September Decisions

Autumn, the time when the weather cools, school starts, football returns, the leaves change and fall, and everyone’s lives get a little busier. This is notably true for landscape photographers as the fall is a consensus “favorite” season for many shutterbugs.

Late September is an unpredictable time as the last days of summer usher in a wide variety of atmospheric conditions. Humidity decreases, so does the bugs and crowds, creating innumerable possibilities for those fortunate enough to travel.

I was hoping to revisit my favorite waterfall while in Yellowstone. This shot was captured in September 2009.

I find myself currently in this position with my girlfriend who works for a major airline, the opportunities are endless to explore new places. The plan was to return to Yellowstone, as September is known as the “golden month” in the world’s first national park. However, the upcoming weather forecast is calling for below normal temps and extended periods of precipitation (rain/snow mix), which makes backpacking less fun.

Long story short we decided to look elsewhere. Some of the places we considered were Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park (ME), Blackwater Falls SP (WV), Cathedral Gorge State Park (NV), Lassen Volcanic NP and Channel Islands NP (CA), and now the search continues. We still haven’t decided on a destination although it is now looking like California again. What places do you recommend during this time of year?

In other news, I am back in editing mode working on my new releases gallery. Most of the images will be from summer backpacking trips around the San Juans as I am diligently working toward a printed version of my book. However, you’ll also discover images from other states too. It is a work in progress but check back regularly for frequent updates and happy leaf peeping!

A high key black and white image from Yellowstone Lake in early October

 

 

 

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Cell Phone Pics from My Colorado Autumn Trip 2015

Below are five of my favorite cell phone shots from my trip a few weeks ago to central Colorado to photograph fall colors. All pictures were captured with my Samsung Galaxy S6 and have not been edited. Enjoy!

“Road to the Gores” A quiet, peaceful mountain road leads into the Gore Mountains north of Silverthorne.

“Colors of the Fall” Sunrise on a secluded section of the Maroon Bells scenic loop trail.

‘Pure Gold’ I noticed this vibrant, peak stand of aspens on Castle Creek Road outside of Aspen, CO.

Dappled mid morning light on the Maroon Bells amidst overcast skies.

The Hanging Lake Trail outside of Glenwood Springs was a workout delight! Definitely one of the best workout trails I have ever hiked and the payoff at the end was outstanding.

WildMoments Word Press. Com is Back!

Hi Folks,

A couple of years ago I decided to switch blogging platforms and I moved to wordpress.net. I did this for more customized features as I wanted a more refined, customized look. Unfortunately, what I realized is that wordpress.com has one big advantage over wordpress.net unbeknownest to me at the time. It is much more search engine friendly! Therefore, moving forward I will be posting all blogs on both platforms although as of right now only my wordpress.net blog is linked to my website. I’m glad to be back and I look forward to interacting with those folks that regularly use this blogging platform.

Happy blogging!

Michael

New Images and Changes for 2012

I’ll admit I’ve been hoarding. I’ve been hoarding images, changes, updates, and blogs posts. I am as busy as ever with landscape photography, but I’ve been dormant from the social media world for a while. That’s all about to change and I thought I’d crack the ice with a post to get you up-to-date in the last happenings in my landscape photography world.

Let’s get you caught up on where I’ve visited first. So far it’s been: Yellowstone NP in January, Sedona in February, Organ Pipe National Monument in March and a 13-day road trip to Utah during the first half of April. I am pretty stoked about what I have to share with you, but I haven’t started processing just about anything yet.

Here’s why: I recently a purchased a new computer and monitor to be used strictly for photography. Currently, I am multitasking and everything for surfing the Internet, to shopping, banking, listening to music, conducting business and everything else under the sun is done from my one system. Let’s put it this way – I really don’t want it to break under the weight. So far, it’s been holding up great (except for my USB ports, which are basically fried) and I am finally to the point where I can afford to designate a new  computer system specifically for landscape photography.

Coincidentally, Adobe recently released CS6 and the timing was perfect to upgrade and process on all my new images with their new software and through my new hardware. As it stands now, I am just waiting on my new writing desk to come in, which is supposed to occur later this week. I am hoping to get up and running by this Memorial Day weekend.

To go along with all of the new changes, I thought it would be a great time to redesign my blog’s appearance too. I’ve added a few widgets and changed the theme as I wanted something where I could include a background image. Please let me know what you think. I wish it didn’t have the white background where the text goes, but it’s about the best theme I could find on WordPress.

In case you are wondering, I am still up-in-the air about many future photography trips this year. I am definitely planning another short visit to Sedona in late June and a weekend trip to Flagstaff in August. I am still on-the-fence about a major trip somewhere in late July and I have tentative plans on returning to Yellowstone in the middle to end of September.

I’ll keep you posted as to any new developments on that front and will update you further on my new computer system  within a week or so. If you have any suggestions on worthy photography related destinations within a 10 hour drive of Phoenix I’d love to hear about them. I am specifically interested in New Mexico, but any state that borders Arizona is doable. Have a incredibly blessed and safe Memorial Day weekend.