the 2 natural cubs of grizzly bear 610, and one of 399's cubs adopted two years earlier, were together, including 760.
