Deception Pass

A shot of the bridge over Deception Pass I took on a bicycle tour. For more info on this shot check out my blog at http://www.stevecoylephotography.com/Blog/Exploring-the-World.

Siamese Gods

The Siamese twins in Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Caught the sun right as it was setting. That required a quick run up the trail to the stone structures. Luckily I arrived just in time.

Bridge over the River Salmon

This pack bridge was constructed in 1956 as a result of the tireless efforts of my great aunt Frances. Before the bridge was built, she and her husband ran Campbell's Ferry on this part of the Salmon River, but due to high water in the spring and winter conditions for much of the year, there was only a short window of opportunity that the ferry could be operated. Trying to cross by any other means was to take your life in your own hands. In 1994 this bridge, the only crossing of the Salmon River for over 40 miles in either direction, was dedicated to my great aunt. The Frances Zaunmiller Wisner Memorial Pack Bridge is in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. It connects 2 national forest (Nez Perce on the left, Payette on the right) and 2 time zones (Pacific on the left, Mountain on the right). It is also on the Idaho Centennial Trail that runs from Nevada to Canada.

Paddle Among the Trees

Taking in the view in Bayou Bartholomew.

Bayou Blues

Taking a look back at Bayou Bartholomew today.

Shannon Showers

I had some assistance from my #1 assistant (aka my wife and photographic consultant) to capture this shot of me at Shannon Falls in British Columbia, Canada. I found it a lot easier to ask her to click the button on the remote after I was in position, than setting the timer and running into position. It truly was amazing to stand below the huge amount of water coming off these falls. For complete info on the falls, check out http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/shannon/.

Blue Hour

I teased you with this scene shot with my iPhone a couple of weeks ago, but here's the shot I got with my DSLR at Porteau Cove Provincial Park (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/porteau/) in British Columbia, Canada. Beautiful spot to watch the day come to a close.

Lion Sunset

Sunset on Lion's Gate Bridge from Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Digging through the archives and found this shot from our Alaskan Cruise vacation last year that I had not previously processed. i caught the last hint of sunlight as I made this shot. I purposely left in the tail lights from the vehicles traveling on the road that circumnavigates Stanley Park on the left side of the shot to add to the dimension of the view. I'd love the chance to see this view again.

Polar Express

I made this on one of our Alaskan Cruise excursions in May on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. We were headed back to Skagway after a quick trip to Canada for the day. Looking at this scene reminds me of the movie Polar Express, one of my favorite holiday movies. It felt like an appropriate photo to share as we are quickly approaching Christmas.

Bryn Mawr

Our last destination on our Alaskan cruise was College Fjord. From where College Fjord is, it appears it would be difficult to get to by any other means than a cruise. You'd really have to want to go here. Even on the rainy, cold day we visited the fjord it was quite stunning. This is a shot of Bryn Mawr glacier that I had to do quite a bit of editing to cut through the rain the area was receiving the day we were there. I'd love to see this place on a nice day. Even shrouded in clouds and rain it was amazingly beautiful. The only scary part was listening to the ship forge through the ice and hoping we wouldn't spring a leak.

LittleFreeLibrary

In memory of my parents who introduced my brother and I and many of their students to the world of books, and in honor of all librarians and teachers. We passed this Little Free Library on the way to Polebridge, Montana. It's about 35 miles from Columbia Falls to Polebridge, Montana, most of which is on a dirt road. You can imagine our surprised when we came upon this library, literally in the middle of nowhere. The mountains in the distance are in Glacier National Park. The view makes me want to stop and read a book for a while.

Coming Soon

When a photo editor from Time Inc contacted me in June wanting to purchase rights to this photo for publication in their upcoming publication “AARP: Where We Live" I could hardly believe my luck. I wanted to shout from the rooftops at the time but decided to wait until I had a check in hand, because frankly, I still couldn't believe it after I signed the contract. Well, the check arrived yesterday and here is one of the images that will be appearing in it when it's published. If you ever find yourself on the backroads of Montana, keep your eyes pealed and you might see this Little Free Library too. :-)

Grasses Galore

My wife and I watched 'Great Plains: America's Lingering Wild' on PBS last night and it reminded me of the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge that we visited last week. We really enjoyed seeing Michael Forsberg's photography in the show so I checked out his Facebook page and gave him a 'like'. I posted the iPhone shot I took in this area last week, but I like this shot I made with my DSLR a lot more and needed to share it. If you're ever in this area of New Mexico I recommend checking out this NWR. Getting there for sunrise is a great way to start the day.

Defy Gravity

The first morning of the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico last Saturday. The Wicked hot air balloon was leading the ascension that morning. It's a sight to see if you are ever able to make it to New Mexico for the fiesta.

Up, Up and Away

It's hard to believe that October is here again and in Albuquerque, New Mexico they are once again preparing for their annual balloon festival. This year's celebration begins next weekend, so I thought in honor of the upcoming event I'd share this image I captured a few years ago when we were there. I believe this image provides you with a pretty good idea of what it's like to be there. It is an amazing sight watching hundreds of balloons lift off during the dawn ascension. Something that was on my bucket list and I'm glad to have it checked off. :-)

Grande Gorge

TGIF! Sunset on the Rio Grande Gorge west of Taos, New Mexico. There was smoke in the canyon from controlled burns in the nearby mountains when I made this shot. Gave the gorge a foggy cast.

Water Falls

Glad it's the weekend again! Another shot from our hike on Falls Creek Trail in Lake Catherine State Park in Arkansas in March.

Heavenly Falls

Another vantage point to take in Lower Eden Falls from at Lost Valley in Arkansas. In the other shot of these falls that I posted previously I was getting quite wet under an overhang that is outside of this shot on the right. It was much drier at this point allowing me a little more time to compose the shot without getting soaked.

Glory Hole

We were told about this waterfall at the Buffalo Outdoor Center when we were in Arkansas in March. It was a nice hike to this waterfall they call Glory Hole. The water has worn a hole in the rock and pours through the rock. The shafts of light piercing the darkness of the overhang add to the drama. Definitely worth the hike in if you ever find yourself in the Buffalo River region of Arkansas.

Tragic Reflections

It was a cloudy morning in March when we visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial. There were a few visitors at the memorial, but not so many that it made taking photographs difficult. I really liked the reflections on this morning as it really made the structures at the monument stand out. There was virtually no wind to speak of so the reflecting pool was like a big mirror. Really an incredible scene for a tragic incident in American history.

Valley View

Happy Monday! One of my favorite views along the Mt Whitney hike. This was taken somewhere between 10,000-11,000 feet above sea level looking down into Bighorn Park, the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California and the Inyo Mountains in the distance. I really like all the layers represented in this shot. Provides great depth and perspective of how we actually were.

Trail Crest

It's hard for me to believe that it's been a month since I stood at this point on the trail to the top of Mount Whitney, highest point in the lower 48. At Trail Crest we were still 900 feet below the summit, but the landscape pretty much looks like this from 12,000 feet up. A lot of rock with very little vegetation. There are some small flowering plants, but that is about it. If you had a fire at this altitude, you'd find little to burn, but once you descend below 12,000 feet, there is plenty of forest to burn and quite a bit of it was ablaze in Sequoia National Park when we were there. Luckily on this day the winds were out of the east, blowing the smoke on the western side of the mountain behind us, in the other direction. Made for a clear view down to Lone Pine, CA, 9,600 feet below in the valley in the distance.

Harrowing Heights

You hike below these two peaks on your ascent to the top of Mount Whitney in California. It amazes me thinking about the geologic forces it took to push/lift these peaks to the height they are today. It's impressive to see this field of talus in person. Having our friend Laura in the shot provides some perspective on how big these boulders really are. At 14,000 feet there is little to know vegetation and the air is thin. To know I have stood here and walked among these giants will remain with me the rest of my life.

Bayou Teche

I shot this under a massive oak tree on the banks of Bayou Teche in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on an overcast Saturday afternoon. I wish we could have paddled more of the bayou, but our time was limited. If I ever get a chance to paddle here again I hope to have 2 vehicles to work with so we can put in at Arnaudville and paddle down to Breaux Bridge. The bayou was flowing well on this particular day which made paddling upstream, as we did, a bit of a workout. Photography work was a bit of a challenge too with the current pushing me where it willed before I'd have a chance to set up, so it would be a an effort to paddle back upstream far enough so I could allow my paddle strokes to fade away to the glassy reflection you see here before I floated back into position. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Dry Creek

Dry Creek Falls in North Carolina was anything but dry when we visited last week. There had been a good rain the night before and the waterfall was flowing great for our brief visit. I had found out about Dry Creek Falls through some pre-trip planning using Improve Photography's new Really Good Photo Spots. app The photo of the falls in the app didn't reflect how nice this waterfall really was, but I thought we'd go check it out since it was just slightly off our route for the day. Upon seeing it I knew we had made the right decision to make the side trip. The falls are easily accessible from a concrete pathway that leads to and behind them. Definitely worth the stop if you're in the southern mountains of North Carolina. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Amicalola Falls

This was the last waterfall I captured before we left Georgia and by far the most dramatice. At over 700 feet tall, it is one of the more impressive waterfalls I've ever seen. I went there to photograph it in the evening and morning to capture the different light. The morning definitely has the better light and during the week during the school yrar, I only saw one woman in the evening and one family the next morning. Otherwise we had the falls to ourselves. Very peaceful and amazing! A must see if you are ever in northern Georgia. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Fords Point

I had dreamed of going to Monument Valley for several years after seeing all the photos of the area. But once I finally made it there I was a little disappointed. There were so many people and the roads through the valley were pretty bad, however we were convinced that the Navajo kept them that way to discourage people from driving and instead take one of their tours in the bed of a pickup truck. But there was really way too much dust for us to ever want to take one of those tours in the back of an open pickup truck. John Fords Point probably looks familiar if you've watched any old westerns. This scene was made famous from those movies. After converting the image to black and white I like it quite a bit more and finally decided it was worth sharing. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)