Black & White

Light Beam

This image was taken over the Thanksgiving weekend last year when I visited Grand Canyon National Park for the first time. I took this panorama from Yavapai Point at sunrise - a big snow storm was forecast for the day and already in the morning there were heavy clouds hanging over the canyon - in these situations you need a bit of luck as this fickle weather can create good moody images. Luck was certainly on my side, as just during sunrise a small gap in the clouds opened and the sun created this beam for 1-2 minutes. It was an incredible moment to witness.

Trees in Lake Hume

Lake Hume is an artificial water reservoir across the Murray River, Australia's longest river (2500kms in length). It located near Albury close the state border of New South Wales and Victoria and was constructed between 1919-1936 and is used for hydro-electric power generation. It is estimated that Lake Hume can hold about six times the water of Sydney Harbour, but in recent years of draught water levels have been quite low. In 2007 fell to only 1% capacity.

180 seconds

A long exposure of the black sand lava beach of Reynisfjara near the township of Vik in southern Iceland. Unfortatunely during the visit, it was blowing a gale and raining on and off, which seems to be the case for most of the time at this location. Choosing a long exposure I hope to capture the essence of this place.

Desolate

Captured just 30mins or so after sunrise this scene shows so much the desolate environment of some of the areas of Death Valley National Park. In contrast to its name the park is actually very beautiful and full of life - first looks can be deceiving.

Laupahoehoe Point

Located on the Big Island’s Hamakua Coast (east shore), Laupahoehoe Point is a peninsula covered with coconut palms, grass and black lava rocks on the shoreline, which contrast beautifully with the deep blue ocean. On a sunny day, the ocean is particularly blue here. Laupahoehoe is known for its scenic views, but it also holds a tragic past. It was here where a tsunami killed 19 schoolchildren and 5 adults on April Fool’s Day in 1946. The names and ages of the victims were engraved on a rock, which serves as a memorial in the park. The village was later relocated further inland to avoid another tragedy. Laupahoehoe Park is a nice spot for a picnic and picture taking, but when it comes to water activities, the options are limited. Other than exploring the nearshore tidepools, the ocean is too furious and dangerous here for swimming. When you’re out on the peninsula, you can often times see the waves crash against the lava rocks.

The Two Twins

2 stacks of the 12 Apostles rock formation at Gibson Steps along the Great Ocean Road, Australia. I was trying out my new variable ND screw-in filter to see if I could come up with a nice effect. I hope you like it. This image won the PSA Gold Medal Best Landscape at the 47th Sydney International Exhibition of Photography

Sculptures

A quick stop at this location turned out to be very fruitful - the rocks in Joshua Tree National Park always look like some creatures and together with the namesake trees it provides a lovely scene.

San Francisco Curves

Sunrise long-exposure image of the San Francisco-Oakland ('Bay Bridge') taken during one of my mornings in San Francisco.

Winter View Laurel Mountain

Last year I hiked out in the dark to this location for sunrise. Access during winter is limited to foot traffic and I was lucky that the several feet of snow were already hard and compressed as I didn't have any snow shoes. Unfortunately sunrise was a cloudy affair and I did not get any good light onto Laurel Mountain. Later during the morning there was a small break in the clouds and it created some atmosphere. The creek itself is fed by hot springs and therefore creates the steam. This year I planned to get back for another attempt, but lack of snow and timing didn't work out.