Trips

Springtime in Yellowstone is a stunning experience, as the valleys come alive and new families of wildlife take their fist steps. As much as anything, this trip was an opportunity to experience again the great sweep and movement of the Hayden and Lamar Valleys that inspired the creation of America's first national park, and launched the beginning of what Ken Burns called America's greatest idea...

Springtime in the Smokies may be my favorite season in this eastern jewel of the Park system.    Free of the crowds and the tired wear of autumn, Spring offers hope, its own medley of subtle hues and bold colors, clean fresh aromas, hungry wildlife intent on feeding their young and nourishing their families, with the streams and falls rushing along in swelled pride, providing symphonic support to the sensory overload. 

Winter in Grand Teton National Park is always a place of incredible beauty, especially on those infrequent days where the sun can peer through the never-ending storms and clouds. Due to the especially deep snows, wildlife was scarce but the scenery was special...

A quick fall trip to the Smokies was extra special this year. I took my mom who with my Dad introduced me to this mountains some 50 years ago.

This autumn was unusually warm, even hot, sunny and cloudless, delaying autumn's wardrobe change and keeping the wildlife distant. Only occasionally did the weather provide some elements, affording a few opportunities to capture the magic that is autumn in the Tetons...

For one week this autumn I hiked and biked more than 100 miles through and across the largely deserted western half of Denali National Park. Early snow, vibrant tundra colors, a couple of clear days and lots of wildlife made for an incredible experience to see Denali as few can...

Below are a few of my favorite photos from a 35 mile hike with my daughter on the spectacular Skyline Trail that crosses Jasper National Park. And, having made it that far, I finally also was able to spend some time in Banff National Park and experience the Icefields Parkway...

Late, heavy snows delayed the opening of the Going to Sun Road until the second week of July this year. One great benefit though was that for days before then the road was open to hikers and cyclists only, which allowed a tranquil and leisurely experience exploring the magnificence of Glacier, as well a series of great sunrises at Many Glacier...

Spring is always a special time in Grand Teton National Park as wildlife emerge with their cubs, the snow begins to retreat from the mountain range and slowly, surely green shoots begin to show life...

Fall is always a glorious time in Grand Teton National Park, as the aspen turn their brilliant golden, for just a few days, and the warmth of summer gives way to the growing chill of approaching winter...

Early September brings ravishing autumn colors to the tundra and yellow birch, aspen and larch trees, along with the arrival of early snows.

In early September I spent almost a week hiking in, flying above, around and throughout this Wrangell St. Elias National Park, by far the largest national park with miles and miles of glaciers and endless snow, many of the continent's highest peaks and hardly a soul around...

In May Grand Teton National Park springs to life - wildlife emerges and there is a softening in the weather, that brings new colors to the skies and emerging green shoots to the fauna, even as the mountains often hold onto their white winter coats...

In the Spring of 2021, Grand Teton National Park provided an amazing spectacle as multiple families of grizzlies appeared from their winter slumber and grazed the Park's many meadows, with Grizzly 399 and her quad cubs, now more than a year old, the stars of the show...

A second year of covid again limited travel but it afforded more time in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where I first learned to hear the music and poetry of our national parks and to photograph her secrets...

Winter in the Tetons is a magical time. In December 2019 and again in February 2020 I was able to witness winter's brilliant displays of hoar frost, a super moon setting over the Tetons just before sunrise and an unusual number of red foxes...

An early December snow swept across the ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains and into the Cades Cove valley. For a couple of days, the snow and following hoar frost created a magical winter wonderland, a great respite from the Covid pandemic...

A collection of photographs from Grand Teton National Park and Grizzly 399 and her quad cubs.

Below is a series of impressionistic images of fall in Grand Teton National Park. Rather than the traditional sweeping vistas and landscapes, I explored the autumn landscape in a more intimate and abstract style that, for me, conveys the sweep of color and light, shape and form, a sensory overload of motion and beauty...

The summer of 2020 in Grand Teton National Park will be forever remembered for the appearance of Grizzly 399 and her four cubs amidst a world paralyzed by the coronavirus.

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...

For a few weeks most summers Shenandoah National Park is a painter's palette of yellow, purple, white, red and orange wildflowers.

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...

Photographs of Grand Teton National Park in early spring 2019

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.

The Moose-Wilson road in the Great Teton National Park is always resplendent in fall with its aspens, berries and foliage.

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...

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...

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...

Shenandoah National Park is awash in wildflowers this summmer.  Here is a collection of photographs from Shenandoah this summer.

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...

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...

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.

Photographs of Grand Teton National Park from summer 2011

In summer heavy banks of fog shroud most sunrises and many sunsets near La Jolla, California. When the sun breaks through, especially at sunset, though, the scene can be dazzling or, sometimes, subtle such as when the sun glimmers through walls of fog just above the vast ocean...

June brought cool temperatures and rain to Shenandoah, which provided just the opportunity I have been looking for to explore South River Falls. These waterfalls have a very limited observation tower across from the falls so I have wanted for some time to hike a couple more miles down and back up to the foot of the falls...

My plans for Earth Day consisted mostly of a short hike in Shenandoah. I expected light rain and hoped to hike a couple of miles to some waterfalls. What I got was a rain that quickly turned into a steady blowing wet snow that painted spring's emerging leaves and woods in several inches of snow...

Christmas 2011 was a special time in the Tetons. While the snow was nowhere near what it usually is, the frequent clear skies afforded more opportunities to watch that amazing spectacle of the first rays of sunlight turning the Teton peaks into a fiery glow of orange and red...

The majestic fall season in Shenandoah National Park can give way quickly to winter. Here are some photos that reflect that transformation, from the early colors of the berry bushes in Big Meadows, to the fall splendor in White Oak Canyon, to an early snow even as fall's last leaves flash their splendor...

Below are a few images from an afternoon in Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree is located less than an hour from Palm Springs and is the intersection of the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. It is a seemingly barren place with strange and mysterious rock piles and its namesake, the Joshua Tree...

I made a spontaneous trip to the San Juan mountains after reading from some photography friends that a big snowstorm looked to dump a lot of snow in the higher elevations even as the aspen just reached their prime...

A long walk in -26 degrees through modest snow brought me to the Moulton Barns where I was able to witness a glorious sunrise strike the mountains peaks of the Grand Tetons and then descend down into the valley...

Spring brings a freshness to the air, the colors, and the young life that is making its way into the world. Here are a few of my favorite landscape photographs from this spring. There is a separate page devoted to the wildlife...