Desert Heat

When people learn that I’m a traveler they often ask me what the most beautiful place I’ve been to is. When I reply that it’s the US they often look at me in disbelief, as if thinking “I didn’t expect him to be so nationalistic.” The thing is I’m not nationalistic. It’s simply that the natural splendor of the western US is really unlike anything I’ve seen before.

These past two weeks of biking through the desert have reminded me of just how true that is. Each day as I bike, I think there couldn’t be a more beautiful place to ride and the next day I relive the wonder as the landscape morphs into yet another new, strange and wonderful shape.

To think they change every day…

For those of you who have never been to the area, I can’t recommend it enough. Photos are nice, but the grand scale of panoramas like the one at Dead Horse Point , where the Canyonlands stretch out for a hundred miles 2,000 feet below you, simply cannot be captured by a flimsy two-dimensional image.

Biking adds yet another layer to the appreciation. 50 plus miles of untouched wilderness are passed so easily in a car, but on a bike the amazing scale of unoccupied land reveals its true significance. Of course riding through 100 degree weather isn’t always the easiest on the body, but even that grants a new appreciation to the stories of settlers and native Americans who explored and covered these lands, very often on foot.

Like nowhere else on Earth

We’ll soon be entering the Rocky Mountains, which have a beauty and challenge all their own, but even if the trip were to end right now I’d be grateful for the beauty I’ve been lucky enough to see. What a world…

A nice way to end the day

 

On the Road

Wow, where to begin? After three weeks on the road, this is my first much belated update. There’s already been a cross country drive and two weeks of biking through some of the most scenic places on Earth. In fact, as I write this, I’m sitting under a tree in Zion National Park, another place so blessed with beauty that I lament not only my own skills as a photographer, but the absolute limits of the art, which could never do anything but give a pale imitation of natures capacity for splendor.

I captured this just outside of Yellowstone. To think this was an area they decided wasn’t worth protecting…

So rather than do gross injustice to the places I’ve already visited, I’ll

The Next Big Thing

So I apologize for my extended absence. While I don’t mind taking photos of the same lake repeatedly, writing about the process just isn’t my cup of tea, or maybe it’s more that being in ones own home town dampens the adventurous spirit. Whatever the case, my long winter of hibernation has come to an end and it’s time to get back on the road. The next big adventure? A bike trip across America!

This post comes at the last moment as we leave tomorrow by car from Cooperstown, NY and begin the long drive out to San Francisco where the actual biking will begin. Here’s our tentative driving route:

There will probably be much too much to share on the way, but even so I’ll wait until I have some good photos before I write more. In the meantime you can check out the page we’ve set up for the charity we’re raising money for. Should be amazing!

			Riding for Music and Arts Education We’re taking a two-wheeled tour across the country to raise funds for the music and arts in our local school!
			Afficher sur igg.me	Aperçu par Yahoo

Patterns

Maybe it’s just I’m just so uncoordinated I need to always be looking at my feet when I walk, but I always seem to find beautiful things right beneath my feet.   I was out enjoying the frigid cold and impressive wind chill when I noticed these patterns in the snow drifts under my skis.

I walked over this patch of snow right after the photo. This is the only record it was ever there.

My first thoughts of becoming a photographer were

Patience and Photography

When your average viewer looks at a great photo, the first instinct is usually to credit the camera.  That, of course, is rather silly given that most of the photos you see in a museum were taken with cameras so primitive you’d be more likely to throw them out than use them.  The slightly more sophisticated viewer is likely to look at other factors, such as the photographer’s skill in composition and perhaps photo editing.  While these factors no doubt place some distance between a professional and the casual snap-shot taker, perhaps the greatest factor separating the average tourist snapping photos off in a park and Ansel Adams is something rarely noted: patience.

This photo is dedicated to a wonderful reader who lamented that my lake photos were too sad. I hope this brings a smile!

Ansel Adams didn’t just take a weekend trip to Yosemite