The best images from my latest trip to Maine are on the website in the “Latest Images” gallery. I’m quite pleased with the results, and really enjoyed the winter environment. Shooting in the field is just one part of making a final print. Once I have final selects edited and processed from a trip, the final and most rewarding stage for me is printing. I decide which images I want to include in upcoming shows and exhibitions, and begin the process of creating the final “print master” file.I will cover this process in depth in an upcoming entry, as well as in my March Lightroom workshop.

On Feb 21st, I will be presenting a Lightroom seminar to the Dutchess Regional Professional Photographers, a non-profit organization dedicated to the educational needs of professional photographers in Dutchess County, New York. I’ll be covering all of the basics of managing and processing images with Lightroom, and will answer questions fro the attendees. More information can be found at the DRPP website for those who want to attend.

In the meantime, enjoy the images, and as always, I welcome your comments and questions.

I finally made it to one of my favorite landscape locations during the winter, and my timing couldn’t have been better. Although I’ve spent a few falls in Acadia National Park, I’ve always wanted to experience it during the winter months. After a warm spell in the northeast that lasted a few weeks, we finally received a significant snowfall this week, and I have been enjoying visiting my favorite trails and views covered with 10 inches of fluffy snow. Though it can be dark and cold, I’ve always tried to bring a more inviting interpretation to winter photography.

I don’t change my camera equipment much when it’s very cold, but I do use special gear for personal comfort. I suffer from cold hands and feet, so I use chemical warmers from Grabber to stay warm. These are full size foot insoles that just slide into my boots, and my feet stay toasty for 6 hours. I also keep a pair of the hand warmers in my pockets. This way I can use thinner gloves for better control of my camera, and stick them in my pockets once they start to get cold. Landscape photography involves a lot of standing around without moving, so these aids go along wat to keeping me focused on being creative when it’s 10 degrees and windy. I’m also using a new product for my boots called Micro Spikes made by Kahtoola, and they are amazing. Not quite like full crampons, they work best when there is not enough snow for snowshoes, or when it’s icy or slippery. I have been using them full time on this trip, and the traction they provide is confidence inspiring. These also happen to be available at Mountain Tops, a great outdoor shop in my home town of Beacon. If you’re ever in the area, pay them a visit for a good selection of outdoor gear, and good info on local activities.

In addition to my normal Garmin GPS 60CSx that I have been using quite happily for a few years, I also started using a Spot Tracker, which not only allows me to transmit my exact location via email at any time, but will also transmit a 911 distress call via an emergency button. Hopefully I will never have to use this feature, and it keeps my immediate family members at ease while I’m away in relatively remote locations.

I”ll have more photos at the end of the week once I return home and have a chance to edit all of the images I’ve captured.

I’ve just returned from a 10 day trip on the coast of Maine with my wife Brenda and 4 yr old son Bryce, including 7 days on Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park. This was my 3rd visit to one of my absolute favorite locations, and it never disappoints either photographically or as a place to spend time with my family biking, hiking, and enjoying nature in a unique and pristine setting. We spent the first 3 nights camping in Camden Hills State Park, and visited a few unique landmarks including the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, which sits at the end of a 4,300 ft long breakwater in Penobscot Bay.

We also visited Marshall Point Lighthouse, which sits on a classic Maine rocky coast, with many possibilities for day and night photography. Unfortunately, I was only able to visit during the mid-day, but would certainly like to return in the future.

We then headed to Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island, where we would be spending the rest of the trip and where most of Acadia is located. We arrived on a warm but rainy day, and I immediately headed into the park to take advantage of the weather. I love to photograph in the rain, when the foliage is wet and colors are saturated, plus the light tends to be soft and very diffused with less contrast, all favorable conditions for intimate nature photography. I spent the rest of the week exploring different parts of the park, from the rocky shores to the pine forests that dominate many of the mountains and valleys in the island.

I never get tired of returning to Acadia, especially now that my 4 yr old son is up to 3 mile hikes, and is learning so much about nature and all of its surprises. Whether an inch worm, or frog, or just throwing rocks into a lake, he is learning to discover and appreciate a world which is magical and full of surprises at every twist and turn of the trail. These are opportunities and experiences I didn’t have until well into my twenties, so it is truly special to be able to provide him with an early start. I’m sure he will remember these trips for the rest of his life as I will for the rest of mine.

I’m still sorting through all of the images I returned with (close to 1,200), and I’lll have a formal gallery with all of my favorites in the near future. The leaves are changing, which means my favorite season for photography is here!

I’m off to the western Adirondacks on a canoe camping trip that I’ve been looking forward to all summer. I’ll be in the Forked Lake area, and it should provide for interesting photography from land and water. Just have to make sure I keep the camera gear dry! I’ll have a trip report and images when I return.

The world of landscape photography is filled with many great names both past and present, and studying great work is something I never tire of doing. I often revisit many of my favorite images in my library of photo books, always seeing and learning something new, and finding inspiration to continue to learn and evolve as a landscape photographer. Selecting my favorite and most inspiring photographers was relatively easy for me. Though there are many names to choose from, there are a few that truly shaped my vision early in my development, and gave me a model that epitomized how I felt about nature and how I wanted to share that passion with others. I could see and appreciate their dedication and commitment, and knew instinctively it was the path I wanted to follow as a creative artist. Never before had I felt so sure about what was important to me, and how I wanted to experience and share the beauty of nature. Here are my picks:

• David Meunch - I had been inspired and awed by his landscape images before I even knew who he was. His technique and style has inspired countless others including myself, and I’ve learned a great deal from his photography as well as his philosophy. In his words: “For me, making photographs is always a total and continuing involvement. Underlying my need for expression of a spirit of the land are certain patterns of discovery and exploration. Intense creative awareness, along with the patience in waiting for dramatic forms of sun and shadow, unusual light, or a decisive moment of mood, challenge my mind’s eye toward achieving, what I like to call, a timeless moment.” Browse any photography book on the national parks, and you’re sure to see one of David’s incredible photographs. Now in his 70’s, and still producing great work.
• Galen Rowell - another inspiration for me in the sense that he combined photography with adventure, Galen was a mountaineer, explorer, writer, and great photographer. Author of one of my favorite books “The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography”, his writings have taught me about vision and emotion in photography, and his travels to remote and exotic locations around the globe inspired a whole generation of photographers.
• Ansel Adams - as much as I tried to think of another photographer, I kept coming back to Ansel for opening my mind to the creative possibilities of black and white, and his expansive work on his favorite location, Yosemite National Park. His involvement in group F64, a loose knit group of photographers who believed in “straight photography“, played a leading role in getting photography accepted as a valid art form. If it wasn’t for Ansel, we might not have all of the wonderful national parks around the country to enjoy, and photograph. Definitely a “desert island” photographer if there ever was one.

Perhaps this list will change with time as I myself evolve and grow as a photographer, but somehow I think the images made by these pioneers will always have an impression on my own work.

I spent the weekend in the Catskill Mountains, visiting many of the same scenes and locations made famous in the middle of the nineteenth century by the painters of the Hudson River School. Painters such as Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Federic Church, and Albert Bierstadt drew inspiration from this popular region, and their landscape paintings depicteing the beauty of light and color were unlike anything ever seen before. I visited the site of the famous Catskill Mountain House, now a national landmark, and hiked the Escarpment trail to famous landmarks such as Artist Rock and Sunset Rock.
Though I followed my regular practice of scouting locations and hitting the trails well before sunrise, I didn’t have much success creating images that were compelling to me. A combination of cloudless skies, lack of familiarity with the area, and bad timing didn’t provide the conditions that I seek out in a dramatic scene. Usually when this happens, I don’t get discouraged, but rather focus on the “intimate” landscape, and try to capture the small features of nature that we often literally step over without taking notice. On the last morning shoot, I hike to the summit of Plateau Mountain, a very strenuous climb gaining 1600 feet in about 1 mile. Once I caught my breath, I found myself in a beautiful coniferous forest reminiscent of coastal Maine. Focusing on the forest floor, I was inspired by all of the color and texture, and made this image which I felt conveyed the “feel” of this unique area. It reminds me that looking within the landscape can be just as interesting as the grand view, and provides an opportunity to push myself creatively.

I spent my Father’s Day weekend together with my family on a photo trip in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks, and it was a great experience. We stayed at the Keene Valley Lodge in Keene, NY, a bed and breakfast which I highly recommend due to the great hospitality and comfort we enjoyed. It’s also convenient because the trailheads to many of the Adirondacks highest peaks are just a short walk or drive from the B&B. The inn keepers are outdoor enthusiasts and very knowledgeable about the area which helped us plan our hikes. Down the road from the lodge is The Mountaineer, a great outdoor store which we frequented several times during our stay. Their selection and service were top rate, and it quickly became one of the best outdoor shops we’ve encountered anywhere.

Covering over 6 million acres, the Adirondacks are a nature photographers heaven, and I was able to capture many images of impressive mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, and incredible cloud formations just in the small area of Keene Valley. Because I’m still recovering from my ankle injury, I wasn’t able to hike many of the longer hikes over 6 miles, so I limited myself to exploring smaller mountains and shorter trails.

Personal favorites included Chapel Pond, a beautiful and pristine glacial lake at the base of Giant Mountain, Rainbow Falls, the Ausable River, and Ausable Chasm, sometimes called the “Little Grand Canyon of the East”. Also in this region is the tiny Lake Tear-of-the-Clouds, nestled in the heart of the High Peaks between Mt. Marcy and Skylight, considered to be the source of the Hudson River.
Just 15 miles from Keene is Lake Placid, a great town with beautiful scenery, shopping, restaurants and other attractions. Between the trails and the playgrounds, everyone in the family was happy, VERY important on a photo trip.

My best images from this trip are viewable in my “Latest” gallery, and I’m hoping to add many more on my next visit. There was so much photographic potential, I will certainly return this year to continue exploring this great destination literally in my own backyard.