Reflections on History

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While on a family holiday trip to New York City, we scheduled a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum on Christmas Eve day, 2016. The morning was marked by rain and heavy fog; so, as we entered the museum I didn't have much hope for exterior shots. But, when we exited the museum mid-afternoon, the skies had cleared and I was able to use the wonderful low angle of the winter sun to capture some memorable images. These pools occupy the footprints once filled by the twin towers and are a powerful reminder of the lives lost that day.

RECOGNITION:
Accepted for Display - 2022 San Diego County Fair, San Diego, CA - International Exhibition of Photography
Accepted for Display - 2022 d'Art Center, Norfolk, VA - SCENE: Artworks Inspired by Cities, Towns, Landmarks and Places
Accepted for Display - 2021 Jones Gallery, Kansas City - September Group Art Show
Accepted for Display - 2021 Cultural Center of Cape Cod 'Remembering' Exhibition
Honorable Mention - 2020 Cary Photographic Artists (CPA) 13th Annual Open Juried Photographic Exhibit - Color
Accepted for Display - SEP 2020 Darkroomers Photographic Club (Affiliate of Southern California Association of Camera Clubs {SCACC} and Photographic Society of America {PSA}).
Winner: I-Shot-It.com City Competition 6 2016
Finalist: Published in Photographer's FORUM Best of Photography 2017, sponsored by SIGMA.
Honorable Mention: Neutral Density Photography Awards 2017 - Architecture: Cityscapes Category
Merit Award: NOV 2019 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC) - Commercial Category

FORMAT:
2x3

Recommended Media:
Metal Print

Prints Remaining:
8 of 10

Hickman Natural Bridge

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I've been to more than a few National Parks in the past couple of years. None was more surprising to me than Capitol Reef in southern Utah.

My wife and I were travelling from Rocky Mountain NP to Bryce Canyon NP and decided to use this as a "pass-through", just to see what it was all about. I'm certainly glad we did, but I am also disappointed that we didn't allot more time.

Geologist and early explorer of the region, Clarence Dutton, proclaimed, "the light seems to flow or shine out of the rock rather than to be reflected in it." I think this image displays that nicely, as the sun is clearly on the other side of this arch, and yet, the shaded side is radiant.

If you have only a short period of time to explore, I recommend the Hickman Natural Bridge Trail, because it showcases the diversity of the entire Park in a 2.2 mile round-trip hike. The trail can be moderately steep in some places, and water and sunscreen are must-haves (on this early-June day the sun was searing with temps well above 100F); but, in my humble opinion, the reward is well worth the effort.

RECOGNITION:
Top 50 selection in the 2019 RENNEN Photography Prize Winter Photography Festival

Format:
1x2

Recommended Media:
Canvas

Prints Remaining:
9 of 10

Magic Sunset - Lime Kiln Light

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Lime Kiln Light is part of Lime Kiln Point State Park on the western edge of San Juan Island in Washington State.

One of the best places to observe Orcas from land, Lime Kiln Point State Park is a popular tourist destination, which also offers magnificent views of Vancouver Island, Canada, just across the Haro Strait.

On this evening in June, despite the heavy cloud cover, I caught some of the beautiful colors of the trees aglow with the golden sunset light. Truly a magical scene!

RECOGNITION:
Top 100 selection in the 2019 RENNEN Photography Prize Winter Photography Festival

FORMAT:
2x3

Recommended Media:
Acrylic

Prints Remaining:
10 of 10

Ready for Sea

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USS CASSIN YOUNG still looking fit and trim.

The USS CASSIN YOUNG (DD-793) is a US Navy Fletcher-class destroyer whose namesake was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and was subsequently killed at the Battle of the Solomons in 1942.

Commissioned in 1943 the ship served during World War II and the Korean War, and put in long-term storage in 1960. In 1974, the ship was permanently loaned to the National Park Service as a floating memorial berthed at Boston Navy Yard. This image was taken in January 2011, during a dry-dock availability.

I titled this image "Ready for Sea", the motto of the US Navy Supply Corps, reflecting my own Navy heritage, and because the ship looks like she's ready to fight alongside her more modern counterparts.

RECOGNITION:
Mark Of Excellence: I-Shot-It.com Premium Photo Competition 2017 4

FORMAT:
2x3

Recommended Media:
Canvas

Prints Remaining:
9 of 10

Spring Enters Grand Teton Like a Lion

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You plan, you walk the lines the day before when the light is harsh. You book a place to stay that is as near as possible, but still about a 40-minute drive, and is an unheated tepee when the overnight temperatures get down to about 20°F in early June. You wake at 0330 and try to quietly depart the campsite so as not to disturb all the other sane travelers. You drive to the location and find a tour group also arriving at the same time.... but, they are setting up for the straight on shot, which you have seen a thousand times.

You know it's been dark, with few stars, but there are breaks in the clouds as you drive to the location. But, as you set up your gear, you watch in horror as the clouds thicken, a periodic drizzle is an annoyance, because you are already freezing, the winds are gusty, and the updrafts from the mountains stop the clouds in their tracks...right above the scene. The ephemeris data says this is first light...but, there is no sun, there is no horizon to the east, only heavy cloud cover.

Spring in Wyoming. Unpredictable. Frustrating. Exhilarating. Worth it.

RECOGNITION:
Merit Award: NOV 2019 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC) - Illustrative Category

FORMAT:
1x2

Recommended Media:
Metal

Prints Remaining:
9 of 10

Stained Glass Window to the Center of the Earth

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The inimitable Grand Prismatic Spring at sunset in Yellowstone National Park.

I was fortunate enough to shoot this amazing scene from a number of angles as the sun set on a perfect June day. By this hour there are few tourists because, quite frankly, to the naked eye the colors are very muted. But with long exposures, the camera captures the brilliance with even greater contrast than is available during the height of the day.

With it's mirror-like quality and the vibrant colors of the microbial mat, I could not help but envision this as a stained glass window, worthy of any religious site.

RECOGNITION:
Semi-finalist - North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Showcase 2022

Selected - 2021 Nature Homage exhibition at d'Art Center in Norfolk, Virginia.

Merit Image - 2020 Professional Photographers of America (PPA) International Photographic Competition (IPC) - Open Photographic (Illustrative) Category

Selected - 2020 Yellowstone Art Auction 52.
Print #1 sold by the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, MT.

Best In Class Award - NOV 2019 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC) - Nature/Landscape Category

FORMAT:
1x3

Prints Remaining:
8 of 10

I Am the Storm

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For over 4,000 years Mother Nature has thrown everything she had at this tree... Unbearable cold, blizzards, gale force winds, drought, searing heat, earthquakes, and unrepentant tourists, and The Guardian has weathered every storm, every threat, every challenge and remained standing, though it succumbed to inevitable mortality over 500 years ago.

This ancient bristlecone pine, situated with one other tree on the edge of a steep slope in the White Mountains has been the subject of countless photographs under a variety of conditions. I was here with a group for an astrophotography workshop, and although I am pleased with some of the images I captured later that night, this one is the one that stands out above all others.

During the last weekend in August, the daytime high temperatures - even at 9,000' elevation - were above 80° F, and at nearly 8 PM, still holding in the upper-60s, while Bishop and Big Pine in the Owens Valley below, roasted in the 90s and 100s. The heat of the valley combined with the cool air crossing the ridge tops above the Sierras to the west create interesting weather and clouds in the late afternoon, which seemed daunting initially, but cleared soon after sunset to allow for clear skies when it was time to capture the galactic core of the Milky Way above.