We just returned from an incredible two week trip to Africa. I almost said a "once in a lifetime trip" but I hope it's not... the trip was that amazing! We spent two weeks in the country of South Africa - the first week down in the Western Cape province in and around Cape Town and the second week on safari near Kruger NP. What a country and what a trip!
There is so much more to South Africa than just the animals you see on safari. However, the animals are the star of the trip and I thought I'd start there.
While on the safari part of our trip we did game drives at sunrise and sunset each day and they were always different. Every day was beautifully sunny, but one morning was overcast and misty. As we came upon a herd of elephants in the mist, we all just sat in silence and observed. It was quiet, peaceful, and profound, seeing these large animals slowly moving about their morning routine. The sound of branches and small saplings being cracked and eaten was a music we had never heard before. We could have sat there for hours.
Reluctantly, I looked away from the herd and saw this large elephant moving in a different direction and loved the peacefulness and mystery of the scene. Where is he headed? What lies off in the distant light and mist? As most of you know, I am primarily a landscape photographer and this is largely a landscape photograph... that happens to have an elephant in it!
I will have more to share with you in the coming weeks and months... including close-up "animal portraits", more landscapes from the African Bush (when I could get the safari driver to stop for a photogenic tree!), and some great images of the coastline down near Cape Town.
It was nice creating some images again. Enjoy!
We just returned home from our annual three week winter trip to Palm Springs in California. In late winter, instead of shoveling snow and freezing, we enjoy some warm sun, dinners outside, hiking in the desert, and all kinds of other activities. There is so much to do and so little time!
This year we spent some time hiking along the San Andreas Fault (yes, the famous California earthquake fault line). The fault forms the eastern boundary of the Coachella Valley in a series of uplifted hills. One afternoon, we did a sunset red jeep tour that gave us access to parts of the hills that are typically not accessible. We spent a little time walking in a small fan palm oasis... fan palms are the only native palm trees to California. They exist where water has risen to the surface, typically along the fault lines.
As we were walking back to the jeep, the setting sun lit up the clouds into a beautiful subtle pink color. The desert sand also took on this pink glow and it made us all stop and enjoy the fading light. I made many exposures but I liked this calm, simple one the most - it captured the quiet of the desert as the day ended.
I thought I would share one last image from my trip to the Eastern Sierra. There are many more I would like to share but it's time to move on! The gallery on my website is complete and so if you want to see more images from this great place, click on the link... Eastern Sierra Gallery.
It's hard to overstate how blue, blue can be at high altitudes on a clear sunny day. This is an image of the far shoreline of Lone Pine Lake at 10,100 feet of elevation in the Eastern Sierra near Mt. Whitney. We were exhausted as we reached the lake in the late afternoon and snow was all around us on the near shoreline. The sky was so clear and impossibly blue... along with the water of the lake. Bright granite, white snow, blue sky, blue water... it really was almost an overload for our senses. It felt very elemental and timeless.
We rested along the shoreline and ate some snacks to regain our energy for the hike back down the mountain. We thought going down would be so much quicker and so much easier... but it was neither. It seemed to go on forever as our aching muscles started to cramp from the exertion, altitude, and lack of planning.
After what seemed like many many hours of walking, and sometimes stumbling, we arrived at the trailhead completely spent. And I would do it again in a heartbeat!