On the way back to Arizona, we drove through Death Valley. This shot was taken from Zabriskie Point- love those undulations in the rock!
Whitney Portal
Whitney Portal Road goes from Lone Pine through the Alabama Hills and then starts its ascent up the mountain to 8,389 feet, where it ends at Whitney Portal. There are spectacular views of the hills below and of the mountain itself.
Clouds at Bell Rock
While Lonnie and our friends Kathryn and Scott were walking part of the trail up Sedona’s Bell Rock in April, I amused myself taking photos. I’ve photographed Bell Rock so many times (and never in “good light”) that it was hard to find a new approach- hence this partial view emphasizing the clouds.
Looking Across
Our friends Kathryn and Scott came for the weekend! It was their first trip to Prescott, so we took them to Jerome and Sedona on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous- this is the view from Jerome of Flagstaff’s San Francisco Peaks.
Alaska Week- Day 4
One of our favorite places to walk is the Nature Center in Eagle River- a gateway to Chugach State Park. I have posted many photos taken there in the last couple years. It’s always beautiful, and it’s about five minutes from our daughter’s house!.
Alaska Week- Day 1
I’m posting photos of Beautiful Alaska all week. This is a bridge seen on the walk to Spencer Glacier.
Monolith
Last week I had an appointment in Flagstaff, so we decided to take the Oak Creek Canyon scenic route. Of course, we had to stop at the Bell Rock and the Courthouse parking areas to visit some of our favorite rock formations! It had been raining, so the red in the rocks was extra saturated. But, for some reason, I converted this image of the Courthouse to black and white, which I thought made a nice contrast with the clouds.
Low Tide
We were lucky to have a great view from our little hotel in Homer. I especially was fascinated by the beach at low tide, which is displayed in this evening view of the Homer Spit with the mountains and glaciers in the background.
Glacial
One of the highlights of our trip to Alaska was seeing glaciers. Many glaciers. And a few up close!
This was our third visit to Portage Lake since the kids moved to Alaska- but the first time we have taken the boat ride across the lake to see the glacier! While Caitlin and Lonnie were buying tickets, the boys and I walked down to the water’s edge, and I was able to take this shot featuring one of the large chunks of ice floating in the lake.
Blue Mesa- again
What can I say?- it’s a pretty place!
Blue Two
From another viewpoint at Blue Mesa:
Blue Mesa
This is one of the most amazing areas of Petrified Forest National Park- the gradations of color are gorgeous! To get this shot, I had to fight bad knees and high winds as I set up my tripod in different positions along the trail- and just the trail at the top, mind you. I wish I had started this whole photography thing when I was younger!
Winter’s End
I think our February snowstorm was likely the end of our (very mild) winter, although we did have some snow at the beginning of April last year. I have a few more snowy photos I am considering posting here, starting with this one of the rocks and snow at Willow Lake. I began with a straightforward edit, using Photoshop to bring out the detail of the Liesegang rings in the rocks. I have recently just started exploring Topaz Studio, so decided go there to see what I could use on this photo to give it an “extra something”. I played around until I created a softer, more painterly look in the image.
Cold Reflections
Snowy rocks and their reflections at Willow Lake a couple weeks ago during the last snowstorm:
Red Rocks, White Snow
When we walked the paths at Willow Lake during our end of February snowstorm, we were amazed at how saturated the color of the rocks was in the diffused light and falling snow. Here is the view as we walked our usual path through the rocks toward the lake. Not quite Sedona- but still beautiful!
melinda anderson photography 